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British audio specialists Audient have partnered with Sonarworks to announce the release of Oria Mini.

A room correction system housed in a dedicated hardware device that sits between your interface and speakers, Oria Mini is designed to take the hassle out of acoustic calibration and “make any speakers sound better”.

Oria Mini is powered by Sonarworks SoundID Reference technology, which measures and corrects the acoustic imperfections of any space, whether that’s a home studio or a professional control room.

Corrective processing that would usually be introduced via the computer is applied directly via Oria Mini’s onboard DSP, ensuring accurate monitoring without hogging CPU power or introducing latency to your set-up. Users can create up to four unique calibration profiles, save these on the hardware and switch between them with ease.

The USB bus-powered Oria Mini features 32-bit converters and delivers 127dB dynamic range, and is compatible with any audio interface and speaker system up to 2.1. Connectivity is provided by TRS analogue and S/PDIF digital inputs and a TRS output, along with a dedicated subwoofer output.

Though Oria Mini is designed to work with Sonarworks software, you can purchase it without a Sonarworks license and use it with software from other providers, such as Smaart and RoomEQ Wizard. Manual calibration is also available with controls for EQ, trim, delay and bass management.

Audient describes Oria Mini as a “set-and-forget” device that can be set up and calibrated in under 20 minutes. “We understand whilst room correction has such a positive impact on your ability to achieve great mixes it is also complicated,” says Audient’s Andrew Allen.

“It is for that reason that Oria Mini is designed to be a set-and-forget box – offering consistent, reliable performance with ultra-low latency, doing its job quietly in the background with zero fuss. No crashes, no CPU strain – just high resolution, consistently accurate monitoring whether you’re mixing in your DAW or simply streaming music via Spotify.”

Features:

• Room Correction System
• Powered by Sonarworks SoundiD Reference*
• Supports up to 2.1 Speaker Setups
• Ultra low-latency Monitoring
• Advanced 32-bit AD/DA Converter Technology
• Create and Store 4 Custom Calibration Profiles
• Switch between Profiles via Hardware
• Onboard Room Calibration Processing
  • EQ, Delay, Trim & Bass Management
• 1 x Stereo Input (TRS)
• 1 x Digital Input (S/PDIF)
• 1 x Stereo Speaker Output (TRS)
• 1 x Subwoofer Output (TRS)
• 24 bit / 96kHz
• USB 3.0 / USB Type-C
• USB Bus Powered
• Includes Sonarworks Measurement Mic
• MacOS and Windows Compatible
• Remote Control
  • iOS iPad Remote
  • Stream Deck Support

Oria Mini is available for purchase with a bundled SoundID Reference license and measurement microphone for £379/€439/$449. The hardware can be purchased standalone without a Sonarworks license for £249/€299/$299, and existing SoundID users can purchase an add-on bundle for £335/€398/$398.

Find out more via Audient website.

You can now purchase Ableton Live 12 Suite on a rent-to-own plan.

Ableton has announced that Live 12 Suite, the top-tier version of its flagship DAW, is now available on a rent-to-own plan, placing the software within reach of music-makers on a limited budget.

Live 12 Suite is priced at £539/€599/$749. The rent-to-own plan spreads the cost of the DAW over 24 monthly payments of £22.46/€24.96/$31.21, with no extra charges, and the remaining balance can be paid off at any time. (An educational license for Live 12 Suite, which is 50% cheaper, can also be paid off in 12 monthly payments.)

Ableton’s rent-to-own plan can be paused at any time with no penalty, and users will be able to access the software until the end of the current billing cycle. You can then pick up where you left off and resume the plan at any time. Users have the option of extending their rent-to-own plan to cover the cost of an upgrade when a new version of Live is released.

You won’t need to be online constantly to use Live with a rent-to-own plan, but Live will periodically verify that the plan is active. Users can use Live offline for up to 3 days between verification checks – if you stay offline longer than that, saving and exporting will be disabled until you verify.

Currently, Ableton’s rent-to-own plan is only available for Live 12 Suite. The DAW is available in three editions (Intro, Standard and Suite) with Suite at the top end, bundled with 20 software instruments, 58 audio effects and 71GB of presets, samples and loops.

Rent-to-own plans are a popular alternative to the increasingly prevalent subscription model. Unlike a subscription, once all payments in the plan have been made, a customer owns their Live 12 license in full, in perpetuity.

To purchase Ableton Live 12 Suite on a rent-to-own plan, head to Ableton online store.

Green Noise has introduced Saucillator, a free app for iOS and Android that lets you create and play your own custom synthesizers and instruments.

What they have to say about it:

“Inspired by the Korg Kaossilator and Moog synthesizers, Saucillator transforms mobile devices into a platform for creating and playing digital synthesizers. Users use the touchscreen to manipulate oscillators and effects, and can also do live-looping and recording. Our goal is to be beginner friendly while at the same time offering all the deep, complex features traditional synth users love.

Users are able to play custom synthesizers using the x-y axes of the touchscreen. The x-axis corresponds to amplitude (volume) and the y-axis corresponds to frequency (pitch). Playback can also be looped, recorded, and EQed using a Parametric EQ.

On top of performing, users are able to create their own custom synthesizers, which consist of a custom timbre and user-defined effects. A variety of timbres are included: Sine, Square, Saw, Pulse, Noise, Theremin, “Singing Saw”, “Electric Eel”, and “Starslide.” These, as well as any user-created synths, can be mixed and matched at different harmonics, amplitudes, and phases to create custom sounds.

Each synth has customizable fx parameters as well, including Envelope (ADSR – attack & release), Vibrato LFO (rate & depth), Tremolo, Delay, Distortion, Parametric EQ, and Note Lag (Portamento).”

You can also export your designs to share with others.

Saucillator is available now, for iOS & Android, as a free download.