DP6 is here (or will be here soon, say commenters), with a badly-needed UI update and a number of new features. The results still look like DP – in the way that should appeal to current users, that is – but enhancements demonstrate that the ongoing DAW battles carry on.

DP6 New Features

In the usability category:

• Updated UI with vertical track resizing (about time, jeez!) and better zooming and resizing
• Window tabs, which are a pretty cool way of switching between windows and tabbing views a la Firefox, Safari, et al (I’m surprised we haven’t seen more tabs in music software, given their popularity in browsing)
• Inspector palettes
• Build comps by selecting from different takes, which would be exciting if we hadn’t just seen similar features elsewhere

New Effects

As welcome as these features will be, most of the buzz I’ve heard from DP users centers around the new effects plug-ins. The MasterWorks Leveler models the “Teletronix LA-2A optical leveling amplifier.” Translated into plain English, it’s an automatic gain adjustment that can have some of the dynamic-smoothing qualities of compression without their soul-sucking quality – it’s an arguably better way of adjusting dynamics. I know at least one very prominent Ableton Live and Logic lover who wants DP6 just to run this plug-in. See the full description on MOTU’s site.

Native Instruments and MOTU have each posted compatibility update pages for Mac OS X Leopard. There’s not a whole lot of information yet (particularly form MOTU), but now’s the time to bookmark those pages!

Be sure to watch comments from readers for other helpful compatibility information — much of it positive at this point.

Native Instruments: Compatibility with OS X Leopard
NI’s latest versions of Kore, Traktor, Guitar Rig, and Kontakt are all good to go. But other software has some issues related to installation and dialog box operation. While it’s not reported on this page, we’ve also heard one person with a hardware problem. You should see patches over the coming weeks, with major updates in November and December.

Unleash a Leopard in your MOTU studio
Despite the title, actually, you might not want to unleash anything just yet. MOTU says testing is ongoing and hints updates for hardware and software may be likely. MOTU’s virtual instrument line is ready, though, and there are no significant issues reported yet. Best bet: bookmark that page and keep watch. That’s what we’ll be doing.

Tiger in your tank? I’ll say it now: while the issues are minor so far, I don’t recommend upgrading to Leopard on a critical machine. For folks with more than one Mac, many are having relatively smooth experiences, so on a second machine it could make sense. I’m expecting most of the rest of us will just wait a month or two; at least on the Mac updates are usually pretty speedy in coming and the OS itself looks solid.

Oh, yeah, and one other important thing: this is the first Mac OS X update that really doesn’t benefit music users, at least not out of the box. (There are some driver changes, but I don’t think there are yet devices that take advantage of them.) It’s actually good news, in that Core Audio and Core MIDI are mature at this point — you don’t want to regularly update the music and audio plumbing. But that means Tiger will be just fine for some time.

More Java bad news: While I know this interests a smaller audience, there’s been still more disappointments on the Mac Java front.

MOTU’s MachFive is an oft-overlooked software sampler option for both Mac and Windows. The sampler market is a crowded one, but MachFive does have some nice features, not least being a unique, one-screen interface. The sampler hasn’t quite kept pace with recent releases from Native Instruments, Cakewalk, and others, so this week’s release of version 2 is a welcome development.

New in this release:

• 32 GB of sounds: Four dual-layer DVDs for a total of 32GB of sounds, with sample rates up to 192kHz. There’s a 24-bit 96kHz 8GB sampled piano, and a MachFive adaptation of the very nice VSL Orchestra. But that’s not the killer feature. Killer feature is probably –
• Loop Lab: Edit and create loops in REX, ACID, GarageBand loops via drag and drop, with destructive and non-destructive editing down to the sample level.
• Multi-platform: Now fully supports Universal Binary, Vista, and even 64-bit Vista.
• More compatible: A huge array of sample formats load natively — no conversion required.
• Tons of effects: Distortion, convolution reverb, and dozens of others.
• Layers: “Layer rules” allow you to stack or organize sounds for performance/playing, and even import layers from GigaStudio.
• New sound features: New integrated sound design features include multi-point envelopes and streamlined editing.
• Integrated synthesis: This appears to translate to integrated synth sources, including basic waveforms and an additive organ emulator.

To me, Loop Lab could prove to be the feature that makes MachFive worth a look; we haven’t yet seen a sampler that makes a smooth transition between software looping capabilities and the looping and stretching features in the sampler itself. But if that’s not enough for you, MOTU is also positioning MachFive as the ideal sampler in terms of compatibility:

Specifications, including format compatibility

You can actually put a Kurzweil K2xxx or Roland S-700 disc into your computer and load samples from it, and MOTU is touting the level of compatibility with GigaStudio. That last point is especially interesting, because many film composers (a big part of the market for MOTU’s “cult hit” DAW Digital Performer) keep a Windows PC around just to access GigaStudio, and nothing else. (Composer Stewart Copeland springs to mind, though he’ll have to finish up his tour with The Police before he can take advantage of this.)

MOTU MachFive Product Page

Thanks to John Molloy for the tip!

Updated: Upgrades are actually free if you bought MachFive after January 20, 2005. (No, that’s not a misprint. They really are going back two and a half years.) US$195 otherwise.

And we’re off to the races. Last week, I wrote up a teaser on some of the new features in Windows Vista for audio, which launched a long and heated discussion of the new OS. (Read through comments for some specifics, including how Vista compares to Mac OS X and BeOS. Hint: BeOS wins.)

Now, late yesterday — and well over a month before the operating system is due to ship — MOTU announced it was shipping a public beta version of its audio drivers. As far as I know, this is the first public driver support for audio interfaces on Vista. See comments for word that RME shipped their Vista drivers a couple of weeks ago, though presently only for the Fireface; MOTU’s shipment covers their entire product line. Good job, RME and MOTU — and with weeks to spare before consumers get the OS. (These drivers also feature enhancements for all versions of XP, so all Windows users, have at them)

Windows Vista drivers now shipping as a public beta [MOTU.com]

I’m guessing the Vista Ultimate box featured on MOTU’s site is a hint; no Vista Home Basic around here, thank you.

As some readers reported, some existing XP drivers will run in the 32-bit release of Windows Vista. However, some drivers may not work at all or may suffer degraded performance, because of a whole range of issues. That means you’ll want to use Vista drivers if at all possible.

MOTU hasn’t yet announced their newest audio interface, but it’s emblazoned in an ad on the back cover of the October issue of Keyboard. The 8PRE is a 16×12 FireWire audio interface in one rack space. That in itself isn’t all that interesting, but in place of the two or four mic preamps most interfaces have, MOTU has added a full eight mic inputs and pres (in case you didn’t figure that out from the product name). Other specs: 1×1 MIDI, SMPTE sync, expandable and daisy-chainable, 8-channel analog-to-optical conversion, and so you can adjust all those mic ins, five-channel metering and front-panel trim knobs. If you already have a fantastic channel strip, I doubt this will replace it, but if you’re in the market for a new, all-in-one solution, this could be great, especially for on-the-spot recording.

The form factor is similar to the 828s. Full Mac/PC compatibility. The big headline is the pricing: looks like about a US$550 list.

Updated: Just after posting this, MOTU.com came through with full details and images:

8PRE Product Page [MOTU.com]

In other MOTU news, the rest of MOTU’s software is now Universal Binary-ready for Intel Macs. Ethno Instrument and Symphonic Instrument are UB-MAS for use with DP 5.1 on Intel Macs (Digital Performer itself shipped for Intel Macs at the beginning of August), the MX4 synth went UB, and the PCIe drivers are ready for those of you lucky enough to have shiny, new Mac Pros. From MOTU.com:

MX4, Instrument Mactel Support
PCIe-424 Universal Binary Drivers

It’s impossible to continue just to make music and ignore the serious threats to our security and the safety of passenger aviation. Tightened security has focused primarily on threats from the past, and reactive measures that can only prevent existing, known dangers. You know where I’m going with this: we need to evaluate screening methods and other security provisions to respond to the significant issue of snakes on a plane. I just can’t believe no one is doing anything about these motherf****** snakes.

Cult-hit-before-it-was-even-released movie Snakes on a Plane has none other than Trevor Rabin composing the musical score, as if I needed an excuse to bring up Snakes on CDM. Rabin has had an incredible history as a musician. Born to noted classically-trained parents, he went on to co-found the wildly successful Rabbitt, recorded a significant anti-Apartheid anthem, played with Yes, and wrote their #1 hit Owner Of A Lonely Heart. He even worked with Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, and Rick Wakeman. Now, like some other former rockers (Stewart Copeland comes to mind), Rabin has become a successful film composer, with a distinct action-movie tilt. (Armageddon, Bad Boys II, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds — no chick flicks in there, really.) Pictured: both “Rocker Trevor” and (from SoundtrackNet’s great story on Snakes) “Composer Trevor.”

And Rabin is a Mac guy. His studio Jacaranda Studios is powered by Power Mac G5s and, evidently, too much cool gear to list. Various reports suggest he uses both MOTU Digital Performer (like Copeland) and Pro Tools (probably because the studio guys require it). It’s funny, even though audio often gets bounced to Pro Tools for compatibility, film composers really largely prefer Digital Performer to anything else out there, and it certainly includes the most film scoring functionality. If you want to get inside his studio:

Home Recording visits Trevor Rabin

Trevor Rabin Scores Snakes on a Plane [SoundtrackNet]

Don’t try to get in touch with me at 10 pm tonight, incidentally, because I will be at the first show. (Check out the official site for a fun Flash feature that lets you record custom Samuel L. Jackson messages for your friends.) And will I be disappointed when the movie is awful? Absolutely not. I’m betting on it.

MOTU has released a Universal Binary of their flagship DAW, Digital Performer 5.1:

DP 5.1 Universal Binary (Intel Mac) Update Now Shipping [Free update, via MOTU.com]

Thanks to John Molloy for the tip!

Previously: Digital Performer 5 First Look: Instruments, Productivity Boosts, Scoring Features

Now we just need Max/MSP, Reaktor and lots of other Native Instruments software, and a boatload of plug-ins. But if you need reasons to wait, how about new products from Apple? That’s the prediction of Robert Scoble for the upcoming Apple WWDC. (Well, that and the revelation that Vista is broken and late, but I don’t think you really need tea leaves for that; I’m sticking with XP for the time being.) [via Gizmodo]

Behold the power of the Web. Back in December, a reader from National Instruments wrote to tell me that one of their developers had adapted the digital signal processing capabilities of their LabVIEW product to synthesizing sound. In other words, you can take this high-end development platform for “testing, measurement, and control” (i.e., primarily for scientists and engineers, not something you’d normally find musicians hanging around), and use it like a musical synthesizer. That made for a limited audience for a story to say the least; you kind of need to have a LabVIEW sitting around. But I had a feeling someone somewhere would find the crossover between music applications and National Instruments lab gear to be useful. Sure enough, that someone has appeared: Marc from EuroAvionics, a manufacturer of task management and navigation systems for helicopters, writes:

We would like to use the MOTU 24 I/O in combination with LabVIEW to record sound and generate signal outputs.

Do you know if there is a VI that interfaces the MOTU 24I/O with LabVIEW?

So, we missed out on having Peter Gabriel write to ask where he could get a LabVIEW synthesizer for his next album, but this perhaps is the next best thing — helicopter avionics, meet music audio interfaces. And the answer is, indeed, yes. You can make LabVIEW work with off-the-shelf audio hardware on Mac and Windows. Ryan, a technical writer for NI, gives us the full details (and check out comments for an update: this powerful visual development environment will set you back just US$90 if you can get the academic version, meaning this might well be useful to many of you):

As I predicted, summer 2006 looks like the timeframe in which most Mac music software will ship with Universal binaries for Intel Macs. (All is going as I have forseen, erm, and whatnot.)

Linplug is shipping their flagship RMIV analog/sampled drum machine and Albino synth first. The RMIV is available now, with new, lightweight acoustic kits included. Albino III, a major upgrade of this cult-hit synthesizer, will be shipping this month (no word on what’s new just yet). Everything else should be available in upcoming weeks, for fans of Alpha, daOrgan, and other synths.

MOTU has already been shipping drivers for some time, but I don’t yet have the news I’d expect most MOTU fans would be waiting for: DP5, MachFive, and MX4 are all still PowerPC-only. In the meantime, though, they have shipped their newest synths, Ethno Instrument and Symphonic Instrument; the latter adds standalone support, disk streaming, and other features. (Surprised those weren’t in the initial release of Symphonic Instrument, since they are available in the MachFive sampler, but they’re there now.)