New Gear Alert: iZotope’s Music Essentials Bundle, AR-1 Compressor by Kush, Arturia’s KeyLab 88 MKII & More

iZotope celebrates “Make Music Day” with release of new Music Essentials Bundle.

iZotope has assembled a crucial collection of plugins at an unbeatable price point in celebration of Make Music Day.

iZotope has released a special bundle of their award winning software for Make Music Day at a very accessible price for musicians across the world. For this occasion, iZotope will be donating part of the proceeds from this bundle to three leading music-focused charities: Women’s Audio Mission, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, and Musicians Without Borders.

The Music Essentials Bundle features seven powerful plugins, offered at a very accessible price. The plugins included in the bundle are Neutron Elements, RX Elements, Nectar Elements, Ozone Elements, Trash 2, DDLY, and Mobius. These seven plugins deliver award-winning audio technologies in one package that contains everything needed to bring audio projects to life.

The Music Essentials Bundle is priced at $49, and will be available through July 8th.

Kush Audio announces the AR-1 Vintage Mµ Compressor.

Kush breathes new life into the storied AR-1 compressor used on countless classic British records.

The AR-1 is a variable-mu tube compressor whose roots are in the raucous sound of the rockin’ American 50’s, yet it enjoys a posh British image, thanks to its use at Abbey Road Studios in the late 60’s (notably on the later Beatles and earlier Pink Floyd records). Kush painstakingly captured the sweet breakup of the AR-1’s beefy tubes being driven into the dirt, then added more than a half dozen significant UI and functional enhancements. The resulting emulation is every bit as chunky as the original, and 10x more flexible.

The real magic of the AR-1 lies under the hood, with new algorithms that step Kush’s digital compressor technology forward. A common complaint about plugin compressors is that they’re “too fast”. Even when a plugin’s attack time is identical to the hardware, it generally sounds markedly different, resulting in transients that are excessively bright while lacking in low end impact. Kush addressed this by obsessively tuning not just the speed, but also the taper of the attack and release. The result is a gentle beast that’s still capable of cooking a sound to a deliciously charred crisp. The typically overused audio marketing terms “warm” and “smooth” now really do apply.

The AR-1 is available now, priced at $99.

Arturia introduces the KeyLab 88 MKII.

Arturia’s KeyLab 88 MKII offers the same great feel as the original, but with an improved feature set and an attractive software bundle.

The KeyLab 88 MKII controller keyboard features the superb piano-feel 88 note keybed found in the industry-standard original, but with the updated feature set of the KeyLab MKII series, and an amazing software collection worth over $700.

KeyLab 88 MKII is designed for professional musicians, session players, live performers, studio engineers, and demanding producers—with no sacrifice made in terms of playability, expression, versatility, and sheer quality. Whether you are an experienced pro, or an aspiring producer, you will make great use of the included software titles, DAW control, customizable setups, and seamless integration.

Check out an introductory video to KeyLab 88 MKII here.

KeyLab 88 MKII will begin shipping worldwide at the end of June, priced at $999.

Townsend Labs Sphere L22 now supports AAX DSP for Pro Tools HDX.

Townsend Labs adds critical AAX DSP support for the Sphere L22 modeling mic in Sphere software version 1.3.

Townsend Labs is proud to announce that AAX DSP support is included in version 1.3 of the Sphere plugin—the software component in the award-winning Sphere L22 microphone modeling system. Ever since its initial introduction, the Sphere plugin has been available for all major native plugin formats, as well as on Universal Audio’s UAD-2, Apollo, and Arrow platform. With the addition of AAX DSP support in Sphere 1.3, owners of Pro Tools HDX systems can now enjoy perfect integration of the Sphere microphone into their existing DSP-based workflow, and monitor the over 20 included microphone models with near-zero latency while recording.

The Sphere L22 system is comprised of a dedicated, dual-channel microphone and its software counterpart, the Sphere plugin. The plugin currently includes over 20 models of coveted microphones—a collection which would be worth more than a hundred thousand dollars if it was ever up for sale, and to which new microphone models are regularly added. The microphone can be used with any preamp and any digital interface.

The Sphere plugin is free of charge and available for download here. The Sphere L22 microphone is priced at $1,499.

sonible releases smart:comp, an A.I. powered compressor plugin.

sonible implements cutting edge technology in smart:comp, using AI to craft a natural-sounding, balanced dynamic profile.

smart:comp is the latest addition to the product line of A.I. powered plugins by sonible. This unique spectro-dynamic compressor finds the parameters for well-balanced compression results in just a few seconds.

smart:comp is the synergy of intelligently enhanced time-domain compression and spectral compression. Behind the interface of this plugin runs the smart:engine—an A.I.-based, content-aware system designed on the basis of psychoacoustic principles, as well as extensive hands-on mixing experience.

When activating the learning mode of smart:comp, the plugin analyzes the incoming audio signal and sets specific parameters that result in well-balanced compression—all with the familiar look and handling of a single band compressor.

Click here to learn more about smart:comp.

smart:comp is available now, priced at €89.

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