Virtual Instrument

Is ‘scanned synthesis’ the best thing since sliced bread, or a triumph of hype over substance? We put Humanoid Sound Systems’ Windows soft synth on the test bench to find out.

There was always something quite special about Roland's classic Jupiter 8 analogue megasynth, but can Arturia capture that magic with their emulation?

•Rob Papen Albino 3 •SSL Drumstrip •Starplugs Admiral

Is it really necessary to give up an entire hard drive in order to get your hands on a good-sounding drum library? XLN Audio think not.

Combining multitimbral sample playback, loop tempo matching, synthesis, multi-effects and an 8GB sound library, is Plug Sound Pro the only software sound source you need alongside your DAW?

When it comes to hands-on control, we're used to being told that the mouse is a poor substitute for knobs and faders. This unique soft synth might just change all that...

Three more recently released libraries and virtual instruments get installed and tested to oblivion! • Muse • Chris Hein Guitars • Sample Lab Luscious Grooves: The Dark Side

The latest offerings in Ueberschall's Liquid Instruments series focus on vocals, aiming to provide you with a flexible band of personal backing vocalists via a front-end based on Celemony's Melodyne.

Digidesign's march into MIDI sequencing territory continues with the launch of a plug-in emulating classic electric piano sounds.

Is Native Instrument's new stand-alone soft synth as big as they say it is?

Giga Virtual Instrument gives you Tascam's Giga sampling engine as a plug-in for the first time.

Can an 8 Megabyte plug-in really compete with the new generation of multi-Gigabyte sampled grand pianos?