SOUND ON SOUND
You might think the Pod Pro is just a Pod in a rack, but there's a lot more to it than that.
Robert Alexander pays tribute to the short-lived yet truely revolutionary Prophet 3000 which, like Sequential themselves, vanished almost overnight...
We test one of the most eagerly awaited products of the year! Does the Mackie HDR24/96 really offer the best of both the traditional hardware and computer recording worlds?
Paul White checks out the new features offered by the recent software update for Alesis' unique CD mastering processor.
Millennium Music are one of several UK companies who specialise in building PC systems to musicians' individual requirements. Martin Walker test-drives their service...
Yamaha's AW4416 recording workstation, which debued at the NAMM show earlier this year, has been the subject of more reader inquiries at the SOS office than any other product in living memory. In this exclusive preview, Hugh Robjohns gets his hands on a prototype to find out what we have to look forward to...
Paul White tries a new analogue mastering processor that combines expansion, compression, EQ, width control and limiting in a single device.
Do you want to hear how good your audio equipment can really sound? Martin Walker investigates a product that may significantly improve the sound of your studio.
Waldorf have emulated the original PPG Wave digital synthesizer in software for use as a VST Instrument. Paul White tries out the virtual Wave.
Paul Wiffen continues his homage to the first 'musical' sampling keyboard, which brought sampling out of the dark ages of simple trigger playback and into the realm of filters, envelopes and performance controls which we take for granted on all modern samplers. The Emulator II was, as he explains, also responsible for other major innovations like on-board hard drives and CD-ROM libraries...
Paul White tries out a two channel compressor with tube 'warming' and optional digital I/O.
PC users have had to wait almost two years for many of the improvements which graced version 4 of Steinberg's popular sequencing package on the Mac platform. Now, however, they've leapfrogged straight to version 5, a major upgrade which incorporates all of those improvements and more. Martin Walker finds out if the wait was worthwhile.
A new PCI soundcard and breakout box system from Ego Sys combines analogue and digital audio, MIDI, and a host of synchronisation and driver options, and all without breaking the bank. Martin Walker wonders if this might be all you ever need...
Competition in the world of 16-track recording workstations is hotting up, and Akai's new DPS16 looks to be a prime contender, with its impressive user interface and 24-bit/96kHz capabilities. Derek Johnson and Debbie Poyser take it for a spin.
Paul White tries out a small, but highly effective stereo compressor with some unique features.
Legend has it that Sir Alec Guiness's character in Star Wars was named after Oberheim's original OB1 synthesizer; and, like that character, the OB-series has now overcome death to reappear in virtual form. Gordon Reid finds the new OB12 more powerful than he could possibly have imagined - at the price, at least...
Hugh Robjohns tests this fully-featured, dual path channel strip, with circuitry designed by the legendary Mr Rupert Neve.