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XLR MAG

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On the calendar

· Trade shows and launch events, this week's stories from each corner of the industry, and what its press is covering.

On view

This week, from that corner the newest stories from the corner of the industry you picked

The wire their own posts, translated

How records get made in 2026 from the industry's own reports

Sources

Fetched every three hours, linked to the original

About

Three pins, and nearly every signal in this business passes through them.

The magazine is named after the cable: the microphone in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX run that fires the lights. Studio, stage and rig share the same cable. Most magazines pick one of the three. This one covers all of it, because the people we read do too — the engineer mixing a record on Tuesday is on front of house by Saturday.

Around a hundred and sixty sources, in English, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Chinese and Italian: makers and their release notes, reviewers who put a hand on the thing, studios and touring crews, the producers and collectives surfacing this month and the scenes they came out of. Synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lighting. What the trade is talking about is counted and plotted. The editor's letter has just started; it will find its rhythm.

For each story: a headline, a short excerpt, one picture and the link out. We never reprint the article, and the picture belongs to the maker or the photographer. A German review appears in German and a Japanese one in Japanese, as the writer published it; the link goes to the original.

Nothing is sold on this site. When a link leads to a shop, it is the maker's shop, not ours.

FREETHIS WEEK

Plugins, instruments and samples that cost nothing this week. Limited-time offers come first, with the end date when the writer gave one; free firmware for gear you own is under Updates. The link goes to the writer, and from there to the maker.

Free · limited timeRekkerdFREE: WIDR stereo dimension expander by Moonwave FX (limited time)

Free · until 10 OCTBedroom Producers BlogBPB EXCLUSIVE: Get the HoRNet Butterfly mastering plugin for FREE

Free · limited timeSplice BlogGet a free haunting vocal synth for Splice INSTRUMENT

Free · limited timeProduction ExpertFlow AB Is Free For 30 Days To Mark 4 Years Of Rapid Flow

Free · limited timeRekkerdFREE: DeepStereo Reverb LE 3D reverb effect plugin (limited time)

Free · limited timeRekkerdFREE: Kubbe reverb and Kaset tape effect by SubverseLab (limited time)

FreeBedroom Producers BlogYour Smile is Art releases bubblegum, a FREE Melodyne-inspired pitch editing plugin

FreeAudiofanzineLes meilleurs éditeurs audionumériques gratuits en 2026

FreeGuitarristas.infoBlue Cat's Free Amp 2.0: el simulador de amplis gratuito se renueva y añade un modelo para bajo

FreeDTM Stationプラグインの画面が忍者のように消える!?無料で試せる新発想の便利ツールNINZYA Converter

FreeRekkerdFREE: Robbie 16-voice virtual analog synth by MEY Audio Engineering

FreeRekkerdFREE: Relic classic plugin suite by Riverflux Audio