SOUND ON SOUND
In a market populated by 16-track and 24-track machines, Korg up the ante once again with the first project-studio multitracker to offer 32-track playback.
Building on the success of previous mixer and control surface designs, Mackie's affordable Mackie Control promises the best of the soft- and hardware worlds — but will it make you hang up your mouse?
Yamaha have taken a weighted keyboard from their latest digital pianos, added high-quality piano samples and Motif sounds, and thrown in a playback sequencer and arpeggiator, and master-keyboard facilities. Left to simmer, the S90 is the result...
This preamp gives you vintage Decca design at a surprisingly low cost.
This modelling preamp achieves a variety of realistic amp tones by combining DSP processing with real analogue gain stages.
Event build on their tried and tested design principles to offer two new sets of affordable active monitors.
Audio Technica have put two different capsules into the same mic, giving you a choice of different sounds for different occasions.
Since the launch of their A100 modular synth in the mid-'90s, Doepfer have been quietly adding modules to the system, some fairly simple, others splendidly esoteric. We explore some of the latest...
DSP convolving techniques now allow us to 'sample' the sound of real reverberant spaces, and even other digital reverbs. But why stop at reverb? Focusrite's Liquid Channel can be used to reproduce the effect of classic compressors and even mic preamps...
Laptop users on a budget can't help but be tempted by the Audiotrak Maya 44 USB's promise of four-channel analogue I/O, low-latency ASIO drivers and multi-client support for under £100. Is it really as good as it sounds?
ST Audio's DSP3000 system offers an impressive feature set for its price, boasting eight-channel 24-bit/96kHz analogue I/O with mic preamps on every channel, plus digital I/O in S/PDIF and AES-EBU formats, MIDI I/O, and the ability to function as a stand-alone analogue/ADAT digital converter.
Edirol's all-in-one UR80 combines USB audio and MIDI interfaces with a fader-based control surface.
There's already a decent range of products providing digital emulations of vintage guitar amps, but iZotope's Direct X plug-in goes a lot further, offering no fewer than seven processing modules, and is intended to model every kind of distortion you'll ever need.
RME's latest PCI soundcard is their first to support 192kHz sample rates, and offers a different balance of features compared with their existing Hammerfall cards.
These affordable active monitors from Fostex provide a tight and punchy sound, despite their compact dimensions.
This impressive-looking instrument provides modelled classic organ, piano and supporting timbres, and is designed to appeal to keyboard players looking for an all-round stage tool — though it could easily form the centrepiece of a home setup too.
INTA Audio's music workstation boasts some of the latest PC technology, including hyperthreading, dual-channel DDR400 memory and Serial ATA, making it one of the fastest systems around.
The FW1884 is more than just a well-specified Firewire audio and MIDI interface: it also offers detailed control over almost every MIDI + Audio sequencer thanks to its motorised faders, rotary controls, transport buttons and more.
Phase cancellation can play havoc with your sound if you're using multiple mics, or combining mic and DI signals. This clever little box offers a solution, providing powerful phase-alignment facilities which go far beyond those of most mixers and preamps.
These two stereo multi-effects boxes from Kurzweil bring the powerful processing of their flagship KSP8 more easily within reach of the home studio owner.