Article section list

* Score = 4

Soundcraft's new Spirit M-series mixers combine analogue simplicity with a useful digital output. Paul White puts the M8 to the test.

Score = 5

In the second instalment of this two-part retro, Gordon Reid recalls FM's finest hour, and describes the heyday of what was perhaps the most successful family of synthesizers ever developed.

Roland's eagerly awaited new flagship VS workstation builds on the success of the VS1680 and VS1880, offering a massive range of features including 24-track, 24-bit and 96kHz recording, a 64-channel digital mixer, up to eight stereo effects processors, 24-voice phrase sampling, and an enhanced graphical output for a VGA monitor.

Paul White tests the solid-state counterpart to Rode's recent NTK valve mic.

* Score = 4

The latest in Korg's series of dance-friendly Electribe groove workstations is sample- rather than synthesis-based, but serves up the same beguiling blend of hands-on user interface and cutting-edge sounds and effects as its predecessors. Nicholas Rowland takes it for a spin...

Eventide's new entry-level unit brings their high-end algorithms within reach of the serious home studio owner.

Software samplers are not new, but until now they have only existed as stand-alone applications or sequencer-specific plug-ins. Paul Sellars investigates Steinberg's HALion, which offers close integration with Cubase VST, but can also be used as a VST-format plug-in from other sequencers.

Steinberg's new Houston hardware controller certainly looks space-age, but is it a small step or a giant leap for the 21st-century computer musician? Martin Walker takes his protein pills and puts his helmet on...

Lexicon's new multi-effects unit offers the classy sound quality of the MPX500 at an even more affordable price point.

* Score = 3

It is a good general rule that miniature monitors are rarely of reference quality, but Leema Acoustics claim to have created an exception.

Behringer's latest addition to their Eurorack compact analogue mixer range offers 16 hi-spec channels, plus the flexibility of an in-line monitor configuration.

Boss were one of the first companies to make a compact, budget phrase sampler, in the form of the Dr Sample SP202. Similar products soon followed from other manufacturers, but now, three years on, Boss are making their bid to regain the lead. Chris Carter examines this newly qualified Doctor...

Although FM synthesis has its roots in the sixties, the instruments that popularised it were to dominate the synth scene of the eighties. Gordon Reid uncovers the origins of FM and charts its rise to fame from its unlikely beginings in academic research in the USA.

All sorts of weird and wonderful instruments have been recreated in software, but IK Multimedia's Sampletank is the first serious attempt to make a high-quality workhorse sound module available in virtual form.

Marantz's dual-deck CD writer uniquely allows the creation of a Red Book CD from a CD-R recorded in Track-at-once mode. Paul White finds out if you really can compile masters in the studio without a hard disk recorder.

The new compressor in Focusrite's Platinum Range offers pre-programmed settings for ease of use, whilst still incorporating extensive manual parameter control. Paul White gets to grips with the Penta.