Dolby Atmos is an immersive technology, which allows you to position sound elements in a three-dimensional space. It gives you the ability to create a single mix that can be monitored and delivered in a variety of formats. Over the years, Dolby Atmos has become ubiquitous in film, television, music, and video game production. With the Pro Tools 2023.12 software release, Atmos integration is now better than ever because Dolby has provided us the tools to integrate their renderer directly into Pro Tools, so you can mix in Dolby Atmos without having to use (and purchase) the external Dolby Atmos Renderer application. This enabled us to greatly simplify the setup and use of Dolby Atmos within Pro Tools, while lowering the cost for you as the new integrated renderer is included free in both Pro Tools Studio and Ultimate.

The Pro Tools Dolby Atmos renderer supports direct monitoring of the following formats: Binaural, 2.0, 5.1, 7.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.4, 7.1.4 (Studio and Ultimate) and 9.1.6 (Ultimate only). Binaural can be monitored from your main output, or sent as an independent headphone mix, allowing you to maintain a separate monitor format from your speakers. The Dolby Atmos integration also offers an independent re-render that can be used for loudness metering with your choice of plugin, or as an additional 5.1 or 2.0 send/print of the mix.

For information, go HERE.

Ableton has announced the upcoming release of Live 12, a major update designed to spark musical creativity – introducing playful MIDI tools for generating unexpected ideas, new devices and sounds with surprising capabilities, and improvements that let you work more intuitively.
Live 12 will be released in early 2024, and will soon go into public beta.
Ableton is now offering a 20% discount on all new Live 11 licenses, as well as upgrades from previous versions. Users can then upgrade to Live 12 for free when it’s released. Find the details in the Ableton shop.

What’s coming in Live 12
Play freely with ideas.
MIDI Transformations and Generators – Create a variety of simple or complex variations to your MIDI clips. Add ornaments, connect successive notes and chords, simulate guitar strums, or pick from a set of generative algorithms to conjure up melodies, rhythms and chords that follow constraints you define.
MIDI Editor improvements – Rearrange the order of a selection of notes by pitch, velocity or duration. Stretch, split, chop or join notes in new ways; shape the velocity of notes more easily; transpose them into a scale; or add intervals chromatically or in key.
Keys and Scales – Choose a key in Live’s Control Bar to see its notes in any clip you create. Then edit
clips using scale highlighting as a guide, use the clip scale to transform and generate musical ideas, or sync the scale of MIDI devices and instruments to the clip being played.
Tuning Systems – Work in tunings outside the 12-tone equal temperament system, and access them with Live’s devices as well as any MPE-capable plugin.

Surprise yourself with the sounds you create.
Meld – A bi-timbral, MPE-capable instrument designed for deep sound-shaping that generates a wide array of textural and experimental sounds with two easy-to-use macro oscillators.
Roar – Create everything from subtle and precise mastering-grade warmth to wild and unpredictable sound degradation with Live’s new coloring and saturation effect. Roar’s three saturation stages can be used in series, parallel, or even in mid/side and multiband configurations
– and it comes equipped with an extensive modulation matrix.
Granulator III – The latest iteration of Robert Henke’s granular instrument now has MPE capability, giving you expressive control over parameters like note bend, vibrato and glissando. Plus, you can now capture audio in real time and start manipulating it immediately.
New Packs – Find new tricks for performing on the fly with the four Max for Live devices of Performance Pack. And explore unlikely instruments and unique foley recordings with the Lost and Found collection.
Work more intuitively.
Stacked Detail Views – Get an overview of everything a track is doing at a glance: see your devices and the Clip Editor at the same time, as well as automation and device parameters, so you can focus on the track you’re working on without repeatedly switching between views.
View styling – Stay in the flow with Live 12’s cleaner, more modern look that removes visual complexity and keeps the focus on your music.
Mixer improvements – Live’s Mixer, previously available only in Session View, can now be used in Arrangement View. It also comes with improvements that make it more accurate for detailed mixing decisions, and easier to read and control.
Browser tagging – Use the included tags or custom ones to search for sounds without the constraints of the browser’s built-in categories.
Sound Similarity Search – Start with a sample and tell Live’s browser to find comparable sounds and instrument presets related to timbre.
Accessibility and navigation improvements – Control core workflows in Live 12 using assistive technologies like screen readers, and use new keyboard shortcuts to navigate to nearly every part of Live.

Pricing: (Note prices are in Australian Dollar)

• Suite: A$1099
• Standard: A$529
• Intro: A$149

The ultimate studio centrepiece

Do you have a studio full of synths? Full band recordings? Complex monitoring & routing needs? AudioFuse 16Rig gives you the next-level connectivity, versatility, and usability you need for your pro audio applications. Make your sound count.

Treat your setup to an interface that gives you all the connections you need. An entire setup can be kept connected to the rear I/O, leaving the front panel connections available for additional mics, instruments, or devices, while the inputs & outputs can be expanded with ADAT and rerouted as needed.

Give your recordings the shine and clarity they deserve with premium 24-bit AD/DA converters from ESS and Cirrus Logic. Whether it’s synths, guitars, vocals, or any combination of inputs, expect top-notch sound across the board.

For DAW-less jamming or live performances, AudioFuse 16Rig just works. The interface can pass audio and MIDI signals even without a computer connected, with a low-latency MIDI-controllable internal mixer. You can even save configuration presets for easy stitching between setups.

Configure AudioFuse 16Rig’s connections to suit nearly any need, including multiple sends/returns for creative recording and mixing, A/B speaker switching for confident mixing, guitar re-amping, multiple headphone outputs for ensemble recording, and more.

Make AudioFuse 16Rig work for you; control its settings through the front panel controls or via the included AudioFuse Control Center software, configure the interface for desktop or rackmount operation, integrate it with practically any studio environment, and instantly switch between different audio scenarios with ease.

Get the full rundown of specs at arturia.com

Apple has announced a new MacBook Pro lineup featuring the all-new family of M3 chips: M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. With a next-generation GPU architecture and a faster CPU, the M3 family brings even more performance and new capabilities to MacBook Pro. The new 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M3 is not only great for everyday tasks, but also delivers sustained performance in pro apps and games. Perfect for aspiring creatives, students, and entrepreneurs, it now starts at RRP A$2,699 inc. GST.

The 14- and 16‑inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro provides even greater performance and additional unified memory support, enabling more demanding workflows for users like coders, creatives, and researchers. The 14- and 16‑inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max delivers performance and capabilities that push the limits of computing. With a monster GPU and a powerful CPU, along with support for up to 128GB of unified memory, MacBook Pro with M3 Max enables extreme workflows and multitasking across pro apps for users like machine learning programmers, 3D artists, and video editors. M3 Pro and M3 Max models also now come in space black, a gorgeous dark aluminium finish.

All MacBook Pro models feature a Liquid Retina XDR display with 20 per cent brighter SDR content, a built-in 1080p camera, an immersive six-speaker sound system, and a wide array of connectivity options. With up to 22 hours of battery life, the lineup offers the ultimate in pro portability, delivering the same performance whether plugged in or on battery, so users can take their workflows anywhere. Customers can order the new MacBook Pro now, with availability beginning 7 November.

“There is nothing quite like MacBook Pro. With the remarkable power-efficient performance of Apple silicon, up to 22 hours of battery life, a stunning Liquid Retina XDR display, and advanced connectivity, MacBook Pro empowers users to do their life’s best work,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. “With the next generation of M3 chips, we’re raising the bar yet again for what a pro laptop can do. We’re excited to bring MacBook Pro and its best-in-class capabilities to the broadest set of users yet, and for those upgrading from an Intel-based MacBook Pro, it’s a game-changing experience in every way.”

The M3 Family Arrives

The M3 family of chips continues Apple silicon’s pace of innovation. M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max are the first chips for a personal computer built using the industry-leading 3-nanometer technology. With a faster, more efficient next-generation GPU, these chips deliver the biggest leap forward in graphics architecture ever for Apple silicon. Featuring a breakthrough technology called Dynamic Caching, the GPU allocates the use of local memory in hardware in real time so only the exact amount of memory needed is used for each task. This dramatically increases GPU utilisation and performance for the most demanding pro apps and games.

A lot more detailed information about performance benchmarks and comparisons is available at www.apple.com

Waldorf Music has released the popular and powerful software synthesizer Largo in a new look and with scalable user interface as Largo 2. A fully-fledged Waldorf synthesizer for the virtual rack. ‍

The UI has been redesigned and now enables continuous scalability. Whether using a 5K monitor or a laptop FHD screen, whether viewing in full size or as a small status display – the plug-in always remains in focus.

Three fat oscillators per voice(two of them with sub oscillators) with classic waveforms and 68 Wavetables taken from the legendary Microwave and Wave synthesizer and also the Q and Blofeld – 2 independent multimode filters – up to 4 layers per sound and 4 stereo outputs. Waldorf Music added a variety of three formant filter types which mimic the frequency response of the human vocal tract. By using the cutoff parameter the user can morph between the vowels a-e-i-o-u for all favourite choir and voice-like modulations.

Largo 2 offers native 64-bit support for macOS (Apple silicon & Intel) and Windows.

Largo 2 is fully compatible with all existing soundsets and and users can import all the sounds they have created so far.

Largo 2 is available as full version or upgrade directly from Waldorf Music’s online Shop here:https://waldorfmusic.com/produkt/largo-2 or through Waldorf Music’s growing global network of distributors at an introductory promo price of €99.00 EUR for the full version / €29.99 for the upgrade (including German tax) until end of November

For more in-depth info, visit the dedicated Largo 2 webpage here:https://waldorfmusic.com/largo-2/