August 2014 Magazine Contents

ADK's take on the classic Neumann M49 may lack the original's valve circuitry, but the desirable vintage character is all there.

Monitor mixing is riddled with compromises, but Allen & Heath hope to change all that with their intuitive ME1 personal foldback mixer.

Audient have updated their popular eight-channel preamp design to provide more features at a lower price.

Big Kick is one of those specialist plug‑ins that, as soon as you install it, makes you wonder how you ever managed without....

So far in the pages of SOS we have looked at two Drumdrops products — the Vintage 1963 Premier kit and the Rogers Big R Dub...

If you need serious bass, and you've got the control room to handle it, Eve's flagship monitors might be just the ticket.

Need a fast-triggering MIDI guitar system that frees you from the constraints of cables? Look no further!

IK Multimedia add three new EQ modules to their T‑Racks Custom Shop series.

Archtop's sample collection is based on just one instrument, namely a customised Sadowsky Jim Hall hollow‑body arch‑top guitar with dual pickups.

Korg's Pandora series first appeared almost 20 years ago, but the range has evolved with the march of technology. Today's...

Though it has a control panel that looks like a Klingon's duvet cover and an introduction that suggests it was inspired by an alien abduction, the aptly named Pusher is at heart a rather elegant enhancement device.

Can M-Audio's ambitious pad controller offer something new in the era of hybrid beat workstations?

McDSP's latest plug-in is an intriguing hybrid between an equaliser and a compressor.

Almost as important as where your monitors are is what they're standing on. We round up some of the best available options.

The Minimoog is not exactly short of software tributes. How does NI's measure up?

A new strings library sees a major European symphonic sampling project move one step closer to completion.

The bus compressor installed in ABBA's Harrison console is now available 'to go'.

PreSonus' attempt to make digital mixing feel like analogue pays dividends in this new flagship model from the popular StudioLive range.

Rhythm Studio very neatly bundles a step sequencer, mixer, and a variety of sound and rhythm generators into one ridiculously low‑priced app, and also provides virtual interconnectivity and a fair amount of touch‑screen control. 

From Rhythmic Robot, the instrument that goes 'boing'. I'm trying to think who else would collect 38MB of samples of a 1920s laboratory tuning fork?

Rob Papen's venerable soft synth gets a comprehensive update.

Aussie mic makers Rode aim to bring the sound of classic vintage mics within reach of the home studio. Have they succeeded?

Roland have condensed their considerable synthesizer workstation expertise into a single, affordable instrument.

Audio files to accompany the article.

This miniature PA from pickup specialists Schertler offers a striking combination of quality, portability and affordability.

Pickup experts Seymour Duncan have revamped their effects line-up for 2014, introducing the Vapor Trail analogue delay.

Studio Electronics' new synth modules come in a range of different colours, each with its own distinctive filter and identity.

Much of the enjoyment and realism (or hyper-realism) of films, TV shows, radio programmes and computer games relies upon the skilful use of Foley.

As its title suggests, Upright Bass offers around 1GB of solo upright bass loops — just over 400 in total — covering a range...

Solid-state mass storage for my beloved Atari !

An effect invented by Abbey Road engineers has become a studio staple. Waves have painstakingly recreated its original implementation.

When Peter Gabriel made the transition from prog to pop with 'Sledgehammer' he did it on his own exacting terms...

Thirteen acts playing two sets each, in an historic venue, with minimal changeover time? It's all in a day's work for our intrepid live‑sound engineer.

We get creative with Live's often overlooked Gate processor.

Use Sonar's editing tools to tighten up your guitar solos.

Use Reaper's SWS Extensions to automatically add colour and icons to your tracks.

Engineer and producer Dani Castelar accompanied Paolo Nutini through three years and 11 studios to make his acclaimed new album Caustic Love.

If you're having problems navigating in Logic Pro X, we can help you find your way again.

Studio One's macros can take the legwork out of repetitive tasks.

The first step to setting up a Pro Tools session is to understand what its different track types are for.

This month one of our engineers aims to augment the natural beauty of a baroque‑music duo playing in a church.

Audio files to accompany the article.

You have the skills and the gear, but how should you tackle your first sound-for-picture projects?

Make your Cubase mixes pack more punch with master‑bus compression.

I've recently added some new gear to my PC-based studio and now get low-level whistling noises through my loudspeakers that...

I've been searching to find a sensible answer to this question to no avail...

Despite having mastered sample manipulation and digital editing, Metronomy's Joseph Mount felt there was something missing — so he went cold turkey on computers...

Here at Sound On Sound we always try to help out with readers' queries whenever we can, and if we get enough questions on the...

Games music needs to be bolder...

This month we're listening to Coldplay, Sam Smith, Paolo Nutini and our Classic Mix is Elvis Presley 'Hound Dog' from 1956.

The dazzling world of South Korean pop music confuses many Westerners — but Denmark's Thomas Troelsen has become one of its leading producers and songwriters.

The greatest enemy of original music in TV and film is, well, the original music.

Jimmy Iovine used to sweep up recording studios. Can he clean up the record business?

Though its design consciously looks back to the '60s, State Of The Ark has only been open to the public as a commercial studio for seven years.