SOUND ON SOUND
Shure have recently updated and augmented their 7-year old Beta microphone range. Paul White assesses the newcomers alongside the rest of the range.
On its release in the late '80s, the SQ80 had to slug it out with Roland's D50 and Korg's M1, and didn't come out on top, at least as for sales were concerned. Steve Howell takes a look at an early and underrated workstation that still has a lot to offer.
British company Novation made their name with the BassStation synth, which offered dance music producers instantly tweakable, analogue-style synth sounds in a MIDI-controllable package. The new DrumStation applies the same formula to the de rigueur dance sounds of Roland TR 808 and TR809 drum machines. Paul Nagle moves from station to station...
With prices for an original Roland TB303 as high as £1000 on the open market, it is unsurprising that the last two years have seen a number of manufacturers attempting to emulate the 303 in a cheaper, MIDI'd form. Martin Russ checks out the latest pretender to the throne...
Always ready for some off-road action, Paul White scrambles for his XLR adaptors and test drives LA Audio's latest incarnation of the 4x4.
Now that Sound Designer II no longer provides sampler support, the way is clear for an improved version of the veteran Alchemy software. Mike Collins thinks it's worth its weight in gold.
Inside the GX700 lies a heart of gold: Roland's innovative physical modelling technology. Paul White straps on his guitar and puts this advanced multi-effects unit to work.
Studiomaster's new desk joins the long list of other contenders in the crowded 8-buss mixer market. Unlike many of its competitors, however, the Classic 8 is a split console, and includes MIDI muting and a meter bridge as standard. Is this enough to encourage musicians to settle for Studiomaster? Paul White finds out.
Prefer a Mackie compact mixer with faders? then the 1402VLZ could be just what you're looking for. Paul White checks it out.
Paul White gets the first ART eight-channel Pro Gate to land in the UK &mdash and discovers that behind the hi-tech facade, it's a bit of a Harley-Davidson.
Inquisitor-General Paul White puts Samson on the rack, but finds few guilty secrets.
With the addition of digital audio, version 4.0 of this popular, PC-based sequencing package isn't so much a cake as a chocolate gateau. Janet Harniman-Cook takes a walk in the Black Forest...
The battle for control of the affordable digital multitracker market has intensified in 1996. Paul White puts Fostex's latest weapon, the rackmounting D80, to the test.
Now that Waldorf have released their 4-pole filter as a stand-alone unit, giving your digital synth an analogue spin is as easy as popping it in the microwave. The result, as Paul Ward discovers, isn't always fast food.
As a child, Norman Fay was cruelly cheated of the thing he wanted most — a Memorymoog. Never one to bear a grudge, he reviews Moog's most unruly synth with the benefit of hindsight.
Just as spinal Tap have amplifiers that go up to 11, Audio Technica have six-packs that go up to seven — as Paul White discovers after counting them twice!
It may be Swiss, but there's nothing cheesy about the idea of a synth that lets you rekindle your rusty analogue programming skills. Paul Nagle dons his boots and goes hiking through the peaks and troughs of the ProTone's analogue waveforms...
Paul White discovers that Dynaudio's new nearfield monitors show economy of scale, not performance.
Paul White nervously opens Pandora's box — and realises that instead of being the mythical source of demons and sorrows, it's just Korg's new compact guitar multi-effects processor...
Few people would deny that there's nothing like a real acoustic piano — but they're not always the most practical of instruments. Paul Ward looks at an electronic alternative that could be the answer.