Signal Processors

PSP's new linear phase equaliser plug-ins offer mastering quality at a project-studio price.

Another batch of hot plug-ins get installed and tested.

• WWYAM NWEQ Pro• Universal Audio Neve 1073 Equaliser

With their Vocal Bundle, Waves look to take voice processing and automatic pitch correction to a new level of sophistication.

If you want to do serious post-production work in Pro Tools but you can't stretch to an HD system, Digi's new DV Toolkit 2 could be the answer.

Serato's Pitch 'n Time has carved out a reputation as one of the best time-stretching and pitch-shifting plug-ins out there, with special features including 'morphing' time-stretch and the ability to recreate varispeed effects.

The revolutionary Variax modelling guitar is already a uniquely versatile instrument, but now Line 6 have added an extra dimension with the ability to customise almost every aspect of its operation.

The latest incarnation of Wave Arts' plug-in suite is a treat for the eyes and the ears.

IK have given their popular guitar amp emulator a radical makeover, with a huge range of new models and a sound that's more accurate than ever. Is it an improvement? Read on...

Are all convolution reverbs the same? I'm looking to get a decent reverb for my Pro Tools rig, and there seems to be lots...

PSP's latest plug-in covers the spectrum from vintage tape-echo emulation to serious weirdness.

Melodyne has always worked miracles with the pitch and timing of monophonic audio, but Celemony's new version 3 turns its attention to full polyphonic mixes.

If you need a new way of adapting the feel of a loop, or you want decent pitch-shifting and time-stretching on a budget, Psoft's inexpensive utility might be for you.

With version 2 of Guitar Rig, Native Instruments are taking amp modelling into the realms of modular synthesis.

With their new plug-in suite, Antares promise to let you change the character of the human voice.

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

In the recent TV ad campaign for Marks & Spencer, they use the Electric Light Orchestra track 'Mr Blue Sky'. There's a distinctive robotic vocal sound in it that I am curious about. How was it made?

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.