Last year, in celebration of SOS’s 25th birthday, we launched the first-ever SOS Awards — an annual affair voted for by you, our readers, in recognition of products that have been on the market over the past year, and which have helped change the way you make music.
Each of the 15 product categories contained up to 10 nominations, chosen by SOS’s world-renowned editorial team and contributors. The voting opened in October and ended in November, during which time we received an overwhelming number of votes! These have now been counted, and we are delighted to be able to announce the winners. The Best Computer Audio Interface Award went to RME, for their Fireface 800. Best DAW Software was won by Apple’s Logic Pro sequencer, while Best Effects & Processing Hardware went to the Lexicon PCM96 reverb. The Best Software Plug-in Effects Award also went to Lexicon, for their PCM Native Reverb bundle, and the Award for Best Software Plug-in Processor was picked up by Celemony’s Melodyne Editor. Avid’s Artist Series (formerly Euphonix) won the Best Hardware Controller Award, while Best Keyboard/Synthesizer went to the Access Virus TI. AKG picked up the Best Microphone Award, for their C414 XLS, while Best Audio Mixer was won by Solid State Logic’s Matrix console. The Award for Best Studio Monitors went to Adam’s A7X, while Best Hardware Audio Recorder was won by the Zoom H4N. Focusrite scooped the Award for Best Microphone Preamp with their Liquid Channel, and the Best Software Instrument Award went to Native Instruments’ Kontakt. EastWest Symphonic Orchestra picked up the Best Sound Library Award, while the Award for Best Studio Headphones went to AKG, for their K240.
In addition to these prestigious awards, the SOS team picked their own Editor’s Choice Award, as a way of recognising one outstanding product that was released during the past 12 months. This year, that accolade went to Slate Digital, for their innovative FG-X virtual mastering processor.
We’d like to thank everyone who voted for the awards, and congratulate all the hard-working people behind the products that won an SOS Award this year.
