April 2002 Magazine Contents

Combining strings, a monosynth, a bass synth and a polyphonic synthesizer, did ARP create the keyboard equivalent of 'Wash and Go', or a jack of all trades and master of none?

Can a digital console at such a low price really deliver on features and audio quality?

The DB8000S from CLM Dynamics provides eight channels of high-quality mic preamplification, with limiting, M&S matrixing and no less than three separate outputs per channel.

DK Audio have revised several of their audio metering products since we last looked at them...

We test this two-channel analogue dynamic noise filter, expander and HF enhancer.

**** Score = 4/5 stars. Programmer Brian Transeau delivers 436 breakbeats, mostly four bars long, divided into two categories, "Dirt Breakz" and "Live Breakz", with tempos ranging from 66 to 180 bpm.

***** Score = 5/5 stars. Categorised by emotions, Twisted Textures is a very useful and admirably varied collection of short, self-contained sonic mood pieces.

Users of Emagic's Logic sequencer have been itching to get their hands on the latest version 5 and Logic Control, the company's dedicated moving-fader control system. Has it been worth the wait?

Many home and project studio owners are interested in mastering as a way to add that professional sheen to their recordings. The newest way to do this is with iZotope's DirectX mastering tool for PC.

This active nearfield monitor offers stunning audio performance from its extremely compact cabinet dimensions.

The M3X is the first product from Macbeth Systems, the Scottish company founded by former DIY analogue synth enthusiast Ken McBeth. Will all turn out well, or is the M3X destined for a tragic end?

Novation seem to be on a roll. Scarcely had the monotimbral A-Station made the cover of our December 2001 issue, when news broke of a £500 keyboard version. We look at one of the first UK production models.

The Oberheim/Viscount OB•12 was already a well-specified virtual analogue synth when it was launched in 2000, but it failed to gain much of a following. Now, after an OS upgrade and a cut in price, it's seriously good value for money...

**** Score = 4/5 stars. This 170Mb collection features the Moscow Session Strings working through a varied selection of fully‑arranged riffs, which have been processed with Propellerhead's Recycle 2.

This latest addition to the affordable Evolution range brings Sennheiser's renowned K-series technology within reach of the project studio.

These Sennheiser headphones combine high sound quality with comfortable design.

A Channel One without the valve for little over half the price? Seeing (and hearing) is believing.

Complete boxed sets of drum mics at incredibly low prices. Is it too good to be true?

If you're on a very tight budget then you might be willing to live with a CD recorder with unbalanced analogue phono connectors, consumer S/PDIF digital interfacing and no-frills operation. However, if you want more professional features, then the CDRW2000 is well worth checking out.

TC upgrade both the hardware and the software of their cost-effective M•One multi-effects unit.

Find out how to get the highest-quality audio into your computer music system.

There are now lots of different ways to make a stereo master recording of your final mix, so how do you work out which one is best for you?

Last month, we revealed just how hideously complex the sound-producing mechanism of the snare drum can be. Nevertheless, synthesizing the sound is not as hard as it seems, as we find out with the aid of a Roland SH101...

In this final part of our series, we look at how the major project studio-oriented MIDI + Audio sequencers (DAWs) currently handle surround.

Why is phase important? What orchestral sample libraries are available for HALion? Where can I get Windows-based ASIO drivers for an Audiomedia III card? Are there really reverb and synth plug-ins supplied with Mac OS X? How can I isolate the vocals from a stereo mix?

We visit another SOS reader's studio set-up. This month, it's located in a Portakabin in Bedford, UK.

The Strokes' Is This It was many critics' choice for the best album of 2001, and has gone platinum in the UK. Remarkably, it was recorded in a basic New York project studio by a then-unknown producer.

One-time SOS writer Mark Cunningham hadn't produced an album for almost 10 years — until a soulful ex-prisoner inspired him to get back behind the desk...

UK garage is the biggest underground dance music phenomenon for years, and has taken London collective So Solid Crew to the top of the charts. Crew member Swiss talks to SOS about their approach to production.

A former SOS Apple Notes columnist applies memetics to the perennial Mac/Windows struggle.

As you know, April is that time of year when articles of a 'less-than-factually-accurate' nature tend to creep into SOS...