SOUND ON SOUND
Paul White hooks up Mackie's new monitors, nails down the furniture, and settles down for a long listening session.
Paul White checks over TSC's latest Mac-clone-based music studio package and sees red.
The quest for the perfect Leslie speaker simulator continues. Nick Magnus welcomes an all-analogue member to the rotary club...
Access's strangely-named Virus is another digital synth emulating the analogues of yesteryear — but this one might be the best of the bunch so far. Paul Nagle brings you a sneak preview of the first Virus to hit the UK.
Tyneside-based DACS have been building high-quality equipment for people on a one-off basis for years, but now they've launched a range of equipment that anyone can buy. Hugh Robjohns explains why he'd rather buy British.
In the mid-'80s, Korg released their first sampling Grand, the SG1, a digital stage piano that doubled as a MIDI master controller keyboard. 10 years on, they've revisited the concept with the heavyweight SGproX. Paul Farrer considers whether a decade has made all the difference...
If you don't fancy struggling to get a 'PC plus soundcard' hard disk recording setup working reliably, you might be interested in a system where pre-configured external hardware shoulders all the complex processing, while your PC just stays in charge. Martin Walker explores the Soundscape solution.
With Sound Studio Gold, Evolution refuse to let budget sequencing mean budget features. Martin Walker examines a grown-up package at a baby price.
Following on from their Freebass TB303 clone, FAT's new PCP Procoder is another take on a classic instrument of the past — that mainstay of many a disco, electro, and Kraftwerk track, the analogue vocoder. Chris Carter absolutely refuses to make silly robot voices with it.
Three years since it was first announced, MOTU's Digital Timepiece is here at last. Bristling with features, it aims to become the one-stop solution for the digital project studio's AV sync needs. Mike Collins explains how to get clock-wise...
Yamaha have taken their MU90R, wired in a VL tone generator and put three-part harmoniser in the effects section. The result is the MU100R. Christopher Holder gets virtual.
Microtech Gefell's first multi-pattern mic is graced with the kind of looks which could assure it classic status — as long as its sound lives up to its stunning appearance. Paul White lends an ear.
Tape saturation is the latest thing to get the physical modelling treatment. Can two high-powered DSPs, however, really achieve the same effect as a strip of rust being dragged over a magnet? Paul White investigates.
It may say v1.6 on the box, but the latest version of BIAS's Mac-based audio editor is stuffed with enough new features to warrant a version 2.0 tag. Paul D. Lehrman scales new heights.
Paul White studio tests a compressor whose main claim to fame is that you can't hear it working. Is transparency merely an attribute of the Emperor's new clothes, or is this unit something rather special?
If you're tempted to try out the whole Spectrum of bass sounds, Peavey have updated and old favourite, and Nick Rowland has the lowdown...
The demand for Roland's TB303 remains very strong, given that the 'fad' of the acid line continues unabated. No surprise, then, that Dutch boffins Syntecno have updated their 1996 TB303 clone to make it even more attractive. Christopher Holder limbers up his tweaking finger.
Commercial physical modelling synths first appeared in 1994, but until now, nobody has produced one that offers truly multitimbral operation together with decent polyphonic performance. Korg's new Z1 does — and for well under £2,000. In this, the first UK review of the finished instrument, Goron Reid laughs wildly and plays lots fo chords — because he can.
Got the jitters? Aardvark's external sync unit could be the answer. Mike Collins investigates.
£300 is becoming a crowded price point for well-specified effects units, but Art nevertheless hope to stand out with their new Effects Network. Martin Walker decides whether it has what it takes to muscle in on the competition.