Cjed Audio News 2005-11


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11-30-05 / 02:13 AM : Ueberschall : Liquid Guitar Virtual vol.3 (cjed)

Ueberschall ships a new version of its acclaimed Liquid Guitar virtual instrument, dedicated to acoustic and electric guitars. The library consists of phrases played with various models and effects/amps, on a DVD (169 euros), that can be tweaked as wanted through a piano roll type graphical editor (the melody can be modified entirerly). Demos are available here.

11-30-05 / 02:00 AM : Broadband Tuner 1.0 : speed connections (cjed)

Apple provides Broadband Tuner, an utility that allows to speed up (or make more responsive) internet connections, notably with high speed connections (ADSL2+). It sets TCP buffer size longer to achieve better performance, even on more modest connections.

11-30-05 / 01:21 AM : Firefox 1.5 / foXpose plugin (cjed)

Firefox new 1.5 version is out. It brings these enhancements : a new version of the Gecko engine (native support of SVG 1.1, enhanced support of CSS3), automatic update system, tabs reorganization through drag and drop, a better pop-up blocking system, a mean of clearing its nvigation traces, better RSS fees managements... Among the update are also MacOSX specific optimisations, notably the use of Quartz instead of Quickdraw. A new version of Camino is expected soon.
Not to forget a cool plugin for Firefox, Viamatic foXpose (you have to download it from Firefox to proper install it) allows an overview display of tabs alla Exposé.

11-30-05 / 12:24 AM : Review : Trois enterrements (cjed)

First film from Tommy Lee Jones as a director (he also acts in the main role here), Trois enterrements shows a great talent, from a technical point (image, lightning, sound, acting supervision) and from an artistic authenticity point. This trip consisting in a redemption brings true characters, without any artifice, and shows some of cinical but diverting humor. The director plays in espagnol, some returning to sources ? In fact we enter deeply in the heart of America, as if we were there ; texan characters are very well portayed, and landscapes are superb.
We find here some of Bagdad Café, with a far more less boring result, even if during these 2h there isn't so many events. Far better than the recent Broken Flowers, and close to the icelandic movie Noi Albinoi (2003) by the approach.

11-29-05 / 12:03 AM : NeoOffice / Seashore = OpenOffice / Gimp (cjed)

NeoOffice is a version of OpenOffice targeted for MacOSX. It is based upon Java 1.4.x instead of X11, so that the rendering is made through Aqua native widgets, there is no more that intrusive Motif look. The software manages the new Open Document format and is compatible with Microsoft Office files. It is here.
Besides we can find Seashore, an imaging software packaged as a Cocoa application, based on The GIMP.s

11-28-05 / 11:48 PM : Guitar Pro 5 RSE (cjed)

Only available on PC (but planned for Mac), the famous tabs player Guitar Pro ships in version 5, that unveils a new audio engine for playback, based on samples (various guitars, bass and a drum set) and amp sim effects. Stunning demonstrations are available here (choose the RSE ones). A demo is downloadable, PC only.
There is an opensource project, DGuitar that allows playing (also on Mac, it is a Java application) with more or less success Guitar Pro 3 and 4 files. Thousands of these files can be found on the internet.

11-28-05 / 11:25 PM : Gigfiles.com : free samples (cjed)

The site Gigfiles.com sells samples for various formats (mainly Giga Studio), through a membership. However we can sign in for a free account and access (only) to two free download areas. We find here samples for all common formats (rar.gz compressed, some are limited to only 2 octaves) :
M3R drum Kit (6,9 Mo), PanPipes (111 Mo), BIG Synths banks (35,5 Mo), Hybrid piano Flanged, EMX-1 kits (8,2 Mo), Neptune 2 banks, SteinwayC banks, Pleyel banks, Hybrid Piano banks, Bosendorfer banks.

11-28-05 / 10:47 PM : VSL Instruments : new version (cjed)

Vienna Symphonic Library presented a new version of its Vienna Instruments (due to january 2006), 10 instruments covering these families : Solo Strings, Chamber Strings, Orchestral Strings I, Orchestral Strings II, Harps, Woodwinds I, Woodwinds II, Brass I, Brass II, Percussion. The full version, Symphonic Cube, contains 550 Go of 24 bits samples, at 3900 euros (500 euros on average for a single instrument/family). The new audio engine brings a matrix patch selection that allows to switch easily between articulations. Then we are no longer limited with factory settings (like in SO Gold).
Demonstration videos are available here.s

11-27-05 / 11:24 PM : Akoustik Piano VS The Grand 2 VS Complete Piano (cjed)

Audiofanzine definitively does a great job these days to catch up with paper audio magazines, providing a lot of deep reviews ! This time we get a comparative test (big, 10 pages !) of new virtual pianos NI Akoustik Piano and Steinberg The Grand 2. Some recordings are provided, made from the same midifiles, in order to make its own opinion.
I added the ultimate test, a recording made from my XV-5050 and the Complete Piano card. With only 64 Mo (7 Go for NI's one and 3,5 for Steinberg's one) it is another proof that sample size isn't the sole factor, experience from manufacturers like Roland is a plus (the same is true for Kurzweil's pianos) :

Tenderly (Complete Piano - SuperbGrand)
Tenderly (Complete Piano - SuperbGrandJ4)
Tenderly (Akoustik Piano - Steinway)
Tenderly (The Grand II)
Tenderly (KurzweilPC88)
s

11-27-05 / 08:27 PM : Reminiscence : play Flashback on OSX (cjed)

Flashback is a famous game that shipped in 1992, following the wonderful Another World written entirerly by a french genius, Eric Chahi (also the creator of the later acclaimed Heart of Darkness). Reminiscence is a virtual machine allowing to play the original game (it requires the original files) under MacOS X (like ScumVM for LucasArts games). It's here.

11-27-05 / 08:02 PM : Jenfi Home-Studio (cjed)

Jenfi Home-Studio is a personnal site about pro music that provides numerous articles dealing with midi, audio and instruments (some are recent). We also find some common midifiles and some compositions. It's here.s

11-27-05 / 07:56 PM : Armagetron Advanced : play Tron over internet (cjed)

Armagetron Advanced is a Tron type game that looks like the famous GLTron. However it offers some new playability wich is quite pleasant, and it brings net game feature, allowing to play with other people ! It's available on Mac and PC.

11-25-05 / 02:32 AM : Another Electro Imp (cjed)

Another short demo made quickly to demoed some audio softwares :
OtherFun.mp3

11-25-05 / 01:10 AM : IMG : Myst V review (cjed)

InsideMacGame publishes a detailed review of Myst V. I agree with them, the spotline is some of deconnected from previous chapters, graphics are less stunning despite use of 3D, musics are less immersive... there isn't simply the past genius here, and the result is average ! However i disagree concerning the low difficulty level, as i found the original Myst (first game) to be the most logical and straightforward.

11-25-05 / 12:11 AM : Best Services : Complete Classical Collection (cjed)

Best Services presents Complete Classical Collection, that brings for 249 euros many products : the famous Advanced Orchestra (orchestral phrases providing various emotions, useful for movies), Classical Choirs (100 mixte choirs), Orchestral Colours (hits, finales, orchestral layers), and Total Piano (a Boesendorfer).
It takes 11 Go on 2 DVDs. The demo is here.

11-24-05 / 11:55 PM : Peter Siedlaczeks : String Essentials (cjed)

Best Service now ships String Essentials, a new samples library for Kontakt based on the work of Peter Siedlaczeks. Totalizing 17 Go, we find here 14 violins, 10 violas, 8 cellos and 6 contrabasses, recorded with 5 different lengths, 3 to 4 velocity layers and 3 mics positions (dry, normal, added natural reverb - surround compatible). Sound characteristics can be altered through Midi controlers, and it manages trills.
A demo is here. The sound is very present, deep and warm, compared with metallic sounding of SO Gold one (even if judging from demos is difficult).
Price is 349 euros (499 euros bundled with Complete Classical Collection).

11-23-05 / 10:30 PM : MacGLide 0.11 : play old 3dfx games (cjed)

MacGLide, an utility allowing to play back old games requiring a 3dfx card (or providing software rendering as the only alternative), has been updated. The rendering quality is now better and closer to the original result. Moreover the antialiasing can be activated. It works under Classic or directly on OS9. Now we will be able to play well in TombRaider games, Carmageddon 2, Falcon 4, FA/18 Korea, Unreal 1, Deep Space 9 - The Fallen, Myth, or the fantastic Deus Ex (in order to avoid the ClassicRave rendering bug where animated textures are rendered still).
MacGLide 0.11

11-23-05 / 10:16 PM : ATIccelerator II 1.0.6 (cjed)

ATIccelerator, the famous utility allowing to overclock ATI cards (processor and video memory), has been updated. It doesn't require a reboot nor the use of OS9.

11-22-05 / 11:41 PM : Convolution reverbs : article (cjed)

Audiofanzine published a vast article (10 pages !) upon convolution reverberations. This process, that is demanding a lot of processor power, spreaded through most softwares since the famous Altiverb. We can now find some of these effects bundled in products such as Kontakt 2.

11-22-05 / 08:13 PM : Gizmo : an alternative to Skype (cjed)

Gizmo is a multi-platform voice over IP software (as Skype). It offers numerous features and a polished interface. Moreover it can integrate seamlessly with Call out, a low cost service allowing to make call to regular lines or mobile phones.

s

11-21-05 / 11:39 PM : Rhem 2 demo (cjed)

Rhem 2 demo is available here. As for the first episode, graphics aren't as good as in original Myst, however the sound environment is rich.

11-21-05 / 10:16 PM : Interview of Jonathan Ive (cjed)

The Telegraph made an interview of Jonathan Ive, the genius Apple's designer responsible for the iMac, iPod, laptops and powerMac G5 shapes.

11-21-05 / 10:09 PM : 10.4.3 cracked for Intel / graphic acceleration (cjed)

MacOSX 10.4.3 might now work on every Intel PC (even old), and for the first time take profit from hardware accelerated graphics (Quartz Extreme, Core Image) through ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. In these forums from osx86project some think Apple will use an Intel graphic chip in the first Mactel, meanly for cost purposes.

11-21-05 / 01:49 AM : Store Wars : video (cjed)

Here is a well known joke about Starwars, Store Wars.

11-21-05 / 01:26 AM : Lego Starwars : vidéo (cjed)

The feeling was great during the starwars special event on thursday, at midnight at the Champs Elysées, in honor to the Starwars Episode III DVD : "as real" stormtroopers and boba fet at the Virgin entrance, suited young people (less convaincing) at the Fnac entrance, with lightning and smoke. I din't hurry so much, so i missed the last free tickets for the Starwars expo at the Villette. Besides i got this 5 minutes video (35 Mo) of 3D Lego (MP4 H264 video, MP4 AAC audio, save and play with VLC as it strangely doesn't work with QT).
If it ever doesn't work there is a smaller version compatible with Quicktime.

11-20-05 / 04:58 PM : Ready for Google Analytics (cjed)

The site is now integrated with Google Analytics, a free service available to holders of a Gmail account. It will provide complementary analysis data to Free reporting panels, and is aimed towards bizness (sales analysis, popularity counters for internet ads incomes). Indeed it can work seamlessly with AdWords, another Google service.
When subscribing to Google Analytics, i didn't receive any confirmation email (precisely i couldn't finish the last subscription step, i got a blank page - it was probably due to high demand), however some days after i could connect to the service. Then i only had to add this tracking code in a global page (include page). The personnal tracking code can be obtained in the Analytics Settings > Tracking Status.
<script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript">
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
_uacct="UA-xxxx-x";
urchinTracker();
</script>
As Macgénération said in this news, " l'information n'est pas non plus essentielle, on en conviendra" :) : Google Analytics doesnt's work well with Safari (ok under Firefox). Fot those willing to continue using Safari, i found a fix in this article, you just have to make the page render again, changing for example the text size (through Apple "-" and Apple "+" keys combination).

Google Analytics

11-17-05 / 02:24 AM : Zero-G Outer Limits (cjed)

Zero-G will ship starting december a new virtual instrument based on Kompakt engine, Outer Limits, aimed towards sound textures (as the acclaimed Atmosphere from Spectrasonics). For 169 euros you get 500 classified in these categories : Digital Manipulations, Distorted Views, Heavy Drones, Machine Dreams, Minimalism, One Shot Synth FX, Outer Limits, Surreal to Real, Transcendental, Twisted Pads, Vintage Synth Atmos, Vocal Transformations et White Noise Atmospheres.
It is here for the demos.

11-16-05 / 11:48 AM : SW Force FX Lightsabers (cjed)

ThinkGeek sells "lightsabers" alla Starwars at 119$. Obviously the blade is not retractable nor removable, it's made of polycarbonate, but the glowing effect is progressive, from bottom to top. Moreover original sound effects are included, and they are dynamic (thanks to motion sensors). There are 3 versions, it's here.
We can find them at the Fnac (149 euros, promo) or cinereplicas.fr, notably Luke Skywalker's saber.

11-15-05 / 12:07 AM : Doom on iPod : the videos (cjed)

iDoom, that makes available at download a modified version of Doom I for the ipods, provides some videos of this game running on an iPod mini, an ipod nano and an ipod photo. On colors models (including ipod nano) the rendering (and speed !) is amazing, it has nothing to be ashamed for, compared with the result on an old LC475 from this time.

11-14-05 / 11:54 PM : ToolX : a serious challenger to Onyx (cjed)

Cuk.ch prpovides a detailed test of ToolX, an utility like Onyx, aimed at activating some "hidden" (accessible through the terminal) settings of MacOSX : display of hidden files, Quartz 2D Extreme activation, crontab file edition, and notably unix optimization tasks (daily, weekly, monthly). It gathers various system utilities features in one control panel, in a presentation close to the System settings. The user interface is better organized (despite being less polished) than Onyx's one and it brings extra functionnalities.

11-11-05 / 04:33 PM : Sonic Reality : World Traveler (cjed)

World Traveler is a samples CD-ROM in AKAI format, filled with ethnic stringed instruments : "Greek Bouzouki, Turkish Saz, Indian Sitar and Tambura, Spanish Nylon Guitars, Russian Balalaika, Mariachi Bass, Finnish Kantele, Zither, Psaltry, Hurdy-Gurdy and Hammered Dulcimers including an Indian Santoor, African, Latin and Exotic percussion maps, Accordions, Harmoniums and wind instruments like, Australian Didjeridoo, Native American Wood Flute, Pan Flutes". A demo is available here and there is also a listing of programs.s

11-11-05 / 04:13 PM : U2 Vertigo 2005 DVD : the Party Girl (cjed)

First DVD from the U2's Vertigo 2005 tour will be out november, 14. As for the Elevation tour, some fans have had a short moment of glory, as we learn in Laura's party girl story. She played with the band during some concerts in Chicago. These scenes would have been removed from the DVD despites she signed a waive, so it has to be confirmed it is not a hidden bonus.
Party Girl story

11-11-05 / 03:07 AM : Korg SP250 demos / Roland Complete Piano (cjed)

Korg made available demos of new SP-250 digital piano. Here are some of theses, compared with same songs played on my XV-5050 fitted with the Complete Piano card :
Fantaisie (SP250)  Fantaisie (XV SuperbGrand)  Fantaisie (XV SuperbGrandJ4)
Traumerei (SP250)  Traumerei (XV SuperbGrand)  Traumerei (XV SuperbGrandJ4)
Entertainer (SP250)  Entertainer (XV RagtimeGd)  Entertainer (XV AntiqueUprit)

These recordings have been added to the arrangements library, more are coming (dozens of arrangements made these last 15 years).s

11-11-05 / 02:51 AM : Korg : new TR workstations line (cjed)

Following Yamaha, Korg announced a new products line derived from theTriton Extreme, the TR workstations, that provide limited functionnalities (less sample memory, less polyphony, less extensibility). A demo is available here.

11-10-05 / 01:39 AM : Yellow Tools Culture (cjed)

Culture is a 9 Go library (2 DVDs) of percussion samples : industrial, orchestral, ethnic, world. The demos sound fantastic.

11-09-05 / 11:49 PM : StarWars Revelations : free award movie (cjed)

While listening to a great demo on soundsonline.com (in november's Contest) i discovered the web site of its author, that is also the composer for the soundtrack of a non-profit film called StarWars Revelations (40mn). Is work is presented here. The musics, in the J. Williams style, seem having being composed with EWQL Symphonic Orchestra. In the intro we can listen to rearranged versions of songs from original movies (completely recorded again with orchestral samples library).
On the film's web site we have access to a variety of video formats (free, even in DVD !) : Windows Media Player (250 Mo), Quicktime (250Mo), DVD (one for the film, on for the making-of, totalizing 8 Go, that can be downloaded through torrent links or very fast FTP links). We can also choose the Divx Media format (411 Mo), a good compromise for reasonable size an great quality. New Divx Media 6 also provides new navigation capabilities (like DVDs) : chapters, choice of subtitles... It is not yet available for Mac, although it is compatible with the Divx6 extension installed by last Toast Titanium 7 - only subtitles don't work, the sound is far more better than in the smaller Quicktime version).
The realization is unbelievable, however for acting and casting there is some work yet to reach pro level...

11-09-05 / 10:40 PM : Kate Bush : Aerial (cjed)

Kate Bush makes a come back with a new album, Aerial, that required close to ten years of work. The artist confirmed the difficulty of the task on her wonderful site, let yoursleves carrying on... Audio quality is very good, despite the strange voice, in fact there is a lot of work on sound design (and perhaps the influence of Gorillaz for animals sounds ?) Adding a good reverb makes it sound real !
Besides the well known King of the Mountain (that entered directly at the 4st rank in the UK's charts !), we find here other well done tracks : How to be invisible and its effective bass and asian like sounds, that reminds me a track from DeusEx game's soundtrack, An Architect's Dream that is based seriously on MJ's HeartSong (i pardon her for that), the flying Nocture, and the interesting Aerial.

11-08-05 / 12:29 AM : Yamaha new MO synth line (cjed)

Yamaha announced shipping of a new synth line (successors of the Motif ES) for january 2006, the MO6/8 (nothing to do with the Thomson's 80's computers of the same names...) Few changes compared with the Motif ES (same samples memory - 175 Mo) but the arpeggiator was improved, as remote control / communication with computer's software sequencers.
There is a video presentation alla Tron (nice), and some audio demos, frankly not good sounding.

11-07-05 / 01:05 AM : Altiverb new impulse file : next door (cjed)

Audioease, editor of the famous Altiverb convolution reberb, made available at download an impulse file that reproduces the characteristics of sound being heard from another room in a house : choice of the room (closest, farthest, floor), configuration of the doors (opened/closed). It can be useful for post-production, to replace a bad recording, or to add new elements to existing recordings. There is a graphical flash demo here.

11-06-05 / 09:17 PM : Safari passed the Acid2 test (cjed)

Safari, in its new revision (included with OSX 10.4.3 update), conforms with web standards checked by the Acid2 test. This is also the case for iCab, Konqueror, and soon Opera, but not yet for IE nor Firefox. As always, respect of standards does not mean widest compatibility with web sites, as theses are mostly bad programmed, and tested with IE (on PC).

11-06-05 / 09:05 PM : Short review of X-Plane 8 from SVM Mac (cjed)

SVM Mac previously made available a short review of X-Plane 8 on their web site. The article is here. TeamSpeex, an unsupported mac version of TeamSpeak PC conversation software, allows to chat with other players. In this domain there is a new utility, Ventrilo, also Mac to PC compatible.

11-06-05 / 08:41 PM : Maradio : widget for french radios (cjed)

To complement international iTunes's radios streams (notably the great VirginRadio UK), Maradio allows to listen to most french radios, including public radios, private radios, news radios, radios from Belgium, Canada, overseas (more than fourty for now). This Dashboard widget is a donationwhare that can be downloaded here.

It is less ressource hungry than iTunes radios (6% of CPU on a G4 1,25Ghz, compared with variable 5% to 15% use for iTunes). Broadcasting rate is note specified, but it varies continuously between 10 ko/s (80 kbits/s) and 40 kbits (320 kbits/s), due to a suspected large buffering, so it corresponds to a quite confortable rate (probably as high as 128 kbits/s), whereas with iTunes breaks can occur (depends from the moment of the day, sometimes the rate goes down to 64 kbits, from 128 kbits).

11-05-05 / 01:06 AM : Registration to musique-libre.org (cjed)

Surfing on the open source wave, the site musique-libre.org is a portal for artists, that provides links to their work (no storage space). Once registered, the artist (or band) has access to charts, statistics, an automatic playlist of referenced songs, podcasts, message box, forums.

The original feature of the site is to make at disposal some licences, aimed at music. My heading is here. As to conform with SNAC deposit, i choosed the "Creative Commons - by-nc-nd 2.0 " licence, more restrictive (does not allow use of published work neither commercial use, but only listening and diffusion).

11-05-05 / 12:14 AM : Rhem 2 out (cjed)

Rhem 2 is the sequel of an adventure game alla Myst. First chapter was plaged with poor graphics. We hope this one will raise the quality, as challengers like Ages of Ilathid are not far. Rhem 2 is available on Amazon.

11-05-05 / 12:03 AM : Arturia / Ircam Brass (cjed)

Brass is a new virtual instrument derived from physical models of trumpet, sax and trombone.
Developped by Arturia in collaboration with the Ircam, this software allows to modify dynamically various physical parameters, and manages breath controlers, famous from Yamaha synthesizers of the mid 80's.

11-04-05 / 02:42 AM : New SO Gold demo with choirs (cjed)

Here is a new short simple demo made using SO Gold (only strings), with added choirs and percussion (Taiko).
SYM Oni
(mp3 192 kb)

11-03-05 / 10:38 PM : Myst V reviews / walkthrough (cjed)

There is two new Myst V reviews, one from Adventure Gamers, another from Computer Gaming World. They are not hard with the game, compared with jeux video or Gamespot reviews, wich say Myst V is just good. There is a walkthrough here (french). Some note a short life time for the game, and less cute graphics than in precedent chapters.

11-03-05 / 09:58 PM : Cubase SE 3 (cjed)

Steinberg provides a comparative sheet of various Cubase SX3 products line features : LE, SE, SL. Playback sells SE3 for 149 euros. This version doest not manage external effects insertion, a new feature from SX3 only (and you know how far better hardware effects rack sound...)

Despite being sufficient for most of work, SE3 hides a penalizing limitation : it does not support freeze of audio tracks, so it becomes very difficult to work with ressource hungry virtual instruments like Kontakt 2, notably with huge libraries like Symphonic Orchestra. In this area Logic Express is then required for average users.

11-02-05 / 12:35 AM : Halloween's day (cjed)

Some photos of Halloween's first part night (pub Le port d'Amsterdam) are available here. Other are coming. Nothing from "La Monstrueuse nuit Halloween" (Espace Duhesme, second part), however it was fantastic...