Signal Processors

I've heard various 'talking instrument' effects which some people attribute to a processor called a vocoder, while others describe it as a 'talk box'. Are these the same devices?

With high-resolution digital mixers, processors and recorders now standard fare, our recordings can sometimes seem too clean and sterile. As a result, there is quite a demand for devices and plug-ins which add a little distortion or warmth to a recording. This unusual product aims to give you every tube distortion sound you could ever want!

Although delay can be one of the most simple studio effects, software delay plug-ins often provide a bewildering array of options. So we take a look at what all the sliders and switches do, and provide advice on how best to use them.

Reverb is vital for most types of modern music production, so it's no surprise to find that many sequencers provide a variety of reverb plug-ins. But what do all those different parameters do?

TC-Helicon's new rack unit aims to provide you with every conceivable vocal recording tool, including EQ, compression, pitch-correction, double-tracking, intelligent harmony generation and effects.

What advantages are there to variable input impedance? • How can I extract loops from audio sample CDs? • Can I use the True Tape option in Cubase to prevent clipping? • Should I use S/PDIF or AES for long cable runs? • Can you have too much low-frequency absorption? • What's the best way to use the multiple filters on my soft synth?

Five bands of parametric EQ plus useful high-pass and low-pass filters, all for a bargain price.

There are many choices to make when equalising within your sequencer. Which type of EQ is best? How should you set up the different bands? Which controls do you need? We provide some answers...

A combined sub-harmonic synthesizer and high-frequency psychoacoustic enhancer for live and studio use.

Following on from our discussion of compression and limiting last month, let's look at how you can use the related processes of gating and expansion within your DAW.

The latest plug-in for the TC Powercore card allows you to extract frequency responses from commercial tracks and apply them to your own mixes.

TC's flagship reverb processor, based on the System 6000 hardware, combines 16 channels of world-beating processing with flexible and lightning-fast operation.

Behringer have redesigned their popular Composer Pro, adding tube simulation, de-essing and dynamic enhancement.

All of the main MIDI + Audio sequencers now have a bewildering array of compression and limiting plug-ins built in, but many home musicians are unclear about what all those controls and options do. And with so many varieties of each plug-in available, which one should you choose for the job in hand?

This plug-in produces essentially the same results as its analogue rackmount counterparts, so if you already know and like the BBE process, you should take no convincing.

Voxengo's Curve EQ is a 'linear phase spline equaliser' with a 2048-point filter kernel, which lets you draw highly complex responses using its graphic interface.

Although most major MIDI + Audio sequencing applications include bundled EQ, dynamics and reverb plug-ins, they don't always sound too great, so many users are on the lookout for alternatives, like these two from Wave Arts.

These two new rack processors from Vermona offer flexible filtering and phasing with a range of interesting modulation options.

The processing from the Maxxbass plug-in is now available in hardware format.

Although XTA are perhaps better known for their live sound processors, their new SIDD dynamics processor provides world-beating dynamics processing which is just as useful in the studio.

Lexicon update their MPX500 with more editing parameters, extra mastering processes, and more user patches.