Free Plug-ins This Week: Distortion, Loudness Meter 2 and Pure Mono synth

We found three wo fantastic free plug-ins you can download right away: a distinct and unusual distortion called Tarabia, the Youlean loudness meter and Hora Music's free Pure Mono synth. Enjoy!

OP-Z: Teenage Engineering’s grey slab of mystery available for preorder

With the OP-Z they plan to push more boundaries, annoy more people and reach new levels of hipster smugness. 16 tracks of sequencing covering drums, synths, sampling, MIDI, CV, lights and video - and it's tiny.

Epiphone Slash Firebird: An affordable version of Gibson’s $7699 ‘SlashBird’

This great-looking limited edition new signature guitar for Slash offers a (way, way) cheaper way of getting a Slash-endorsed Firebird than last year's eye-wateringly expensive Gibson model.

Touché SE: affordable version of the wobbly block USB expressive controller thing

Become one with the Touché SE wobbly block controller and you'll be gesturing your control over all your software instruments. This USB only version is a great price for a fabulous amount of nuance and ...

Get your Krell on with the TipTop Audio Forbidden Planet Analog Filter

TipTop Audios new Steiner-Parker inspired multi-mode analog filter is going to take your Eurorack into orbit! Forbidden Planet combines the usual 3 modes with some unusual CV control - things could get spacey.

Generator: next generation three channel step sequencer now generally available

The second batch of Analogue Solutions 3-channel, CV and gate sequencer are ready and the Generator is now generally available. Could this be the modular controller you've been looking for?

Gibson bankruptcy: Guitar maker to leave Chapter 11 by October

Financial news outlets and trade press have been reporting that Gibson is likely to leave bankruptcy in a matter of weeks. But the news doesn't have us jumping for joy just yet.

Ozone 8 Elements: How to get it for free (well, almost…)

Fed up with emails flogging "great deals" on software? This one is worth checking out: Ozone Elements 8 is going for (nearly) nothing, that's USD 129 off. Just spend $1 and give them your data.

Valve vs. solid state guitar amps: Can you guess which is which?

One of these three (very different-sounding) amps is a transistor amp, the other two are valve amps. Can you guess which amp is the solid state one? And what does "valve tone" mean, anyway?

Circuit Happy uncovers “The Missing Link” between Ableton Link and analogue gear

Having trouble getting all your synths and laptops to sync together at your local synth jam? The Missing Link will fill in the gaps by turning Ableton Link into 5V Clock - but how many will you need?

Roland’s AX-Edge keytar with custom blades couldn’t be more metal

Equal parts nuts and awesome the AX-Edge is the coolest thing ever. Any normal person would feel ridiculous but in the hands of the right sort of extrovert this thing is gonna rock!

Roland makes the JUNO-DS61 slightly larger: Enter the JUNO-DS76!

I was so frustrated that the JUNO-DS61 felt a little small and yet the JUNO-DS88 was too many notes for me to cope with. With the new 76-keyed JUNO-DS76 I couldn't be happier.

iZotope RX7 and RX Post Production Suite 3 now available

The seventh generation of RX is spread across RX 7 Advanced and the RX Post Production Suite, which focus on the needs of audio post professionals, while RX 7 Standard and RX Elements solve common audio issues.

Steinberg Nuendo Live 2 with metering and monitoring improvements

Steinberg has beefed up its Nuendo Live application for V2, with new functions like automated background processes, high-visibility monitoring, a pre-record buffer, and compatibility with Nuendo.

Make Noise reinvent René – their three dimensional prism of composition

Make Noise's Cartesian sequencer has evolved into a third dimension so you can now snake in one dimension while Cartesianing in two others, simultaneously. And it all lights up, which is nice.

Polyfusion comes back to modular after 40 years to give us a Series 3000

UPDATED! Polyfusion came out of Moog in the 1970's and pushed modular forwards. They're back to reintroduce their monster Series 2000 modular in a smaller, future-looking form as the Series 3000.

Lectrosonics’ SPDR stereo field recorder: Dual channel recording at a premium price

Lectrosonics has introduced the SPDR Stereo Portable Digital Recorder, a stereo version of its PDR micro digital recorder and priced squarely in the professional category.

Digital Brain Instruments’ Transformer is a sample mangler and VST host

With convolution processing, Transformer is able to load samples, microphone and virtual instrument inputs; and morph them into sounds unexpected and unknown. It adds new sound layers to existing audio this ...

Sennheiser to debut affordable IE 40 PRO in-ears in late September

At USD 100, the IE 40 PRO has proprietary Sennheiser drivers, low distortion, neodymium magnets and a peak sound pressure level of 115dB. Sounds promising.

Pay what you want for the RE4ORM synth and RE4ORM FX, half goes to charity

RE4ORM is an additive synthesizer that lets you draw and warp the shape of both the additive synth waveform and the multi-filter modulation LFO. And RE4ORM FX gives you eight of these to play with!

Vanguard Audio touts its aggressively priced V4 FET condenser mic

The Vanguard V4 has the characteristics of several classic FET mics, achieved via modern design methods. Crafted in Southern California, the mic is based on a 34mm edge-terminated, gold-sputtered 3um dual ...

Slate VRS8 audio interface finally available for purchase

Spending over an year in "announced but not released" hell, the Slate Digital VRS8 audio interface is finally available for purchase at the quite competitive price of EUR 2099. You get 8 preamps and 0.7ms ...

Otto’s DIY Cookbook – handy recipes for Eurorack modular DIY

Otto's DIY Prototyping Environment is getting a Cookbook with recipes for building Eurorack modules. This free download kicks off with a simple VCO and teaches you about synthesis and circuits at the same time.

The ATOM: small but mighty performance pad controller from PreSonus

The small but mighty ATOM is a compact performance pad controller with lots of special Studio One integration. Perfect for banging out beats on the Impact XT drum machine.