VirSyn has announced the release of iVoxel, "The singing vocoder" for Apple"s iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

iVoxel is a combination of a voice-optimized synthesizer and a vocoder. The vocoder part is based on the Matrix vocoder from VirSyn. The channel filters used by iVoxel are based on the Sennheiser Vocoder VSM201 resulting in a rich and fat analogue sound characteristic.

iVoxel lets you:

• Speak or sing into your head set mic transforming your voice in a wide variety of ways.
• Record words, syllables or other sounds into the voxel dictionary for later reuse.
• Play different vocals live on the keyboard with ingenious pitch bending.
• Arrange and play melodies with the built-in sequencer and add the lyrics from a user expandable dictionary of vocals.

Features:

• Real time analysis/resynthesis of your voice.
• 20 Channel vocoder.
• Voice spectrum recorder (voxels).
• Over 200 prerecorded voxels included.
• Play your vocoded voice live on keyboard. Drag for slides and vibrato.
• Sequencer for notes & lyrics.
• Voice optimized monophonic synthesizer.
• Time warping of voxels.
• Gender changer.
• Breath noise.
• 12dB Lowpass filter.
• Pitch vibrato with delay.
• Chorus/Delay effects.
• Export/Import of projects and voxels.
• Export of audio recordings.
• Copy audio recordings to Clipboard for use with other Apps (e.g. Intua BeatMaker and many others).

iVoxel is now available in the App Store for $11.99.

Expert Sleepers has updated Silent Way to v1.6.1 and Spectral Conquest to v1.0.1 and announced its Summer Sale.

The Silent Way update increases the maximum range of the Voice Controller’s pitch bend function.

The Spectral Conquest update offers the following changes:

• Improvements to the interactive painting of dense spectral data.
• VST versions - Fixed issues with slow GUI updates when running scripts or painting spectral data.

Summer Sale
From now until the end of August, Expert Sleepers is offering upgrades at half price.

The upgrades affected are:

• Augustus Loop v2.x upgrade from v1.0-v1.4: now $15.
• Augustus Loop v2.x upgrade from v1.5-v1.8: now $10.
• Crossfade Loop Synth v3.x upgrade from v2.x: now $19.

Access has released two new Virus TI sound sets by Richard Devine and Chicago Electro rockers VTG.

Richard Devine, known for his GlitchCore/IDM influenced sound has made extensive use of the recently added Stomp Box Distortion algorithms and Frequency Shifter effects.

VTG"s signature set features loads of Dub-Step and Elektro sounds. Here"s what he has to say: "I really wanted a nasty sound bank for my Virus, something that made the woofers shake, something that had LOTS of great modulation... So I set forth to create a dirty, Electro (somewhat Industrial) patch set for the Virus. There’s dubstep-esque basses, nasty little arps, raunchy electro leads, and ghostly ambient pads included in the bank."

Virus TI users can download both sets of each 128 patches free of charge from virus.info.

WOK has announced the release of DRONOS, a new VST instrument plug-in for Windows.

DRONOS is a VST drone sound generator that creates rich, smooth evolving tones with just one key press. The focus lies on a warm, analogue sound that is tonal and playable, with an easy user interface.

DRONOS comes in two versions: a free monophonic version with a nag-screen and an unlimited version that cost €12. (The unlimited version will be available soon.)

Prominy has announced the release of SR5 Rock Bass, a virtual guitar instrument for Kontakt Player that captures the sound of the MUSICMAN StingRay5.

Main Features:

• SR5 SPM (Super Performance Multi) that enables keyboard players to instantly access and play various bass guitar playing techniques in real-time.
• Auto Stroke Detection.
• Real-time legato slide.
• Real-time hammer-on / pull-off / trill.
• Assignable Key Switch.
• The lower note samples (low B - low D#) are included.
• Direct signals from the bass guitar.
• Kontakt Player 4 included (No sampler required).
• Approx. 15 GB / 14,000 samples.

Pricing & Availability

SR5 Rock Bass has an MSRP of $149 but is available for the special introductory price of $99 until the end of August 2010. As it is powered by Native Instruments Kontakt Player it is available for Windows and Mac OS X in stand-alone and VST, AU and RTAS instrument plug-in formats in both 32- and 64-bit versions. The library can be loaded into the full version of Kontakt 4 too of course.

We had an SE Electronics Gemini II in for testing earlier this year. We checked it out on vocals, nylon and steel-stringed acoustic guitar, drums, and more. Here is our review.

The Gemini II is remarkable for its topology — it is one of a handful of dual-tube condenser mics on the market. Where most mics use a transformer or transistors on the output circuit, the Gemini II uses a second dual-triode tube. Click the image at right to see the Gemini II profile in the Mic Database, including a fuller description of the features, specifications, photos, and a buyer’s guide pointing out the lowest online prices for the mic.

The “II” is a second-generation design; two features that are new to this edition are the pad and high-pass filter to the mic. Circuitry changes lower the self-noise on the II from 18dBA to an impressively quiet 12dBA.

The Gemini II is also remarkable for its physical heft. Just for fun, we shot a photo of the mic next to an surprisingly diminutive mic, the TLM 102. Great sound, it turns out, comes in all shapes and sizes.

The success of the Gemini II has lead to the recent expansion of the Gemini product line; check out these 2010 models:

• Gemini III – a limited-edition multipattern version of the Gemini II
• Gemini 3500 – oddly, a FET mic, with the Gemini capsule
• Gemini 5 – a unique hybrid mic with two separate amplifier circuits, switchable between tube/transformer and FET/transformer.

Initial impressions

The Gemini II is a heavy mic, and is packaged accordingly — in a foam-lined briefcase that is as formidable as the mic itself. A metal shockmount is included, as are extra elastic bands.

The mic is encased in a wooden box, which although beautifully built adds weight and expense to a kit that doesn’t benefit from either. I would prefer if mic vendors would sell the boxes as accessories.

An 8-pin cable for the mic is included, as well as the electrical supply cable for the power supply.

The PSU has a simple, brushed-metal exterior. There are no knobs or switches — the pad and HPF switches are on the microphone itself, and there is no pattern control (see the new Gemini III for that).

Overall, the build quality is excellent. Parts fit well. The shockmount works as advertised. This is a classy piece of equipment.

Test 1: Vocals

Michael Capella and I recorded handful of samples for comparison purposes.

We recorded four vocal performances over an existing track of acoustic guitar. The signal chain wass the same for each mic:
mic -> Digi 002 Rack (stock) -> Pro Tools (24 bit, 44.1 kHz)
All pads and filters on the mics were disengaged, but the HPF on the Digi 002 preamp channel was engaged: -12 dB/octave @ 75Hz.

We used a pop filter in front of every microphone, and a RealTraps PVB behind. Every mic used its own shockmount.

The tracks below were gain-matched in Pro Tools, then output via my BLA-modded Digi 002 to 24-bit WAVs that were subsequently downsampled, dithered, and converted to 320-kbps MP3s in Peak Pro.

Artist: Michael Capella
Song: “Here in the Lonely Night”

Mic: SE Electronics Gemini II

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Mic: MXL Revelation

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Mic: Shure KSM44

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Mic: sE 4400a

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[ 24-bit WAVs: Gemini II, Revelation, KSM44, 4400a ]

The KSM44 is the most distinctive sounding, to my ear, but what other reviews called “detail” and “clarity” sounds to me more like an artificial graininess, almost a chorus-y effect on the midrange of the vocal. I found it distracting, although within a mix the additional texture might help a vocal stand out. I did like the high end on the KSM, though.

In a blind test, I picked the two sE mics. I liked the colored but detailed mids on the Gemini II. The 4400a, although it failed to impress in our VO Mic Shootout, surprised me here for presenting warm-sounding mids without losing high-frequency clarity. There’s something about the “ess” sounds on the 4400a that I find too explosive, though.

The Revelation seemed to have less low-end, or less proximity effect than the Gemini II, resulting in a slightly thinner sound. Both these tube mics conveyed a lot of detail, but for Michael’s voice I preferred the Gemini II, which comes across as more intimate.

The listening panel, members of which received unidentified 24-bit WAVs, did not all agree. Harry Gale of Route 44 Studios commented, “The KSM44 was my favorite for clarity and presence.”

Steve Faul of WLIO noted that the Gemini II “noise floor was higher, but not hissy, just a bit of rumble as if the air conditioning kicked on during the session. Overall a slightly dark quality.”

Randy Coppinger liked the Gemini II: “It has a nice presence, and works well on this voice.”

Test 2: Acoustic Guitar

Michael Capella recorded a short guitar passage through most of the same mics. We substituted his go-to acoustic mic, a KSM32, for the KSM44, and included the MXL V89 as a third FET.

The signal chain was as described above. We positioned each mic identically — near the 12th fret, pointing toward where the neck meets the body, from a distance of 10-12 inches. We didn’t take the time to find an ideal position for each mic, so you will hear differences in low-frequency response, due in part to proximity effect.

File processing was as described above.

Artist: Michael Capella
Song: “You Go Ahead”

Mic: SE Electronics Gemini II

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Mic: MXL Revelation

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Mic: MXL V89

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Mic: Shure KSM32

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Mic: SE Electronics 4400a

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[ 24-bit WAVs: V89, Gemini II, Revelation, KSM32, 4400a ]

I think this test is as much about the listener’s monitoring environment and personal preferences as it is about the sound of the mics. None of the mics exhibited detrimental self-noise. None had brittle highs or obvious distortion. This was a change from my experience in Mike Jasper’s Big Ass Small-Diaphragm Mic Shootout, in which many of the SDCs seemed susceptible to distortion on transients. These large-diaphragm mics handled HF peaks much more cleanly.

After repeated listens through HD650 and HD201 headphones, and HR824 monitors (in a partially-treated room), my picks in a blind test were the V89 and the sE Gemini II. I thought these two were well-balanced, with good string definition and good transient response. The Gemini II seemed to be the most articulate and cleanest of the bunch. The result is interesting, because I initially thought of the Gemini II as a “color” mic, but that’s not necessarily how it acts in session.

I liked the high-end sparkle of the Revelation. Transients seemed a bit softer here, but that may be a performance issue — I think Michael played this pass slightly faster and less aggressively than the others. In any case, the Revelation was a close second place to the V89 and Gemini.

The KSM32 and 4400a seemed too heavy, too bassy. The 4400a seemed to be the more controlled of the two, but I didn’t much like either of them on this guitar, in this position, for this track.

Comments from the listening panel follow. Note that these were all blind auditions of 24-bit WAVs.

Harry Gale

The V89 was my favorite. Hands down more articulate to my ears and overall higher level of likeability.

Steve Faul

There was a wide variety of signature sounds from these mics. In some cases, the choice of one over the other may be simply a matter of where a producer wants the guitar to sit in the mix.

V89: Nice woody quality that didn’t come across too boomy. Some folks might want to EQ the lower end down a bit. This is the first one I heard and it set the bar high for the others.

Revelation: Good string action. Chords ring very clear. Less low end, which would help the guitar cut through a mix. The one I’d chose for a solo.

Gemini II: My mind kept screaming to reposition this mic. I felt like a part of the guitar was missing. Nice strumming action, though.

KSM32: This one had a sweet spot in the lower midrange. This is your choice if you don’t want string scrapes or too much strumming action fighting with the vocal. Otherwise, a bit too cloudy for my taste.

4400a: I didn’t feel like this was a good choice for acoustic guitar. My mind immediately said, “Thank you. Next.” Certain notes phased as if I were listening to an old tape playback with dirty heads.

My pick would be Mic B (Revelation) for “up front” moments or solos, and Mic A (V89) for a full rich sound.

Randy Coppinger

I think all of the guitar recordings would have benefited from some more distance and/or low rolloff, low shelf.

V89: too boomy, very weird mids — don’t like this mic on this guitar at all.
Revelation: kinda boomy, good articulation, too much metal “ping” in the strings
sE Gemini II: well balanced, lows bark out a bit when strummed, distant/roomy
KSM32: full. warm and rich if not dark, heavy but not tubby, most true rendering of mids
4400a: mids sound synthetic, hollow / lacks presence, tight low end

Those of us who picked favorites congregated on the V89, with the Revelation and Gemini II next in line. (Note: the V89 seems to be a steal at $330!)

Test 3: Drums

As much as I dislike recording drums in mono, I only had one Gemini II. I hung it as a mono overhead, next to an inexpensive imported tube mic — the ACM 1200, similar to the Apex 460 or Nady TCM-1150. The most revealing sample was a passage played on the toms.

Mic: TnC ACM-1200

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Mic: SE Electronics Gemini II

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To be sure, the ACM1200 sounds pretty good here, and considering the price differential would make a great first tube mic for anyone building up a mic locker. This is both the attraction and the curse of cheap imported microphones — they sound pretty good.

In my opinion, the Gemini II wins this comparison easily. Through the Gemini II, the drums have more impact. They sound simultaneously bigger and closer. They have more attack. In contrast, the ACM1200 track sounds veiled and distant.

The Banquet sessions

Darryl Webb put the Gemini against his go-to LDCs at Banquet Studios.

Darryl sent a pair of clips from a classical guitar session for Gregory Leupp, comparing the Gemini II to the artist’s favorite guitar mic, a Studio Projects C1.

Artist: Gregory Leupp

Mic: Studio Projects C1

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Mic: SE Electronics Gemini II

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[ 24-bit WAVs: Studio Projects C1, Gemini II ]

The C1 is a few dB brighter above 10kHz, and has 5dB more self-noise, but very clean and articulate mids. But I picked the Gemini II in a heartbeat for its warmth and comparative lack of fret noise.

Darryl was also able to use the Gemini II on stand-up bass. The artist is Markie Sanders, performing for a track on an upcoming Kevin Russell release.

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Darryl Webb

LOVED the Gemini II.

I am astounded at how quiet it is, especially using two tubes. We have the SE Electronics Z5600 single tube, the SE 5000, and the AKG “The Tube,” and the Gemini was so much quieter. It was warm, vintage sounding with an even response over the frequency spectrum.

I put it up next to an SE 2200aUSB (that we use a lot for vocals and voice-over) and in spoken word, the two sounded almost identical. My theory is that it would have been a different story with singing than with spoken word. Given the price difference between the 2200aUSB [an LDC FET with dual outputs: analog XLR and 16-bit USB] and the Gemini II, if I were buying a selection of mics for a new studio, I would really have to compare those two mics before spending the higher price for the Gemini. That said, I did really like it’s warmth and low noise floor.

The Loudville sessions

Mathew Trogner and Mark Keller tested the Gemini II against the MXL Revelation and a vintage Telefunken U47. See these shootouts in Mathew’s glorious high-definition videos, posted previously right here:

• Acoustic guitar tube mic shootout
• Tube mic voiceover test

To round out the Loudville tracks, here is Mark Keller singing “Turn Back the Hands of Time” into the Gemini II, in a full mix:

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Here is an acapella excerpt from the same track, through each of the three mics from the shootouts mentioned above — the Revelation, the Gemini II, and the U-47. To see which track is from which mic, click the button below… but only after you listen.

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Mathew Trogner

The Gemini has a unique sound with great character. One thing that was instantly noticeable about it was its upper mid to high frequency boost. After hearing some voiceover using this mic, the warmth in the bottom was also quite apparent.

My first test with this microphone was a female vocalist who sang some harmony parts into it for a track that already had a lead. We went direct into a Mackie board with no EQ or compression. While soloing the part I was worried that the mic had too much “vibe” or “color” for the particular track, but once we laid it in with the rest of the track it mixed in perfectly with almost no EQ. The lead vocal was recorded with a Shure KSM44 and seemed so thin and small in comparison.

My next tests with the microphone involved having Mark Keller from Loudville Studios read some voiceover, play acoustic guitar and also sing. We recorded directly into a Millennia HV-3R straight into Pro Tools. I was surprised to hear it that it was not as noisy as I expected for a mic with two tubes. It sounded great on Mark’s voice and with some compression would fit nicely in a narration. Since the mic does seem to be relatively hyped I could see it being a problem with some voiceover actors or singers who tend to be sibilant. On guitar it was a real champ; it captured the sound beautifully. Afterwards Mark commented how in his headphones and on playback it seemed as though his voice would require almost no EQ. The upper mid boost was very apparent.

Overall everyone during the tests were very pleased with this mic and a few people were surprised that it didn’t cost more money. The mic has a quite a presence. It’s built like a tank. I couldn’t see this being my go-to microphone for everything, but it is a great one to have in the arsenal for many applications.

Conclusions

I liked the Gemini II on just about every source I tried it on.

As a few commenters have noted, it’s not a do-everything utility mic. But its combination of warmth, tone, and articulation make it worth reaching for just in case.

I’ve been watching the price on this mic for a few weeks — this is a lot of microphone for the ~$1050 you can currently buy it for.

Disclaimer

I have no affiliation with sE Electronics or their distributors, and received no compensation for this review. The sE Gemini II was loaned to me for review purposes, and has sadly been returned.

With Gratitude

Thanks to Evan and the gang at Fingerprint Audio for the gear loan, to Mitch Carey and James Young of sE/Sonic Distribution for the support and last-minute product photos, to Mathew Trogner, Mark Keller, and everyone at Loudville Studios, to Darryl Webb and Banquet Studios, to the musicians who contributed their talents to the test process — Michael Capella, Gregory Leupp, Markie Sanders — and to the RecordingHacks Listening Panel: Harry Gale of Route 44 Studio, Randy Coppinger, and Steve Faul of Ohio’s WLIO.

Your Turn

This is a lot more fun as a conversation. Please leave a comment to share your thoughts!

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Image Line has updated FL Studio to v9.5 Beta and has announced a Yard Sale on all of its plug-ins until the end of August.

Notable changes in FL Studio v9.5 Beta:

• Larger mixer view & waveform metering.
• Individually sizeable Playlist tracks.
• Live Playlist marker types.
• 64-bit plug-in support.
• Better memory management.
• Improved Keep on disk.
• Improved audio options.
• Fully automatic PDC.
• Piano roll transport control.
• Piano roll - Rounded notes view.
• Ctrl+B - Duplicate selection or all.

Yard Sale
Image Line is currently offering all of its plug-ins for a special price of $49 each until the end of August.

Plug-ins include:

• Sytrus : $49 (instead $179).
• Maximus : $49 (instead of $189).
• Morphine : $49 (instead of $159).
• Toxic Biohazard : $49 (instead of $99).
• Drumaxx : $49 (instead of $99).
• Poizone : $49 (instead of $79).
• Gross Beat : $49 (instead of $99).

To purchase these plug-ins, click here.

Nathan Moore is making history.

His “Hippy Fiasco Rides Again” tour of northern California was organized within about 36 hours, via iPhone and old-fashioned hotel-room telephone, hosted by fans and friends in towns from Chico to Santa Cruz. Nathan and his tour manager, Chad Galactic, are on a mission to not only recoup expenses from a festival gig that didn’t turn out as expected, but to establish a new standard for “totally fan-driven” touring.

Here’s the official tour kickoff video. “We’ve got Petaluma.” Indeed.

I’m just home from the Sebastopol show, an intimate backyard concert with a bunch of neighbors I’d never met, all of whom came together to support Nathan’s latest venture. It was a casual show, completely appropriate for the venue. Nathan asked, “When do you think we should start?” Chad answered, “After this cigarette.” And so it goes.

Upcoming dates:

• Thursday, July 29: McNears, 21 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma CA 8:00
• Friday, July 30: Connecticut Yankee, San Francisco CA, 10:00 $10
• Sunday, August 1: A semi private party at the Compound in Oakland, call hot line for details, Doors 4:00, Music 6:00, $10 Donation.
• Monday, August 2: TBA, Santa Cruz

Fans of ThaMuseMeant: Nathan is taking requests! Here he is performing one of my favorite TMM songs, Never Settle For Less. (See also this tour of Frogville Planet.)

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tOSC has released AU-300, a Mac OS X Audio Unit Plug-in-based MIDI-Programmer for some famous Japanese synths from the Mid-"80s. It brings the modern DAW based working process together with the analogue sound of the Roland Alpha Juno Family.

Features:

• Load it in your AU-Host and control the Alpha Juno or MKS-50 just like using a softsynth.
• All settings are saved in the project file (and restored on load).
• All parameters can be modulated and automation curves can be drawn.
• You can save and restore .aupresets files and manage them on your computer.
• If your Host is supporting MIDI learn, map your controller to it. This is usually only possible with Sysex-capable controllers.

AU-300 is Donationware.

Homegrown Sounds has released Scala Creator, a VST plug-in for Windows designed to make creating Microtonal patches in Scala format an easy process. Although it is primarily designed as part of the Astralis pack to make patches for the Astralis synths, the produced .scl files can be used with any application that can load them. Scales can be up to 48 notes which should suit most purposes, and Scales can be created using cents via knobs or text entry boxes, which can also accept ratios.

The VSTi is also equipped with a basic synth for playing the scales as you create them. The playback options are the same as those used in the other Homegrown synths, so that Scales can be laid out either back to back, or in Octave format, so that each cycle of the scale will always begin on a C key (Note that this is not saved as part of the scale, other synths may lay the Scales out differently).

Also included is an Arpeggiator with many modes, as well as a virtual keyboard which can use sticky notes, together this means that free hands Scale design is possible. You can select a series of notes and they will play continuously whilst you concentrate on creating the scale.

Scala Creator also comes with 300 Microtonal patches which come as standard with all other HG synths. This provides the file framework where the files are saved. It consists of a main folder which can be installed anywhere, and then sub folders within this location, appear as banks inside the HG VST instruments. This provides a simple way of organising patches. Inside the synth, this appears as two popup menus, the first selects the bank, and then from the second menu any patch within the bank can be selected. The currently selected scale can be imported to populate the working scale, and the compare button allows switching between these and the previous values.

Whilst Scala is a free and versatile application, it is a complex program to learn. The aim of Scala Creator was to make it a straight forward and intuitive process. It does not aim to compete with Scala, but provides an easier way for people to quickly make and export scales, and will be especially useful for those people new to Microtonal Tuning.

Scala Creator is free for existing owners of the Astralis Pack, and is priced at $22 for everyone else.

Combo Model V is a free virtual combo organ, modelled after a well-known combo organ from the 1960s.

Features:

• 4-octave C-to-C keyboard.
• Harmonic range 7 polyphonic octaves.
• 4 footage drawbars.
• 2 voice drawbars.
• Vibrato unit with adjustable speed and depth.
• Swell (volume) pedal.
• Adjustable tuning per note.
• Fully modelled (no samples inside).
• Model includes oscillators, dividers, crosstalk, filters, key contacts and key click.
• Velocity-sensitive key contact attack and release.
• Fully automatable.
• 32 presets included.

In addition, FabFilter has announced a Summer Sale running until August 1, 2010, offering a 25% discount on all plug-in bundles in the online FabFilter shop.

Here are the most important changes in the plug-in updates:

• Pro-Q: Fixed possible audible artefacts when enabling/disabling EQ bands.
• Pro-Q: Fixed bug that caused dragging multiple EQ bands to create more than one undo state.
• Pro-Q: Fixed right-click pop-up menu that wasn"t working in the 64-bit Mac plug-ins.
• Pro-C: Improved display of peak values in the level meters.
• Twin 2, Volcano 2 and Timeless 2: Fixed various bugs that could cause modulation slots to be ignored when producing audio, in certain circumstances.
• All plug-ins: When typing parameter values in REAPER on Windows, the Enter key now correctly closes the edit field.
• All plug-ins: Improved soft-bypass behaviour.

System requirements for the 64-bit plug-ins are a 64-bit edition of Windows Vista or Windows 7, or Mac OS X 10.6 (Intel only). The 32-bit plug-ins require either Windows XP, Vista or 7, or Mac OS X 10.4 and higher (PowerPC and Intel).