d16 Group has announced the release of its new drum machine / drum synth, Nepheton. It is available now for Windows and Mac OS X Universal Binary as a VST Instrument. An Audio Unit version will follow at a later date and will be free for registered users.

Nepheton costs €139; registered users of other d16 Group products can get special discounts. A demo version is available.

Features:

• 17 fully synthesized instruments.
• Perfectly scaled knob ranges.
• Enhanced control of instruments' sounds.
• Dynamic signal routing from instruments to outputs.
• User defined output configuration.
• Mute/solo for each instrument (affect triggering not just the signal).
• Fully controllable via MIDI CC.
• Quick MIDI CC assignation with MIDI Learn function.
• Many ways of controlling the device:
  • External mode (note mode):
    • User defined MIDI map (default set equal to General MIDI).
    • MIDI tune and velocity controls instruments' levels and tunes.
  • Internal sequencer (pattern mode) with 3 sub modes:
    • 16 patterns (12 basic rhythms and 4 intros/fill ins.
    • Pattern contains up to 4 segments (up to 16 steps per segment).
    • Each segment can be defined with one of four available measures.
    • Each step can be defined normal or accented.
    • Shuffle mode.
    • Tap mode.
    • Chain mode.
    • Shuffle defined per pattern part.
    • Scale function and intelligent Rescale (automatically stretches pattern to the chosen measure).
    • Built in Randomizer (selection of instruments to random, steps to be affected, frequency of the randomized notes and more).
    • Patterns import/export via human readable xml files.
• Two modes of synchronization:
  • Precise synchronization to the host tempo.
  • Synchronization to internal clock - tempo controlled in the range 30-303 BPM (+-0.1).
• Built-in preset manager.