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[garrettendi]

Could I suggest some reviews aimed at those who are on a very tight budget? Or possibly a feature talking about budget buys?

Specifically I'd love to see reviews of things like the Behringer U-Phoria devices!

[blinddrew]

I think the magazine has a pretty difficult balance to strike there. To remain relevant to the professional part of the industry it needs to have a focus on the serious end of the market, too much of the entry level stuff and it loses something of its raison d'etre. I've only read it once (I was on a train and didn't have a book!) but it seems like Music Tech seems to have more content at the lower end of the market, but the articles don't seem to go into the same depth. So I'd rather read SOS even if I'll never afford anything I read about!
I do find it varies from issue to issue though, which probably has more to do with what's been released and what has made it to the office for testing.

All that having been said, a review of the u-phoria range would be good as they are pitched at a very aggressive price point and quite a lot of people are asking/talking about them.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Could I suggest some reviews aimed at those who are on a very tight budget?

In the current issue the prices of the reviewed products are:

4MS Stereo Triggered Sampler -- £419
Abelton Live 10 -- £69 to £579
ART Pro Audio MX622 mixer -- £178
Arturia Keylab Essential -- £219
Arturia Mini Brute 2 & 2S -- both £575
Audio Damage QuatroMod -- £5
BAE HotFuzz pedal -- £240
Big Fish Audio Vintage Horns -- £264
Bram Bos Rozeta Sequencer -- £10
Dizengoff Audio D4 preamp -- £799
SPW Design MOG WF-1 synth module -- £175
Electro-Harmonix Hot Wax -- £115
ElectroVoice Evolve 50 PA speaker -- £1699
Gothic Instruments Dronar Cinematic Atmospheres -- £60
HH Tessen TNE-1201 PA speaker -- £499
JBL 7 Monitors -- £1739 & £3498
Josephson C725 mic -- £8874
Korg Kross 2 Keyboard -- £969
Leviathan Instruments Submarine pickup -- £95
Line 6 Helix guitar modelling software -- £75-300
Performance Samples Caspian Orchestra Brass samples -- £172 ($239)
Roland D05 Keyboard -- £349
Sample Logic Expeditions Kontact instrument -- £216 ($299)
Sonar Works Reference 4 headphone calibration software -- £72 ($99)
Sony C100 mic -- £1383
Stager SR1A and SR2N mics -- £1599 & £479
Towner Vibrato mounting kits -- £122 ($169)

So of 27 products, more than half (15/27) cost under £250, and a third (9/27) cost less than £150. I reckon there's plenty there to appeal to those with small budgets.

There are four keyboards reviewed in this issue, with prices ranging from £219 to £969, so definitely not all high-end. Same with PA speakers (£499 and £1699). There were four mics reviewed ranging from £479 to an eye-watering £8874 -- okay, there might be an argument for a cheaper mic there, but last month we reviewed a Beyer stage mic at just £110.

The point I'm trying to make is that the editorial team try very hard to maintain a good balance across the magazine in terms of types of product types and budget levels to provide something of interest to the widest possible range of readers every month ... and I think if you take a broad view across the whole year they do extraordinarily well at that.

I'm not dismissing your interest in low-cost interfaces, but we do review them as and when they come along, as a quick scan of the archives will reveal.

H

[ef37a]

I think a breakdown of the audio interfaces reviewed and their market prices for say 2017 would have been more useful?

The AI is after all the basis of the home studio. I see newbs with problems that turn out to be because they are trying to use the OBS card on 3.5mm jacks or a cheap, 16bit USB mixer (and in many cases are baffled why it does not record 4 mic and 2 line tracks!) .

You will not be surprised to learn that I personally have little love for Behringer's antics but they DO make some decent kit at very low prices and it would be doing the newb a disservice not to include it in any list of affordable AIs. My problem is I don't like recommending gear unless I have personally used it (Alesis i02 Express*, Focusrite 8i6, A&H ZED10, NI KA6) OR know a trusted forumite that has OR it has been through the SoS mill. I have read several user reports on those Berry AIs and all have praised them, nothing bad has come to my attention but I would really like an SoS review to confirm their quality, or not!

I don't see such a review tarnishes SoS? After all, if the AI turns out to be a crock of it the reviewer can point out that you only get what you paid for.

The other problem is, if SoS DON'T get around to checking one soon they will claim they are no longer very current as has happened with my KA6!

*Perhaps THE best sub £100 AI but I believe now discontinued and hard to find?

Dave.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I think a breakdown of the audio interfaces reviewed and their market prices for say 2017 would have been more useful?

It took me long enough just to work through the current mag! .

You will not be surprised to learn that I personally have little love for Behringer's antics but they DO make some decent kit at very low prices and it would be doing the newb a disservice not to include it in any list of affordable AIs.

I agree... And we do review Behringer interfaces along with everyone else's as and when they become available for review.

My problem is I don't like recommending gear unless I have personally used it

Always a good policy, I think.

I don't see such a review tarnishes SoS?

I think you're heading off on a fantasy trip of your own here! I've not seen any suggestion that a lack of review is due to concerns of 'tarnished reputation'... And nothing could be further from the truth.

The other problem is, if SoS DON'T get around to checking one soon they will claim they are no longer very current as has happened with my KA6!

All i can say is that there are around thirty reviews in SOS every month -- around three times more than any of the competition -- and yet every month there are still more products in hand than space to review them. The editorial team work hard to keep a good balance of products in the magazine reflecting all interests and budgets.

H

[ef37a]

Hugh, I will admit I am probably but a few years away from total Ga-gaism and certainly have my fantasies! But it was friend Blinddrew that made the implication that 'bargain basement' gear might undervalue the Sos perception?

Dave.

[garrettendi]

Thanks Hugh, I didn't realise the latest issue (despite myself having it!) contained such a range of prices in gear.

With that in mind, I am happy to retract my call for more budget reviews.

[blinddrew]

Hugh, I will admit I am probably but a few years away from total Ga-gaism and certainly have my fantasies! But it was friend Blinddrew that made the implication that 'bargain basement' gear might undervalue the Sos perception?

Dave.

Indeed, it was I. However I meant merely to imply that SoS needed to maintain the spread of content that they do in order to remain relevant to the spread of readers.

[ConcertinaChap]

And viewing reviews of the really expensive stuff can be surprisingly calming to the old Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

CC

[ef37a]

And viewing reviews of the really expensive stuff can be surprisingly calming to the old Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

CC

I quite agree CC, always wonderful to read of gear you are never going to see let alone use, one of the main reasons I buy the magazine each month.

Now, since Hugh put in the work, I did some of my own and found that in the last year, 2017 Sound on Sound only reviewed one AI below £300* and that was not really a "proper" AI, the Zoom U-44 at £179. I do not suggest any selection or other 'jiggery pokery' and I understand the vastness of the task. I just find that a bit odd?

*My personal limit of course but £299. does seem 'the money'?

Dave.

[baward]

I think a breakdown of the audio interfaces reviewed and their market prices for say 2017 would have been more useful?

It took me long enough just to work through the current mag! .

Oh yes, it's definitely a full month's (sometimes longer) on-and-off read for me!

[Forum Admin]

... in the last year, 2017 Sound On Sound only reviewed one AI below £300* and that was not really a "proper" AI, the Zoom U-44 at £179. I do not suggest any selection or other 'jiggery pokery' and I understand the vastness of the task. I just find that a bit odd?

That's because we tend to be sent the flagship model in a manufacturer's new AI range to review, but the reviewer nearly always includes mention of the other models in the range (if at the time of review there are others) and points out how the features/functions/spec differ to the main reviewed AI. (See Clarett USB in forthcoming March 2018 issue, as an example of this.)

[ManFromGlass]

I don't know how you all manage to review so many products every month. Do you ever sleep or find time to have a life?
I do know that since I began buying gear more than a few years ago the SOS reviews played a major part in every one of my choices. I started with budget gear when money was tight. As business grew I upgraded again with the thoughts of SOS reviewers influencing my choices.
No pressure but you better keep those standards high as I'm not ready to call it quits yet and buying gear is part of the fun of this Profession!
Can you imagine working in a profession where you only need to buy one thing once that lasts your entire working life? Like a hammer? That's crazy I'd be searching for hammer 2.0 if I was in a career like that!

[ef37a]

... in the last year, 2017 Sound On Sound only reviewed one AI below £300* and that was not really a "proper" AI, the Zoom U-44 at £179. I do not suggest any selection or other 'jiggery pokery' and I understand the vastness of the task. I just find that a bit odd?

That's because we tend to be sent the flagship model in a manufacturer's new AI range to review, but the reviewer nearly always includes mention of the other models in the range (if at the time of review there are others) and points out how the features/functions/spec differ to the main reviewed AI. (See Clarett USB in forthcoming March 2018 issue, as an example of this.)

Thanks but, the 'lesser' ranges of RME and Grace for example are still likely not in the Behringer money bracket!

My problem you see is that the Uphoria range seem to get nothing but isolated good reports (from purchasers!) . Pre amps seem good and operationally no obvious complaints but no hard facts about that big bogey, latency.

I already read of one instance of such an interface seemingly not working well with Cubase, that is likely 'noob setup issues' but I would love some hard data!

The home recording market is huge with a wide diversity of incomes and we look to people like SoS to tell us the things we cannot otherwise discover.

Dave.