Several key companies announced new hardware synths at this year's NAMM. From vintage replicas to new designs, there is plenty to choose from for musicians of all genres. Dave Smiths Instruments, after securing the Sequential brand back from Yamaha Corporation and its president, Takuya Nakata, in an unprecedented gesture of good will, debuted a new analog poly synth bearing the Sequential name: the Prophet-6! The Prophet-6 is a tribute to Sequential's most famous instrument, the Prophet-5. Moog Music decided to introduce nothing less than a limited run of three of their most sought after 5U, large format, Moog Modular synthesizers: The System 55, the System 35 and the Model 15. These three modular synthesizer systems were originally created and manufactured by Moog in 1973. The dedicated nature of the Moog modular rebuilding process is such that the units will come in extremely limited quantities. There will be 55 units of the System 55, priced at $35,000 US per instrument; 35 of units of the System 35, priced at $22,000 US per instrument; and 150 units of the Model 15, priced at $10,000 US per instrument. Alongside these Moog Modular Systems will be the Sequencer Complement B Expansion Cabinet, a dual 960 Sequential Controller, an accompaniment to the System 35 and System 55, that has been out of production for over 30 years, as well as an optional 5-Octave duophonic keyboard. Another oldie to see the light of day again is Korg's Arp Odyssey, revived in conjunction with Arp Instruments. The new Odyssey has a compact body (downsized to 86% of the original), highly operable sliders, and a 37 note slim keyboard that's easy to play. In addition, a Drive switch (new function) is provided and connectors include MIDI and headphone output as well as patch cables. Korg also introduced a limited edition MS-20M Module Kit with SQ-1 Analog Sequencer, allowing users to assemble a module version of the iconic MS-20 analog synthesizer with greatly expanded synthesis capabilities. Limited to a run of 1,000 units worldwide, each MS-20M Kit will come bundled with an SQ-1 sequencer featuring dual CV trigger and gate, audio sync (to clock volca series, electribes, or monotribe), three-pin and USB MIDI, plus much more. More Korg announcements here. In addition to several other new products, Roland announced the JD-Xi Interactive Analog/Digital Crossover Synthesizer, a new compact keyboard that's powerful, versatile and fun. Equipped with 37 mini keys, the JD-Xi features a true analog synth engine along with a wide selection of Roland's acclaimed SuperNATURAL digital sounds. This affordable instrument also comes packed with many great extras for self-contained music creation, including built-in drum kits, a four-track pattern sequencer, and a gooseneck mic for using the synth's Vocoder and AutoPitch effects. [source]

Spectrasonics announced a major upgrade to their flagship software synthesizer Omnisphere. Version 2 features a host of powerful new synthesis capabilities and thousands of new sounds for every type of user, from sound designers and composers, to studio and live musicians. The upgrade includes the most requested Omnisphere feature: Audio import for user created soundsources, along with major new synthesis capabilities and creative tools, 3,000 new sounds, 25 new FX, an enhanced user interface, and innovative production/browsing features like Sound Match to instantly locate any related sounds in the library, and Sound Lock to create endless useful patch variations by locking sound aspects while browsing other patches. The new version is coming April 30, 2015. [source]

Music software and hardware developer Arturia unveiled its next generation audio interface AudioFuse, and BeatStep Pro, an all-new world-class controller and dynamic performance step sequencer. By being built on a fully-symmetrical audio chain, AudioFuse offers two DiscretePRO microphone preamps with discrete circuits, 24-bit AD/DA convertors with up to 192kHz sampling rate, and an advanced clocking system. The sound card supports microphones, instruments, turntables, pro audio equipment, Macs, PCs, tablets, even iOS and Android smart phones, and can be directly connected with minimum fuss and maximum flexibility, thanks to clearly labeled ADAT, MIDI, phono, S/PDIF, Word Clock, USB, XLR/ balanced 1/4-inch combo connections, to name but a few. AudioFuse will be shipping in Spring 2015 and available to buy in a choice of silver, grey, and black colour finishes from for 549 EUR / 599 USD. Second on Arturia's NAMM menu is BeatStep Pro, a compact controller and step sequencer and a big brother to the acclaimed BeatStep. Whether you're working with MIDI-, USB-, CV/Gate-, or DIN Sync-equipped gear, BeatStep Pro helpfully has your back by covering all bases and more besides. Indeed, its Clock connections can work as a 1:1 clock with an external clock generator or DIN Sync, so you can be sure that anything and everything you've got connected will play happily in time together leaving you to focus your energies on creative performance. With 16 touch-sensitive knobs for entering pitch, gate, velocity amounts, and timing shifts per step, and two independent (colour-coded) monophonic step sequencers, each with dedicated displays to show the current playback position and bank length of the currently selected sequence, the new BeatStep Pro will be an excellent add-on for all electronic musicians. Sequences can have up to 64 steps, plus there are 16 sequences per project, and 16 projects, making BeatStep Pro one of the most impressive step sequencers ever made. And it does not stop there, BeatStep Pro is also a drum sequencer, and a controller, enabling to trigger clips in DAWs, play drum sounds from an external module, or adjust parameters in plug-ins. BeatStep Pro will be shipping in Spring 2015 for 249 EUR / $299 US. [source]

Microsoft's upcoming operating system, Windows 10, will be delivered as a service to offer a safer, innovative and updated experience for the supported lifetime of the device. A free upgrade for Windows 10 will be made available to customers running Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1, who upgrade in the first year. Windows 10 will feature the Cortana personal digital assistant (select markets only), which debuted on Windows Phone last year, new browser code-named Project Spartan with the ability to annotate by keyboard or pen directly on the webpage, Xbox Live and the new Xbox app bringing new gaming experiences to Windows, Office for Windows 10, the new Continuum Mode on 2-in-1 devices to move easily between keyboard and mouse and touch and tablet, and more. The next Technical Preview for Windows 10 on the PC will be available for free to Windows Insiders in the next week and for the first time on phones later in February. [source]

The announcement of Apollo Expanded is, without a doubt, the biggest evolution for the award-winning Universal Audio Apollo interface since its introduction in 2012. Apollo Expanded provides Mac users mix and match operation between Thunderbolt-equipped Apollo audio interfaces, as well as new plug-in types and Console 2.0, which features over 25 new user-requested features. Now, users of Thunderbolt-equipped Apollo Twin, Apollo DUO, Apollo QUAD, and Apollo 16 audio interfaces can harness up to four Apollos and six total UAD-2 devices - adding I/O and DSP as their studio grows. Apollo Expanded also lets Thunderbolt-equipped Apollo users enjoy simple Thunderbolt cable cascading between units, powerful new Flex Driver allowing users to configure Core Audio I/O, star clocking over Thunderbolt, distributing high-quality clock to all Apollos, and the ability to add an Apollo Twin for desktop monitor control as well as additional DSP and connectivity. [source]

IK revealed three new products at NAMM this year. The new iRig UA, is the first digital effects processor and interface to allow universal near-zero latency guitar processing with AmpliTube UA on all devices with Android 4.0 or higher and that support USB host mode/USB OTG. IK has solved the issue of Android platform fragmentation and OS latency by moving the DSP (Digital Signal Processing) to iRig UA. It features a built-in high performance 32-bit DSP, a 24-bit A/D converter, 44.1/48KHz sample rate, a crystal clear low-noise instrument preamp and an ultra-compact enclosure. With its premium specifications, it's able to provide great sound, better playability, extreme portability and an unprecedented cross-platform compatibility. It will be available Q2, 2015, for $99.99 US / 79.99 EU. The second new product, iRig Mic Studio, is an ultra-portable large-diaphragm digital condenser microphone for iOS devices, Mac/PC and Android. Offering an extremely portable size, it packs a 1" diameter condenser capsule into an ultra-compact enclosure to capture professional recordings anywhere. It comes in silver or black and will be available Q1, 2015, for $179.99 US / 144.99 EUR. Coming last is the iRig PowerBridge, new charging system for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch that allows for the continuous charge of the device while using iRig accessories. Now mobile musicians can practice, perform and record with their favorite 30-pin or Lightning-compatible digital IK gear - like iRig Mic HD, iRig HD, iRig Keys, iRig PRO or iRig MIDI 2 - for as long as they want, anytime and everywhere. iRig PowerBridge will ship Q1, 2015 in two versions - one for Lightning and one for 30-pin - priced at $69.99 US / 54.99 EUR. All prices are excluding VAT. [source]

A new KONTAKT instrument from NI provides a library of popular acoustic guitar strumming patterns, fully playable on convenient key switches. Additional features including double tracking, fret noise, and a set of tone shaping effects enable producers to create authentic rhythm guitar parts from one easy-to-use interface. SESSION GUITARIST – STRUMMED ACOUSTIC provides the sound of a benchmark dreadnought acoustic, played by a professional session guitarist and recorded by an experienced engineer. The convenient Pattern Browser allows users to search an encyclopedia of authentic strumming patterns according to where accents fall on the beat. Once loaded, producers create their rhythm parts by playing strumming patterns and chord endings under the left hand and the notes of a chord with the right hand. Virtually any chord can be played, from simple triads to complex, esoteric chords. Available now $99 US / 99 EUR / 89 GBP for KONTAKT 5 or the free KONTAKT 5 player. [source]

Third version of DE:Noise, RE:Vision Effects' denoising plug-in for After Effects, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Vegas Pro, Nuke, Scratch, Fusion, HitFilm, DaVinci Resolve and Natron, has been released. DE:Noise v3 introduces a new noise-reducing filter that greatly improves results for shots with object edges and features greatly damaged by compression, rendering and noisy camera capture artifacts. DE:Noise v3 also adds GPU support. Speedups up to 4.5x on GPUs when using DE:Noise have been measured over running DE:Noise in CPU mode, already known for its speed. Speedups of this magnitude are usually seen with higher end cards. DE:Noise v3 for Nuke, Scratch and Fusion costs $189.95 US, $149.95 US for other supported hosts. Upgrade and floating license pricing is also available. [source]

Side Effects Software announced the immediate release of Houdini 14. With a new Position-Based Dynamics solver for granular simulation, new crowd pipeline tools, user interface enhancements and grooming tools for hair and fur, this release brings a better user experience, improved scalability and optimized performance to VFX artists, animators and game makers. The new Position-Based Dynamics is a multi-physics environment ideally suited to the creation of wet and dry sand. Multi-threaded thanks to its exclusive reliance on VEX-based operators, the new solver can run on the CPU or on the GPU using OpenCL. In addition to sand effects, artists can create solids, sheets or tethers to generate soft body, cloth and wire-like simulations. The new crowd system uses artist-friendly shelf tools along with a new packed agent primitive type, a Finite State Machine solver and hardware accelerated display of instanced crowds. The system has a seamless conduit to Houdini's Mantra renderer 
and is equipped with controls for crowd layout, steering, collision avoidance, terrain adaptation, motion blending, and look-at targets. Houdini 14 can be downloaded from sidefx.com immediately with base Houdini available for as low as $1,995 US and Houdini FX available for $4,495 US. Both these prices include first year on the Annual Upgrade Plan which provides production-level support, and access to daily builds and dot releases. The limited commercial Houdini Indie is also available for $199 US per year and the free Houdini Apprentice Edition is available for students and artists who want to explore Houdini's new features. [source]

An updated version of the Keylight for After Effects plug-in is available from The Foundry. To get the plug-in, go to this download page on The Foundry's web site. You will need to first sign in or create a free account with The Foundry. Keylight 1.2v16 fixes a bug that caused the Colour Balance Wheel to not appear in the Foreground Colour Correction and Edge Colour Correction sections in the Effect Controls panel in After Effects CC and After Effects CC 2014 on Mac OS X. [source]