► Following on the success of their CORE® reference channel strip, Manley Labs announces the Manley FORCE™, a four-channel high voltage vacuum tube microphone preamplifier carrying a retail price of only $2,500 USD. From the CORE, the FORCE incorporates the same proprietary hand-wound Manley Iron® mic input transformers and 12AX7 vacuum tube amplifying stage operating from 300 V rails. Each channel includes a high-impedance, ¼” instrument input as well as an XLR microphone input. On the front, each channel features a 120 Hz high-pass filter, variable input-level pad, phase invert, selectable +48V phantom power, and a high/low gain switch. The CNC machined faceplate features seven-way LED metering for each channel providing instant visible feedback for audio levels. The universal power supply accepts any voltage or frequency from anywhere in the world facilitating travel for international recording projects. As with all Manley gear, each unit is hand-wired using silver solder and audiophile-grade components, and hand-built in California. “From the onset I wanted this product to blow the doors off the price-to-value ratio, while retaining every single ounce of Manley quality, reliability, and integrity,” explains Manley Labs President and co-founder EveAnna Manley. “Everyone is wondering how we could possibly do this for $2,500. We achieved this by prioritizing what really matters - delivering that signature Manley sound, and by engineering it to build efficiently. We really paid attention to how it pops together.” www.manley.com.
► Eventide unveiled an addition to the H9 Harmonizer® stompbox line: H9 MAX. Available now, the H9 MAX comes pre-loaded with all the effects from each of Eventide’s TimeFactor, ModFactor, PitchFactor, and Space stompboxes, including the new Looper, plus all H9 exclusive algorithms in perpetuity at no additional cost. H9 MAX comes bundled with 45 effect algorithms and over 500 factory presets. H9 MAX is full of Eventide’s handpicked algorithms of effects heard on hit records spanning over four decades. For more information on H9 MAX or information on how to win an H9 MAX Limited Edition Harmonizer® dipped in 24-carat gold, go to http://bit.ly/H9MAX. An upgrade path to H9 MAX from H9 or H9 Core will be announced in early 2015. www.eventide.com.
► Streema, Inc., one of the largest radio listening services on the web, announced the launch of Simple Radio for Android, now available in Google Play. Simple Radio for Android has almost 25,000 radio stations from virtually every country in the world covering a never-ending assortment of music, news, sports and talk genres. Once installed, the new Android app allows users to choose a station and begin listening immediately. Streema already offers an online service at www.streema.com that reaches a global audience of more than 5 million monthly users through its radio player. The new app has one-tap access to a user’s favorite stations. Streema is currently exploring additional ways of simplifying the radio listening experience, by expanding the service to wearables and car dashboards. www.streema.com. ►