Arturia has announced that Brass is now compatible with Intel Macs. Version 1.2 is available as a free download at Arturia's Web site.

BandmateLoops.com has unveiled two new universal DVD loop collections. The MPC Lockbox ($59.95) features five Sonic Single loop libraries plus a sixth previously unreleased collection. Inspiration Hip-Hop RnB ($59.95) includes 15 song kits produced in a range of modern Hip-Hop and R&B styles. Supported loop formats include Apple Loop, Acidized WAV, Rex2 and ReFill.

Cakewalk has announced Kinetic 2 ($79.99) beat and electronic music software. Kinetic 2 features Grid Build & Edit patterns, DropZone drag and drop sampler, over a thousand instrument patches including Roland sounds and the PSYN II analog synthesizer, hundreds of professional music patterns and Acid-format loops, and expanded effects.

Steinberg has shipped Halion Symphonic Orchestra (Mac OSX/Win; $499.99), an orchestral library and player that features over 1,250 orchestral string, woodwind, brass, and percussion instrument patches, including many articulations and playing styles. Halion String Edition 1 or 2 customers can upgrade to Halion Symphonic Orchestra for $199 or $99 respectively, and owners of many competing orchestral sample products can crossgrade to HSO for $299.

Universal Audio has released Version 4.3 software for the UAD-1 DSP Card & Powered Plug-Ins system. Version 4.3 includes a 14-day fully functional demo of the Neve 1073 and 1073SE. Full authorizations of the Neve 1073/SE plug-ins are available to registered UAD-1 customers for $249 (including both plug-ins) from my.uaudio.com.