Signal Processors

Could you explain (slowly!) the basic principles of how a compressor works, and what each control does, the ratio control in particular?

Line 6 give their PodXT the Pro treatment, adding comprehensive I/O and flexible output configurations to their successful modelling processor.

This Voice Modeler plug-in is designed to change the character of a recorded vocal, adding breathiness, chest resonance and 'growl', and allowing you to modify inflection and vibrato.

The biggest music technology manufacturer in the world has stuck to hardware — until now. Do Yamaha's first plug-in processors have what it takes to compete with the big names in Mac and Windows software?

One of Yamaha's most well-known studio products receives a makeover for the 21st Century.

As well as a bundle of 50-plus effects plug-ins, Quantum FX provides all the tools you need to design your own.

Version 2 of Celemony's revolutionary pitch- and tempo-shifting software includes new features, better sequencer integration and an improved interface.

We check out two more useful plug-ins, one for Powercore and one for PC VST/Direct X.

A range of affordable third-rack units designed to cover a variety of studio tasks without compromising on quality.

I have a compressor with inserts to access the side-chain. What is the side-chain and what would you use these inserts for?

There's already a decent range of products providing digital emulations of vintage guitar amps, but iZotope's Direct X plug-in goes a lot further, offering no fewer than seven processing modules, and is intended to model every kind of distortion you'll ever need.

Convolving reverbs are coming down in price as more manufacturers make their own. We check out Emagic's new plug-in, which is one of the more affordable ones around, but still allows you to create your own reverbs from favourite spaces.

Can you please tell me how to set up the Korg Kaoss Pad KP2 as an ordinary pitch-bender?

In my hardware-based setup, with my TC electronics Triple*C compressor, is it possible to do the kind of limiting on a full mix where you end up with a waveform that is levelled off at the top and bottom, 'brick wall'-style?

Native Instruments' flagship modular software synth has now reached version 4, dispensing with the dongle copy-protection that bothered v3 owners, adding many user-friendly features and allowing even greater scope for personalising your patches.

Times change. When announced in 2001, the Chameleon, a reprogrammable DSP unit, looked out of date compared with the software studio concept. But with piracy rife, and software companies being bought out everywhere, the idea of reprogrammable, unhackable hardware now seems quite timely...

TC's plug-in powerhouse is now available as an external Firewire-connected rack unit.

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?