If you want a quick round-up of some of the hottest new software releases for use in music and post-production then at Production Expert we've created this summary. We tell you what the brand says and what we think, we also include links to help you find out more.

This week we take a look at:

Melodyne 4.2 by Celemony

What Celemony Says About Melodyne 4.2

Thanks to ARA Audio Random Access, Melodyne 4.2 and Logic Pro X 10.4.2 work more closely and efficiently together. Here are the most important workflow advantages in a nutshell.

• You can open tracks without transfers: Just load Melodyne as an insert effect, start playback, and the entire track will appear automatically in Melodyne. There is no further need for transfers.

• Melodyne follows all changes you make to the track: Melodyne compares itself with the audio track and accurately replicates any lengthening, shortening or movement of regions.

• Real copies and ghost copies of regions: When regions are copied, looped or cloned, the Melodyne content behaves accordingly as a real copy or as a ghost copy (loop).

• Region-based mixing: Regions edited with Melodyne now support all the Mix functions of the region inspector in Logic: gain, mute and fades.

• You can use Melodyne as early as the comping stage: Now you can edit takes with Melodyne before committing yourself to a choice between them, which allows you a more realistic assessment of their respective merits, leading to better results.

• The management of transfer files is a thing of the past: Thanks to ARA, it is no longer necessary to worry about transfer files when archiving or sharing projects.

What We Think About Melodyne 4.2 By Celemony

I’ve been using Melodyne 4.2’s new ARA 2 version in Logic Pro 10.4.2 all week, and it is running superbly. There are still a few slight niggles, like working with track alternatives, and alias’, that aren’t fully worked out yet. But overall. it’s extremely well integrated into Logic’s normal workflow. Quick swipe coming and using Logic’s looping function work beautifully together with Melodyne ARA. Melodyne’s new Track Edit mode and Clip Edit mode are very intuitive and uniquely useful, depending on whether you need to edit notes whose start or end positions cross region borders.

Pros

• Finally, the ability to use Melodyne within Logic without having to first do a real time transfer from Logic to the plug-in. Game changer!

• Well integrated with with Logic’s quick swipe coming and looping functions.

• File management is now a no brainer. An ARA folder is automatically generated within the Logic project folder, so all Melodyne data stays with your Logic project without the user having to worry or actually do anything specific to make it happen.

Cons

• It’s important to press play in order to update Melodyne ARA to its current state with all the most recent edits intact. After about ten minutes, it will become second nature and you won’t think about it.

• Would be nice if the integration with Track Alternatives was more intuitive.

• It doesn’t work with Flex time or Apple loops. This makes perfect sense, given that they are understandably mutually exclusive. And there are workarounds if it is necessary to use flex time to change project tempo, or if you use Apple loops and want to edit them within Melodyne ARA.

More About Melodyne 4.2

• Learn More about Melodyne 4.2 from Celemony.

• Check out our overview on Logic Pro Expert.

• Groove3 has a short series dedicated specifically to Melodyne 4.2 ARA integration with Logic pro 10.4.2. You can watch a free sample video.

SP2016 By Eventide

What Eventide Says About SP2016

Eventide is proud to announce availability of the SP2016 Reverb plug-in — perfectly recreating a classic collection of reverb algorithms from its history-making SP2016, pro audio’s first rackmount multi-effects processor — as of October 1st…

Features:

Three distinct room types each available in two versions: Vintage and Modern. The Modern algorithms are brighter, more diffuse, and use higher bit resolution.

• Room: Basic no-nonsense, no-frills ambient “room.” The extreme Pre-Delay range makes it possible to use this effect for reverberant doubling and single echoes.

• Stereo Room: Recreates the ambience of a large concert hall, with very clear, natural reverberation.

• Hi-Density Plate: Plate reverb with dual pickups simulating the effect of a big, heavy plate allowing you to make vocals, guitars and percussive instruments appear much bigger and brighter than they actually are.

Unique Position control allows you to take your listeners from the back of the room all the way to the stage while retaining all of your other settings.

Control the structure of the reverb by fine-tuning the controls — including Pre Delay, Decay, Position and Diffusion. The EQ section allows for simple high and low filtering of the reverb with adjustable filter ranges. The low filter can be used to cut OR boost at the specified frequency.
 
The new SP2016 Reverb is available as an AAX/AU/VST plug-in for Mac and PC, at an introductory price or $79 USD thru October 31, 2018. (MSRP $249 USD). Owners of Eventide’s 2016 Stereo Room or Anthology XI can cross-grade for $29 during the promo period.

What We Think About SP2016 By Eventide

Who needs another algorithmic reverb pug-in, right? Well, this thing has a lot going for it. The controls are intuitive, making it easy to dial up a great sound without getting bogged down with dozens of arcane parameters that barely make an audible difference. The pre-delay is very long, so it is easy to sync it to musical subdivisions, if that is your thing. The decay range is huge, making it excellent for sound design. But most of all, this thing just sounds great! It’s hard to get a bad sound from it. Plates seem to be the hardest type of reverb for developers to get right. So having a great sounding one, with simple controls, low cpu load, and great price, is a valuable addition.

Pros

• Intuitive interface

• Love the Position parameter.

• Easy to get a great sound quickly without a lot of fussing about obtusely named parameters.

• Two versions each of the three basic algorithms are so different that they are basically six unique algorithms.

Cons

• None really; it’s great value, great sounding, and well priced. I think maybe you need an iLok?

Learn More About The Eventide SP2016

• Go to Eventide’s SP2016 Pages.

• Hear it in action and read our Logic Pro Expert review.

BYOME By Unfiltered Audio

BYOME ("Build Your Own Modular Effect") combines Unfiltered Audio’s endless modulation options with a collection of over 40 effect modules. Each effect has been meticulously engineered and tested for maximum impact without sacrificing usability.

What We Think About BYOME By Unfiltered Audio

BYOME offers far more than using discrete plug-ins because, as well as the easy recall of processing chains across DAWs offered by a multi effects style plug-in, BYOME’s easy but deep modulation system offers modulation options which aren’t achievable using discrete plug-ins and automation.

Pros

• Sounds great

• Simple to use

• Can do complex effects but is just as capable for simple everyday processing.

Cons

• Processing chains are serial, no way we could see to set up parallel processing chains

Learn More about BYOME in our upcoming extended tutorial

Studio Pro SP-5 Headphones By ADAM Audio

What ADAM Audio Say About Studio Pro SP-5 Headphones

Its sound characteristics are best described as analytically precise, being developed to satisfy the exacting demands of pro audio monitoring and mixing. This premium headphone integrates Ultrasone´s S-LOGIC technology, employing transducers spatially arranged to exploit the natural form of the human ear and utilizing the natural acoustics of the wearer’s pinna to channel sound into the ear canal. The result is a superbly natural sound experience with startlingly realistic spatial imaging of a quality typical of a stereo monitoring system installed and calibrated by experts. This system makes mixing on the SP-5 easier than on traditional headphone designs that simply point directly at the ear canal.

Main Features:

• Closed back, cirumaural headphone with detachable cable

• Gold plated 40 mm transducer

• Impedance: 70 Ohm

• Frequency Response: 8 Hz - 38 kHz

• Sensitivity @ 1 mW per ear: 95 dB

• S-LOGIC ® Plus technology

What We Think About Studio Pro SP-5 Headphones By ADAM Audio

Pro Tools Expert partnered with ADAM Audio recently to host an S-Series monitor listening event at Miloco studios in London. Pro Tools Expert Deputy Editor Dan Cooper was the guest presenter for the evening. Dan was given the opportunity to listen to the new SP-5. Below are Dan’s first impressions:

The first thing I noticed about the SP-5 headphones when I picked up them up was the strong build quality, these are, without doubt, a premium product to the touch. They feel nicely weighted both in the hand and on the head. The isolation ear pads are by far the most impressive I’ve ever worn. They do a great job of keeping ambient noise out, I dare say these headphones are close to the performance of noise canceling headphones. Th SP-5s felt quite tight on the head but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Tight cans aren’t bad in my opinion, I like to think of “tight headphones” as “secure headphones”.

Let’s get on to the million dollar question, how do the SP-5 headphones sound? I listened to 5 of my own mixes, all of these were mixed through my ADAM monitors. The first thing I noticed was a a definition in the low-end that I have not heard in headphones before. I could hear subtle sub bass that I had mixed in my studio (that has an ADAM Audio sub8 in) that I have not heard translate in other studio headphones I own. Overall the sound is very balanced, even, detailed and crisp. Could I mix with these? Yes but I’d rather track with them as the isolation is incredible.

We’ll get a set in for review soon so that we can test these in some mixing and mastering applications.

Pros

• Beautifully balanced, both in physical feel and sound

• Build quality is second to none, built to last and survive the strains of daily studio work

Cons

• May feel tight on the head of some users

• Quite expensive, but quality of this level rarely comes cheap.

Learn more about ADAM Audio Studio Pro SP-5 Headphones by visiting ADAM Audio’s website.

smart:EQ 2 By Sonible

What Sonible Say About Smart:EQ 2

smart:EQ 2 analyzes your audio material and generates a custom filter curve to create a natural sounding tonal balance. Add clarity to your mixes, more punch to single tracks or carve out the harsh parts of your vocal recordings – in seconds and with unprecedented precision. Experience a mixing workflow much faster than ever before.

smart:EQ new version 2 comes with a new interface design that has been intensively tested for an optimized workflow. Among other things, the modular feature areas always allow you to focus on the momentarily important features. At the bottom of the plug-in, for example, the filters of the active band can be selected, including new tilt and M/S types. At the top all control options of the smart:band are included with fold-out “States” and “Profiles” options. With the visual analyzer you always keep your orientation.

What We Think About Smart:EQ 2 By Sonible

I really like Smart:EQ, there’s nothing quite like it on the market today. It’s a great EQ to reach for when I need to quickly sweeten a tone of a track. The process is simple, play the track that Smart:EQ is on and set the plug-in to listen to the source. A curve quickly presents itself and then the amount can be adjusted to be more intense or subtle. Smart:EQ 2 introduces some nice new features such as M/S processing and tilt-shift, along with a fresh UI design, version 2 is a cool upgrade from the original. If you have yet to experience the power of Smart:EQ then I recommend you try the 30 day free demo, there’s nothing like this EQ, it’s magic!

Pros

• New fresh UI

• Introduces M/S and tilt-shift, both great for mix bus EQ applications

• Reasonable upgrading cost

Cons

• None, Smart:EQ is one of those plug-ins that delivers well on it’s promises.

Learn more about Smart:EQ 2 by Sonible