Computer Recording Systems

Aardvark's newest soundcard and breakout box are claimed to provide all the recording facilities PC owners could ever need, with excellent sound quality and at an affordable price. But how does the Q10 fare on the SOS test bench?

Emagic's stylish blue interface reliably squeezes two inputs and six outputs out of the limited bandwidth of USB.

Hoontech may be a new name to most SOS readers, but those interested in affordable multi-channel digital audio cards for Windows platforms may want to get to know them better. John Walden puts their Soundtrack DSP24 and ADC/DAC2000 package to the test.

Carillon Audio Systems' range of specially designed music PCs has been one of the most ambitious product launches in recent years. But apart from their distinctive design, what do these computers offer that other PCs don't? Martin Walker finds out...

MOTU's good-sounding, competitively priced audio hardware has won them a lot of friends in the project-studio and professional arenas. The latest addition to their range is a 12-channel interface that offers 96kHz, 24-bit recording. Robin Bigwood tests the 1296.

Tascam's versatile US428 combines the duties of audio interface, preamp, MIDI interface and MIDI fader surface at an attractive price, and has generated a lot of interest from musicians. Derek Johnson & Debbie Poyser test it with the Mac, while John Walden reports on the PC situation.

Although there is a lot of interest in the idea of portable, silent PC-based recording, only one company has taken up the challenge of supplying and supporting laptop systems that are guaranteed to work well for music recording. Martin Walker tries one out.

M Audio's Omni I/O interface allows 'Delta card' users to add mic amps, instrument inputs, insert points and monitoring capabilities to their existing systems. Martin Walker gets connected.

As PCs grow more powerful, native-processing systems appear to offer very impressive features. Nevertheless, as Martin Walker explains, there is still a strong case for using dedicated audio hardware, as evidenced by Soundscape's powerful R.Ed system.

There's a new addition to Echo's well-established family of PCI recording interfaces, and it caters for recording guitarists and those mixing in surround for DVD production. Martin Walker has a date with Mona.

Millennium Music are one of several UK companies who specialise in building PC systems to musicians' individual requirements. Martin Walker test-drives their service...

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...

Steinberg believe that now that PCs are so powerful, the days of dedicated DSP farm for professional computer-based recording systems are over. Martin Walker enters the native processing world of Nuendo.

It would take a lot to convince your average engineer, producer or programmer to abandon their trusty hardware sampler, but Creamware may finaly tip the balance with their new PCI sampling card. Martin Walker never says 'never' again...

MIDI interface, audio interface, effects processor, hardware control surface for software MIDI + audio sequencers... Edirol's USB-based U8 promises to be all of these. John Walden investigates.

Lexicon's reverbs are highly regarded by many musicians, and their new Core 2 combines them with multi-channel analogue and digital I/O to create an affordable computer recording system. Martin Walker tries it out.

Korg's longstanding OASYS synthesis project has finally come to commercial fruition. The original plan, to produce a traditional stand-alone synthesizer, has given way to a computer-based synthesis and mixing environment running on a multi-DSP PCI card. Simon Trask takes refuge with the OASYS PCI...

For the launch of their new range of 24-bit/96kHz-capable PCI recording systems, established gadget manufacturers Midiman are going under the name M Audio. Martin Walker takes a look at the flagship product in their new line.

Digidesign have forged a formidable reputation in the pro arena for their Pro Tools digital audio workstations. With the new Digi 001 system, they're hoping to capture a substantial slice of the project-studio market too. Debbie Poyser and Derek Johnson provide an exclusive hands on review.

The launch of yet another 8-in/8-out PCI soundcard might seem little cause for raised eyebrows, but Terratec have a few surprises up their sleeves with the EWS88 MT. Martin Walker prepares to be amazed.

Project Hammerfall is an unusual name for a soundcard — but then RME's new card is somewhat out of the ordinary. Martin Walker enters a world of sample-accurate sync and minimal latency.