Magix has announced MP3 Maker 2005 Deluxe (Win; $39.99), a music manager for ripping, converting, and organizing music files onto CD and DVD. The program, which includes a new database with ID-3 tagging for song categorization and searches, supports MP3, MP3PRO, WAV, WMA, OGG Vorbis, ASF, and Real Audio data formats. DirectX and VST plug-in support is also included.

The program features the 2.0 version of the Magix audio and loop editor, Quick finder for keyword searches, and MP3 Maker Explorer for file navigation. The editor allows you to do crossfades, time stretching, pitch shifting, multi-band compression, noise removal, and a number of stereo effects. It also offers a room simulator.

Other features include direct drive-letter access to portable players and storage media, timer recording, the latest OGG Vorbis and Windows Media 9 encoder and decoder, batch conversion capabilities, and the ability to burn CD-Rs and DVD-Rs. For more information, visit www.magix.com