September 2019 Magazine Contents

1010music's Blackbox packs an awful lot of sampling action into a very compact case.

Stuck in a synthesis rut? Tired of patching the same old sounds? Analogue Solutions have got just the thing...

Antares' EFX version of Auto‑Tune was designed specifically to create less-than-natural vocal effects, and this 'plus'...

Antelope Audio are all about high-end quality at a lower price. Does the third generation of their Orion 32+ deliver the goods?

Sonuscore bundle an awful lot of orchestra into a very modest amount of disk space to deliver immense scoring power.

Innovative music creation platform Bitwig takes a big leap forward with the introduction of an open-ended modular environment.

Widely touted as Boss's response to UA's popular OX, the Tube Amp Expander actually offers a contrasting approach. Will one of them be a clear winner?

There are plenty of very heavily distorted examples already out there to be heard, but I’ve gone for some tones that I think challenge the technology a little more.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. The iconic timbre of this vintage keyboard is impeccably captured in this 500MB Kontakt sample library.

Is this the only library you need for Hollywood-style orchestral brass?

This most hybrid of devices does far more than just put A‑D/D‑A conversion into a 500-series chassis. In fact, it could even make you reconsider how you use your studio...

With ADAT, MADI and Dante connectivity on board, this affordable converter can add 16 channels of analogue I/O to almost any setup.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Covering electric rather than orchestral basses, as well as three playable electric bass guitars, this 6GB library includes a whole range of useful bass-rich content.

Elephant v1.92 turns the Bluetooth-enabled Dial peripheral into a quite remarkable knob controller of pretty much anything...

If you need a well-built, no-nonsense PA for small and medium-sized venues, HK Audio's revamped Linear 5 series will serve you well.

IK Multimedia's newly updated one-stop sample shop is bigger and better than ever.

IsoAcoustics apply their proven decoupling technology to the guitar/bass speaker and amp markets.

iZotope's AI-based plug-in suite grows ever more intelligent with the addition of an automated mix-balancing tool.

The KRK Rokit 7 G4 is a front-ported, bi-amped monitor with a DSP-powered EQ section, avaliable in five–, eight– and 10-inch variants.

Offering everything from pristine cleanliness to tube-driven colour, this preamp can hold its head high in the company of more expensive designs.

If you're looking for mics that'll handle almost any recording task without breaking the bank, Lewitt's newest offerings could be just the thing.

If you want an affordable audio interface that also offers control of your modular system, read on...

Nektar's Panorama T4 takes their already impressive DAW integration to a higher level.

A new library sees the Berlin orchestral sample maestros enter the Fourth Dimension.

This eight–channel sampler can assign up to eight samples to Zones in each channel. 24 CV inputs allow for voltage control over Zones as well as other parameters, with each input freely assignable to multiple destinations across all channels.

Available in stereo and surround versions, and in all the usual native formats, Bute Limiter is a thoroughly modern plug-in designed to operate in the post-loudness wars era — though if you do want to indulge in a bit of retro endstop-slamming, it will certainly oblige.

Studio housekeeping is never glamorous, but a few minutes spent cleaning plugs and sockets can save hours of troubleshooting.

The 810 comprises of a VCO, VCF and VCA, packed into a single 30HP module. Together they can be used as a single, Roland-flavoured analogue voice.

Many engineers believe that Neumann's classic KM84 has never been bettered. Have Warm Audio produced an affordable alternative?

We continue our exploration of Cakewalk's oft–overlooked Sonitus plug-in suite.

Here are five unlocked Video Tutorials that accompany this month's Cubase Tips & Techniques column, so that our print-only readers don't miss out. Enjoy!

With ARA 2, Melodyne can be just another part of Cubase...

Getting vocals to 'sit right' can require a lot more than setting the fader and applying EQ. We asked a number of engineers how they do it.

We get avant–garde with some seriously experimental ways to use synthesis, sampling and effects to 'prepare' any instrument by altering its sound note-by-note.

The Pro Tools Preferences offer a surprising number of ways to configure operation to your tastes.

Studio One's Multi-Instrument environment can make even the simplest instrument sound like a million dollars! Find out how...

With 32 songs and more than two hours of music, mixing Chris Brown's album Indigo demanded stamina as well as talent!

Last time we met producer Lincoln Grounds, he was recording ’50s style. This month, he shows us how to get a vintage sound...

Our engineer tracks and comps some piano and vocal performances, before overdubbing both real and sampled string parts.

Take our tour of the new features in DP10.

I can't find an all-pass filter plug-in in Logic, or an obvious freeware — can you recommend anything?

I just purchased a pair of Neumann KH120A monitor speakers and am in the process of calibrating them for my room. Can I adjust each monitor differently?

I read that 1dB is the minimum difference in volume that can be noticed, but I often end up doing much smaller changes in mixes. Am I fooling myself?

Can I get good results on a Dobro that has a Shertler Basik on‑board mic, or will I need a piezo pickup?

I've had a couple of sample-based instruments to review lately, and both have weighed in at over 50 gigabytes each. Given my...

To help you brush up on your listening skills, we examine the production of some recent hits from Logic, Ed Sheeran, Lil Nas X and Paul Hardcastle's No.1 sampling classic '19'.

The advice of professional acousticians can be hard to evaluate on paper — but what if you could actually hear the results of their work before building starts?

Don't get me wrong, I still love my tube amp. But the quality–of–life improvements that this device has brought to the table (or stage) is undeniable.