New Audio Gear Alert: 2-BUS-XT by Dangerous, FAST Balancer from Novation, Spitfire’s Tape Percussion & More

Dangerous Audio unleashes the 2-BUS-XT summing amp.

Transformer-driven color from Dangerous Audio? Yes please.

The single rack space 2-BUS-XT summing amp delivers the spacious sound stage and sonic performance for which Dangerous Music is renowned and introduces new transformer-driven circuitry that offers unique custom coloration capabilities.

Fully re-engineered from its predecessor, the new 2-BUS-XT leverages the six-layer board summing circuitry of the 2-BUS+, designed by company co-founder Chris Muth, to produce super wide stereo imaging and ultra-high-resolution depth of field with tons of headroom. Unlike other summing units that inherently impose a color signature on the audio sources, the 2-BUS-XT allows you to dial in as little or as much complexity and excitement to your tracks as you wish via two custom color circuits, also designed by Muth.

For pricing and further information on the Dangerous Audio 2-BUS-XT, click here.

Novation offers FAST Balancer via The Collective.

Novation introduces the FAST Balancer to members of The Collective.

The Collective from Focusrite & Novation has already inspired music creators with their earlier offering of FAST Verb, FAST Equaliser, FAST Compressor, and FAST Reveal. Now they are excited to bring you FAST Balancer—the effortless way to bring tracks to life with an AI-driven EQ and simplified controls.

FAST Balancer offers one-click, instant EQ for bringing out the best of any audio’s true character. Music makers can get back to being creative and have excellent sounding vocals and instruments in seconds so that they can stay in the flow. With trouble-free controls, your track will become release-quality without needing music production experience or time to endlessly tweak parameters. The AI-powered plugin is trained on over 500,000 real-world audio files stemming from vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, bass, drums, and more.

Click here to learn more about this offer.

Spitfire Audio announces Tape Percussion.

Spitfire Audio and Nok Cultural Ensemble join forces to offer Tape Percussion.

Tape Percussion is where explosive afro-percussion meets dub and free jazz. This intuitive, inspiring toolkit has been made in collaboration with the Nok Cultural Ensemble: a collective of percussion prodigies led by Edward Wakili-Hick (Sons of Kemet, Steam Down)—all leading lights playing across different genres underpinning London’s eclectic jazz and beat scenes.

Tape Percussion opens with 5 one-shot vintage jazz kits and 6 one-shot African percussion patches. Those worlds then merge with Caribbean rhythms and dub-inspired warps over 8 drum loops and 69 atmospheric scenes, plus 13 tonal warped presets. Recorded to tape at the legendary Ariwa Studios, London, these sounds and textures thrum, crackle, and crash with new possibilities for modern tracks and contemporary media scores.

Click here to learn more about Tape Percussion.

Caveman Audio introduces the AP1 Compact acoustic preamp.

Caveman Audio offers the sound of their renowned AP1 Acoustic Preamp in this new, more compact enclosure.

Caveman Audio’s AP1 Compact gives acoustic guitar players the same fundamental tone of its AP1 Acoustic Preamp, but with a significantly smaller footprint. Since the goal is improving the core guitar tone, its purpose is not to act as an effects pedal, but rather to serve as an always-on component in the signal chain.

Caveman Audio recognizes that the sheer preamp design is not the only component capable of enhancing the fundamental sound of an acoustic guitar audio signal. Therefore, the company also focused their attention on suppressing noise and avoiding impedance mismatch in the electronic design that surrounds the preamp circuit, which includes transformer-balanced DI output and unique RFI protection—all of it housed in a road-ready, zinc-plated steel enclosure.

The AP1 Compact Acoustic Preamp is available now; click here for pricing and further information.

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