Plug-ins

Wave Alchemy’s Revolution breathes new life into a pantheon of classic drum machines.

Siren Audio launched the Lorelei suite of applications a few years ago but now two of them, Generative and Feedback 2 have received major tweaks and updates.

The ‘Ricky’ bass sound graces many a classic track. Have Scarbee nailed its distinctive qualities?

The Receptor lets you use VST plug-ins without a computer. How does V2 improve on the original?

•Rob Papen Albino 3 •SSL Drumstrip •Starplugs Admiral

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?

This new software instrument majors on lively and evocative loops and phrases that can be flexibly combined to create convincing world-music atmospheres.

Old synths never die, they get reproduced as virtual instruments. So it is with Waldorf's Micro Q, which forms the heart of Terratec's impressive wavetable-based soft synth.

General MIDI synths are rarely glamorous, but there's no reason why they should not sound as good as more professional alternatives — that, at least, is the thinking behind NI's Bandstand soft synth.

Most recent electric piano virtual instruments have been sample-based, but in Lounge Lizard, AAS continue to fly the flag for their physical modelling technology; version 3 offers an improved fork model, plus modelled electromagnetic and electrostatic pickups...

Since its launch in 2000, NI's B4 has been the software instrument of choice for those who want realistic tonewheel organ sounds from their computer. But NI are clearly convinced it can be better...

Looking for a new bass player? If you'd consider a software candidate, Steinberg's Virtual Bassist is now ready for audition...

String Studio uses Applied Acoustics' physical modelling expertise to (in theory) generate the sound of any string instrument. Good or bad vibrations? We find out...

Anarchy Rhythms is a novel VST plug-in/stand-alone application, whose author accurately describes it as "a hybrid between an effect and a drum machine".

Miriam Stockley is the first well-known singer to undergo the Vocaloid sampling technique, allowing anyone with a PC to install her as a virtual instrument. But how well does it work in practice?

It's been an unreserved thumbs-up for Korg's bundle of software synths so far... but will the Legacy Polysix and Legacy Cell scale the same heights in the final instalment of our three-part definitive review?

In the second part of our coverage of Korg's new collection of software instruments, we turn our attention to the virtual MS20, and the MS20-shaped hardware controller. Just how well do these renditions compare to the original?

Now that Korg's Legacy Collection is properly complete, we follow up last month's preview with the first instalment of our three-part in-depth review. This month, we focus on the Korg Wavestation plug-in...

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?

Brief appraisals of another selection of software Plug-ins from Disco DSP, Cutter Music, Kjaerhus Audio and PSP.