A new accessory for HHB's Portadrive location sound recorder (dist. by Sennheiser USA, www.sennheiserusa.com) is the PDRDSUF USB 2.0/FireWire docking station. The device accepts the Portadrive's removable HD caddy via a front panel slot for fast file transfers to Mac- and PC-based post-production systems independent of the Portadrive. The PDRDSUF includes a universal power supply for operation anywhere in the world, and ships with USB and FireWire cables. Price: $349.

The RME (www.rme-audio.com) ADI-2 is a compact, flexible 2-channel AD/DA converter. The 9.5-inch unit offers AD/DA conversion across S/PDIF, AES and ADAT formats at up to 192 kHz. Features include balanced stereo line inputs (via two Neutrik Combo jacks), a six-LED meter, a variable headphone output, and separate XLR and ¼-inch stereo line outputs. Also standard is RME's Steadyclock for low jitter performance. The unit comes with an external switching power supply and an additional internal switching power supply or it will run on standard or rechargeable batteries.

Neutrik's (www.neutrikusa.com) “AA” Series of female XLR chassis connectors offer an improved design at a lower cost. The series features a larger surface contact, gold plating at the contact mating area and exact drop-in (panel cutout and PCB layout) compatibility with comparable “A” Series part numbers. Its low-contact resistance ensures high-contact pressure for added durability.

New from Muse Research, Receptor lets users run VST plug-ins on a hardware package. This two-rackspace unit with a custom front panel interface includes audio I/O, MIDI I/O and a hard drive pre-loaded with plug-ins, with plenty of space for adding your favorites. A growing list of developers (including Fxpansion, Native Instruments and OhmForce) have announced support for the Receptor platform. For a complete list of supporting companies and more info, visit www.museresearch.com.

Sonic Studio, LLC (www.sonicstudio.com) has started shipping the first units in its new DSD/SACD product line. The Sonic Studio DSD.1 system combines the powerful Sonic Studio editing and mastering environment with the emerging standard for music recording and delivery, Direct Stream Digital and Super Audio CD. Pricing starts at $7,995.

HALion and EXS24 owners can add new thump to their sonic palette with Musicman Stingray and Fender Precision sampled basses from Wizoo (www.wizoosounds.com). The new VIs are sampled chromatically and offer a multitude of techniques and playing styles, including two positions with three to six velocity zones, dead notes and harmonics, half-tone and whole-tone slide ups, slide downs, hammer-ons and pull-offs. Even incidental noise produced by frets, hands and slides are captured for utmost authenticity. All packages feature an array of programs with rich playing options such as MIDI key triggers, pedal switches and construction kits. Seven variations of the virtual basses are available.

This $169 AGP graphics card from Matrox (www.shopmatrox.com) lets PC-based audio pros use multiple RGB or DVI monitors on their rigs. The card offers 64 MB of DDR memory, AGP 8x support, a fanless design, fully symmetric dual-display capabilities and dual-display color calibration. The stock operating mode is DualHead, but the unit can easily be upgraded to TripleHead operation by purchasing an upgrade kit ($90). The drivers support Windows 2000/XP/NT or Linux.

The rackmount SB-1000 uninterruptible power supply from Furman (www.furmansound.com) is specifically designed for live sound and studio applications, with a generous 1,000VA/600-watt capacity, a current overload alarm that activates at 10 amps total capacity and an additional alarm when in battery backup mode. The $699.95 SB-1000 provides a three-minute backup with a 5-amp RMS load, and 32 minutes of backup with a typical computer/monitor load. When used as a computer system backup, a standard UTP-RJ45 network jack allows for automatic save and shutdown of critical applications. The unit has five AC outlets, four for backup, with a 5-amp total load and one bypass outlet.

Bravo II from Primera Technology (www.primera.com) offers automated production of up to 25 CDs or DVDs per job (50 discs with kiosk mode). The unit features 2,400 to 4,800 dpi print resolution, precise AccuDisc disc picking and a USB 2.0 interface with performance said to be 20% faster than FireWire. The CD model is $2,195; the DVD version is $2,695.

Designed by John Oram, the LS101 monitors from Oram (www.oram.co.uk) feature two 5-inch LF/MF drivers and a 1-inch dome tweeter for a 30-22k Hz response. The magnetically shielded, passive cherry-veneer cabinets allow for bi-amplification, measure 17×12×7 inches and weigh 20 pounds each. Price: $799/pair.

The AMP2-S8MDA from Wohler Technologies (www.wohler.com) is targeted toward broadcasters who are seeking multichannel monitoring and conversion in the HD domain. The AMP2-S8MDA is a two-rackspace box that features eight tri-color LED bargraphs, front panel group/channel-select and Wohler's AMP Series self-powered speaker system. The unit accepts two SDI inputs on BNCs (either HD-SDI or SD-SDI) and provides powerful demuxing capabilities with eight channels of analog and AES audio out demuxed from the HD/SD-SDI inputs. Price: $6,950.

The new H3000 Band Delays plug-in from Eventide (www.eventide.com) is derived from the popular Eventide H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer effects processor. The H3k plug brings a bit of the old, yet offers plenty of fresh thinking by providing hot keys that offer four top-level editing controls and eight tempo-based delays, each with programmable resonant filters and independent panning controls.

Discrete's $99 Eric Darken Collection comprises entirely new percussion loops not included in any other set. Eric Darken blends sounds from traditional percussion instruments with his arsenal of “found” percussion elements, such as curtain rod, briefcase, humidifier, laundry basket, door slam and many others. The two-disc set (one CD-ROM of 16-bit/44.1k .WAV files and an audio CD for reference) features all percussion elements on separate tracks, enabling users to mix their own loops. Pre-mixed stereo loop files are also included in Normal and Whacked modes. Hear it at www.discretedrums.com.

Any book that demystifies Emagic Logic is a good thing, and Logic 6 Power! from Muska & Lipman Publishing (www.muskalipman.com) claims to do just that. Written by Orren Merton (who helps moderate the Logic User Group), the $29.99, 450-page book offers a reference to the most commonly used features of the latest version of Logic, explaining them simply and thoroughly.

SpectrumWorx from Delaydots is a $99 new modular effect processor plug-in that works exclusively in the frequency domain. The plug-in includes up to 2,048 bands of frequency processing, a switchable eight-slot mono sampler, different plug-in signal flow modes and a preset library. The plug requires Windows 9x/XP/NT/2000, an 800MHz or faster CPU (SSE compatibility recommended), 128MB RAM and a VST-compatible host application. Download a demo version at www.delaydots.com.

Version 1.2 of the Cambridge series audio restoration and noise-suppression processors from CEDAR (www.cedaraudio.com) features a new Adaptive Filter Pack that forms the basis of the CEDAR Cambridge Forensic System. New processes include Declickle, a combined declicker/decrackler; the NR-4 dehisser, offering the latest incarnation of CEDAR's noise-free EQ; Declip, a genuine de-clipping algorithm that identifies and removes most instances of clipping in a single real-time pass; and DNS to eliminate broadband noise such as traffic and air conditioning.

The NY-2A from Electro-Harmonix (www.ehx.com) is a 2-channel tube studio compressor in a three-rackspace chassis. The unit features a choice of three opto-coupler (slow incandescent, high-velocity clear LED or electro-luminescent panel) light sources, Lundahl transformer I/O and VU, and EM80 “magic eye” output displays. Retail is $2,999.

For tight spots where traditional racks make servicing installed gear difficult, MAP (www.middleatlantic.com) offers the WR Series of roll-out rotating racks. The WR units have a detachable rack frame housed in a 32-inch-deep protective host enclosure. Racks can be rolled out and rotated 60° for easy access to rear connections. Ample knockouts on the rack sides allow ganging two or more racks, with cables passed between them. Available in 44- and 37RU heights, the unit holds up to 750 pounds of gear and has 26 inches of usable depth.

UPGRADES AND UPDATES
Eventide (www.eventide.com) has begun shipping its new Reverb and Octavox Harmonizer diatonic pitch-shifter plug-ins for Pro Tools (Mac V. 5.1.3 or greater). Octavox ($595) is based on the multivoice pitch shifter from the Orville and is the first Eventide Harmonizer eight-voice diatonic pitch-shifter plug-in…Lynx Studio Technology now offers the latest Mac OS X support for all of its 24-bit, 196kHz digital audio interfaces. The OS X CoreAudio drivers give complete software control over every aspect of the AES16 and AES16-SRC, easing installation and use. All drivers are available for immediate and free download at www.lynxstudio.com…Gepco International (www.gepco.com) brightens its 61801EZ single-pair audio cable line, now available in 20 different colors with a new riser-rated PVC jacket, allowing more color-coding options and improved flexibility. New jacket colors include lime green, tan, royal blue, plum and chrome, among others…Studer (www.studer.ch) announces the availability of Version 3.3 software for its entire range of large-format digital consoles. The V. 3.3 software release is applicable to all three consoles using the D950 processing core: the D950 M2, Vista 6 and Vista 7. All three consoles benefit by having improved snapshot facilities in Static mode, an Undo function for snapshot recall, snapshot crossfades over any interval up to 100 seconds and protection against accidentally changing patched connections…Symbolic Sound (www.symbolicsound.com) has announced that Kyma X is now shipping. Kyma X delivers more than 70 breakthrough features including a new look, a 432-page book of never-before-documented Kyma secrets, a new editor where users can create their own tools and add them to the Tools menu and substantial changes in the underlying structure that make it possible for Kyma to run under Mac OS X and Windows XP and 2000 (while maintaining compatibility with OS 9, Win ME and Win 98)…The BOSS (www.bossus.com) BR-1600CD Digital Recording Studio is now shipping. It's capable of recording up to eight XLR or ¼-inch inputs simultaneously and playing back 16 tracks of digital audio. The BR-1600CD ($1,595) comes loaded with COSM modeling effects, a Vocal Tool Box, a 40GB hard drive, CD-RW drive, USB and more.