Reviews

Review | Jan 15, 2017 by Noah Pred

Drums sound best with plenty of punch. We put Surreal Machines' latest Max for Live effects, Crack and Impact, through their paces.

Review | Jan 14, 2017 by Matt Vanacoro

Spoiler alert: The new Modo Bass from IK Multimedia is an incredibly good physical modeling bass instrument. The sound is excellent and it has a high level of tonal flexibility too.

Review | Jan 13, 2017 by Hollin Jones

Korg's Wavestation was a true beast, and now it's back in app form. But have they managed to cage this 90s classic?

Review | Jan 12, 2017 by Noah Pred

Rob papen's original Predator is a monster synth, so we were very curious to hunt down Predator 2, explore its new sound design tools, and discover how it would improve upon a winning instrument.

Review | Jan 11, 2017 by Hollin Jones

Cubase 9 is here and it promises some major workflow enhancements and a brand new sampler. Hollin Jones finds out if it is indeed loaded to the nines'¦

Review | Jan 10, 2017 by Timo Preece

Elektron announcement of Analog Heat was met with rejoicing and some uncertainty. Timo Preece digs deep below the analog distortion and saturation for a clearer picture of what makes it so versatile.

Review | Jan 08, 2017 by G.W. Childs IV

The latest music controller from Akai Pro is a sub $100 compact battery-operated, wireless bluetooth USB MIDI keyboard controller. GW Childs finds out if it presses his buttons.

Review | Jan 07, 2017 by Matt Vanacoro

The award-winning GeoShred musical instrument for iPad now includes MIDI/MPE support. Check out our full review with video showcasing the new features.

Review | Jan 06, 2017 by G.W. Childs IV

Whether you're a modular synth beginner or a well-versed noise maker, the Bastl Kastle mini modular synth has something to offer. It's more powerful than both its size and price suggest.

Review | Jan 05, 2017 by G.W. Childs IV

Repro-1, like Diva, wants to give you an authentic analog-sounding synth in software. Modelled on the famous Pro One synth, U-He have taken their synth plugin above and beyond the original.

Review | Jan 04, 2017 by Jay Asher

Apogee promise really low latency with their new sub-$600 10-in and 12-out Thunderbolt audio interface for Mac users. Jay Asher hopes it hits the sweet spot. Here's what he discovered.

Review | Jan 03, 2017 by Matt Vanacoro

The new Arturia MiniLab MKII has an attractive sub $100 price point. But does this uber-portable and ultra small music controller perform as classily as it looks? We find out in the video review.

Review | Jan 02, 2017 by Noah Pred

Is this a first? A reverb effect to help truly sonically shape harmonics. Fabfilter's Pro-R could be accurately described as a surgical reverb plugin. Noah Pred tests out its repairing abilities.

Review | Jan 01, 2017 by Rounik Sethi

2016 saw a raft of Kontakt instruments that either advanced what we thought was possible, or consolidated Kontakt as the sample engine of choice. Here's some of our favorites from 2016.

Review | Dec 29, 2016 by Rounik Sethi

2016 was the year that eurorack and modular synths finally broke into mainstream music producer consciousness. While that's not what every synth nerd wanted it's been positive for the makers.