Elysia xpressor 500 Stereo Compressor (500 series)

"The xpressor 500 is an extremely versatile stereo compressor available in API's 500 series format. With its many unique features taken from our flagship products, you not only get great compression, but an amount of control on processing which is hardly ever experienced elsewhere."

FEATURES:

• Discrete Class-A Topology

  Pristine audio quality.

• Auto Fast Attack

  Perfect attack in any situation.

• Switchable Release Characteristic

  Smooth or crisp – the choice is yours.

• Warm Mode

  Transparency? Saturation? Both!

• Parallel Compression
  Mixing direct and compressed signals.

• Sidechain Filter
  Frequency selective compression.

• Gain Reduction Limiter
  Ultimate control on the compression process.

• Made in Germany
  High grade components, solid aluminum knobs.

Get more info at Elysia.com.
$975 at ZenPro Audio.

UAD Satellite Auction to help Craig Schumacher battle Cancer

"Universal Audio is currently auctioning off a UAD-2 Satellite QUAD to help Tape Op contributor Craig Schumacher fight his battle with cancer. Get a card, help a friend? What could be better?"
Make your bid at Craig Schumacher vs. Cancer

Universal Audio Half Yearly Sale up to 50% off!

Half-Yearly Sale. Save Up To 50% Off. 
It's our biggest UAD Plug-In Sale this year! Save between 10 - 50% Storewide* on over 40 individual UAD plug-ins and bundles.

If you've been craving that special UAD Plug-In or Plug-In Bundle, you won't want to miss this half-yearly event.

Here are just a few examples of the extra-special savings:

• Trident® A Range Classic Console EQ – 32% OFF 
  Normally $249.00 / Now Only $169.29
• Fairchild® 670 Compressor– 33% OFF
  Normally $149.00 / Now Only $99.99
• Harrison® 32C Channel EQ - 32% OFF 
  Normally $249.00 / Now Only $169.29
• EMT® 250 Classic Electronic Reverberator - 20% OFF 
  Normally $249 / Now Only $199.29
• EP-34 Tape Echo – 25% OFF 
  Normally $199.00 / Now Only $149.29
• Studer® A800 MultiChannel Tape Recorder – 14% OFF 
  Normally $349.00 / Now Only $299.49
• Manley® Massive Passive EQ – 20% OFF
  Normally $299.00 / Now Only $239.49

No coupon codes are necessary. Simply cart the UAD Powered Plug-Ins and Bundles you want and save between 10 - 50%, all month long.

But hurry, the Half-Yearly Sale ends at 12:00 AM (Pacific Standard Time) on July 1st, 2011. Visit the UA Online Store today.

Audiofile Engineering's Quiztones - frequency identification/training app

Audiofile Engineering's "Quiztones is a frequency identification ear training app for amateur and professional audio engineers and musicians. Quiztones uses frequency-altered tones, noise and musical loops to train your ears and help develop more acute listening and frequency recognition skills."


Quiztones is compatible with iPad, iPhone and iPod touch with iOS 4 or later.
Visit the website here. $2.99 at the app store.

ZenPro Audio's Clip-A-Lator

Zen Pro Audio has a great feature on their website called the Clip-A-Lator. It allows you to virtually audition the gear they sell. The gear is categorised and various clips of each being applied to different sounds are supplied. Some folders also contain a video clips of the units being used. Check it out.

Nintendo’s New Console Wii U and Its Crazy Touchscreen Controller

Nintendo's new console is called the Wii U and "the controller's got a 6.2-inch touchscreen, a d-pad, twin analog sticks, a front-facing camera, four shoulder buttons, accelerometers, vibration motors, and a mic. It's backward compatible with the original Wii and Wii accessories, like Wii Fit."

Read the full article here.

Want To Be A Producer ? Read This

This is an insert to Carlisle' newest post on his blog
"He was the best musician I’ve ever met at piano, drums, guitars and bass. Every now and then I would hear him playing classical music on the piano and for me that was unheard of for a urban producer. He watched pornography consistently when he was producing and mixing the music. And when he was writing and recording the vocals, he always had a female porn star helping him bring out his true self. I could see why he was so successful. His connection to the spiritual side was aligned with what was on radio and TV. For 9 months I would see this guy creating music for some of the biggest names and to watch the process from the gifts that God gave him to them translating to mega hits"


http://carlisleyoung.tumblr.com/post/6314387508/the-creative-process

Mellowmuse CP3V Compressor & CS1V Saturator

"The CP3V vintage compressor plug-in builds upon the analogue characteristics of our CP2V compressor, adding further flexibility with variable attack, release and ratio controls, and new compression and envelope detector algorithms...."


CP3V Features

• • Multi stage analogue modeled compression
• • Output driven saturation
• • VU style compression metering
• • Variable attack: 0.01 - 100 ms
• • Variable release: 10 - 500 ms
• • Ratios: 4:1, 8:1, 12:1 and 20:1
• • 4x Oversampling
• • 64 bit internal processing

"The CS1V is a saturation plug-in that enables you to add the subtle depth and colouration of an analogue console to your mix." I especially like the grouping feature on the CS1V that allows you to change the parameters of multiple CS1Vs by adjusting just one plugin.

CS1V Features

•  Variable input drive and tone
• • Grouping mode for global control
• • Phase switch and bypass
• • VU metering
• • 4x oversampling for low aliasing
• • 64 bit internal processing

Dynaudio Acoustics PLM3A Monitor Bundle

The Dynaudio Acoustics PLM3A is a combination of their M3A speakers and a Lab.gruppen PLM 10000Q amplifier with Lake processing for the ultimate solution in speaker management. The PLM3A will provide you with an exceptionally accurate and  loud monitoring system that works well on many genres of music. It would make a great choice for a medium to large studio that caters to a variety of clientele.
MSRP $18,000.


Dynaudio Acoustics M3A main features and specifications 

• Unique linear phase frequency response
• Every monitor is matched to any other monitor within ± 1.5dB
• 28mm ESOTAR soft dome tweeter with aluminum voice coil
• Dual 150mm magnesium silicate impregnated polypropylene (MSP) midrange drivers with 75mm voice coils
• Dual 300mm polypropylene bass drivers with exceptionally large 100mm aluminum voice coils, offering dramatic improvements in power handling, bass response and distortion figures over conventional systems
• Gold plated professional binding posts accepting heavy-gauge speaker cable
• Heavy internal damping for minimum cabinet resonance
• Thermal protection of the tweeter
• Frequency response: 30 Hz – 20 kHz
• 129 dB SPL @ 1 meter
• Dimensions: 770 mm (H) x 550 mm (W) x 500 mm (D)
• Weight: 55 kg.

Lab.gruppen PLM 10000Q main features and specifications 

• 2350 W per channel @ 2 ohms, 2300 W per channel @ 4 ohms, 1300 W per channel @ 8 ohms**
• 2 unit 19” chassis weighing only 13.5 kg
• Input connection: Analog, Digital, Dante
• Class TD® output stage
• Regulated Switch Mode Power Supply (R.SMPS™)
• Copper-finned Intercooler® with transverse-mounted output devices
• Full suite of protection and fault monitoring features
• Primary and secondary network connections (for daisy chaining or system redundancy)
• Digitally controlled ‘amplifier gain’ adjustable in 0.1 dB steps from 22 to 44 dB
• Digital output attenuation in 0. 25 dB steps from –inf to 0 dB
• Binding post or Neutrik® Speakon® (1 x NLT8, 2 x NLT4) power output connectors
• Digitally implemented, zero-overshoot Inter-Sample Voltage Peak Limiting (ISVPL™) adjustable in 0.1 V steps from 17.8 to 153 V
• Power Average Limiter (PAL)

Lake processing main features and specifications 

• Raised Cosine Equalization™
• Linear phase and classical crossovers
• LimiterMax™ – peak and RMS limiters
• Iso-Float™ ground isolation
• Super Module capability
• Integration of third-party frequency measurement and analysis via Lake Analyzer Bridge

Get more info here.

How's your listening skills?

Spectrafoo

An Engineer/Producer's ears are his best tools. You could have the best gear in the world it won't make a difference without great listening skills. Test them here.
The above pic is a screenshot from Metric Halo's Spectrafoo which is used worldwide for analysis in mixing, mastering, acoustic analysis, live audio and electronics.

Apple's iOS 5 available this fall with tons of new features.

Apple announced iOS 5 yesterday at the WWDC2011. Here's an article on Engadget giving you all the details about it.
Here's a video with the iOS Software Senior VP Scott Forstall showcasing the new features of iOS 5.

Want to be an Engineer? Read this

Check out this excerpt from the latest post on Carlisle's blog:
"...... As I’m transitioning from an intern to general assistant to assistant engineer I started to see that what I thought was an engineer, was completely the opposite of what it really is. Richie and Suzanne always stressed that the clients were always right and over time, I saw for myself that they were right. But there were a few clients and people I saw that no matter what kind of monies they offered when my time came, I would never work with them even though they had the big budgets. You can’t work with unrealistic people that wants everything for nothing. Around this time is when I learnt that “not all money is good money” and that stayed with me forever. And I will never sacrifice my self respect for a check because 80% of them are small. Engineering is 90% problem solving and technique and 10% actually turning the knobs. But over time I realized that life in itself is the same approach and everything works the same. Only a few ever takes the time to learn things the correct way and even fewer gets to use their full potential because at the end of the day it’s all about timing."
View the blog here

Waves HLS Channel & PIE Compressor at Unbeatable Prices

For a limited time only, pick up HLS & PIE plugins at unbeatable prices. Developed in association with legendary producer/engineer Eddie Kramer, the meticulously modeled HLS Channel and PIE Compressor plug-ins are based on the vintage gear he used in historic sessions at London’s acclaimed Olympic Studios. HLS Channel recreates the original Helios EQs with their sweet saturation, high-end presence, and fat low-frequency boost, as well as the unique behavior, coloration, and drive of the console's preamps. The PIE Compressorwas modeled on the Pye, which was a mainstay in esteemed British studios throughout the classic rock era, and is considered by many to be one of the best buss compressors of all time. Send to a Friend

Coming Soon From Alesis: iO Dock Pro Audio Dock For iPad

"The iO Dock is the first device that enables anyone with an iPad to create, produce, and perform music with virtually any pro audio gear or instruments. The iO Dock is a universal docking station specifically designed for the iPad, and it gives musicians, recording engineers, and music producers the connectivity they need to create and perform with iPad. Connect all your pro audio gear to virtually any app in the App Store with the iO Dock."

• The world’s first pro audio dock for iPad
• Connect microphones and instruments including guitar, studio monitors, PA speakers, headphones, and MIDI controllers
• Universal device works with virtually every audio and MIDI app in the App Store; Core MIDI compliant
• Perform, craft, create and play back music in virtually any conceivable manner or location
• Video output for connection to TVs and projectors
• Inputs: two combo XLR-1/4" for use with audio gear, instruments, and computer audio
• Input channel gain controls and switchable phantom power for use with condenser microphones
• Guitar-direct switch for use with amplifier- and effects-modeling app
• Outputs: pair 1/4" and 1/4" headphone with separate volume controls
• Control: MIDI In, MIDI Out, USB MIDI, and assignable 1/4-inch footswitch input 

INCLUDES:

• iO Dock docking station for iPad
• Power supply
• Quick start guide

AUDIO INPUTS

• 2x XLR-1/4"
• Individual gain controls
• Phantom power, switchable
• Guitar (high-impedance) switch on Input 2

AUDIO OUTPUTS

• 2x 1/4" Main
• 1/4" TRS Headphone
• Individual level controls

VIDEO OUTPUT

• RCA Composite (requires compatible apps)

CONTROL I/O

• MIDI In (DIN)
• MIDI Out (DIN)
• USB MIDI
• 1/4" Footswitch (function assigned by apps)

http://alesis.com/iodock

Flux 45 days - 45% off Sale!

Flux makes unique, great sounding plugins. They're currently having a sale on their website.

SoundToys Mega Plug-in Trade-In

Just received this from Soundtoys:


SoundToys Mega Plug-in Trade-In. Offer Ends June 20th 2011.

Turn your plug-ins into Bundles and save. Trade in one, two, or more individual plug-ins and get big credit toward special bundle prices, for a limited time. Got EchoBoy and Decapitator? Upgrade to all 11 plug-ins in SoundToys TDM Effects for only $695 or 8 plug-ins in SoundToys Native Effects for only $199. The more you trade the more you save (yes, restrictions do apply). It's getting hot outside and new SoundToys plug-ins are a great excuse to stay cool in the studio. So crank up the AC and crank up the attitude with these limited time hot deals from SoundToys. Go get it now! Click Here.

"The SoundToys bundle is one of the few sets of plug-ins I would label as 'essential' . " 
  Atticuss Ross (Producer/Programmer)


Some restrictions apply. See Terms & Conditions. Devil-Loc and Devil-Loc Deluxe do not qualify.
 
Sincerely,
The SoundToys Team

Pensado's Place: #21 - The secrets behind tuning your room! featuring Bob Hodas

Bob Hodas of bobhodas.com teaches Dave and co. the secrets behind making your room sound the best it can be!

PSP's Neon HR Version 2 - 60% off till July 1st

I've used the PSP Neon since its first release. Whenever I needed to do major sonic surgery to an individual sound or sweetening on a stereo buss the Neon is one of my go to equalizer plugins. I'm sure there are some mastering engineers with the Neon in their bag of tricks.

"PSP proudly presents a new version of their flagship mastering equalizer plug-in - PSP Neon! To overcome the most significant limitations of PSP Neon HR version 1 they decided to develop additional versions of the plug-in, creating the Neon Suite which covers both mastering and mixing applications. Version 2 of PSP Neon comes in three flavors: PSP Neon HR, PSP Neon STD, PSP Neon Mix.

But wait, there's more—all three plug-ins share some new exciting features! Check them out!"

Features:

• Operation at high sample rates (up to 192kHz)
• PSP Audioware's proprietary FAT mode
• Independent processing and control of each stereo channel
• Stereo and Mid-Side operation
• High and Max resolution modes for unparalleled fidelity in the most demanding applications
• Third-octave real-time spectrum analyzer with many adjustable parameters,
• Frequency-hunting as well as overtone-hunting workflow accelerators for finding the right frequency in seconds
• Response plot auto-zooming
• EQ band soloing

Until 30th June 2011 you can buy PSP Neon HR at the special introductory price of $99 (60% off the regular price)*
Starting from 1st July 2011 regular price $249* will be applied.
(*all prices exclude taxes)
(**upgrade is free for all PSP Neon registered users)

Shangri-La: Rock Music Landmark Lists at $4.1M

"The Shangri-La recording studio was designed by Rob Fraboni in the early 1970s to the specifications of Bob Dylan and The Band. The Band drummer Levon Helm described Shangri-La as a “clubhouse and studio where we and our friends could record albums and cross-pollinate one another’s music.”
"The studio is currently owned by Beej Chaney, singer and guitar player for the 1980s new-wave band, “The Suburbs.” Chaney renovated and updated the studio."
This Malibu music landmark is currently on the market for the first time in 30 years for $4.1 million. Shen Schulz of Sotheby’s International Realty, Malibu, has the listing.
http://realestateflat.com/2011/05/19/shangri-la-rock-music-landmark-lists-at-4-1m/ 
Visit the Shangri-La website for more information on this historic studio and click on the STUDIO link for a list of the great vintage gear and the HISTORY link to learn about its beginnings as an upscale bordello to its current iconic status in the annals of music.