After checking in with Mr. VonStroke on Wednesday, we spent the rest of this week keeping our eyes on a few iPad-oriented developments, a new cassette-inspired mix recorder, and—of course—the latest news from Moog.

First, we get nerdy with Dirtybird:

– On Wednesday, we shared the latest edition in our In the Studio series, featuring an intensive conversation with Dirtybird label head Claude VonStroke about his studio approach and production techniques alongside an array of photos taken inside his newly set up—and absolutely jaw-dropping—room in LA. Read the full article here.

Some official and unofficial Moog news:

– The synth specialists at Moog released a major firmware update for its Minitaur bass synthesizer (a unit we recently reviewed on XLR8R). REV 2, as the update is being called, allows for users to now store up to 100 presets directly within the synth, all of which are manageable and programmable via the Minitaur’s free editor/librarian computer software. Other new features include an option for users’ full control over the decay and release of the synth’s envelope and the ability to use the Minitaur as an intuitive CV-to-MIDI converter. You can grab a free download of the firmware update here, and get a better idea of all that is new with REV 2 via the video below.

– An unofficial—but pretty ingenious—controller for the Animoog iPad app made its way onto our radar this week. The Anicontrol from Synth-Project, the German makers of custom cases and controllers, is a fully functioning controller made in the likeness of the Moog Voyager or Model D, with a three-octave keyboard, 31 knobs, and five swtiches to control the “most important paramters of the Animoog app.” No word on if or when these will go into real production, but it’s imaginable that, if they get the price right, there could be quite a bit of demand for the unit. You can catch a glimpse of the Anicontrol below.

Speaking of apps:

– Developer Christopher Carlson unveiled a new iPad app earlier this week, Borderlands Granular, which allows users to control and explore sounds made from granular synthesis by interacting with the elements displayed on their iPad. From the looks of the demo and tutorial videos (both of which you can watch below), it seems safe to assume that there are a lot of unique and interesting sounds waiting to be unlocked from this $3.99 app.

A new way (kind of) to record your mixes:

– Reloop shared the official specs of its forthcoming mix recorder, simply named Tape on account of its housing, which is designed to look like a cassette (clever, huh?). The unit has some cool features, like the ability to act as a pass through for your DJ mixer’s master output—meaning that if your mixer only has one output, you can record to the Tape and still pass the signal on to wherever else it needs to go—as well as having a ground to allow recording directly from a phono signal (a.k.a. turntable), among a few other handy aspects. Essentially, though, the Tape will serve as a soundcard, as users will need to attach a USB hard drive or stick to the device in order for the signal to be recorded to it. Still, it seems like this unit (which is estimated to retail for around $150) might provide some extra conveniences with a number of situations DJs find themselves in. You can peep the full details of the yet-to-be-released product here, and check out one of its fancy color options below.