Hercules has announced the DJ Control Steel DJ MIDI Controller. The Control Steel is basically a Rmx without the audio action. Hercules claims that this controller works with both the PC and the Mac, but be advised: we found that the USB power on some MacBook Pro models came up wanting on the Rmx and failed to provided enough juice to ignite the LEDs.

The DJ Control Steel was specifically created for professional bedroom DJs who already have an audio interface, but want to have fun DJing as a hobby. This two-tone black and silver surfaced controller features a removable, customizable steel center plate, solid metal casing and several controls for mixing.  The DJ Control Steel offers versatile MIDI control capability, however it is bundled with Virtual DJ 5 for PC and Mac.

Features:
» 2 Mixing decks
» Equalizer & volume knobs
» 2 jog wheels with adjustable resistance
» 13 Rotary switches
» 46 Push buttons including 5 effect buttons + 6 kill buttons
» 6 Faders including 1 general volume fader
 
The Hercules DJ Control Steel will retail for $299.99 when it bows on December 22, 2008 exclusively at Musician’s Friend. More information on the Hercules DJ Control Steel.

Recent chatter has suggested that Steinberg will be debuting version 5 of Cubase at this year’s NAMM show. More details when we get them…

MOTU has updated their Traveler mobile Firewire audio interface for Mac and PC to MK3 status. The Traveler provides eight channels of 192kHz analog recording and playback combined with twenty channels of digital I/O in ADAT optical, AES/EBU and S/PDIF formats. 

Engineered for portable recording situations with either desktop or laptop computers, the Traveler-mk3 draws power from its Firewire connection to the computer. For extended remote sessions, the Traveler can be powered by an industry-standard field battery pack. As a complete audio recording system with 28 inputs and 30 outputs operating simultaneously, including four XLR/TRS “combo” style mic inputs equipped with quality preamps, the Traveler-mk3 inherits many features from MOTU’s Traveler interface and adds many additional features, including V-Limit signal overload protection, true hi-Z guitar inputs, a 32-bit floating point DSP for on-board effects and mixing, two banks of configurable optical I/O and much more.

At 3.8 pounds and 14.75 inches wide by 9 inches deep, the Traveler-mk3 is housed in a lightweight aluminum alloy case that fits neatly beneath any 15-inch laptop and slides easily into a backpack or computer bag. Sturdy rack ears are included for convenient 19-inch rack mount installation.

Enhancements:

» More inputs and outputs — The Traveler-mk3 provides a total of 28 inputs and 30 outputs (at 44.1/48kHz), including four XLR/TRS “combo” style mic inputs, TRS analog, two new configurable banks of optical, AES/EBU, new RCA S/PDIF jacks and phones, all simultaneously available as separate I/O channels. All analog and digital I/O channels can operate at sample rates up to 96kHz, and all eight channels of analog I/O support very high-resolution 192kHz operation.

» Latest-generation converters and preamps — The Traveler-mk3 analog section is equipped with latest-generation A/D/A converters and mic preamps. 

» True hi-impedance guitar inputs – Four combo jacks provide true hi-Z 1/4″ guitar input or low-Z XLR mic input with transparent preamps, phantom power, pad and plenty of gain.

» V-Limit and Soft Clip overload protection — The V-Limit hardware limiter is exclusive to MOTU “mk3″ audio interface preamp inputs and prevents digital clipping and distortion from overloaded signal levels up to +12 dB over zero. Additional protection can be applied to the mic/guitar inputs by enabling the Traveler-mk3’s Soft Clip feature, which engages just before clipping occurs and helps reduce perceptible distortion.

» Digital Precision Trim — Users can now adjust input gain in 1dB increments on ALL analog inputs (mic/guitar inputs + quarter-inch TRS inputs). Users can fine-tune the balance of all analog inputs, then save and recall multiple trim setups.

» CueMix FX — CueMix FX is a flexible, DSP-driven 28 input/16 bus mixer with effects processing, including classic reverb with sends/returns, plus modeled British analog console EQ and vintage compression on every input and output. CueMix FX offers two forms of compression: a conventional compressor and the Leveler, an accurate model of the legendary Teletronix™ LA-2A optical leveling amplifier, known for its unique and highly sought-after Automatic Gain Control (AGC) characteristics.

» Advanced audio signal analysis The Traveler-mk3’s included CueMix FX software provides two new advanced diagnostic tools: real-time FFT and spectrogram “waferfall” displays for visual analysis of individual audio signals and entire mixes. This CueMix FX software upgrade will ship with the Traveler-mk3, but it will also be available for download at motu.com and enables these new tools for owners of all currently shipping MOTU “mk3″ Firewire audio interfaces, including the 828mk3, 896mk3, UltraLite-mk3 and even the V4HD FireWire video interface.

» Flexible optical I/O — The Traveler-mk3 provides 16 channels of ADAT lightpipe, 8 channels of SMUX (96kHz) or two pairs of stereo TOSLink. Mix and match formats between the two banks.

» Expanded front-panel control — The Traveler-mk3 front panel has been modified to support all of the new CueMix FX mixing and effects processing features directly from the LCD menus. Users can access their entire mix or any Traveler-mk3 setting. The LCD also now provides comprehensive level metering, including vertical meters for entire banks (8 channels at once) or horizontal long-throw metering for individual channels. Meter banks are quickly accessible via the dedicated METERS rotary encoder on the front panel.

» New MIDI Time Code support Similar to all current MOTU Firewire audio interfaces, the Traveler-mk3 provides built-in SMPTE time code synchronization features, allowing it to resolve to and generate longitudinal time code (LTC). New MIDI Time Code (MTC) support allows Apple Logic Pro and other MTC-compatible Mac software to resolve to time code via MTC with no additional synchronizer needed. Mac or Windows hosts that support the Core Audio or ASIO2 sample-accurate sync protocols can resolve to time code via the Traveler-mk3 with near-sample accurate precision. MIDI Time Code support will be available for other “mk3″ Firewire interfaces as well via a driver update at motu.com/download.

» Support for the MOTU 8pre mic input expander — Users can connect the 8pre interface via one or two optical banks to add eight more mic inputs at sample rates up to 96kHz, fully integrated into the Traveler-mk3’s CueMix FX mixing environment via pristine optical digital connection.

» Included AudioDesk 3 workstation software gets a major upgrade — AudioDesk is a full-featured sample-accurate workstation software for Mac OS X with recording, editing, mixing, real-time 32-bit effects processing and sample-accurate sync. Version 3 offers new features, enhanced operation and improved performance at all levels, from hundreds of small enhancements driven by user requests to a sleek new look and feel to inspire creativity and drive productivity. AudioDesk 3 will be available as a free upgrade to all registered MOTU audio interface owners.

Includes drivers for Mac OS X and Windows XP/Vista, including ASIO, WDM, Core Audio, and Core MIDI. Stereo, Quad, 5.1, 7.1 and user-defined surround monitoring setups are available.

The MOTU Traveler-mk3 is expected to ship Q1 of 2009. More information on the MOTU Traveler MK3.

Muse Research updated their Receptor 2 PRO and Receptor 2 PRO MAX plug-in players. These new models of Receptor are faster, smarter, and better in all respects than the previous generation…well that’s usually why you update, right??

They feature entirely new computational engines including fast dual-core processors that offer twice the power of the previous generation, new SATA-2 storage systems that offer three times more disc bandwidth, 10 times the networking speed, and 50% more memory that is twice as fast as before.

These significant improvements in the hardware are coupled with an entirely new software foundation and give Receptor 2 PRO and Receptor 2 PRO MAX the pure performance muscle required by demanding players and composers.

Receptor 2 PRO – The ideal machine for players
Keyboardists, drummers, producers, composers, and guitarists around the world have found Receptor to be the ultimate platform on which to run their favorite virtual instruments and effects. Now, the Receptor 2 PRO increases performance by doubling the processing power, tripling the 500GB hard drive bandwidth, increasing and speeding up the memory subsystem to 3GB and 800Mhz respectively, and enhancing the looks with a new blue LCD, milled aluminum knobs, and a sexy grey front panel.

Advanced features such as Z-Load, Snapshots, and the powerful MIDI filter make this the ideal tool for creating, manipulating and performing with your virtual instruments and effects. Keyboardists love the super-fast performance that gives them the ability to run tons of plug-ins and huge sample libraries. Guitarists will love the extra processing power that allows effects processing plug-ins like Guitar Rig, ReValver, and Amplitube to run with less latency along with the ability to switch sounds instantly. Drummers will love how Receptor stores huge drum libraries in a completely self-contained system that performs with unbelievably fast response.

Receptor 2 PRO MAX – The composers dream come true
The new Receptor 2 PRO MAX performs significantly faster with its new 3GHz dual core processing engine, 3GB of super fast RAM, and a whopping 1000GB (1 TB) drive, and an E-SATA port for connection to external drive arrays. Add to that the Receptor 2 PRO MAX’s efficient software platform, and you have an ideal production partner that still fits in a 2 -rack space box and weighs only 18 pounds.

Receptor 2 PRO MAX enhances your workflow and lets you work smarter through a variety of unique software features such as our Universal Preset Access (UPA) that brings out all of the factory presets of a virtual instrument or effect for easy access from the mixer-like user interface, saving you the time of having to call up a plug-in by entering its own graphical user interface. Additionally, Receptor 2 PRO MAX’s enhanced Ethernet performance benefits Muse Research’s UniWire technology that lets you off-load processor intensive tasks to the Receptor 2 PRO MAX, preserving your main CPU for running your DAW software.

The Receptor 2 PRO and Receptor 2 PRO MAX also feature updated factory sounds, including hundreds of presets based on the Plugsound BOX collection of virtual instruments. This collection of keyboards, synths, GM sounds, Drums, and Urban sounds and Loops is now included with every standard Receptor.

Muse Research’s Receptor 2 PRO and Receptor 2 PRO MAX are available now and cost $2599 for the Receptor 2 PRO and $3199 for the Receptor 2 PRO MAX. More information on the Receptor 2 PRO and Receptor 2 PRO MAX.