SOUND ON SOUND
TC Works were in at the start of the software plug-in explosion back in 1998. We check out their latest update to the Native Bundle suite.
Whatever version of Windows you're running, the chances are you can streamline it with a few simple tweaks.
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.
Price barriers continue to tumble in the soundcard market, as ESI Pro introduce an interface offering four analogue inputs and eight outputs, plus digital I/O, two mic preamps and 192kHz playback, for under £200.
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.
As hard drive sizes rise into the hundreds of Gigabytes, it's crucial to consider the benefits that partitioning can bring.
Edirol's latest audio and MIDI interface fills another niche in the increasingly competitive market for USB devices.
ST Audio's recording interface provides multi-channel, multi-client audio I/O, as well as MIDI In and Out and full 24-bit/96kHz capability, for a highly affordable £230.
Cheap, writable optical media have revolutionised the way PC users store audio and back up their data. However, setting up your CD-R/W drives and persuading them to work at their best can be more complicated than it seems...
**** 4/5. Bardstown Audio has collected together nine classic accordions in this two-CD Giga-format collection, and all are sampled from instruments made in the 1950s, when they were hand-made to high standards.