Listen to an excerpt from Motu’s demo of its new MachFive 2, a very deep plug-in/stand-alone virtual sampler that comes with a 32GB sample library and is now shipping for $395 ($195 upgrade). MachFive 2 also comes with an integrated synth, so you can combine synthesis to sampled instruments. You’ll hear an example of that in this podcast, as well as MachFive 2′ 8 GB multi-sampled grand piano, some of the 8 GB of licensed sounds from the Vienna Symphonic Library and many details on the product.

MOTU MachFive 2 podcast

What’s better than a stereo mic? How bout a stereo mic with four outputs? The new ELA M216 is a dual capsule microphone with 4 outputs! Telefunken’s Toni Fishman tells the tale of two mics in our Mix interview.

Mark Ludmer from Rode talked to me about their new M3 condenser microphone. It’s battery or phantom powered and ready for a multitude of uses. Get all the skinny in our exclusive Mix interview.

Michael Deming and Jennefer Wason from Charter Oak showed me their new headphones and handmade pop screen. The new cans are aimed at the high end and promise to be very easy on the ears, both from a comfort and sonic standpoint. The pop screen velcro’s on most any mic and is made from a top secret material that rejects moisture as well as plosives. Listen to Michael talk about the new products in our exclusive Mix interview.

Check out Markus Revito’s interview with David Cross from Ableton who dishes what’s new in Live 7. The new version offers 64-bit mix summing, new and improved devices with side-chaining capability, better MIDI timing and hardware integration.

photo caption: MTV’s Marc Repp in the Lawo booth

Herbert Lemcke from Lawo showed me their cool new plug-in server that delivers beaucoup horsepower for Lawo Console users. Check out my interview with Herbert for full details on the capabilities of this new product.