Who doesn't enjoy banging out beats on pads? While these were once expensive, the cost of pad controllers has dropped and IK Multimedia's new iRig Pads brings pad control to iOS, Mac & PC.
We dare you to play a Rob Papen synth and not be inspired! Noah Pred puts Punch-BD virtual drum synth through its paces and finds it punches above its weight in our in-depth review.
USB microphones often get bad press for being... well USB. So Matt Vanacoro was pleased to discover how the SL6000 USB proved to be versatile and good-sounding for voice over applications.
Where can you find a beautifully recorded acoustic guitar sample library, in an easy-to-use interface and is light on the ol' CPU? Jay Asher finds out if Sunbird from Acousticsamples makes the grade.
In the market for a pair of well-built, comfortable headphones with a good extended frequency range, deep bass and ideal for monitoring rock and electronic music styles? Hello Audio Technica ATH-50x.
Looking for a highly portable microphone to chuck on to your iPhone and transform it into an excellent field recorder? Zoom's iQ6 could be just what you're looking for. Matt Vanacoro gets recording.
It's easy enough to make your own drum racks in Ableton Live. But getting well mapped, punchy drum racks that fit into any mix is harder. G. W. Childs finds Uppercussion's Conundrum does just that.
When recording or mixing, it's crucial to have "clean power" to avoid any unwanted noise creeping in. Enter Powerbus, a tiny clean power provider which Andy Bowen inspects thoroughly.
There are lots of mics available for iOS devices... 24 bit/96 kHz recorders are not new'¦ but how many offer exceptional noise reduction? Keith Crusher puts the RØDE iXY through its paces.
Ozone has long been a favorite of mastering engineers both novice and professional. Will iZotope's Ozone 6 be as compelling as its predecessors?
Waves new synth, Codex, promises a new paradigm of sound generation, wavetable and subtractive synthesis elements, and a very clean sound. Does it deliver? Matt Vanacoro digs deep and finds out.
The Kurzweil Forte features well-designed sounds, an easy to use interface and a useful LCD screen. But does this make it the king of electronic pianos? Matt Vanacoro finds out in this video review.
Whatever digital technology you use to DJ on, chances are you keep your tracks on a USB stick. If so, then Pioneer's Rekordbox (free) is essential. Noah Pred explains why.
Having made waves amongst guitarists with BIAS Amp for iOS, Positive Grid have released a stomping version for Mac and PC. Hollin Jones discovers that BIAS Desktop sets just the right tone!
Since Twisted Tools' Ultraloop the idea of manually programming drum patterns feels so antiquated. Now they've teamed up with Native Instruments to create Polyplex, an amazing 8-part drum sampler.