DJAdvice.net - News for DJ’s and Musicians

The Acxel II is based on the original Acxel legacy from the early 90’s, and utilizes a revolutionary dynamic architecture parallel processor — patented by Idarca — the RPP. With its unique characteristics, Acxel II will set new standard of real time synthesis and audio processing. (more…)

Introducing SoundTrek Drummer, an easy to use yet powerful and flexible MFX MIDI plugin that allows you to quickly create new and original drum beats in many different styles of music. SoundTrek Drummer creates realistic sounding and creative drum beats using your favorite drum sounds in your preferred MFX or VST host application.

Whether you want to create drum parts for a complete song, work out some quick drum beats or create an extended dynamic jam, SoundTrek Drummer gives you the tools to be creative without the hassles of programming or the repetition of loops. Features for Version 1.0 (more…)

ESI ship K.ON controller keyboard

German company ESI tell us that they are now starting shipping of the new K.ON controller keyboard in Europe. Availability in North America will follow within a month.
ESI say that, equipped with a stable aluminum cabinet, K.ON is not only stylish, but perfectly optimized for professional usage live on stage or in any studio environment. Various faders and dials as controllers are provided, allowing remote control of software and hardware synthesizers. K.ON has a total of 4 expansion slots, compatible with existing synthesizer modules from other vendors and with forthcoming expansions from ESI. One of the expansion slots is occupied by the standard I/O board featuring support to bus-power the keyboard via USB and making it compatible with all current Windows versions (incl. Vista 32- and 64-bit) as well as Mac OS X (incl. Leopard).
Features

• 3 digit LED display
• 9 endles dials
• 9 faders
• modulation wheel / pitch bend
• numeric keypad
• transport control buttons
• various editing functions for programming
• power supplied via USB or optional external power supply
• expandable via 4 expansion slots on backside
• Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Mac OS X 10.3 (and higher) compatible
• bundled with Steinberg Cubase LE 4.0 for PC and Mac

Pricing and Availability:
K.ON has a MSRP of 599 EUR.

More information:

• www.esi-audio.com

ESI announce the availability of the ultra-affordable ESU1808

ESI has announced the availability of their new ESU1808 external recording interface featuring 18 input channels and 8 output channels which can all be used simultaneously.

The 1U rack unit features 2 microphone preamps with balanced XLR inputs, 2 direct instrument inputs (Hi-Z), and no less than 12 balanced / unbalanced line level inputs. There is also a digital input in S/PDIF format.

In addition, there are 8 balanced analog line level outputs and a digital S/PDIF output as well as a MIDI I/O interface. ESU1808 works under Mac OS X as well as Windows XP & Vista. The interface is bundled with Cubase LE 4.0 from Steinberg.

At 499 EUR, ESI believe that the ESU1808 is probably the most affordable external recording interface with this number of I/O channels, defining new standards for USB audio in professional applications.
Chess Lim, CEO and founder of EGOSYS, Inc. - the R&D center for ESI in Korea, told us, “We are excited to be able to ship our new external recording flagship solution now. Several years went into the development of ESU1808. I’d say that the final result shows that waiting for it has been definitely worth it.”
Features

• USB 2.0 Hi-Speed support based on ESI’s USB 2 Xtreme technology
• 18 input channels / 8 output channels at 24-bit/96khz
• 2 precision & low noise microphone preamps (XLR input) with gain controls, pad switch and peak LEDs, +48V phantom power
• 2 direct instrument inputs (Hi-Z) with gain control and peak LEDs
• 12 balanced/unbalanced analog inputs (1/4″ TRS, -10dBv/+4dBu, ADC 107dB)
• 8 balanced/unbalanced analog outputs (1/4 TRS, -10dBv/+4dBu, DAC 112dB)
• headphone amplifier (1/4″ stereo phone jack) with volume control
• 16 channel MIDI I/O
• RCA connectors for coaxial S/PDIF I/O
• supported sample rates: 44.1kHz, 48.0kHz, 88.2kHz, 96.0 kHz
• powered by exclusive DC power supply
• supports ASIO 2.0, GSIF 2.0, WDM, CoreAudio
• Windows Vista, Windows XP and Mac OS X compatible
• bundled with Steinberg Cubase LE 4.0 for PC and Mac

Pricing and Availability:
Available by the end of January 2008.
The MSRP of ESU1808 will be 499 EUR.
More information:

• www.esi-audio.com

Toontrack Music proudly announces Toontrack Solo, a host application for Toontrack Music samplers providing stand alone operation, multi-instance operation and support for specialist MIDI controllers. Toontrack Solo will be released as a free download before the end of october 2007 to all registered users of EZ and Superior Drummer sampler users.

Features:

• stand alone operation of Toontrack samplers
• optimized for real-time, low latency operation
• full ASIO/Core Audio/Core MIDI support
• routable mixer with support for up to 16 physical OUT
• each instance can be assigned a discrete MIDI channel
• support for specialist MIDI controllers

System Requirements:

• Windows XP SP2, PIII/Athlon 1,8GHz with 512 Mb of Ram
• Mac OS X 10.3.9, G4 1GHz with 512 Mb of Ram
• Display capable of 800×600 (1024×768 recommended)
• A Toontrack Music drumsampler, dfh EZdrummer or Superior Drummer
• Sound card with up-to-date ASIO or CoreAudio drivers

For more information, visit their web site at www.toontrack.com.

Toontrack DFH Superior Custom and Vintage
Toontrack dfh EZdrummer Multi Layer Drum Sampler Software
Music Sales Solo Guitar Playing Book 1
Hudson Music Neil Peart: Anatomy of a Drum Solo (2-DVD Set)
Vic Firth Multi-Application Keyboard Mallets M170

IK Multimedia is pleased to announce that SampleMoog™, the Moog™ Synth Anthology Virtual Instrument, is now shipping. SampleMoog is the first release of the new Sonik Instruments’ range, and is a cooperation between IK Multimedia, Moog Music® and Sonic Reality. SampleMoog includes the sounds of all the most sought-after Moog synthesizers spanning the entire Moog history, in an easy-to-use, sample-based virtual instrument “powered by SampleTank” and is available as a plug-in for popular DAWs and as a standalone application for Mac and PC.

SampleMoog offers over 1,700 basses, leads, pads and effects’ sounds from the very first Moog Modular to a variety of different Minimoogs to Taurus Bass Pedals, Polymoogs, Memorymoogs and more. Whether you want a lead sound or a phat R&B synth bass or swirling FX, this is the ultimate source for everything Moog! Load up monster analog modular synth patches or the powerful rumbling sound of Moog Taurus™ I Bass pedals and shake the house! SampleMoog takes you back in time to the days of analog and honors one of the founding fathers of synthesis, Bob Moog. An homage to the incredible range of instruments from the first Etherwave® Theremin to the latest Minimoog® Voyager®, this virtual instrument is a must-have for any fan of the “Moog Sound” as well as an analog synth powerhouse for any musical style.

Software features

SampleMoog is based on the SampleTank engine, offering unique proprietary features like one-click sound browsing, multiple synth-engines including real-time harmonic manipulation of the waves, built-in vintage multi-effects and fast loading samples for studio or playing live. SampleMoog not only brings you the classic analog sound of Moog but also goes far beyond by combining it with the modern technology of the SampleTank engine, which includes physical modeling effects and IK’s exclusive STRETCH™.

• 16 part multi-timbral sample-based synth
• Stand-alone and plug-in for VST, AU, RTAS on Mac/PC
• 2 synth engines (Resampling and STRETCH™)
• Built-in multi-effects with 4 effects per part selectable on 32 high-quality DSP effects, with BPM sync
• Over 50 synth controls with Mono/Poly/Legato modes with selectable Legato, 2 LFOs, 2 Envelopes, syncable LBF/BPF/HPF Filters, Velocity, Range and Macro controls
• Sounds can also be read by SampleTank 2.5 and up

Sound features

16 highly acclaimed Moog synthesizers have been meticulously sampled and expertly programmed by IK and Sonic Reality’s sound designers. There are over 600 multi-sampled sounds with over 1,000 preset patches totaling more than 4GB of samples in SampleMoog, from the rarest vintage models to the most modern top of the range Moog synthesizers, including:

• Modular Moog 3C
• Modular Moog 15
• Modular Moog 55
• Minimoog® Model D
• Polymoog
• Moog Taurus™ I
• Moog Prodigy
• Moog Multimoog
• Moog Vocoder
• Moog/Realistic Concertmate MG-1
• Moog Source
• Moog Rogue
• Memorymoog
• Etherwave® Theremin
• Moog Voyager®
• Moog Little Phatty®

SampleMoog has a list price of 249/$299 and will be available from all IK dealers and resellers within this month.

For more information, visit their web site at www.ikmultimedia.com.

IK Multimedia Ampeg SVX Plug-in
IK Multimedia SampleTank Upgrade from ST 2 LE/SE to ST 2 XL
IK Multimedia AmpliTube 2 Upgrade
IK Multimedia Sonik Synth 2
IK Multimedia Teknostorm Loop CD-ROM

MPC-Samples.com has released the fourth ebook in their ‘Beat Making on the MPC…’ series. ‘Beat Making on the MPC500′ contains a collection of step-by-step tutorials that cover a wide range of audio production concepts written specifically for owners of the Akai MPC500. Suitable for all levels of ability, this product covers fundamental beginner topics all the way through to advanced beat production techniques.

Topics covered include:

• discover how to create phatter sounding beats
• make thicker & grimier drums
• learn expert sequencing tricks
• flip your samples just like the pros
• learn how to completely change the groove and feel of sampled drum breaks
• create your own unique drum kits and build your own breakbeats that sound just like a real drummer
• uncover the secrets of MPC multisampling and turn your MPC into a virtual bass guitar or piano
• create your own instrument loops and riffs
• find out how to build complete beats & songs
• record to multitrack equipment, and use effects correctly when creating master recordings for record label demos

There’s 44 tutorials in total, each one written in a clear, easy to follow style assuming no prior technical knowledge whatsoever, all covering ‘real world’, practical situations. ‘Beat Making on the MPC500′ is currently the only dedicated tutorial book for the Akai MPC500.

Product Specifications:

• Format: 226 page PDF ebook, 512 MPC format samples & files
• Compatibility: Akai MPC500 OS 1.1 or greater
• Download Size: 28MB (zipped)

Demonstration Tutorial

This product is priced at $39.99 and is available as an instant digital download.

For more information, visit their web site at www.mpc-samples.com.

Akai MPC500 Portable Music Production Center

Platinum Samples Joe Barresi Evil Drums for BFD

Best Service Hardstyle Samples Vol. 1 Sample Library
Zero G Soundclash Nu-Electro Dance Loops and Samples Library

Rayzoon is pleased to announce that Jamstix 2, the long awaited successor to the original virtual drummer Jamstix, has been released.

The World’s Most Advanced Virtual Drummer VSTi: (more…)

AudioWarrior has introduced a 6-string acoustic dreadnought guitar to its collection of KONTAKT 2 instruments.

The 6 String Acoustic Strummer is a special featured virtual rhythm guitar that will Auto-Strum in any key and any tempo with a wide variety of songwriting chords that can be used to build complete rhythm guitar tracks via AudioWarrior’s exclusive iStrum® MIDI Patterns and AudioWarrior’s Pat Pending G-Mapped chords. (more…)

Groove Monkee has announced the release of their 9th library of MIDI beats. Groove Monkee Progressive contains over 1900 beats for modern progressive music. The beats are formatted for GM, EZDrummer and the EZDrummer DFH add-on pack. (more…)