WORLD OF MUSIC ; PORTABLE KEYBOARD - Latest Portable Music Keyboards, Synthesizers and Music News

When Universal Audio launched its UAD Spark  software subscription service, the company promises that it would be “an evolving collection”, with new instruments and effects being added in due course.

Now, it has fulfilled its promises, the company has added the Pultec Passive EQ Collection to the bundle, giving subscribers access to some of the greatest tube EQs of all time in their DAWs.

Pultec Collection was originally released for UA’s DSP-powered devices, but is now being offered natively for the first time. It includes emulations of the EQP-1A, MEQ-5, and HLF-3C hardware units, and can be used on vocals, guitars, drums and more. And More than 100 presets are included to get you started.

“It’s fitting that the Pultec EQ Collection is now available in UAD Spark, alongside plugins from so many other iconic audio brands,” says Bill Putnam Jr, CEO of Universal Audio. “We created UAD Spark to bring the sound of the best studio hardware ever made to all music creators, and these classic equalisers certainly belong in that category.”

Spark now offers native support for M1 Macs, though you will can’t run it on Windows. The PC version is set to arrive later this year.

You can try Spark free for 14 days (30 days for Volt audio interface owners) thereafter, it will cost you $20 a month.

Find out more and sign up on the Universal Audio website.

ST Modular has shared a playlist of video demos, to introduce their new Euphoria DIY semi-modular analog desktop synthesizer.

Euphoria is designed to be built by ‘passionate builders’. It consists of fourteen individual circuit boards that are mounted on one controller board.

Features:

• Two Voltage Controlled Oscillators with classic waveforms, waveshapers, sub- octaves and a noise source. Convenient sliding potentiometers for volume control of the waveforms. Based on the famous CEM3340 chip and a newly developed wave-shaping tone generator.
• Dual Sequencers – Play notes with a 5-STEP trigger and CV sequencer and an additional 4-STEP CV sequencer. Transpose and change the length of a sequence, control the tempo via CV, add swing or sequence manually with the push of a button.
• OSC Mix & Vari Boards – Seamlessly blend the oscillators manually or by CV. Insert external audio and pass it through the Filter or internal Reverb. VARI BOARDS are interchangeable boards, each offering a different functionality. Choose the VARI BOARD that meets your requirements.
• DUAL LPG, VCA & ADSR – Each oscillator is processed by a filter- based low-pass gate (PLG) and both are optionally routed through an internal AC- coupled VCA. Use the internal ADSR envelope to shape and express your sounds.
• Modulation & Tools – Get your sounds moving with the internal CV-controllable LFO and the Buchla 281e-inspired function generator. Multiply, invert and amplify your signals with a buffered multiple and an additional DC-coupled VCA.
• Reverberation – Add depth to your analog sounds with the internal reverb unit. Connect either an Analog Spring Tank or a Digital Reverb Brick. Apply Reverb Feedback and control the Dry/Wet Portion via CV.

Audio Demos:

Euphoria is ‘coming soon’ and estimates total cost for the DIY build to be about €600.

Find out more on the ST Modular website.

On Friday July 15th at 7pm PST, Make Noise founder Tony Rolando will introduce their latest Eurorack module design in a livestream event from Perfect Circuit. It is their first new Eurorack module since 2019’s Mimeophon.

Long-time modular artist Rodent will join Tony in the announcement. The stream will feature a module overview, Q+A, and live examples of the new design.

You can watch the introduction via the embed above or via Youtube.