A review of iZotope Ozone 7 Advanced and Ozone 7 - Lucky Sevens
Written testThe Ozone mastering suite from iZotope has gotten better with each major update. The latest, Ozone 7, adds vintage modules to its processing arsenal, which allow you to add warm, analog-like sounds. …
Keep Your Music Data Safe! (part 1) - How to avoid data disasters with a simple backup strategy
LearningComputer experts will tell you that it’s not a matter of if your hard drive will crash, it’s a matter of when. Even solid-state drives (SSDs), though more reliable than those with spinning disks, can…
Power Handling - Speaker specifications explained - Part 4
LearningThe notion of power is always highlighted by manufacturers and users alike. It seems to have a sort of exceptional seduction power, to the point that its actual importance gets diluted in the mental …
It's Just a Matter of Feeling - A guide to mixing music - Part 64
LearningBy now, after several articles dealing with the different reverb types, you ought to be able to determine which families match better the goals you have in mind. Now it's up to you to decide which pr…
Composing soundtracks? Let us recommend some soundware - 5 Top Sample Libraries You Might Have Missed
LearningSampled audio collections have undergone significant change since polyphonic digital sampling first emerged in 1979. In the early days, the emphasis was on reproducing audio snapshots and then on ent…
Understanding Impedance - Speaker specifications explained - Part 3
LearningThere's no way to get around impedance when looking at speaker specs. Its rating is important to avoid frying up your amp, but also because the small details of an impedance curve reveal a lot about …
A review of the Valhalla DSP ValhallaPlate reverb plug-… - What's On Your Plate?
Written testBest Value awardMost software reverbs offer a choice of halls, plates, rooms and other types of virtual spaces, but Valhalla DSP takes a different approach. The company has separated its reverb offerings into indivi…
Mixing with Room Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 63
LearningThis week we'll finish our overview of the different reverb families addressing the biggest one among them: rooms.
A review of the Electro-Harmonix Key9 Electric Piano Ma… - EP Sounds in a Stompbox
Written testElectro-Harmonix has followed its B9 and C9 Organ Machine pedals with the logical next step: the Key9 Electric-Piano Machine. This new stompbox uses the same technology as those organ pedals, and off…
Understanding Directivity - Speaker specifications explained - Part 2
LearningThe directivity of a speaker is an important characteristic when defining the size of the listening zone, and it determines how the frequencies will balance, depending on the position of the listener.
Mixing with Chamber and Ambience Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 62
LearningToday we'll look into chamber and ambience reverbs.
A review of SampleMagic Magic AB Version 2 - A/B-ing Just Got Easier
Written testWhen the original Magic A/B came out a couple of years ago, I was pretty blown away by it, because it made the important process of A/B-ing a mix a lot easier. Now SampleMagic has rewritten the appli…
Don't Spit the Bit - How to make the right choices when it comes to session bit depth
LearningYou have a number of options when it comes to the bit-depth of your DAW or other digital audio recording session including 16-bit, 24-bit, or 32-bit floating point. But do you know why you’d choose o…
Understanding Frequency Response - Speaker specifications explained - Part 1
LearningThroughout the relatively short lifetime of PA systems, both manufacturers and users have thought about ways to evaluate the performance of a system as objectively as possible.
Mixing with Plate and Hall Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 61
LearningAs we continue looking at the different reverb families, we'll focus this time on plate and hall reverbs.