Reviews
Modelled Analogue Synth The new Virus is one of the most affordable ever and currently the cheapest way to get a slice of Access' Total Integration technology — but does cheaper mean compromised?
Analogue Mixer & Audio Interface Under the hood of this affordable new Alesis compact mixer lurks an 18-in/two-out audio interface. Is it too good to be true?
Sample Library [Mac/PC] Art Vista's new sampled piano won't break the bank or send you running out to buy a new hard drive — and it's still a sophisticated and versatile instrument.
Six-head Mono Tape Delay If you wanted to make an authentic hardware tape delay today, you could do a lot worse than commission a designer who used to work for Watkins, makers of the seminal Copicat. So that's what Blue Coconut did...
Graphical Programming Environment For Audio & MIDI There may not be many new features, but MaxMSP 5 benefits from a fundamental overhaul that brings Cycling 74's open-ended media programming toolkit into the modern world of multi-processing and slick interface design.
24-bit/96kHz Portable Recorder Edirol have enhanced their popular stereo recorder in the face of growing competition. How does it measure up?
Stereo Compressor Can a single hardware unit really meet all your compression needs? It would certainly take something a bit special...
Drum Microphone Set If you've not yet built up much of a microphone collection, a dedicated drum-mic kit can be a sensible investment — and the price of this one puts it within reach of even entry-level users.
USB Audio Interface [Mac/PC] You can get a lot of audio interface for your money these days. The latest from ESI offers 18 ins and eight outs for a very reasonable price, and could be ideal if you need to record lots of sources simultaneously.
Plug-ins for axe victims • IK Multimedia X-Gear & Amplitube Metal
• Studio Devil Virtual Guitar Amp
Sample Library [Mac/PC] SampleTron gives you the sound of the Mellotron and many of its more obscure cousins, not to mention some serious potential for sonic malarkey, courtesey of IK's SampleTank player...
Loop-based Sequencing Software For Windows Version 8 sees another boatload of new processors added to the FL Studio family. And if that's still not enough, you can now create your own...
Active Studio Monitors The mid-priced studio monitor market is competitive. So what sets KRK's new offerings apart from the crowd?
USB Mic Preamp MXL's USB Mic Mate functions as a USB mic preamp for Macs and PCs, and enables you to plug in your own choice of dynamic or capacitor microphone.
USB Control Surface The Nocturn uses Novation's sophisticated Automap technology to give you integrated, hands-on control of your software — and all for an almost unbelievably low price.
Multicore Cables Many companies make multicore cables, but Planet Waves have come up with a simple modular system that covers most eventualities without the store needing to stock dozens of different configurations.
More cool plug-ins • Chandler EMI TG Mastering Pack Formats: Mac & PC TDM & RTAS
• SIR2 Formats: PC VST
• Tritone Digital ColorTone-Pro Formats: Mac AU, RTAS, VST; PC RTAS, VST
• Leslie Sanford Cobalt Formats: PC VST
SSL X-EQ Formats: Mac/PC Duende
Mastering Limiter Plug-in [Mac/PC] The market for mastering limiters is crowded, but PSP's new plug-in claims to offer higher levels of naturalness and transparency.
Hot new sound library releases • Zero-G Vocaloid 2 Prima
• Loopmasters Harley & Muscle
• Zero-G Urban Ammunition
Software Sampler For PC The latest incarnation of Tascam's Gigastudio introduces support for 64-bit operating systems and the ability to address up to 128GB of RAM. Are there any catches? Let's find out...
Preview: Spectrasonics Omnisphere Soft Synth With a new synthesis engine, some new ideas about interface design and 50GB of novel samples ranging from lightbulbs to burning pianos, Omnisphere will be Spectrasonics’ biggest soft synth yet. Its creator, Eric Persing, gives us a sneak preview.
Studio Condenser Microphone Making your mic stand out from the crowd these days is difficult — so Latvian company Violet have used their head...
Competition
Deadline: 2008-08-31 Up for grabs is the M Box 2 Pro Factory Bundle (which includes the top-spec M Box Pro and a selection of Digidesign and third-party plug-ins), the AIR Virtual Instruments Bundle (comprising Hybrid, Strike, Structure, Velvet and Xpand), and a copy of Transfuser. Of course, with the M Box 2 Pro the latest version of Pro Tools (version 7.4) is included.
Sound Advice
Reverb, news and tips The Sound On Sound editorial team take their monthly look at new recording and music technology equipment, answer reader questions and talk in depth about Reverb, a topic that was covered in the July and August 2008 issues of SOS magazine.
| | People + Opinion
The World's Most Successful Songwriter From humble beginnings, Diane Warren has gone on to write hundreds of hit songs. Her secrets? Hard work, good titles... and no time wasted cleaning her writing room!
Leader Editor In Chief Paul White compares the hi-fi world to the recording world...
Flo Rida and T-Pain: 'Low' Flo Rida and T-Pain scored a massive worldwide hit with 'Low' — but only after it received the attention of Miami's star mixer, Fabian Marasciullo.
Terry Bracey Jack of all trades, master of none — the truth of today's music?
Technique
Ableton Live Notes & Techniques As Live has gradually made the transition towards fully fledged DAW, the recording side of the program has become increasingly sophisticated — so we're going to look at some tricks to make basic recording easier.
WWDC: Snow Leopard At the first Apple Worldwide Developers Conference to be billed as a joint event for both Mac and iPhone developers, the iPhone took centre-stage and Apple dropped some breadcrumbs of information regarding the next major version of Mac OS X: Snow Leopard.
PC Musician Very low-cost PCs with apparently good spec are not hard to come by these days — you can even pick one up at the local supermarket. But not all computers will work well for music and audio, so how do you avoid making a big mistake?
Sonar Notes & Techniques When it comes to the Sonar mixing console, you don't have to simply take what you're given, because there are lots of ways of making it fit your working methods. We explain how, and pass on some handy shortcuts along the way.
Digital Performer Notes & Techniques How do you create a four-minute masterpiece out of just a few measures? And what's the best reverb to make you sound like that drumming gorilla on the TV ad? These questions, and more, answered in this month's Digital Performer workshop...
Pro Tools Notes & Techniques Has a broken iLok or a power cut brought your Pro Tools rig to a shuddering halt? All may not be lost...
Cubase Notes & Techniques For some, the jury is still out on Steinberg's ambitious SoundFrame and MediaBay concepts, but for certain tasks they can definitely be useful — getting your loop library organised, for example...
Hear For Yourself Links to Audio files mentioned within AUGUST 2008's Mix Rescue article.
Recording Makeover A track from Dutch band Awash gets the benefit of fixes for tightening up backing vocals, creating a bigger drum presence and making a DI'd guitar sound more natural.
PC Notes Even if you pack your PC with a full 4GB of RAM, you may only be able to access between 3GB and 3.5GB of it, and a single application is normally limited to using just 2GB. We explain why, and what you may be able to do about it...
Drums, doors and damping... Drums, doors and damping... the Studio SOS Team get to grips with Teddy Pagano's London studio.
Logic Notes & Techniques Not everyone finds drum programming easy, and if you're one of the rhythmically challenged, Logic's Ultrabeat drum synth could be your ticket to more interesting and sophisticated percussive parts.
How top engineers use their most important effect Following last month's introduction to reverb, we take you through the tips and tricks of some of the world's best producers, many of whom are thinking about the reverb sound they want long before they get to the mix.
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Gear Reviews
