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One of the most important innovations in recent studio technology is the ability to automatically correct out-of-tune vocals in real time. Antares have had this field to themselves with their Auto-Tune plug-in and ATR1 hardware unit — but now there's competition. Paul White tries out TC Electronic's version of perfect pitch in a box.

Is it a synth, a sequencer or a sampler? The answer to all three questions is an emphatic 'yes', as Paul White finds out when he takes the E4XT Ultra into his studio.

Extending their popular range of condenser microphones, Conneaut Audio Devices have introduced the impressive retro-styled VSM1 tube microphone near the top of their range.

Plug‑in pack: Mac/PC, all formats; TDM and Mac stand‑alone versions also available

Reviewed: PC...

Terratec's EWS64 XL caused a stir in the world of soundcards last your by offering a built-in 64-note polyphonic sampler. The new XXL now adds the internal organs of Waldorf's classic Microwave XT synth. Martin Walker decides whether these impressive parts make a convincing whole.

Paul White tests a couple of simple digital audio processors that also allow you to make unlimited copies from your own SCMS-protected DAT tapes.

TC Native Bundle 2.0 can now be seen as roughly equivalent in scope to Waves' Native Power Pack, or as a high‑end version of their own Native Essentials bundle...

A few years ago, dedicated drum machines seemed in danger of extinction — but now they seem to be undergoing something of a renaissance. Derek Johnson gets hands-on with the latest addition to Boss's Dr. Rhythm range.

Specialist high-end equipment manufacturer Millennia Media have produced an innovative dual-channel parametric equaliser with a difference — user-selectable valve or solid-state circuit topologies. Hugh Robjohns investigates.

If you've ever put together a home studio, you'll know that no matter how many wall sockets you get installed, or how many 4...

Hugh Robjohns tries out a stylish new microphone from US manufacturers Earthworks.

PC DirectX only

Cakewalk's FX3 Soundstage is, in essence, a reverb, but that description...

Mac Audiosuite, Premiere, VST, MOTU / PC VST and DirectX; TDM version also available

Reviewed: PC VST...

There are now quite a few MIDI Control surfaces on the market, yet the knob-laden Drehbank, which offers interesting possibilities for interconnection between vintage CV synths and modern MIDI gear, is sure to excite much interest. Paul Nagle turns on and tunes in.

Now that more computers are equipped with Universal Serial Buss connections, musicians have started to demand compatible peripherals. Martin Walker tries out one of the first to arrive, a simple interface dedicated to piping digital audio in and out of USB machines.

Nicholas Rowland plumbs in a couple of handy studio tools from the other side of the globe.

Emagic's new baby is a bargain cross-platform hardware and software bundle which includes a useful new CD-mastering package for Mac users. Paul White finds out whether they've delivered the goods.

Originally designed by SOS author Craig Anderton as a DIY hardware circuit, Spectral Design have now turned this into a software plug‑in. Unlike most other distortion effects, it splits the signal into four frequency bands and distorts each one individually.

Derek Johnson looks at a new baby hardware sequencer and GM/XG synth from Yamaha.

Features like software synthesis, frequency-domain editing and resynthesis seem impressive when modern sample editors incorporate them — but they were the stuff of myth when Steinberg released Avalon nearly 10 years ago. Paul Sellars chronicles an Atari legend.