Today's Top Stories:

  Free Groove Transfusion
Digidesign has released a free 3-month trial version of their upcoming Transfuser plug-in. This is a great chance to get to play with what is one of the most inspiring and exciting RTAS virtual instrument plug-ins we've seen in a long time. Transfuser offers unique tools for processing and playing audio, whether a Pro Tools track, a live input, or loops. There's real-time slicing, automatic conversion of loops to MIDI patterns and drum kits, sound replacement within loops, intelligent randomization, a wide range of real-time effects, drag-and-drop of Pro Tools regions and audio files, and performance-oriented features for creative arranging and live use of grooves and loops.

The free 90-day preview version of Transfuser will be available for download from Digidesign through June 25, 2008.

  Receptor Is In-tune
Muse Research has announced that Antares' Auto-Tune 5 vocal pitch-correction plug-in is now officially supported on the Receptor hardware plug-in host.

  New In Stock At Sweetwater

• Roland Micro Cube Bass RX - This compact bass guitar amplifier packs a great-sounding modeling bass amp into a battery-powered package! Using Roland's proprietary FFP technology and a surprisingly lightweight enclosure, the Micro Cube Bass RX also includes an onboard stereo power amp, four 4-inch speakers, eight COSM amp models, six digital effects, and a built-in tuner. There's also a Rhythm Guide function, an aux input for playing along with your MP3 or CD player, and even a headphone out that doubles as a direct recording output. Did we mention that you can take it with you almost anywhere, thanks to its ability to run off either AC or battery power?
  
• Lexicon PCM96 - From the company that practically wrote the book on modern reverb technology, the PCM96 lets you call up 28 of Lexicon's legendary reverbs and effects, all handled by 32-bit floating point processing. You also get reliable, hassle-free FireWire connectivity, which enables DAW automation via a FireWire streaming plug-in, and also acts as a hardware plug-in for almost any Mac VST and Audio Units software. The PCM96 puts world-renowned Lexicon reverbs where you want them, when you want them.
  

  Guitar of the Day
Over the past 20 years or so, Paul Reed Smith and his timber specialists always seem to find the best maple, so that even a PRS that doesn't have a 10-top or an artist-grade top will look and sound great, because there's a lot more involved in building a superb instrument than just a pretty top. Today's Guitar of the Day, a Custom 24, just happens to have a highly figured maple top and naturally that's the first thing you see. The top on this Emerald Green Custom 24 is in one of the company's most popular colors, while the back and neck are black. The deep figuring produces an intense 3-D effect as you view it from different angles. But as Smith himself reminds us, a great guitar isn't rated by the quality of the top, but rather how all the pieces work together acoustically. This one sounds wonderful even before you plug it into an amp. Once you do, you'll be grinning ear-to-ear because PRS always matches the finest pickups to each particular model, so that a Singlecut sounds quite different than a Custom 24 or a McCarty.

PRS guitars are clearly about more than looks or specific woods. The sound produced by this beauty comes courtesy of a pair of coverless PRS pickups, which strike the perfect balance between vintage and modern tones. In the bridge position is the company's HFS (hot, fat, and screams) pickup, while the neck pickup is the company's Vintage Bass. The neck on this particular Custom 24 is a Wide-Thin carve, which is truly comfortable and blazing fast, and is topped with a premium rosewood fingerboard with trademark PRS abalone bird inlays. A 5-position rotary pickup selector lets you choose the warm, smoky crunch of humbuckers, but also splits the coils in series and parallel to give you the glossy sound normally associated with single-coil pickups set to the "in-between" positions. You also get the silky-smooth PRS vibrato tailpiece and gold hardware upgrade. Naturally, this Custom 24 ships in a deluxe, plush-lined hardshell case and includes free FedEx shipping right to your door!