MOTU Announces January Pre-Release of Digital Performer


MOTU Inc. has announced a preview release of Digital Performer for OS X. Digital Performer records and plays back digital audio without any additional hardware installed in a Mac. The company will release the full version "early in 2003." The Digital Performer prerelease will debut at NAMM 2003, running in Anaheim, California, in January '03.

MOTU originally announced it would ship the OS X-native version of Digital Peformer by the end of 2002. The compny says Digital Performer "fully adopts Mac OS X's advanced MIDI services, collectively referred to as 'CoreMIDI'". It also supports OS X's MIDI device and patch list management fezatures.

Digital Performer provides a virtual mixing console on your Mac desktop. The number of effects (reverb etc.) is only limited by the power and speed of your Mac. Digital Performer will also support OS X native TDM plugins.

No pricing has been announced at this time.

Analysis: Musicians/sound engineers represent another market which hasn't yet 'switched' - from OS 9. As Bias, MOTU and Apple's own eMagic come aboard the OS X audio train, there should be improvements in 2003. Plus, FireWire audio - intro'd in Jaguar - will help shift audio hardware away from legacy connectivity.