SOUND ON SOUND
This new optical compressor not only has a smooth sound, but also offers gain-reduction metering to help you set it up.
Apple's original iMac marked the beginning of a turnaround for the company, and despite the consumer-oriented nature of the product, iMacs have found a place in many a home studio over the years. With the iMac range finally inheriting a G5 processor, have Apple created the perfect entry-level machine for demanding Mac musicians on a budget?
This new 1U rack from Drawmer offers their best-sounding compression yet.
Genelec update their popular 1000-series monitors, improving the technical specifications without losing the family sound.
Storm, the French software studio from virtual-instrument creators Arturia, keeps on improving. We check out version 3.
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?
2002 saw the release of the Evolver, a quirky hybrid analogue/digital synth and sequencer from Sequential synth pioneer Dave Smith. Now he continues his renaissance with a four-voice polyphonic version that integrates neatly with the original.
Since the release of the Voyager analogue monosynth last year, Bob Moog's company have been busy producing OS updates, special-edition versions, and accessories. We bring you up to date with a look at the lot.
We test another crop of highly insertable software Plug-ins: Elemental Audio Eqium & Firium and TC Electronic TC30.
Cubase SX 3 is the latest incarnation of one of the best-known brands in sequencing software, offering many new features and tying up the loose ends from previous generations of Cubase. But with increased competition, most notably from Apple and Cakewalk, can Steinberg maintain their cross-platform advantage?
With pattern-based sequencing, plenty of presets and a powerful analogue-style synth, Cakewalk's affordable soft studio package could be a valuable compositional tool.
A Powercore version of Antares' ubiquitous Auto-Tune pitch corrector was announced in 2001, but it never appeared. Is TC's new Intonator HS plug-in a viable alternative?
This strikingly styled new valve mic offers a sound inspired by vintage classics.
This digital processing unit promises a whole new level of realism from acoustic guitar pickups. Although primarily aimed at live performance, could it be a serious option for the studio too?
ADAM's new passive nearfields combine proprietary ribbon tweeters with doped-paper woofers to provide high-precision monitoring on a budget.
Tassman is not the oldest 'virtual modular' software synth, but it's always been one of the better ones around. We check out the latest version...
When Apple bought Emagic two years ago, the question on everyone's lips was 'What will they do with Logic?' Now they have unveiled perhaps the most radical overhaul the sequencer has ever seen, with improvements ranging from new instruments and effects to a networking system that could eliminate CPU restrictions completely. We explain what's changed in this preview (our full in-depth review will follow next month).
One of the all-time classic microphones gets a 21st-century makeover.
If you are an avid slicer of beats, then Zero-X's latest offering might just appeal. With its support for multitrack slicing and quantizing, is Beat Quantizer the best thing since sliced bread?