Today's Top Stories:

  The Mbox Goes Mini
The Mbox has been one of Digidesign's best sellers since its original introduction. Now the company has introduced the Mbox 2 Mini, which will be the smallest, most affordable Pro Tools LE system ever. Maybe you're a singer/songwriter new to the recording world or a seasoned pro who needs a compact system you can take almost anywhere. In either case, the Mbox Mini packs all the professional features you'll need into a robust, ultra-compact audio workstation that will allow you to record and mix music wherever and whenever inspiration hits you. Like the rest of the Mbox family, the Mbox Mini was designed by Digidesign, so you can expect premium hardware design and superior sound quality with support for 24-bit/48kHz audio. What's more, with its rugged metal enclosure, the Mbox 2 Mini is both durable and dependable. It's also amazingly affordable, with a sticker price of just $329 (your Sweetwater price will be even lower). Here are just a few of the features of the Mbox 2 Mini:

• Professional sound quality (up to 24-bit/48kHz)
• Two simultaneous analog inputs and outputs
• One XLR analog input for connecting a microphone
• Two 1/4-inch line or instrument level (DI) analog inputs for connecting guitars, basses, keyboards, synthesizers, drum machines, and more
• Zero-latency monitoring
• Compact, rugged metal enclosure for maximum portability and durability

  Notion Encourages Musicians to "Beat It!"
VirtuosoWorks Notion was the first (and only) composition interface with samples recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at the historic Abbey Road Studios. Now the company has announced new percussion features and brand new sound kits: "Sessions: Rhythm Section" and "Expanded Mallets 1." There have also been additions to Notion's scoring tools which include the ability to notate for drum sets, alternate note heads, a "stir" feature (for realistic sounding jazz brush techniques), ghost note notation and performance, and both cross-stick and rim-shot notation and performance for snare drum. "Sessions: Rhythm Section" provides users with the sounds of an entire contemporary rhythm section, including guitar, keyboard, bass, and drums recorded at Dark Horse Studios in Nashville and Electric Lady Studios in New York City. Meanwhile, "Expanded Mallets 1" adds marimba, vibraphone, crotales, and chimes to the existing Notion sound library, while "Expanded Percussion 1" offers castanets, cowbells, maracas, power toms, shakers, sleigh bells, and much more. Notion is designed as a tool for composition, learning, practice, and live performance and combines a full-featured music notation system with interpretive algorithms linked to a proprietary playback engine that offers samples of thousands of individual notes and articulations.

  New In Stock At Sweetwater

• Groove Tubes GT50 - Here's a very affordable large-diaphragm condenser that actually outperforms mics costing three times as much! From acoustic guitars to guitar cabinets, the GT50 adds both richness and clarity to any recording. It's also perfect as a vocal mic, with its Class A FET circuitry responding as though there were a tube present in the signal path. The GT50 is an excellent choice for anyone searching for a great all-around mic with a cardioid polar pattern, high-pass filter, and attenuation pad. It includes a swivel stand adapter and ships in a moisture-resistent aluminum storage case.
• Muse Research Receptor Pro - Now you can take all your VST effects and instruments on the road with you! Receptor Pro is a 2U rack-mountable module with a mixer-style interface that runs standard Windows VST instruments and effects. It can also process and play back 16 simultaneous audio sources, which can be either internal VSTi instruments or external analog/digital inputs. There's more: It can run up to 57 VST effects at one time and puts more power at your disposal with a 750GB hard drive, 2GB of matched RAM, and an ML44 64-bit processor. Works with both Mac and PC.
• Rode Podcaster - As its name suggests, this microphone was specifically designed for computer recording applications where wide frequency response and low distortion are required. The surprisingly affordable Podcaster makes digital recording "plug and play" simple with its built-in A/D conversion and USB connection. The ultra-low noise dynamic mic has a "tailored-for-voice" frequency response with high-pass filter and includes an on-air indicator LED, a cardioid polar pattern with high 180-degree rejection, an internal pop filter, and a rugged stainless steel body.

  Guitar Of The Day
Fender has built a whole lot of awesome guitars over the years, but oddly enough, nothing quite like the new Deluxe Power Strat. First off, it has the popular HSS (humbucker/single-coil/single-coil) pickup combination, which many players feel is the most versatile, since you can go from a slinky "out-of-phase" sound, to an SRV-flavored blues tone using the single-coil neck pickup or go all out with a screaming solo sound using the bridge humbucker. And for your more sensitive side (hey, we know you have one), you can dial in a great acoustic guitar sound by using the onboard Fishman Power Bridge piezo pickup. Like many Strats, it has a lightweight alder body, the trademark Fender maple neck with a comfortable modern "C" shape, and a traditional rosewood fingerboard. But then you see that the Power Strat has a brown tortoiseshell pickguard, which is definitely breaking out of the classic Fender mold and a humbucker in the bridge position. Pick this guitar up and start to play. It sounds like a really nice Strat with the added bonus of that bridge humbucker, plus those two slightly hotter Tex-Mex single coils in the neck and middle positions. But under that deceptively normal-looking tremolo tailpiece is a Fishman 6-saddle Power Bridge piezo pickup. It may surprise you to know that this is actually the very first Strat to offer this particular feature. Add it all up: Affordable, versatile pickup configurations, superbly playable...seems Fender has another winner on its hands. Call today and we'll put one in your hands! It even includes free shipping!