If you're looking to invest in a 16-track digital multitracker, their extensive feature set can make it very difficult to decide which to buy. Derek Johnson & Debbie Poyser round up the five current contenders and help you find the best models for your needs.
Most of us know of the legendary S900, which set a pattern that would be followed by succeeding generations of Akai samplers, but who remembers its contemporary, the less well-endowed S700? Paul Sellars renews the acquaintance.
More Pro tools users than ever will now have the option of ditching the mouse and mixing from a full-featured hardware control surface, thanks to this collaboration between Digidesign and Focusrite. Hugh Robjohns and Paul White get their hands on the Control 24.
The latest in Emu's range of style-specific sound modules is bright purple, stuffed with 32Mb of 'street' sounds, and bristling with urban attitude. Paul Farrer takes a closer look.
Korg have realised some of the sonic expansion potential of their Triton keyboards and module by releasing a number of PCM sample expansion boards. Simon Trask, who reviewed the Triton Rack for SOS a few months ago, listens to what they have to offer...
A new selection of soundcards from Germany promises excellent audio quality at extremely competitive prices, with a selection of I/O options to suit most buyers. Martin Walker tries out the first model in the Marian range.
Paul Sellars offers some advice on what musicians should look for when choosing Internet audio software, and introduces the best of the current slew of Windows applications.
Industrious Swedish company Propellerhead are well known for their virtual instruments, but now they've made an entire software studio. Derek Johnson & Debbie Poyser bolt a few virtual devices into the virtual rack...
In these digital days, is there still a place for the good old analogue cassette Portastudio? Tascam clearly think so, having just released upgraded versions of two of their most recent models. Derek Johnson & Debbie Poyser go back to the future...
When your studio just won't co-operate and there's no-one to turn to, the pool of knowledge and expertise offered by fellow web users can be a life saver. Chris Carter investigates troubleshooting on the open-all-hours Internet.
Ever heard a synth talk? If you have, it's due to formant synthesis. Gordon Reid explores the theory of analogue formant synthesis, how it relates to the human voice and modern digital synths like Yamaha's FS1R.
Many problems encountered when using PCs to record music are caused by MIDI or audio data not being delivered on time, or by its flow being interrupted. Martin Walker outlines some of the most common causes and symptoms, and tells you how to go about eliminating them.
The facilities that Cubase offers for manipulating note legnths may not be amongst its most exciting features, but as this month's Cubase Notes demonstrates, they can prove to be invaluable.
Paul Wiffen makes the world a safer place for Mac users, by recounting a cautionary tale from his first brush with the OS X Beta, and joins the faithful on their annual pilgrimage to San Francisco MacWorld show.
Simon Price continues his look at Pro Tools, focusing this month on the software and how it can be used in the studio alongside other MIDI + Audio recording and editing applications.
This month Martin Walker takes software samplers as his theme, offering advice about avoiding glitches when using them with other applications, and bringing news of a forthcoming sampling VST Instrument.
The answers to some of the more basic questions we receive at SOS might seem obvious, but they are, in fact, more complex that they appear. Mike Senior sets about answering the unanswerable...
More than ever before, it's possible to reproduce the functions of a hardware mixer with software in a computer. But can you completely replace a mixer with software — and, more to the point, should you be trying to? Paul White plays devil's advocate...
Necessity is the mother of invention, they say, and that was certainly the case when Gregg Jackman decided to find a better way of recording string sections playing loud rock concerts. Hugh Robjohns talks to this inventive recording engineer.
Last year's best-selling UK single came not from Westlife or All Saints, but a pre-school kids'TV series. Sam Inglis asks its composer and producer how they turned the theme into a hit.
As the 'dot com' business world's first flush of enthusiasm for the Internet fades, is a deeper understanding of the web's greater potential about to emerge? Dave Shapton speculates.
There are still those who lament the fact that MIDI and music technology have made it possible for anyone to produce music, with a potential impact on overall quality — but Roger Derry isn't one of them...
SOUND ON SOUND
![Subscribe to [field_issue_date] Magazine Contents](https://www.soundonsound.com/misc/feed.png){kind=small}