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| 01-31-08 / 11:41 PM : Rhodes return (cjed) |
| Rhodes announced that the production of the famous electric pianos will start again, after 25 years. We should see a Mark 7 soon. |
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| 01-31-08 / 11:33 PM : Realsamples Grand Piano - Erard Pianoforte (cjed) |
| Realsamples provides audio demos of its new piano samples library, Grand Piano (Erard Pianoforte) - Edition Beurmann. It brings 32, 16 and 8 velocity layers and 24 bits/192 Khz samples. It is priced 120$. |
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| 01-31-08 / 02:03 AM : Factory : Vange like new age (cjed) |
 This new age song uses Analog Factory 2 demo sounds, as well as Kontakt 2 (rhythm loop) and Colossus (piano pad, bass and guitar) :Factory |
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| 01-30-08 / 11:10 PM : EastWest Goliath : new instruments list (cjed) |
| EastWest now gives the list of new instruments found in Goliath (8 Gb new samples compared with Colossus) : DRUMS/PERCUSSION (
Custom Congas, Distorted Beatbox, EW Studio 2 Ludwig Kit, Radiostatic Anamoly, Rhythmic Synth FX, Tong Zi, Tambourines, Tibetan Bell), GUITARS (Concert Guitar, Fender Telecaster, Fender 5 String Bass, Hard Rock Rhythm Guitar, Les Paul Guitar, Ska Guitar), KEYBOARD/MALLET (Italian Accordion), ORCHESTRA (New Flute, Staccato Flute, 6 French Horns, Legato Violins and Cellos, Marcato Violins and Cellos, Orchestral Percussion Kit, new Trumpet, Staccato Trumpet, new solo Violin), PIANO/ELECTRIC PIANO (PMI Bosendorfer 290 - full version -), CHOIR/VOCAL (New Basses, Tenors, Altos, Sopranos and Boys Choir, Solo Boy, Solo Female Vocals). For owners of Colossus, by keeping the Kontakt 2 licence, the upgrade costs 200 euros (plus the required iLok key). Those having buyed Symphonic Orchestra and Symphonic Choirs should expect a great quality for the new drum kit (EW Studio 2 Ludwig), new guitars and Bosendorfer piano (famous), for the purchase to be useful. However no audio demos of the new instruments are available yet. The online demos are the ones from Colossus. |
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| 01-30-08 / 10:50 PM : Roland RD700GX et Fantom G : videos (cjed) |
| Roland provides videos (from NAMM) of its new products (RD700GX, Fantom G). The RD700GX features a new piano sound (no audio demo yet except the video), a 256 Mb ROM (same size as Fantom G), and allows to play any audio file from a plugged USB key. Moreover these samples can be assigned to the keyboard, and speed and tune can be ajusted in real time. A rebate is announced for the old Fantom X series, for example 200$ plus an SRX12 card on a Fantom X8 purchase (the average price - without promotion - is 2600$), however the new Fantom G8 (3000$) seems a better choice (two times more ROM size, new keyboard). |
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| 01-28-08 / 09:31 PM : Steinway & Sons and Garritan : piano software (cjed) |
| Steinway & Sons and Garritan announced a venture to produce a realistic piano samples library (due to Winter, 2008). |
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| 01-28-08 / 09:19 PM : Roland RD-700GX et 300GX (cjed) |
 Roland presented the RD-700GX and RD-300GX, that replace the SX. The 700GX onboards 256Mb samples and an electric piano derived from the SuperNATURAL system from Fantom G. It can also receive two SRX expansion cards (128 voices polyphony and 16 multitimbral parts). The keyboard, of type PHA II Ivory Feel, provides ivory touch feel. Many Midi outputs and programmable zones make this digital piano a perfect master keyboard (it also features a pitch bend/modulation lever). |
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| 01-28-08 / 12:39 AM : Best graphic card for MDD G4 (cjed) |
| The Radeon 9800 Pro is the most powerful graphic card available for MDD G4 (uses a dedicated power connector from the MDD power supply), and it provides stunning games performances compared with the stock Radeon 9000 Pro (without mentioning new compatible games and Core Image hardware acceleration). We can find the card for 239 euros at Macway (initially priced 399$ in 2003), or flash a PC version (60 euros from ebay, choose a 128Mo 256bits from Saphirre, GeCube, Club3D, or PowerColor). Flash it, from a PC, or from a mac, using a 128ko rom reduced to 64ko - found on these sites. However it seems that these cards do not work for a long time, due to heat dissipation problems in MDD : power supply, CPU heatsink, memory and GPU are very close from each other. |
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| 01-28-08 / 12:29 AM : Call of Duty 4 : preview (cjed) |
| IMG propvides a previeww of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, that will be ported to mac by Aspyr Media. The game still plays well on an imac under Bootcamp. |
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| 01-28-08 / 12:21 AM : MacPro 4 Core 2,8 Ghz : the best choice (cjed) |
| Macworld completed its benchs of new MacPro with results from the 8 core 3Ghz model and from the 4 core 2,8 Ghz model (built to order by removing one processor). Then we can compare the 4 core 2,8 Ghz (2049 euros) with the base configuration (8 core 2,8 Ghz, 2499 euros). As hopped, the 8 core model is only 7% faster on average, and notably doesn't speed games or common applications (gains are showed only in specific 3D applications and some encoding formats). Moreover the base Radeon HD 2600 XT of new MacPro is far more less powerful than the Nvidia GeForce 7300 found in the old generation. So the 180 euros for the GeForce8800 GT option are a must have, and not overpriced this time (2229 euros so for that configuration). |
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| 01-28-08 / 12:04 AM : New ffmpegx version : 0.0.9y (cjed) |
| A new version of ffmpegx is out, the 0.0.9y (it hadn't been updated for more than two years). It is Leopard compatible and manages metadata when doing FLV encoding (then it allows progress bar in the Flash video player). |
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| 01-27-08 / 11:57 PM : MacBook Air benchs (cjed) |
| First benchs of MacBook Air are coming on Engadget (raw performance through xbench) and Gizmodo (real world performances). |
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| 01-25-08 / 11:44 PM : Realsamples historical instruments (cjed) |
 Realsamples presented 8 new collections of historical instruments (old Pianos, Harpsichords and Spinet) : English Spinet by Thomas Hitchcock, London 1718, Italian Harpsichord by Pierluigi, Livorno 1579, Dutch Harpsichord by Andreas Ruckers, Antwerpen 1628, English Harpsichord by Jacob Kirckman, London 1766, Grand Piano (Pianoforte) by Pierre Erard, London 1835, Grand Piano (Pianoforte) by Johann Andreas Stein, Augsburg 1791, Dulcitone Celesta by Dyson & Sons, London 1910 et Grand Piano (Pianoforte) by Traugott Berndt, Breslau 1848. These are the first libraries providing 192 Khz 24 bits samples (96/48/44.1 khz samples will also be available). |
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| 01-25-08 / 11:31 PM : MOTU Digital Performer 6 (cjed) |
| MOTU presented at NAMM version 6 of Digital Performer. It brings better performances, notably through a buffering mechanism for plugins rendering. It is announced for the first quarter at 795$. |
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| 01-25-08 / 11:19 PM : Applied Acoustic Strum Acoustic GS-1 (cjed) |
 Applied Acoustic presented Strum Acoustic GS-1, an acoustic guitar modeling plugin, that provides strum playing techniques. It will be available during the first quarter (AU/VST/RTAS) for OSX (universal binary) at 229$. |
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| 01-25-08 / 11:13 PM : Guitar Hero 3 : presentation (cjed) |
| Macgames organises tomorrow open days to present Guitar Hero 3 (3pm-7pm, Paris). They liked a lot the game (we can watch a video here). |
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| 01-25-08 / 11:05 PM : Apple and company mood (cjed) |
| Jens Alfke, an indie engineer that has been working at Apple for a long time (notably on the defunct OpenDoc project) explains on his blog why he finally left Apple. He gives his feelings about the company culture. The rock stars and easter-eggs times are gone, now engineers are anonymous. |
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| 01-23-08 / 11:06 PM : Spectrasonics Omnisphere: episode 2 (cjed) |
| Spectrasonics provides a second video of Omnisphere, EPISODE 2 - The NAMM Experience. |
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| 01-23-08 / 10:56 PM : Spore : next game from The Sims creator (cjed) |
 Spore is new original game from EA that is due to September, 2008, on PC and Mac (PPC and Intel). Designed by the creator of The Sims, the goal is here to follow the various steps of evolution, from primitive times to civilization and space conquest. We can see many great videos and screenshots here. |
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| 01-23-08 / 10:51 PM : Heroes of Might & Magic V review (cjed) |
| Ludomac provides a full review (and funny) of Heroes of Might & Magic V. It seems a very well done game. |
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| 01-23-08 / 12:19 AM : Korg PA2XPro (cjed) |
 Korg presented the PA2XPro, a new arranger workstation (derived from the M3) fitted with a motorized touchscreen, MP3 management, extension through samples (up to 256 Mo). It is priced 3000$. We can read a first review here. |
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| 01-23-08 / 12:12 AM : TC Electronic Desktop Konnekt 6 (cjed) |
 TC Electronic presented during the NAMM a new firewire audio interface (that can be powered by the Firewire bus), the Desktop Konnekt 6. It brings a mic preamp, Jack and XLR connections and a reverb (M40 Studio Reverb). |
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| 01-23-08 / 12:02 AM : MacHeist : sharewares collection (cjed) |
| MacHeist is a sharewares collection including 14 softwares or games (some are very famous), it is priced 49$. Among them we find PixelMator, Snapz Pro X, Speed Download, Tiki Magic Mini golf, Wingnuts 2. |
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| 01-22-08 / 11:57 PM : Apple Q1 2008 results (cjed) |
| Apple posted its results for Q1 2008 (ended December, 29). Despite a stunning growth in a year (sales and net profit) the stock quote decreased these days. |
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| 01-22-08 / 12:59 AM : Art Vista Virtual Grand Piano 2 (cjed) |
| Art Vista presented Virtual Grand Piano Version 2.0, a piano sounds library (uses Kontakt 2 player) that provides velocity settings for most master keyboards. It is priced 199$. |
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| 01-22-08 / 12:50 AM : EastWest Forbidden Planet (cjed) |
 EastWest also presented Forbidden Planet, a new virtual instrument providing 1000 esoteric presets, with morphing and wave sequencer, for these kinds of music : film, TV, game, hard-driving electronica, gothic punk, industrial ambient. An original multi-effect, "Déja Vu", is included.A funny demonstration video (musical animation) is available here. |
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| 01-21-08 / 11:40 PM : DisplayConfigX / Samsung 206BW (cjed) |
| DisplayConfigX is an utility that allows to add resolution modes for DVI screens (these modes will replace old resolutions listed in the Monitors Preferences panel). Once registered we can install the new display settings (copied by the utility in System/Library/Displays/Override). The resolution entries also allow to specifiy porch values, that is defining the width of black bands to add around the centered image. By just installing the provided modes, the non stretched modes (non extended) for 4/3 resolutions keep the right 4/3 aspect ratio on a 16/10 LCD (height stretched to full display height, and compressed width - blacks areas on left and right -). With further editing we can also increase the porch values so that the centered image isn't stretched to fit the height, that is to keep the original centered resolution - "Synchronisation" must also be selected instead of "Extended". However the upscaling is very good on new LCDs like the Samsung 206BW, it allows to play games in 1024*768 with full height. |
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| 01-20-08 / 12:28 AM : Samsung SyncMaster 206BW / G4 MDD (cjed) |
| Here is a short feedback about the G4 MDD switching from a 17" IIYAMA CRT Vision Master Pro 410 (recent flashs 8 years of good condition - an internal wire in the tube must have suffer from hot, it is a known failure and can be fixed but...) to a Samsung SyncMaster 206 BW (20" wide) LCD : Problem with the DVI wire (Belkin) because its plug is too much tall, in fact the screen foot (just below the video inputs) doesn't provide the space needed for the DVI plug. So the wire is connected with only one screw. FIXED Problem with a fault power wire. It couldn't be put correctly inside the screen power slot (then there was electric noise and the screen shutted down time to time when touching the wire). I replaced it with the IIYAMA power wire and it could be set well. Very strange that the Samsung wire had a fault Colors calibration was very difficult, near impossible (the best settings are internet mode with light to 75, contrast to 50, gamma 1, normal, SyncMaster 206BW profile found on OSX Monitors control panel). ACCEPTABLE The VGA connection doesn't work with the G4 (input not detected, the source search remains). The native resolution is however not available in VGA from the Radeon 9000 Pro. In DVI the native resolution was found, and other resolutions were provided in the OSX monitors panel, some with both stretching mode on and off (640*480, 800*600 et 1024*768 are then listed in two modes). However, whatever the mode (stretching on or off) the stretching occurs ! (then with poor image and bad ratio with 4/3 resolutions selected). There is no black surrounding areas. Then it is impossible to play games (or you have to buy a new mac with great graphic ard, and recent PC games that manage 1680*1050). FIXED Besides bad color calibration compared with a CRT we can also notice that texts aren't easily readable, even with the OSX LCD font smoothing setting). It seems less bad on Leopard though. Movies playback with DVDPlayer is was deceiving, a strong noise in the picture, and very bad black areas (some bad patterns in it). At 2m distance it can be accepatble, and it depends from the DVD (not so bad with a Starwars movie). The good point is the screen display speed (no strong shadows, only light ones on windows tools icons when moving windows very fast). At 237 euros (plus 40 euros for the DVI wire) it is still two times cheaper than an equivalent Apple screen. However the latter could probably be better in color management, and assurely would allow to have black areas instead of stretching mode only. MVA LCDs (less fast than the TN found on Samsung) provide less noise in movies, and a better field of view, and 4/3 screens (Bélinea, etc.) could be better on the G4 MDD. Well, we can use the Samsung, but time has to pass to forget how good it was on the IIYAMA CRT. Finally I checked in the screen service hidden panel, and it is the worse screen origine (serial xIx-xxxx, CPT, so worse than CMO C screen - xDx-xxxx, being worse than A - xLx-xxxx and S - xAx-xxxx, the S being the factory good calibrated LCDs, A being good after manual calibration, and C couldn't be calibrated). The origine was Romania, perhaps there is only C screens now, as prices were down a bit. Would be better if we could pay much for real quality products.s |
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| 01-18-08 / 12:59 AM : Spectrasonics Omnisphere : video (cjed) |
| Spectrasonics provides a presentation of the new synthesis virtual instrument from Eric Persing, Omnisphere. That is here for the first video. The software is expected September, 2008, and seems a good sequel to Atmosphere. |
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| 01-18-08 / 12:53 AM : Vocaloid 2 Prima / Ethno World 4 (cjed) |
| Vocaloid 2 Prima is a virtual vocalist plugin modelled on the voice of a soprano opera. It uses VOCALOID 2 Singing Synthesis technology from Yamaha. It however only works on Windows (Vsti), and is priced 200$. That is here for stunning audio demos. EastWest also presented Ethno World 4, with very convincing audio demos (better than RA ?). It is priced 500$. |
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| 01-18-08 / 12:46 AM : Quantum Leap Goliath (cjed) |
 EastWest also presented Goliath, an extended version of Colossus (8 Gb new samples in addition to the intial 32Gb library). The new instruments are not easily listed in the description ("new content from the latest EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP collections, including PMI Bosendorfer 290"). No new audio demo yet. It is priced 476$, and hopefully the upgrade is only 199$ for Colossus owners. |
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| 01-18-08 / 12:24 AM : SO Play upgrade/Complete Composer Coll (cjed) |
| EasWest announced the avaibility of Play upgrades for Symphonic Orchestra. It is priced 49$ (aditionnal 49$ to keep the Kontakt 2 version). Moreover a new bundle, COMPLETE COMPOSERS COLLECTION, is listed at 956$ : it includes SO Gold, SO Gold XP, Symphonic Choirs, Colossus, RA, StormDrum, PERCUSSIVE ADVENTURES 2 and EASTWEST/PMI BOSENDORFER 290 GRAND PIANO (130 Gb). Somewhat frustrating when we spent 2000 $ (including promotions) for only the four first products... Finally Quantum Leap Pianos is announced for this January, 31, after a long delay (the same for Stormdrum 2, whose demos are finally available here). |
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| 01-18-08 / 12:09 AM : Roland G6, G7 and G8 unveiled (cjed) |
 Roland G6, G7 and G8 are real, they have been announced by Roland. We can read the descriptions and watch a video : two more ROM size than in Fantom X (previous Fantom sounds plus selected samples from SRX cards), new SuperNATURAL ARX extensions (two expansion slots, ARX01 Drums exp and ARX02 Electric Piano available in option) that provide advanced settings (mic positions, pre-amp, modeling, 3D animations, as in recent software virtual instruments), 8,5' color LCD screen, new sequencer (128 Midi tracks, 24 audio), 22 inserts per part, backup on USB key or through USB, external edition provided through a AU/VST plugin, ivory like keyboard on the G8.Prices are unknown at this time. |
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| 01-17-08 / 11:44 PM : Cubase Essential 4 (cjed) |
 During the NAMM Steinberg presented Cubase Essential 4, a light version of Cubase 4 including : 64 audio tracks (unlimited Midi tracks), Instrument tracks (each one limited to one midi channel input), Amp simulator, Halion One, GM sounds bank included (derived from the Yamaha Motif) that allows direct mapping and playing of Midifiles through Halion One, time stretching in real time (AudioWarp), samples editor, Arranger Track, MediaBay, freeze, PPC VST3 plugins bridge, dynamic multiprocessing management, compatibility with Leopard and Universal binary.It is announced at 149 euros for the first quarter. Finally that is close to Cubase Studio 4 features, for up to a third the price. |
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| 01-16-08 / 10:24 PM : Roland Fantom G6 / G7 / G8 ? (cjed) |
| On many forums some Roland fans wondered if the company would unveil a Fantom G (there is still Juno G), as the Fantom X didn't evolve since mid 2004 (there was a low cost version, the Fantom Xa, in 2005) ! It seems by these photos (Roland Spain site) that it may be true, a mistake or a hoax ? We will know the truth tomorrow or in two days during the NAMM (January, 17-20). |
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| 01-16-08 / 10:13 PM : Multiwinia : interview (cjed) |
 The site computerAndVideogame provides an interview of Introversion about their upcoming Multiwinia, a multiplayer version of the famous Darwinia game. |
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| 01-15-08 / 11:10 PM : Kotf : the truth ? (cjed) |
| The site Bothan Online thinks as many that kotf is a giant hoax and financial swindle. The last announced release date (normally free) wasn't met, while the mod creator asks for 100$ for DVDs shipment. Moreover he states that the game has been released in Turkey, but no file has been found since on any torrent channel. |
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| 01-15-08 / 11:04 PM : Players : WALL-E derived game (cjed) |
 WorthPlaying still provides a review of Players game, derived from the upcoming Pixar movie, WALL-E. Graphics looks great. The game is expected the same time the movie release, June, 27, 2008, on all plateforms. |
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| 01-15-08 / 10:57 PM : Time Capsule (cjed) |
| Apple unveiled Time Capsule, that combines an Airport base station and a Time Machine backup station (includes a 500 Gb or 1 Tb hard disk, with automatic backup through wifi). The 500Gb version is priced 299$, and the 1Tb 499$. |
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| 01-15-08 / 10:45 PM : New Apple TV (cjed) |
| The new version of the Apple TV also presented during the keynote allows to operate without a computer (movies rental on iTunes through wifi, revamped interface), HDMI port, standard resolution (720x480 anamorphic) and HD resolution (1280x720) with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround (respectively 3,99$ and 4,99$ for a SD and HD movie rental). |
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| 01-15-08 / 10:16 PM : MacBook Air (cjed) |
 Apple presented the MacBook Air, the new ultra-thin laptop : 0.4 to 1.94 cm thick, 1,36kg, 13,3' LED screen, 5h of battery length, trackpad with multitouch (two-finger scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, tap, double-tap, and drag), backlit keyboard with light sensor, Core2Duo at 1,6 or 1,8 Ghz, 2Gb of memory (800 Mhz bus), GMA X3100 with 144Mo of DDR2, 80Gb Parallel ATA hard disk (4200tr/min) or 64Gb SSD disk, no optical drive (system and software installation can be achieved through wifi from a CD or DVD mounted on a remote computer), microDVI port, iSight, environment aware (aluminium, no mercury in screen). It is priced 1799$ ( euros (3098$ for the 1,8 Ghz model with SSD disk - these disks are for now too much expensive).We can add an external superdrive (USB connection), the new MacBook Air Superdrive at 99$. |
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| 01-14-08 / 11:08 PM : ESI K.ON (cjed) |
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| 01-14-08 / 10:49 PM : Virus TI Snow (cjed) |
| Access presented the Virus TI Snow, a very good looking portable version of the Virus TI. It is 100% compatible with original TI patchs, and offers 50 voices of polyphony and 4 multitimbral parts. Included oscillator models types are virtual analog, hypersaw, wavetable and graintable. A plugin (AU/VST/RTAS) is provided to allow editing from a computer. Screenshots and stunning audio demos are available through the Downloads page. The Virus TI Snow is expected this Spring, 2008 at 1350$. |
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| 01-14-08 / 09:58 PM : Islands Mini Golf 1.5 : Leopard compatible (cjed) |
 Macgamefiles provides an update to Islands Mini Golf, the 1.5, that brings MacOSX 10.5 compatibility. |
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| 01-14-08 / 09:42 PM : Neon Tango (cjed) |
 Freeverse presented a new cool action shooter game (space fighting), Neon Tango, featuring neon-like wireframe graphics. It reminds a game from the old Vectrex console (early eighties...) or the original simplicity of the recent SketchFighter. The game is expected this February, 5 (24,95$) through download, and it only requires a 800Mhz G4. |
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| 01-13-08 / 06:42 PM : Yamaha KX25 / KX49 / KX61 / KX8 (cjed) |
 Yamaha announced new USB master keyboards (KX25, KX49, KX61, and KX8), with integrated phrases sequencer and loops, and aimed at operating more closely with Cubase and Logic. Pricing isn't available for now. |
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| 01-13-08 / 06:28 PM : GeForce 8800GT adviced for new MacPro (cjed) |
 Bare Feats confirms that the GeForce 8800GT option for new MacPro (200$ to replace the Radeon HD2600 XT) is a must have. It brings then two to three times the Radeon fps depending on games (x2 in Doom 3 as stated in the Apple description page). |
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| 01-13-08 / 06:09 PM : New MacPro benchs (cjed) |
| Macworld provides some benchs of new mac Pro 8 core 2,8Ghz (entry model), compared with the old MacPro entry model (4 core at 2,66 Ghz), the macbook pro and the 24' imac 2,8 Ghz. We also would have liked to see new mac Pro 4 core 2,8 Ghz results (2299$ by removing one processor). The 24' imac (2 core 2,8 Ghz) shows very honest performance, as many applications (except 3D apps) don't take benefit from all of the MacPro cores. It seems also that the Seagate (320Go) disk in new MacPro is fare more slower than the old Western Digital. |
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| 01-10-08 / 11:32 PM : Penumbra Overture demo / Black Plague (cjed) |
| Penumbra Overture is now shipping (Mac, Windows and Linux). We can download a demo here (Radeon 9600 Pro required) and watch videos. The game is priced 14,44$. The second episode, Penumbra Black Plague, is expected this Februray, 12. |
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| 01-10-08 / 11:28 PM : Fable: The Lost Chapters : preview (cjed) |
| IMG provides a preview of Fable: The Lost Chapters, |
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| 01-10-08 / 11:19 PM : MAME OSX 0.122 (cjed) |
| A new version of MAME OSX, the 0.122, is available here. The development of MacMame has been stopped (no update since two years - the last version used the 0.103 codebase). |
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| 01-08-08 / 11:00 PM : New MacPro (cjed) |
| Apple presented new Mac Pro based on the new Quad core Xeon at 45 nm with 12Mb of cache per processor (up to 2 processors - 8 cores - at 3,2 Ghz). The bus is up to 1600 Mhz (800 Mhz memory) and graphics cards available are Radeon X2600 XT 256Mb DDR3 (standard), or GeForce 8800GT 512Mb DDR3, or QuadroFX 5600 1,5Gb DDR3. The standard hard drive is a 320 Gb SATA (3Gb/s). No Blu-Ray however. By removing on processor from the standard configuration (that is one Quad core at 2,8 Ghz) the price drops to 2049 euros. With an external 20" LCD screen (non Apple) it is around 2400 euros. An actual 20" imac (only Dual Core, at 2,4 Ghz, not 64bits, 4Mb cache, 1Gb memory instead 2Mb for the MacPro, Radeon HD2600 Pro instead of XT, half the bus speed) is priced 1449 euros. There is still to know if imacs will be revamped during the Macworld (QuadCore at 2,8 Ghz ?). Moreover a combi MacPro + external screen would allow to keep the G4 (and two inputs on LCD screens - DVI and VGA - so no switch required). |
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| 01-07-08 / 11:32 PM : Stone Hell movie (cjed) |
| Stone Hell is a movie made with Crysis 3D engine. We can watch a first part here (divx). |
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| 01-07-08 / 11:15 PM : Blood 2 Resurrection (cjed) |
| Blood 2 Resurrection is a project aimed at revamping the old Blood 2 game, that used an original 3D engine, the Lithtech Engine (from Monolith Productions, and that was also found in AVP2 and in the great Tron 2), and provided an interesting ambience (some similarities can be found on the recent Vampire the Masquerade). We can see the last news, screenshots and videos here. The last version of the Lithtech engine, the Lithtech Jupiter Extended, was used in FEAR. |
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| 01-07-08 / 11:04 PM : Kotf return (cjed) |
| The creator of Kotf mod is back after a month without new info, and he announces the release of the files this day. The site homepage has been updated and the Download section now includes the DVD covers. |
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| 01-07-08 / 10:48 PM : Aquaria review (cjed) |
 The site Gameplay Monthly provides a review of the PC version of Aquaria. Graphics are very nice and various, and the musics are great. This game's originality reminds a lot those from Pangea. The mac version is being managed by Ambrosia Software. |
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| 01-07-08 / 10:44 PM : Sonart : free BASS BOX library (cjed) |
| Sonart provides for free at download a new synth bass library, BASS BOX (1,3Gb - 1000 24 bits samples -, 640 patchs for Kontakt2, etc.). That is here (link Buy Now - 0$ - and account creation). |
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| 01-07-08 / 10:39 PM : Clavia Nord Wave Manager (cjed) |
| Clavia provides at download the Nord Wave Manager, a multisamples editor for the Nord Wave (OSX and Windows). It allows a quick split of samples over the zones, and makes easier the loop settings. |
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| 01-07-08 / 10:31 PM : SSE4 : benchs (cjed) |
| As Intel announced the avaibility of new Penryn processors (45nm, SSE4), we can look at a previous presentation and benchs from ArsTechnica about SSE4. The next macs revision expected for the Macworld in a week should introduce these. And an entry MacPro would be great. |
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| 01-06-08 / 03:39 PM : iCab browser is back (cjed) |
| Macgeneration provides a very interesting and wise interview of the iCab browser creator. The software was very popular on classic MacOS (very light and usable on a LC475). The browser is back on OSX in version 4, and now uses WebKit. |
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| 01-05-08 / 05:54 PM : EastWest Ministry of Rock review (cjed) |
 The site amazona.de provides a review (german) of Ministry of Rock from EastWest. Moreover we find below the article some links to whole new and stunning audio examples. That is complementary with demos and videos available in the product page at soundsonline.com. |
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| 01-05-08 / 05:47 PM : Synthogy Ivory 1.70 Lepoard update (cjed) |
| Synthogy provides a 1.70 update to Ivory, that brings compatibility with Leopard (also for Italian Grand expansion). We find the two installation programs, the AU, RTAS and VST plugins. We can read a very interesting review of Italian Grand at keyboard (also listen to stunning audio demos here - the piano might be a Fazioli F-308). |
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| 01-05-08 / 05:34 PM : Zero-G PHAEDRA (cjed) |
 Zero-G presented PHAEDRA, a synth/pads library for Kontakt 2 (4 Gb, 20 000 samples, 720 patchs). The instruments (Mini Moog D, Welsh Moog, Yamaha CS5, amaha CS-15, Yamaha CS-30, Korg Monopoly, Korg MS-20, Studio Electronics SE-1, Roland SH-101, Crumar Multiman, Akai AX-73, and Ensoniq Esq1 - this one digital) were sample chromatically (that is a sample per note, with long sustain), as usual with orchestral libraries, and the editor states that it sounds much more powerful and fat than virtual analog (modelisation) softwares. Moreover the included presets use fully Kontakt2 editing and scripting features, so they can really be a starting point to new patchs. Audio demos are provided, and it is prices 199 (1Ghz G4 required).s |
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| 01-05-08 / 05:12 PM : Blu-Ray mac sooon (cjed) |
| Macnn stated that Warner would have decided to migrate all of its movies catalog from HD-DVD to Blu-Ray format only. Then 75% of films will be Blu-Ray, and an Apple announcement about Blu-Ray macs (notably MacPro) would be logical at this January Macworld, if problems around HDMI licence are managed (Apple couldn't get the licence because they were asked as a controversial condition to add a copy-protection mechanism right inside OSX kernel). |
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| 01-04-08 / 03:56 PM : Apple : hints on future peripherals (cjed) |
 Among newly published Apple patents are some leading to expect some new peripherals, as a new dock station (imac form factor, that can onboard a laptop, there is still to know if it will add touchscreen support over the macbook screen, otherwise it would be less useful - except for the rumored ultra thin macbook), and a new OLED fitted lit keyboard that would allow to display dynamic symbols and patterns (through individual keys or a whole group of keys). |
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| 01-02-08 / 07:48 PM : Leopard : genie effect less smooth (cjed) |
| On Tiger the genie effect starts once we clic on the minimize button, and the animation is smooth (and stays smooth during the session). On Leopard there is a significant delay before the minimize animation (close to one second on a MDD G4/Radeon 9000 Pro). During this step the window reflection on the Dock (if the window was near the bottom) is removed (however Dock icons reflections are keeped). Then the animation is less smooth than with Tiger (and it can sometimes becomes worse later in the session). It seems (see threads here and there) that Leopard graphic drivers development was difficult, so we can expect a fix on a further update. With a 2D Dock the genie effect animation is reported far more smooth, and even better than in Tiger. The effect probably uses Core Animation on Leopard. Despites Core Image operates in software mode in the G4 with Radeon 9000 Pro (hardware mode requires a Radeon 9600 Pro), we can suppose that Core Animation uses the graphic card on this configuration as CoverFlow is very smooth. Moreover the genie effect isn't smoother on high end macs on Leopard, whatever the graphic card used. Finally we notice that videos aren't played yet while in the Dock, leading to the idea that there is some limitation with the mirror effect (would use too much CPU), the other reason why the window mirroring in the Dock is removed when it is being minimized (however the window live content update is still here). |
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| 01-02-08 / 06:47 PM : OSX marketshare : more than 7% (cjed) |
| Net Applications reports that MacOSX marketshare on internet for December was high to 7,31 percent (less than 92% for Windows, decreasing, and 0,63% for Linux, with the iPhone - 0,12% - being very close and far more popular than CE and other mobiles systems). OSX gained a point in a year, so the 10 percent marketshare is a wise target. |
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| 01-01-08 / 09:45 PM : Software Core Image on MDD G4 with Leopard (cjed) |
| Up to Leopard Core Image didn't operate on macs without compatible graphic cards (Radeon 9600 Pro min). System Informations reported that on the G4 MDD (Radeon 9000 Pro) CI wasn't supported. With OSX 10.5 it now reports that CI is activated, through software (uses the main CPU, not the GPU). Then CI effects are available for example from GraphicConverter, and they are very fast (realtime preview). |
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