Sonora Cinematic's steel-string guitar library just landed as a bright, punchy counterpart to their earlier nylon release.
What Pure Steel String delivers
Four core articulations anchor the instrument's sound palette.
Dynamic Plucked, Picked, Harmonics, and Tremolo are featured.
MPE support enables expressive, natural-feeling vibrato control.
Soundbox v1.0.7 or later is required to run it.
Creative tools beyond standard samples
Expressive improvisations add character-filled performance layers.
Mod-wheel patches layer in fifth and octave arpeggios.
Vector-controlled patches generate evolving, ethereal textures.
Creative sequences round out the sound-design toolkit.
Pricing and compatibility details
Introductory price sits at £12...
Strymon just dropped two active DI boxes with absurdly clean specs and a tank-like build that should handle any rig thrown at them.
PCH X1 and X2 at a glance
Strymon built both in chunky 3mm aluminium enclosures.
PCH X1 handles single-channel, while X2 goes dual.
Custom transformers deliver true galvanic isolation on both.
Non-buffered thru outputs sit alongside main XLR outs.
Audio quality is borderline obsessive
Frequency response stays flat within ±0.25dB to 30kHz.
Noise floor hits a ridiculously low -123dBu.
THD measured at 0.0007% at 1kHz is wild.
Pristine tone was the top design priority, per Strymon.
Handy extras for flexible setups
An 80/240Hz high-pass filter is built into each unit.
Ground lift switches handle...
Two string sections recorded simultaneously in different rooms is a pretty wild concept, and VSL just bundled the whole Duality Strings series together.
What Duality Strings actually does
Large and small ensembles were captured playing together.
Stage A and Stage B provided contrasting acoustic spaces.
Blending between ensemble sizes stays seamless and consistent.
A shared conductor kept articulations and dynamics aligned.
Bundle pricing and current deals
Standard Library sits at €1,299 during the intro period.
Full Library drops to €1,999 from its usual €2,699.
Existing Duality owners qualify for personal upgrade discounts.
Vienna Strings Promotion slashes up to 45% across collections.
Tech specs and compatibility
Synchron Player...
Gender-based violence remains a deep wound in Namibia, and the vice president just pushed churches to step up their response.
Witbooi's call to action on GBV
Lucia Witbooi urged intensified community efforts against GBV.
She spoke at the Women's World Day of Prayer in Windhoek.
Every statistic represents a real human life, per Witbooi.
Families and community trust get wrecked by this violence.
Churches tapped as frontline responders
Witbooi highlighted their role in justice and dignity.
Christian women from 180-plus countries joined the observance.
Harmful cultural attitudes need direct challenge, she argued.
Survivors deserve ongoing care and institutional support.
Seventeen Namibian officers killed over seven years finally got their official tribute at a police college in Windhoek.
Fallen officers honored on Blue Day
Lucia Iipumbu led the commemoration on Saturday.
The ceremony happened at Israel Patrick Iyambo Police College.
Seventeen officers died in the line of duty.
Deaths spanned a seven-year period.
Global policing solidarity on display
Event aligned with the International Blue Day of Remembrance.
Iipumbu emphasized Interpol community participation in the observance.
Sacrifices by law enforcement were the central theme.
She stressed renewed commitment to preserving peace.
A chunk of South Africa's VAT Act just got torched by the Western Cape High Court for handing tax powers to the wrong branch of government.
Court guts executive tax authority
Judge Matthew Francis ruled the delegation unconstitutional.
Parliament alone holds power over national tax rates.
Francis dismissed regulatory-purpose arguments as flimsy.
Lawmakers got 24 months to patch the legal defect.
DA's legal fight pays off
Helen Zille called it a win for parliamentary oversight.
Her party filed the challenge back in April last year.
Zille framed it as classic no-taxation-without-representation stuff.
Future VAT changes must go through proper legislative channels.
What triggered the whole mess
Enoch Godongwana announced a VAT hike...
A new forensic wood-testing lab just dropped in Windhoek, and Namibia is basically declaring war on illegal timber.
Namibia's timber crime crackdown
Lucia Iipumbu called timber trafficking a serious crime.
Her ministry launched a Wood Identification Centre.
Biodiversity loss and weakened governance are key concerns.
Offenders face prosecution regardless of timber condition.
Forensic lab gets science-powered upgrade
Real-time mass spectrometry gear screens wood species.
Equipment matches samples against protected-status records.
Iipumbu stressed that modern policing requires tech tools.
Namra helps flag sketchy shipments for investigation.
U.S. bankrolls the whole operation
Washington pumped over $2 million into the facility...
Two planned Bulawayo meetings got axed by the police before the Constitution Defenders Forum could even open the doors.
ZRP shuts down CDF gatherings in Bulawayo
Njube Hall and Stanley Hall events both got blocked.
Chief Superintendent K. Nyaumwe cited MOPA noncompliance.
Mlandu Ncube had filed the required notifications.
Convener Tendai Biti was scheduled to address residents.
CDF fires back hard at the decision
Organizers insist every legal procedure was followed.
CDF labeled it a deliberate crackdown on democratic space.
Members reportedly face ongoing harassment and surveillance.
Recent office incidents feed a broader intimidation pattern.
A seven-member EmpowerBank board just got its lineup, and Bona Chikore landed the deputy chair spot on a four-year appointment.
EmpowerBank's fresh board takes shape
Minister Tino Machakaire formally appointed all seven members.
William Chaitezvi chairs the new board.
Chikore, Robert Mugabe's daughter, serves as deputy.
Permanent Secretary Solomon Mhlanga signed off via a statutory instrument.
Remaining board members locked in
Margaret Mupfiga and Patience Matshe both got seats.
Ebrahim Ali Makunganya rounds out one appointment.
Marcos Nyaruwanga and Peter Makotsi fill the last slots.
Every term runs four years under corporate-governance law.
