SOUND ON SOUND
This controller comes from a range that, unusually, takes the concept of a quality weighted action into the realm of the shorter keyboard — and offers hands-on knobs and sliders for software control to boot.
Looking to create a more affordable keyboard version of their Motif range of workstations, Yamaha have pared back the spec of the Motif ES a little — though not much — to create the M06 and M08.
Building on their modular software instruments, Yellow Tools' Independence is a combined software sampler and workstation synth. But it faces a lot of competition. What makes it stand out from the rest?
Combining several types of sound generation in one instrument, Clavia's Nord Stage harks back to the multi-keyboards of the 1970s. Is it a funky revivalist, or should it be considered a thing of the past?
Since its launch in 2000, NI's B4 has been the software instrument of choice for those who want realistic tonewheel organ sounds from their computer. But NI are clearly convinced it can be better...
Kawai's last few digital pianos have been finely wrought things of beauty: solidly built keyboards with an amazingly realistic playing action and beautifully sampled piano timbres. But their latest claims to surpass all of those. Can it possibly be true?
Hollow Sun's vintage keyboard sounds go against all the current sample-library trends, being supplied on CD-ROM rather than on dedicated hard drives, and weighing in at Megabytes in size, not Gigabytes. But how do they sound...?
The Fantom X is Roland's best-ever workstation, but it has suffered from one or two annoying omissions, such as the ability to import Roland's own sample format. We explore the Fantom Xr rack module and ask if the v2 OS and editing software provide the solutions?
Native Instruments' Kontakt has become one of the most popular software samplers since its release in 2002, and the new version, with its many excellent new features, should keep it near the top of the heap.