Signal Processors

Like many of Sony Oxford's plug-ins, their new limiter takes a familiar concept and applies a novel twist.

Software guitar amp modelling has been around for a while, but GTR is Waves' first foray into the field — and as you'd expect, they have made a huge effort to get it right, even hiring guitar maker Paul Reed Smith to design a bespoke preamp.

Last month we discussed how to prepare mixes so that they are ready for the mastering engineer. This month, we look inside the mastering room during the processing of an album, to see what kind of equipment is used, and the sort of processes that are applied to finish the tracks to the required standard.

The new Tiger AUPitch plug-in promises better pitch-shifting performance, but does it deliver in practice?

Basement Arts Frantic, Cakewalk Z3TA+, and Progress Software Soup get the install treatment.

Waves are the latest software company to launch their own hardware DSP accelerators. The APA 32 and 44-M can be linked over Ethernet to form massively powerful plug-in farms.

Native's sound design software is back, and with v5, you have more control over your instruments than ever — offering fully user-definable looks, the ability to construct your own modules from scratch, and an improved library. We get patching...

This new card narrows the gap between Roland's VS-series machines and computer recording systems by allowing the use of third-party plug-ins within the multitracker environment. We test the card, its bundled plug-ins, and the first of the brand-name offerings from Universal Audio.

If you want your mixes to go to 11, Waves' new mastering limiter might be the weapon you need.

Using a combination of dummy load and speaker simulator lets you record your favourite valve guitar amp at full tilt without disturbing your neighbours. The trouble is, none of the designs so far have managed to sound close enough to a real speaker. Could this be the one that finally nails it?

For those who want to put a human performance at the centre of their sequenced masterpieces, Circular Logic have developed software that can understand and follow tempo changes in real time.

The Kaoss Pad Entrancer builds on the success of the Kaoss Pad 2, offering the same versatile X-Y pad-driven audio processing capabilities, but adding video processing to give you real-time control over both sound and vision.

Expanding on the modelling technology used in their Variax and Variax Acoustic, Line 6 have dropped an octave and turned their attention to the bass guitar. The Variax Bass features 24 models of 'classic' instruments — is it all the bass you'll ever need?

Not content with offering some of the most fully-featured digital mixers in the world, Yamaha have now upgraded them, and are offering extra effects packs to further expand their capabilities.

Choose from optical and VCA compression, de-essing, noise reduction, and valve voicing within a single processor.

You probably know Allen & Heath as a studio mixer manufacturer, but they also specialise in high-end DJ mixing and processing. Now they have combined their studio and DJ expertise into a multi-mode analogue filter with sophisticated MIDI control.

This slimline rack processor makes CEDAR's latest class-leading audio-restoration algorithms remarkably quick and easy to use.

Mindprint cram mic and line channel strips, monitor control, and talkback into a single desktop unit.

This unusual effects pedal combines a bank of eight band-pass filters with an analogue-style control sequencer.

Korg's new valve preamp and optical compressor is available not only as a stand-alone box, but also in a version which can be installed directly into either of their flagship digital multitrackers.

This range of valve processors offers a variety of character sounds for the more adventurous home recordist.