We just received a shipment of IK Multimedia’s SampleTank L and SampleTank XL virtual sound modules. These are plug-ins that combine the properties of a sophisticated sampler/synth engine with fantastic multisampled sounds. Sampletank not only gives you access to entire instruments including effects, but it boasts an excellent search engine so you have fast access to the tools you need. The sound quality is amazing, with 32-bit floating point processing for incredible accuracy and realism.
All of us audio geeks will really appreciate the February Sweetwater Web Prize. We’re giving away two pieces of awesome Summit tube gear valued at over $1100. There is the TD-100 Tube Direct, a high quality active direct box with a tube section and variable loading to fine tune it to your instrument (it’s killer on bass guitar), and the TLA-50 Tube Leveler, which is a surprisingly transparent compressor (also killer on bass). You can sign up to win yours free at the Contests page of our website.
Speaking of high quality audio, Grace Design, makers of some of the finest sounding mic preamps we’ve heard, have come out with a cool new headphone amp called the 901. If you think about it, audiophile quality headphone amps are something largely overlooked in “pro audio,” so it’s nice to see this concern addressed effectively by a company who knows what great audio is all about. They’ll be in stock soon at Sweetwater.