After 20+ years in professional audio: live sound engineering, studio technical direction (Deep Forest, Pierre Jacquot), head of digital marketing at Playback.fr. A first-hand witness to the analog-to-digital shift, I track the whole audio landscape and break it down here — no fluff.
Rhodes Music expands its software line with Clav Pro, an emulation of the 1977 Hohner Clavinet D6 ‘Transition’. Deep multi-sampling, amp and mic simulations and an in-house FX suite bring the clav’s funk bite into your DAW for a $89.95 introductory price.
Solid State Logic unveils the Odyssey, a new very large-format analogue console. The pitch: the sound and feel of a flagship SSL studio desk, paired with instant total recall of every setting — analogue dynamics included. The long-standing gap between pure analogue and digital convenience just closed.
Dusk Audio bundles six classic synthesis engines — from a DCO poly to an acid bass box — into a single free, open-source, cross-platform plugin. Sunset Circuits targets both the curious and producers who want a full vintage palette without spending a dime.
Nearly two decades after the hardware, Dangerous Music finally ships its own software BAX EQ, built with Acustica Audio and signed off by original designer Chris Muth. A broad-stroke mastering EQ made to shape a mix without ever tiring it out.
Tim Exile opens up Karst, a node-based modular audio environment built not for tool designers but for songwriters. Cable-free auto-patching, baked-in generative tools and plugin hosting, all running in the browser first, with a standalone app and plugin due in Q4 2026.
beyerdynamic rounds out its pro line with the DT 275 PRO, a closed-back on-ear monitoring headphone aimed at fast, reliable audio decisions on set, in the field, at the console and in mobile editing. Serious passive isolation, feather weight, user-replaceable parts and a $149 price that undercuts the compact-monitor establishment.
1010music’s Bento pocket sampler gets firmware 1.5: the Shredder engine, XY-pad DJ multi-FX and audio over USB-C, all as a free download.
Threshold, ratio, attack, release, knee, and the VCA, FET, opto and tube families: a clear guide to audio compression so you stop setting knobs at random.
Drawmer launches two 500-series compressors with an identical layout: the smooth, natural OC1 opto and the fast, punchy FC1 FET. Around 290 GBP plus VAT each.
A young Hong Kong outfit shows up with a pocket synth unlike anything else on the shelf: the MD-7 swaps ordinary encoders for force-feedback motor discs and hands you its entire DSP engine to hack. Small box, big idea.