
20 Tips On Buying Second-hand Gear
There are some fine bargains to be had in the second-hand equipment market — but there are plenty of pitfalls too. Debbie Poyser & Derek Johnson offer a guide through the maze.
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There are some fine bargains to be had in the second-hand equipment market — but there are plenty of pitfalls too. Debbie Poyser & Derek Johnson offer a guide through the maze.

It's been an unreserved thumbs-up for Korg's bundle of software synths so far... but will the Legacy Polysix and Legacy Cell scale the same heights in the final instalment of our three-part definitive review?

From his early days as a pioneer of British synth-pop, Martyn Ware has forged a career on the cutting edge of electronic music. And he is still innovating today — in 3D.


The price of compact MIDI controller keyboards has come tumbling down in the past few years, but weighted-action full-length keyboards have remained relatively expensive —until now. We investigate the 88-note keyboard that runs off USB power...

Most of us assume that only big businesses and financial institutions will fall victim to hackers, but the reality is that someone could be attempting to invade your personal computer right now. Martin Walker tries to make the world safer for PC users.

PETER SIEDLACZEK'S ADVANCED ORCHESTRA
(FIVE CD‑ROM SET)
There are some sample CD releases...

Active monitoring used to be the preserve of those with quite a lot of money to spend on their studio speakers. Recently, though, it's become a lot more affordable. Hugh Robjohns powers up the 4Ps and undergoes a spiritual experience.


Now that the MIDI outputs of many soundcards are already occupied by playing back high-quality internal synth sounds and multi-channel samples, many musicians are finding that they need to invest in a more comprehensive MIDI interface to service the rest of their synths. Martin Walker provides a little background.

Audio software and PC soundcards are offering 20- or 24-bit recording capabilitiy at even more affordable prices — but whether the extra data on your hard disk will actually correspond to better sound quality depends on a host of other factors. Martin Walker tells you what you need to know when deciding if you should make the change.

If you want to get started with audio recording on your computer, but don't fancy opening up your PC to install an internal soundcard, the new USB Audio Canvas from Roland subsidiary Edirol may provide a welcome alternative. John Walden takes the UA100 for a test Drive.

Soundcard and computer technology has advanced to the stage where even modestly specified PC systems can make recordings of incredible clarity — and DSP algorithms now allow us to add in the warmth that is characteristic of analogue recordings. Martin Walker explores the options.

Martin Walker has had more than his fair share of computer hassles recently, including exploding monitors, audio glitches, and the mysterious death of Word...


If you thought home keyboards were all about cheesy organ presets and bossanova backbeats the chances are you are just like Paul Farrer, but as he takes the wraps of Yamaha's new baby and rotates his baseball cap by 180 degrees he is astonished to find that he was completely and utterly wrong...
As Lexicon introduce new processors to replace the acclaimed PCM80 and PCM90, Paul White takes a look at how these classic units have been further improved to create the PCM81 and 91.

Many musicians recording with teir computer find that they need to buy — and wire up — separate mic preamps, guitar preamps and monitor mixers as well as their soundcard. Martin Walker tries out a products that aims to combine all of these elements in one system.

More than 30 years after the original 1176 was introduced, it has been put back into production by the designer's sons. Hugh Robjohns investigates the latest and most authentic reproduction of this classic 1960s compressor.

The latest addition to Metric Halo's Mobile I/O range is, like the existing MIO 2882, now available with a powerful DSP option for running audio processing plug-ins.