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Avid , the brand behind Pro Tools, has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of private equity firm STG in an all-cash transaction. The deal values Avid at $1.4 billion, inclusive of Avid’s net debt and is expected to be closed before the end of the year.

Once the deal is completed, Avid will become a privately held company; Under the terms of the agreement, Avid stockholders will receive $27.05 in cash for each share of Avid common stock. The cash purchase price represents a premium of 32.1% over the Company’s unaffected closing share price on May 23, 2023, the last full trading day prior to media speculation regarding a potential sale of the Company.

One of the biggest brands in pro audio, Avid is the manufacturer of a variety of multimedia tools including the DAW Pro Tools, video editing software Media Composer and score editor Sibelius. Pro Tools is an industry-standard DAW used in recording studios across the globe.

Avid’s acquisition is another example of a leading music technology brand bought up by private equity; in 2021, investment firm Francisco Partners acquired Native Instruments.  Earlier this year, Moog was purchased by inMusic, the owner of Akai, Alesis and M-Audio. The corporate consolidation of music tech was expertly covered by content creator Benn Jordan in a recent video; if you’re interested in where this could lead, we recommend watching.

“This transaction is the result of a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives for Avid,” said John P. Wallace, Chairman of the Avid Board of Directors. “Upon closing, this transaction will deliver immediate, significant and certain value to our stockholders. After carefully evaluating a variety of options, the Board determined that this transaction is in the best interests of Avid and its stockholders.”

In a statement, STG’s Managing Partner William Chisholm said that “STG has admired Avid’s heritage as a category creator and pioneer in the media and entertainment software market for many years […] We look forward to leveraging our experience as software investors to accelerate Avid’s growth trajectory with a deep focus on technological innovation, and by delivering enhanced value for Avid’s customers.”

Transaction Details

The transaction was unanimously approved by Avid’s Board of Directors and is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to Avid stockholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The transaction will be financed through a combination of equity and debt financing and is not subject to a financing condition. Upon completion of the transaction, Avid will become a privately-held company, and its common stock will no longer be traded on Nasdaq.

Find out more on Avid website.

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Solid State Logic debuts its latest recreation from the SL 4000B console, the 4000 B Dynamics (B-DYN) 500 Series module.

Released in 1976, the 4000 B (pictured above) was the first console ever manufactured by Solid State Logic and was famously used in ‘The Stone Room’ at Virgin’s Townhouse Studio (London), Le Studio (Montreal) and Record Plant (LA). It was responsible for countless iconic records, including Phil Collins’ ‘In the Air Tonight’ and Peter Gabriel’s ‘Intruder,’ both of which feature “characterful” compression on drums and vocals. The B-DYN module allows users to add this same sort of heavily colored, grabby, saturated compression to their production toolkit.

The B-DYN featuring Compressor/Limiter and Gate/Expander sections and dedicated De-Ess mode, the B-DYN module is faithfully modelled on the original circuit design found in the SL 4000 B channel strip, and brings all the tone, punch, and warmth from the SL 4000 B consoles dynamics section to the 500 series format.

The dynamics Section in the SL 4000 B console channel strip was unlike any other SSL channel dynamics module that followed, using the fader VCA as its gain element, rather than a dedicated VCA. It had a design similar to the topology of the SSL Bus Compressor. This VCA ‘feedback’ design has been inherited by the B-DYN module, offering characterful and coloured compression, with its own unique sonic signature – very different from the later E and 9000 Series. These similarities are also evident from B-DYN’s ‘Auto’ release setting, which offers a program-dependent release time as found on the Bus Compressor.

Compressor/Limiter, Gate/Expander and De-Ess (DS). B-DYN’s dynamics processing is divided into two sections, Compressor/Limiter and Gate/Expander. The compressor offers fixed compression ratios 2:1, 4:1, and limiting ratio 10:1. Release times are also fixed at .2, .4, .8, 1.6, and programme dependant ‘Auto’. Setting B-DYN’s Compressor Ratio and Release controls to ‘DS’ the module optimised for reducing sibilance or, De-Essing. The De-Ess ratio is 10:1 with filtered S/C input signal, delivering broadband compression triggered by sibilance typically in vocal sources. The ‘DS’ release is automatically varied in response to the program signal between release rates of 30 & 50 ms – much faster than you would normally expect from an SSL Dynamics section. When the ‘Out’ ratio is selected, the compressor is bypassed. Compressor Ratio & Release in ‘DS’ mode work independently, allowing B-DYN to be used in unique and creative ways. For example, the fast ‘DS’ release can be used without using the ‘DS’ ratio, for aggressive compression effects.

B-DYN’s Gate/Expander section is activated when ‘In’ is selected, acting as a 20:1 Gate or as a 2:1 Expander when ‘Exp’ is selected. B-DYN’s Gate/Expander can be used independently of its Compressor/Limiter.

SSL B-DYN 500 Module Features:

• Authentic recreation of SL 4000 B consoles dynamics processing
• Design based on the SSL Bus Compressor
• Feature Compressor/Limiter & Gate/Expander
• Feedback design with Peak sensing for aggressive ‘grabby’ character
• Fixed compression ratios, 2:1, 4:1 & 10:1 with an additional ‘DS’ mode
• Fixed release times, DS, .2, .4, .8, 1.6 & renowned ‘Auto’
• Auto make-up gain
• Sidechain high pass filter
• Stereo Link mode
• New (vintage) SSL flavor for your productions

Find out details on the Solid State Logic website.

Solid State Logic SSL B-DYN 500 Series module is available now at Solid State Logic’s network of authorized dealers and is priced at £499.00, $699.00 and €599.00 (excluding VAT).

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Space Brain Circuits’ DarkSky-4 synth might be as good as its name suggests – 4-voice analog synth sounds a lot bigger than it looks.

The DarkSky-4 is a new stereophonic desktop analog poly Synthesizer with four voices, dual filter, and more.

Small US-based developer Space Brain Circuits hasn’t been around for long, having so far distributed its 4-voice MidiVolts MIDI-CV controller and Poly Sequencer.

For the last few months, he has been working on his first synthesizer, and DarkSky-4 is the company’s first foray into hardware synthesis and it looks like it might be a very decent debut.

The DarkSky-4 is a desktop semi-modular synth with up to four voices of polyphony. You can choose the number of voices (1, 2 or 4) via three play modes, and play chords with a Poly mode or fat mono sounds with Unison.

Each voice has a saw and square waveform – the latter with pulse width – and the levels of these are adjustable with two mix dials. The signal then gets duplicated to be sent to two low pass filters, A and B, which can then be combined back into a mono signal or kept split as a stereo out.

As a stereo synth, you can get some beautiful and wide effects via the synth’s extensive modulation options.

Watch this video for some examples:

The modulation comes by way of an LFO with a square or sine wave and adjustable rate dial. This LFO can be applied to the pulse width, frequency modulation and filter parameters via dedicated level dials. Envelope modulation can also be applied to the filter and FM parameters.

A patchbay allows DarkSky-4 to be connected to external modular gear or enables more in-depth modulation. It includes 6 CV ins for pitch and cutoff, oscillator 3+4 sync in and LFO and envelope outs.

A nice boutique analog poly synth. While DarkSky-4 has a fairly basic layout and signal chain, the stereo flexibility certainly gives it a distinctive and fat sound.

Space Brain Circuits DarkSky-4 is available now around $699/ €666/£491 (plus tax and postage) on the official Etsy website.

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