Computer / Software

Emagic's virtual sampler provides Logic Audio users with a practical alternative to hardware-based sampling. Paul White puts it to the test.

Adaptec's Toast is already the most widely used CD-burning software for the Mac, thanks to licensing deals that have seen it given away with most CD writers. The latest update sees it now being sold as part of a tasty bundle, incorporating other useful applications and a CD labelling device. Mike Simmons finds out if it's too good to be true...

Auto‑Tune first started out as a TDM plug‑in (reviewed in SOS August '97), but subsequently...

Formats: Mac VST, PC VST, Wavelab, DirectX

Reviewed: PC versions

Steinberg's Mastering Edition...

Bitheadz' Unity DS1 is one of the best-established software samplers, and the latest incarnation offers several major new features, including DirectConnect support for use with Pro Tools. Derek Johnson and Debbie Poyser sample its delights.

Style-generation software Band-in-a-box is one of the many still-thriving music programs that started life on the Atari. These days, it's very much a home in the latest Mac- and PC-based studios, as Vic Lennard and Martin Walker discovers.

Though high-quality, real-time pitch-shifting is now becoming a reality, this technology comes with a high price tag. Many musicians will therefore continue to rely on offline processes to carry out pitch and timing manipulations. Derek Johnson and Debbie Poyser do just that, with Prosoniq's Time Factory...

Physical modelling may be fashionable, but it isn't always very controllable. AAS aim to change all that for PC owners, by equipping their Tassman software synth with an easy-to-use front end. Martin Walker enters a new world of generators and resonators.

Effectively a drum machine in plug-in form, Steinberg's new LM4 offers the seamless integration with Cubase that is the boon of all VST instruments, as well as claiming far better timing than any MIDI device. Martin Walker pounds the PC beat, while Paul Ward delivers the Mac perspective.

We already have software to sort out tuning problems and now Synchro Arts are providing AudioSuite tools to cure timing problems. Paul White's musical skills prove ideal to test this software to the full!

The ability to record multitrack audio with 24/96 capability is something you'd expect from any modern MIDI + Audio sequencer. SEKD's flagship software package does this and a whole lot more besides, including 5.1 and two-channel surround mixing and direct CD burning without the need for a separate application. Martin Walker finds out how it's done.

Koblo's software instruments are fun and easy to use, with brightly coloured, single-screen user interfaces. Derek Johnson and Debbie Poyser try out their latest, a virtual drum machine which can be run as a stand-alone application or alongside a MIDI + Audio sequencer.

The most affordable of Steinberg's MIDI + Audio sequencing packages has just received a thorough overhaul, to the point where it now incorporates some features not yet found in the full PC version of Cubase. Maritin Walker tries out the new Cubasis VST.

Martin Walker checks out a suite of four plug-ins (Band Pass, Comb Filters, PitchAccum and Shuffling) from Steinberg: GRM Tools.

Emagic's inexpensive analogue synth emulation for Logic Audio and Micrologic AV comes under scrutiny from Paul White.

Steinberg's VST Instrument technology allows software synths to be fully integrated into any VST 2.0-compatible host software, such as Cubase VST. The first major releases to arrive are both recreations of established analogue classics. Martin Walker tries them out.

Antares' latest plug-in can, it is claimed, alter a recording made with one model of mic so that it sounds as if it was done with another. But can you really make any budget mic sound like a high-end classic? Paul White investigates.

Paul White checks out TC Works' Spark, a Swiss Army knife of a Mac editor that takes an entirely new approach to the use of VST plug-ins. It also offers sampler support and MP3 file creation, and its effects section can even run within other VST- and MAS-compatible software.

Though the Mac platform is often ahead of the PC for musical applications, it used to lag behind in the race to provide professional MP3 software. Simon Trask tries out a new program which aims to restore the balance.

Software Technology's VAZ Modular promises the authentic sound of analogue synthesis form. Martin Walker tests out their claim.

The latest upgrade to Wavelab, which takes the program to version 3.0, boasts only one major new feature — but it's a killer. Martin Walker is stunned by the possibilities.