gear giveaway

Softube’s Trident A-Range Equalizer Plug-in Review

Last night I was working on mastering a song and I was struggling to get the mix brighter without making it harsh - a common dilemma in mastering a track. I'm not a mastering engineer, so this was more of a rough master for the artist to get an idea…Click on the title for more

Softube’s Trident A-Range Equalizer Plug-in Review

OktavaMod Tube Mic Upgrade Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xftXh05dig So you’re sitting at home recording a vocal track and you think, “Gee, this vocal sounds kind of harsh. And when I try to EQ it, it ends up sounding dull and unnatural. I wonder if it’s this affordable Chinese-made microphone that I’m using that’s causing the problem. Boy,…Click on the title for more

OktavaMod Tube Mic Upgrade Review

Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone & Aria Disnortion Reviews

Obsessed with extending the expressive range of the guitar, I compulsively investigate gear that claims it can. I put Pigtronix, a company obsessed with ensuring a future of enhanced guitar expressiveness, to the test with their budget conscious Aria Disnortion overdrive+3 band EQ, and the Philosopher's Tone compression/sustain synthesizer pedals.…Click on the title for more

Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone & Aria Disnortion Reviews

Pedal Review: Line 6 FM4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJJL175iL4Q Line 6 excels at packaging the best elements from a collection of vintage analog effects into a single digital stompbox. Their classic "green delay pedal" (DL4) is one of the most versatile delay modelers/loopers available. While the FM4 Filter Modeler is not as user-friendly or universally appealing as the…Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: Line 6 FM4

Eventide Pitchfactor Review

The PitchFactor is a “Best of” of Eventide's long history of harmonizers, and of all the 'Factor' series pedals, this one probably had to be simplified the most from its rack inspirations. Providing 10 different patches of pitch shifters and harmonizers, the PitchFactor shares a common setup and interface with…Click on the title for more

Eventide Pitchfactor Review

Your Rode NT1 sounding like a U87?

When I used to live in Italy in my teens, I remember the excitement and pride some of my friends shared for their "modded" Motorinos (sadly my mother never even allowed me to ride one...). These bikes were noisy, but ran faster than regular ones. A decade or so later,…Click on the title for more

Your Rode NT1 sounding like a U87?

Decapitator Analog Saturation Plug-In

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJKUukgmro Pro recording engineers have been torturing their gear for years, pushing consoles, preamps, and outboard gear to the limit to create the sound of modern music. You can now get that sound in the box, in your mix. SoundToys' Decapitator gives you five flavors of classic analog sound, modeled…Click on the title for more

Decapitator Analog Saturation Plug-In

Akai IPK-25: iPhone controlled synth

We somehow missed this exciting Akai product at NAMM. The Akai IPK-25 is a tiny $99 keyboard that plugs into your iPhone and let's you control the synth's tone through a $9.99 iPhone app... or viceversa?Click on the title for more

Akai IPK-25: iPhone controlled synth

PreSonus’ new DAW software: Studio One

PreSonus, renown for signal processors, preamps and other recording related hardware, recently entered the DAW realm with Studio One. This sequencer/recorder is intended to target musicians and engineers of all levels as a friendlier alternative to the more intimidating offerings currently considered the standards.The PreSonus team focused on creating a…Click on the title for more

PreSonus’ new DAW software: Studio One

Novation befriends PT and Logic

Two of Novation's latest keyboards have just made a substantial step towards universal integration. Nocturn Keyboard and SL MkII now work seamlessly with Logic 9 and Pro Tools. You can now control all Logic and Pro Tools' own plug-ins, as well as most third-party plug-ins (Native Instruments, Waves, etc.). The…Click on the title for more

Novation befriends PT and Logic

Voxengo Vari-Saturator goes 1.8

Voxengo VariSaturator version 1.8 update is now available for download. VariSaturator is an audio effect plug-in designed to apply saturation effects to audio material. It is available for Mac OS X and Windows computers, and conforms to AudioUnit and VST plugin specifications. VariSaturator can be used both to boost the…Click on the title for more

Voxengo Vari-Saturator goes 1.8

New from NAMM: Apogee enters the realm of foot controllers

Apogee has built a super solid reputation as one of the best A/D D/A converter manufacturers (for those unaware, A stands for Analog and D for Digital, and converters are one of the main reasons why your home recordings will never sound very good). So this year at NAMM we…Click on the title for more

New from NAMM: Apogee enters the realm of foot controllers