The ADAT format is more often the choice of personal studios than professional facilities — but the new M20 is set to change all that. Hugh Robjohns takes the 20-bit ADAT for a spin.
If the best things in life are free, then perhaps Pro Tools 3.4 is one of them — Digidesign are now giving away this version of their Mac audio recording and editing software. Mike Collins looks a gift horse in the mouth.
Korg have upgraded their well-established Trinity range of sample-based workstation synths with a new board offering the sonic capabilities of a Z1 polysynth.
It's certainly borrowed (for the purposes of this review), and it's unquestionably blue, but is it old or new? Synth Guidance Counsellor and long‑time K2000 owner Paul Ward checks out Kurzweil's VP makeover of this legendary workstation.
As Lexicon introduce new processors to replace the acclaimed PCM80 and PCM90, Paul White takes a look at how these classic units have been further improved to create the PCM81 and 91.
These days there are several ways of going about recording your own CDs. Paul White gives this new Marantz professional stand-alone model a spin and discovers a few advantages over using a computer and CD-ROM drive.
PC owners who fancy a full modular synth for less than £200 need look no further. Martin Walker connects more virtual modules than you can shake a patchchord at.
128 MIDI channels would have seemed like complete overkill ten years ago, but today's multitimbral voice modules can use them up at an alarming rate. Martin Russ checks out an eight-port patchbay/interface from Opcode.
One of two General MIDI modules are simply a cut above the rest, and Roland's high-end Sound Canvases fit right into this category. Paul White retires to the studio with the latest in the line and dips into a seemingly limitless palette of sound...
If you want more of everything digital, why not try 24-bit recording at a 96kHz sample rate? Martin Walker is floored as his dynamics increase in leaps and bounds.
As the popularity of the ADAT optical 8-channel digital interface has grown, so PCI soundcards have appeared to transfer audio into this format and out of computers. Previous cards have included one optical connector, but Sonorus's STUDI/O has two, permitting 16-channel operation. Martin Walker makes light work of his optical cables.
When Yamaha Launched the A3000 a year ago their approach won quite a few fans, and now they're demonstrating their renewed commitment to sampling with a comprehensive upgrade. Chris Carter's movin' on up...
If you thought home keyboards were all about cheesy organ presets and bossanova backbeats the chances are you are just like Paul Farrer, but as he takes the wraps of Yamaha's new baby and rotates his baseball cap by 180 degrees he is astonished to find that he was completely and utterly wrong...
What do you need to put together to create your own studio? Paul White investigates practical options for a core system based on preferred methods of creating music.
There is now a bewildering array of audio options inside most PC audio recording packages, and if you understand the reasoning behind them you can get a bit (or even a few bits) more quality out of your hard drive audio. Martin Walker explains.
In the penultimate part of his series on synthesizer technology, Paul Wiffen turns his attention to the problem of emulating acoustic instruments in which the sound is produced by a string or reed, and amplified and modified by the body of the instrument.
Not even the best monitor speakers guarantee good monitoring &mdash so how do you ensure that you're mixing on the best possible system? Mixmeister Martin Walker leaks some top speaker tweaks...
Following on from last month's look at digital tape recording formats, Hugh Robjohns turns the spotlight on the techniques and technology of disk-based recording.
The head of the design team behind the Lexicon Studio talks to Paul White about the Lexicon sound and the benefits of the Studio approach — and offers some practical tips on optimising PCs for audio recording.
Are programmers musicians? Marius de Vries certainly thinks so, and he's better qualified than most to air an opinion. Paul Tingen meets the man who's lent his talents to everyone from Madonna to Massive Attack.
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