Setting the right level at every stage of the chain, from preamp to master bus, is one of the most rewarding and most misunderstood skills in the digital studio. Here’s how to think in dBFS, protect your headroom and build a clean gain structure, with no myths and no magic numbers.
For 808 day, Berlin’s Tubbutec unveils a kit that swaps the Roland TR-808’s original processor for a new CPU. On the menu: velocity MIDI, eleven extra instruments, a rebuilt sequencer and performance effects — fully reversible, and compatible with the Din Sync RE-808 replica.
Behringer is bringing back the Korg Mini Pops 7, the 1966 analog rhythm box immortalized on Jean-Michel Jarre’s Oxygène. The modern take promises analog circuitry, a fully programmable step sequencer, a distortion unit and a tone control. Its appearance in Behringer’s Syntribe software points to a release that’s just around the corner.
Manley reworks its passive tube EQ know-how into two new dual-channel boxes: the Dual Mid Band EQ for sculpting tracks, and the Dual Main EQ built for buses and mastering. Passive inductor filters, tube make-up gain and in-house transformers bring the Manley color into a proper stereo format — at a price that matches the pedigree.
discoDSP pushes its OPL FM synth to version 3.0, a ground-up rewrite that drops the old OPL2 emulation for Yamaha’s YMF262 chip, better known as OPL3. Eight waveforms per operator, up to 16x oversampling and a resolution-independent GUI: that unmistakable ’90s soundcard tone gets sharper without losing its bite.
Teenage Engineering turns its EP-133 platform into a machine built for reggae, dub and dancehall. The real story isn’t the King Jammy and Mad Professor sound library, it’s Supertone: the first onboard synth engine in the EP range.
Kush Audio relaunches its Omega saturator line with reworked filtering and workflow. Model A leads the way: same trusted distortion algorithms as before, but one knob and a tonal rework that changes everything.
The Kush Audio Omega 2 boils harmonic saturation down to a single knob. Around that simple idea, here are eight plugins that colour, thicken and analogue-ise your tracks, from the essential freebie to the paid reference — sorted honestly: the true equivalents, the multiband variant, and the tape cousins.
In broadcast, a peak meter tells you nothing about perceived volume. Loudness, measured in LUFS and framed by standards like EBU R128, has become the way to level radio, TV and streaming programmes. This guide explains what these standards measure, why they exist, and how to actually use them.
1010music went back to the drawing board for its cult sampler. The blackbox 2 keeps the pocket form factor but doubles the processing power, moves to a 4-inch touchscreen, adds internal battery power and a brand-new granular engine. Available now at $649 / £579.