SOUND ON SOUND
Upgrading is becoming a regular task for many PC owners. Martin Walker gets stuck in once again, looking at hard drives, memory expansions, and faster processors.
As PC musicians expand into the world of MIDI outside their computer casing, they'll find a few more MIDI outputs never go amiss. Martin Walker enters a parallel dimension.
Take a powerful PC. Add a clever bit of programming, a soundcard and some samples, and you have the reality software synthesizer. Not a revolutionary concept, but wait until you hear the sounds! Martin Walker picks himself up off the floor.
Associating sounds with MIDI datafiles is not difficult, but does require some initial setting up. If your sequences never seem to sound the same as they did last time, Martin Walker may have the answers.
With Sound Studio Gold, Evolution refuse to let budget sequencing mean budget features. Martin Walker examines a grown-up package at a baby price.
If you don't fancy struggling to get a 'PC plus soundcard' hard disk recording setup working reliably, you might be interested in a system where pre-configured external hardware shoulders all the complex processing, while your PC just stays in charge. Martin Walker explores the Soundscape solution.
Modern PC soundcards can deliver excellent audio performance, but are sometimes held back by the computer itself. Martin Walker shows you how to squeeze out the last drop of performance.
Writing audio CDs is getting easier and easier, especially with this new release for the PC from Sonic Foundry. Martin Walker rubs two files together and goes for the burn.
£300 is becoming a crowded price point for well-specified effects units, but Art nevertheless hope to stand out with their new Effects Network. Martin Walker decides whether it has what it takes to muscle in on the competition.
The latest upgrade to WaveLab Verson 1.6 includes CD writing in its arsenal. Martin Walker loeads up and dives in...