Plug-ins

McDSP's Project Studio Bundle provides an affordable way for Pro Tools users to get their hands on versions of all the company's acclaimed effects and processors.

Line 6 first made their name with the Amp Farm plug-in, but since then they've concentrated on hardware products, and Gearbox Plug-in makes their latest range of amp and effects emulations available in a plug-in for the first time.

Another bunch of enticing plug-ins get the full-blown insert treatment and rough handling to see how they perform.

Which effects and processing plug-ins do the Sound On Sound staff and product reviewers love the best? We asked, they answered...

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?

Another batch of hot plug-ins get installed and tested.

McDSP's compression and EQ designs offer a huge amount of control with the potential for accurate emulation of vintage devices. Throw in a tape-modelling suite and a powerful multi-band compressor, and you have the Classic Pack.

A new drum-based instrument from Digidesign combines instant gratification with a huge sound library and plenty of potential for editing.

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

Most guitar amp modellers can be pressed into service on bass guitar, but now IK Multimedia have teamed up with Ampeg to create a plug-in dedicated to recreating bass amp sounds.

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.

• WWYAM NWEQ Pro• Universal Audio Neve 1073 Equaliser

With their Vocal Bundle, Waves look to take voice processing and automatic pitch correction to a new level of sophistication.

Another batch of hot plug-ins get installed and tested.

Serato's Pitch 'n Time has carved out a reputation as one of the best time-stretching and pitch-shifting plug-ins out there, with special features including 'morphing' time-stretch and the ability to recreate varispeed effects.

Beefing up real drums with samples is routine practice these days, but the standard tool is looking pretty dated. Can TL Labs' new plug-in help us do it better?

The latest incarnation of Wave Arts' plug-in suite is a treat for the eyes and the ears.

The convolution revolution has left a gap in the market for a high-quality reverb based on more traditional room-modelling techniques. IK's suite of plug-ins looks to fill the void.

Eventide's range of high-quality Pro Tools plug-ins continues to grow, and the new Anthology II bundle collects together no fewer than 15 separate effects and processors.