Computer / Software

Lunacy Audio take a different approach to in‑the‑box sound design.

Embody’s Immerse Virtual Studio aims to replicate loudspeaker listening on headphones — and the newest variant does so in up to 7.1.6 surround.

Toontrack’s EZdrummer just gets better and better.

Veteran software Mellotron specialists GForce have recreated the sounds of the earliest models with startling accuracy.

Sampleson’s modelled Wurlitzer ticks all the right electric piano boxes.

Martinic take Akai’s long‑neglected AX73 ball and run with it.

Imagine uses physical modelling to let you create any acoustic instrument you can, er, imagine.

With both desktop and mobile versions, and a tiered pricing model, there’s a Bias FX 2 version to suit any budget.

Steinberg are on a mission with SpectraLayers. So, what’s new with Pro 8?

Recreating a studio monitoring experience on headphones just got simpler, courtesy of dSONIQ’s improved Realphones.

The world’s not short of LA‑2A plug‑ins, but some are more convincing than others...

Does Roland’s software Juno 60 capture the magic of the original?

Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. Built around a virtual eight-string guitar, Carbon offers a stylistic take on modern metal and rock.

Gmedia continue their quest to render the best of the world's keyboards in software form. But will it give OSCar fans a case of the grouches?

Applied Acoustic Systems, known best for their Tassman software synth, have now used their modelling technology to create an electric piano plug-in. But of course, theirs isn't the only one around...

Released last year as a web-only download from Rhizomatic, the ground-breaking Absynth is now part of Native Instruments' product line, and can be used as a VST instrument plug-in.

There are now hundreds of software processing plug-ins available to PC musicians, but they come in various types and each behaves slightly differently. Martin Walker examines the various ways to install, manage and automate them, and the problems involved in managing presets.

PC DirectX only

Cakewalk's FX3 Soundstage is, in essence, a reverb, but that description...