Theory / Technical

Colin Cartmell’s decades‑long tonequest has led him to create some of the best guitar cabinet IRs out there — so we asked him for advice on how to roll your own.

I recently rewired my studio and patched a compressor and an effects unit into my mixer’s master inserts. Both processors were set to work with +4dB signals but the levels from the processors seemed low, so I switched them to their ‑10dB positions and the levels seem healthier. Have I done the right thing?

Mix engineers used to prefer hardware to software because it sounded better. Is that still true? And if not, is there still a reason to use it?

The waveform of an audio file looks bizarre when I load it in Adobe Audition, with a curious displacement of the audio...

I keep reading about the use of ‘negative feedback’ to reduce distortion in audio gear. How does this work and how effective is it?

Intel’s latest CPUs promise big performance gains. But can they topple AMD in our audio benchmarks?

Could you please explain why audio gear uses balanced signals and how they work?

I’m a long‑running technical electronics repair and design engineer working in music for film...

Immersive audio has huge creative potential for music production, but it can be hard to get your head around. Here’s the explanation you’ve been waiting for!

I’m about to be given an old mixer to play with in my studio and am planning to check each input and output, check the EQ does...

I got a separate 1TB drive to use with NI Komplete and told NI’s Native Access installer app to put the plug‑ins/apps on the system drive and the sample data on the external drive, and left it overnight...

The next evolution of Bluetooth contains a number of innovations that should appeal to consumers and professionals alike. And it’s coming to a device near you.

We all know that close miking boosts the low end. But why? New research from DPA Microphones explains that some instruments are more affected by proximity effect than others.

Does your guitar sound dull and lacklustre through your pedalboard? Here’s how to side‑step the tone‑suck trap.

We speak to some of the leading experts in hearing loss to find out why it happens, how to prevent it, and what to do if your hearing fails.

Have you ever wondered what lies behind the intriguing wobbles and lush swooshes of this classic effect?