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The Bob Moog Foundation – an independent non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of Bob Moog – has introduced the Vox Humana Sample Bank, a new sample library that recreates the Vox Humana setting of a Polymoog 280A.

The sample bank was created by synthesist Alex Ball, who carefully sampled every note of a Polymoog 280A set to its Vox Humana setting. Ball recorded each note twice to capture variation. Seamless looping, attack and release controls, and reverb are scripted into the associated Kontakt patch. A full version of Kontakt 7 is required to operate the Vox Humana Sample Bank. WAV samples are also included.

“Vox Humana is one of those sounds that is so familiar and yet so otherworldly – synthetic but somehow organic,” noted Alex Ball. “Hopefully, this multi-sampled version of the sound will get a lot of use and bring a lot of happiness to those who can’t access an original unit.”

Released in 1978 as a new and simplified version of the Polymoog 203A, the Polymoog 280A was a fully polyphonic preset-based synthesizer. The 280A model featured fourteen preset sounds, including the Vox Humana setting, which was made famous by Gary Numan with his 1979 hit song Cars.

The Vox Humana Sample Bank can be purchased for $15 through the Bob Moog Foundation’s online store. Ball donated his work on the sample bank, so 100% of the proceeds go to support the Foundation’s projects, which include:

• Bob’s SoundSchool, a 10-week curriculum that teaches second-grade students the physics of sound using musical instruments;
• The Bob Moog Foundation Archives; and
• The Moogseum, an immersive, experiential museum located in Asheville, North Carolina.

The Euphonia is a professional rotary mixer from AlphaTheta that combines the clarity of digital with the richness of analog sound, promising an immersive musical experience for both DJs and their audiences.

AlphaTheta, the parent brand that owns Pioneer DJ, has announced the release of its first ever mixer. Euphonia is a rotary mixer, meaning that it uses rotary dials to mix between channels instead of faders.

Euphonia is a hybrid digitial/analogue 4-channel mixer built around a transformer circuit developed in collaboration with Rupert Neve Designs, which AlphaTheta tells us is tuned specifically for the unit, adding harmonics and culminating in a “glossy and energetic” sound.

The mixer is equipped with high-quality 32-bit A/D and D/A converters and uses 96kHz/64bit floating point processing in its DSP, which powers a number of digital effects including reverb, tape echo, and delay. External effects can be hooked up via the Send/Return section.

AlphaTheta is making a big deal of the mixer’s elastomer-coated rotary dials, which have been specially designed to provide intuitive and precise control, and will vary in resistance depending on how fast you turn them; their volume curves have also been fine-tuned in response to feedback from DJs.

Euphonia’s interface is split-level, with the top of the unit featuring a 3-band master isolator section with Boost Send buttons for applying effects, alongside a display AlphaTheta has dubbed the Energy Visualizer. Unlike a traditional VU meter, the display features a needle for each of the mixer’s channels and a spectrum analyzer for the master channel.

The remainder of the unit is taken up by controls for the mixer’s 4 channels, which showcase a design closer to that of Pioneer’s DJM mixers than a traditional rotary mixer.

Connectivity-wise, Euphonia is well-equipped, with four RCA outputs at both line and phono level, four coaxial digital inputs, and XLR and 1/4″ TRS mic inputs. We have an XLR master output, 1/4″ TRS booth output, and RCA output for recording, along with two headphone outputs, 1/4″ and 3.5mm. There’s also two 1/4″ TRS sends and returns and a USB-C port for hooking up with Rekordbox, Traktor and Serato.

Features:

• Enhanced harmonics in your music, thanks to a Rupert Neve Designs transformer.
• Specially developed rotary faders, designed to make you feel at one with the music.
• Energy Visualizer for understanding overall sound at first glance.
• Next-generation 3Band Master Isolator.
• Built-in Send FX to bring depth and breadth to your sound.
• Design that embodies a new era of rotary mixer.

Euphonia is priced at $3799/£3249. Find out more on AlphaTheta website.

Softube VCA Compressor plugin has serious dbx appeal and is free for a limited time. This emulation of a classic ‘70s dynamics processor can currently be yours for nothing till end of March.

You may well be all sorted for classic compressor emulations – it’s not like there aren’t many of them – but if you’re not, Softube is currently letting you download its dbx-inspired VCA Compressor plugin for free.

Promising to deliver the punch of the 1970s model that it emulates, this can be used to give your sounds an audible, characterful boost, thanks to its hard knee compression curve and ability to add harmonic content in the gain stages.

The plugin version promises all the tone and features of the original, plus new ratios, parallel compression and detector filtering. There’s now a sidechain section, a dry/wet control and an output drive knob for dialling in even more special sauce. Other enhancements include a stereo link mode and a high frequency make-up feature.

Features:

• VCA Compressor faithfully emulates a coveted compressor renowned for its signature snappy sound.
• Versatile for adding warmth, weight, and cohesion to bass, guitars, and vocals, as well as achieving impactful, snappy snares or bold room channels.
• Modern features include Drive, a Sidechain section, Stereo Link, High Frequency Make-up, and Dry/Wet controls.
• Console 1-ready.
• Included in the Icons: The Compressor Collection suite.

It runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats, and is also included in the company’s Icons: The Compressor Collection bundle.

The VCA Compressor is free until March 31, 2024 (normally $149) and can be downloaded now via the Softube website.