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

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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

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About

XLR is a magazine, a radar and a diary about music gear and the making of music — for the people who make records and put on shows, wherever they do it.

The name is the three-pin connector that every signal in the business passes through: the microphone on stage and in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX cable that runs the lights. Studio, stage and lighting rig share it, and so does this magazine. Every few hours XLR collects what the makers shipped, what the reviewers heard, what the studios and the touring crews are doing, which producers and collectives are surfacing and what they are saying — synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lights, the rooms and the people — from a few hundred sources in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and more, then plots what is moving. The editor writes a letter every few days. Nothing is sold here; when a link leads to a shop, that is the maker's shop, not ours.

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KVR Audio NewsDAW & plugins

Autodafe updates Vintage Emulator Studio (VES) to v0.9.289.1

September 14

Autodafe has released Vintage Emulator Studio (VES) v0.9.289.1, the first maintenance update to the recently released MAME-based virtual instrument environment. The new version focuses mainly on MIDI handling, ROM diagno

Studios & rooms Vintage & reissues

Read at KVR Audio News ↗

VoicesWATCH: AARON KELLIM SHOOTS OUT TELEFUNKEN TUBE MICS IN STUDIO Performer

DAW & pluginsMorphulus updates Spectrus to v1.6.0 - New NAM Loader, Vintage Opto Phaser, 2 Amps, 3 Distortion Pedals KVR Audio News

GearHeritage Audio Herchild 670N compressor review: We’re going to need a bigger rack MusicTech

ScenesICEHOUSE Announce 2027 ‘Man Of Colours’ 40th Anniversary Australian Tour Music Feeds

“When I’ve played the guitars of people I’ve looked up to, it always feels like there’s DNA on them – like you’re getting a visit from your heroes”: Marcus King on his new signature Epiphone acoustic, playing Tiger, and his brotherhood with Brent Hinds

Guitars“When I’ve played the guitars of people I’ve looked up to, it always feels like there’s DNA on them – like you’re getting a visit from your heroes”: Marcus King on his new signature Epiphone acoustic, playing Tiger, and his brotherhood with Brent Hinds Guitar World

“I walked into the studio, and she was playing the song that we were going to cut that day. It’s hard when you’re in a room with greatness like that”: Steve Lukather recalls his first studio session with Joni Mitchell

Guitars“I walked into the studio, and she was playing the song that we were going to cut that day. It’s hard when you’re in a room with greatness like that”: Steve Lukather recalls his first studio session with Joni Mitchell Guitar World

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