Reviews

Review | Jan 04, 2018 by Hollin Jones

ROLI's ecosystem keeps growing with an upgraded Lightpad Block - the M. Hollin Jones found out what sets it apart from its predecessor, and from pretty much every other MIDI controller...

Review | Jan 03, 2018 by Rich Tozzoli

UAD's recreation of a classic Distressor from Empirical Labs is officially endorsed by the makers of the original hardware. Rich Tozzoli finds there's much to like in the EL8.

Review | Dec 31, 2017 by Rounik Sethi

2017 saw a plethora of Kontakt instruments that took what we thought was possible to the next level both in sound quality and feature sets. Here's some of our favorites from the past year.

Review | Dec 29, 2017 by Sara Simms

Arpitecht is a voltage controlled quantizer and rhythmic arpeggio generator for eurorack systems. Sara Simms fired it up and found out what it could do.

Review | Dec 28, 2017 by Jade Wii

The latest in Roland's Boutique series is a recreation of its classic D-50 heard on countless hit records. Jade Wii gets intimate with the hugely portable D-05.

Review | Dec 27, 2017 by Rounik Sethi

It’s been a quiet year for MIDI controllers from the big players but there have still been some impressive new controllers released for software and hardware musicians.

Review | Dec 26, 2017 by Rounik Sethi

Hardware synths continued to grow in popularity through 2017 proving that demand for tactile music machines is alive and kicking. Here's 10 of our favorite hardware synths released this year.  

Review | Dec 25, 2017 by Noah Pred

Max programmers continued to innovate this year with a variety of colorful instruments, utilities, generative tools, and effects. Here’s a look back at five that stuck out.

Review | Dec 24, 2017 by Hollin Jones

2017 was a great year for making music on iPads and iPhones, with several major new releases. Here are some of our favourite tools for mobile music-making.

Review | Dec 23, 2017 by Jay Asher

EastWest’s Hollywood Series has been phenomenally successful and for years now has been my personal “go to.” The choirs are the latest entry in the series.

Review | Dec 22, 2017 by Noah Pred

A forward-thinking drum sequencer with a wealth of powerful features and the immaculate samples Wave Alchemy is known for. Noah Pred falls in love with Evolution...

Review | Dec 21, 2017 by Matt Vanacoro

USB mics can sometimes sacrifice quality for convenience, but that's not the case with Sennheiser's latest portable. Matt Vanacoro puts it to the test.

Review | Dec 20, 2017 by Matt Vanacoro

RME's Fireface hardware is well regarded in the pro audio world, but how would Matt Vanacoro get on with the UFX+ and its wealth of I/O? Read on to find out.

Review | Dec 19, 2017 by Joe Albano

Monitor mixing for several musicians isn't always paid the attention it could be. With the MyMix Personal Monitor System, could Joe Albano have found the answer?

Review | Dec 18, 2017 by Jade Wii

These two multi-talented hardware instruments each have many fans in the music world, but how do they stack up against each other? Jade Wii pits them head to head.