New versions of SPARK, PowerCore due this month

Those into professional audio applications, take note: TC Works Soft & Hardware GmbH, the Hamburg, Germany-based company that develops and markets professional audio software, has announced a new version of its audio processing application SPARK and an update of TC PowerCore, the open DSP hardware platform for any VST and MAS recording application on the Mac and Wintel platforms.

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The new version (2.5) of SPARK, due this month, includes Mac OS X compatibility and greatly enhanced editing features, according to John Epperson, TC Works’ product manager. Among the editing feature enhancements: two cursors are now provided in order to simplify navigation and editing. The new behavior ensures that the process of locating edit points and creating regions is much faster and more precise, Epperson said. A new scrub tool enables tape-style acoustic navigation through a file. The waveform overview and zoom handling have also been streamlined for speed and efficiency.

SPARK’s Master View now includes a user-definable effect matrix size and a MONO Audition function. Full multiprocessing support lets owners of dual processor Macs better utilize the power of their systems. What’s more, large projects will open up to 10 times faster, thanks to a greatly enhanced file handling, Epperson said.

SPARK’s QuickTime features have also been extended: Movies and files in QuickTime format can now be loaded directly into Spark’s main browser window. The Mac OS X version supports Apple’s Core Audio for extremely low latencies and Apple’s Core MIDI, so the modular synthesizer is playable directly from any connected MIDI device.

Spark 2.5 has a manufacturers suggested retail price of US$399, and Spark XL 2.5 is $699. However, to celebrate TC Works’ five-year anniversary, the update is free for all registered users of Spark and Spark XL Version 2.0.

The new version (1.6) of TC PowerCore includes TC PowerCore 01, a monophonic synthesizer and the first virtual instrument available for the PowerCore platform, which was previously only available as a download from TC Works’ Web site. It also introduces PowerCore Control, a control panel that lets you view detailed information about all of the PowerCore boards in your system, including real-time DSP and RAM Resource Metering.

Logic and Digital Performer users benefit from a further improved overall system performance, Epperson said. In addition to this, PowerCore 1.6 also includes more than 50 bonus MegaReverb presets exclusively for Logic. MasterX 3, the virtual Finalizer, is no longer bundled with PowerCore; however, all users who have registered their PowerCore prior to the release of version 1.6 are entitled to a free update to the new version.

PowerCore includes the TC Tools special effects package that features technology from TC Electronic’s high-end hardware products like the M5000 Reverb, TC1210 Modulation FX and Finalizer EQ Section. Version 1.5 added further Plug-ins, like the VOICESTRIP, a complete channel strip for voice sound processing, and TC Vintage CL, a compressor/limiter plug-in. For Mac users only, PowerCore includes SparkLE 2.1, TC Works’ real-time audio editing and authoring application as an additional bonus.

PowerCore 1.6 is due later this month. The suggested retail price is $1,299, but version 1.6 is a free update for registered users.