Make Sure You Get the One that's Right for You - How to Choose an Audio Interface
LearningComputers can be pretty smart, but when it comes to sound, they need a translator that can convert sound waves into the digital language of ones and zeroes. Audio interfaces provide this translation.
Eagletone Raging 5H Review - Small Brute
Written testCompact tube amps are definitely "in" nowadays. They are conceived to provide a classic sound in spite of their affordable price and compact dimensions. So, when Eagletone decided to launch a small 5…
Tech 21 Characters Series VT Bass Deluxe Review - At Your Beck and Call...
Written testFollowing the Red Ripper, let's check out the new VT Bass version released by Tech 21. The unit is a preamp in stompbox format. It simulates the sound of the legendary SVT amps from a manufacturer wh…
Fender Road Worn Player Telecaster Review - This Guitar Will Wear You Down
Written testWithout any offense to purists who get a nervous breakdown every time they discover the slightest scratch on their guitar, the Road Worn Series instruments have been intentionally damaged: the varnis…
TC Electronic BH500 and BC210 Review - Red Peril in Denmark
Written testEver since the futuristic RH450 came out (directly from a Georges Lucas film), the viking manufacturer has kept on developing products for bass players.
Fender American Special Jazz Bass & Precision Bass Revi… - Motorway Exit
Written testAfter the Highway One, updated in 2006, Fender comes back again with new affordable products from its American production center: the revisited versions of the Precision Bass and the Jazz Bass.
Mixvibes U-MIX Control Pro Review - U-Mix and U Control
Written testMixvibes was founded in 2003, when they started to market a product that allowed mixing and scratching digital files using time-coded vinyl records and CDs with the use of a sound card. Nowadays, Mix…
Tech 21 Red Ripper Review - Profile of a Killer
Written testToday, I won't be gentle: kill the Care Bears, throw the wooden cross of the "Little Singers of Paris" into the fire and make place for the distortion god.
Native Instruments Session Strings Review - Native Adds Another String to its Bow
Written testString sections from John Williams or Hans Zimmer are pretty nice but they don't sound very rock 'n' roll. So we are very happy to welcome Native Instruments' Session Strings — a string section for K…
Native Instruments Alicia's Keys Review - Alicia in Virtual Land
Written testFollowing our review series on virtual pianos, we test the results of a triple collaboration between a manufacturer (Native Instruments), another manufacturer (Scarbee) and an artist (Alicia Keys).
Meeting Multiple Needs for the Biggest Night in Music - Live Sound: 53rd Annual Grammy Awards
LearningIt wasn’t the promise of a performance by Lady Gaga that drew me in to watch the Grammys this year, but rather, some added motivation in having the opportunity to check out the live and broadcast sou…
TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch Review - The TC Touch
Written testVocal effects are present more than ever in modern music, but if you want special effects, you don't give the control to the sound engineer. Loopers are also hip, especially for artists making solo p…
Red Witch Fuzz God II, Medusa, Pentavocal Trem and Tita… - Stomping Down Under
Written testMusic is universal — even people in New Zealand, who live down under, play music. They even make guitar stompboxes. And of course, that's what interests us more here at AudioFanzine. Focus on four an…
The Microphone Preamplifier Comparison Test - The BIG Pre-Amp Faceoff
Written testA pair of audio heads with a studio based outside Tokyo recently contacted me with their first recorded mic preamp comparison tests. I was impressed and happy to have made friends from studio trench…
Schecter Diamond P Custom IV Review - Schecter Revisits the P Bass
Written testFollowing the Schecter Ultra Bass review published last summer, here we have a brand new product from the Asian manufacturer.
Have Fun with Noise Gates - Noise Gates Don't Have to be Boring
LearningNoise gates aren't as relevant as they were back in the analog days, when hiss was an uninvited intruder on anything you recorded. But noise gates can do some really cool special effects that have no…
Fender Blacktop Series Review - Fender Puts On a Spurt
Written testInstead of launching the umpteenth reissue of a catalog instrument, Fender decided to innovate by mounting high-output passive humbuckers on a new series called Black Top. This new product range incl…
Fender Rumble 150 Review - Power on Casters
Written testI got a bit nostalgic when I wrote this review. I was 16 when my first amp was waiting for me under the Christmas tree. Not a 15-watt amp but a big one. To play in a band, do live gigs and be cheere…
Tonehammer Pianos Review - Pianos Like No Others
Written testThe launch of the Montclarion Hall Piano gives us the opportunity to present to you the full range of Tonehammer pianos, characterized by the same original approach of all the other instruments by th…
Exploring the Art of Filthy Signal Mutation - Extreme Drum Processing
LearningI like music with a distinctly electronic edge, but also want a human "feel." Trying to resolve these seemingly contradictory ideals has led to some fun experimentation, but one of the more recent "h…
Steinberg Cubase 6 Review - Cubase SiX
Written testWhile Avid and Cakewalk launched the new versions of their respective flagship sequencers just before Christmas, Steinberg chose NAMM 2011 to present the wistfully awaited version 6 of Cubase. This n…
Multi-Channel Micing for Live Sound - Capturing Guitar Amps in the Wild
LearningThere are almost as many ways to capture guitar amplifier sound with a microphone as there are for a piano. And as with piano (and kick and snare drum, for that matter) single-mic approaches can’t al…
All About DC Offset - DC Offset: Case of the Missing Headroom
LearningIt was a dark and stormy night. I was rudely awakened at 3 AM by the ringing of a phone, pounding my brain like a jackhammer that spent way too much time chowing down at Starbucks. The voice on the o…
SWR HeadLite Amplifier Head & Amplite Amplifier Review - Light Headed But Fully Packed
Written testOn today's menu, to get rid of the cold and warm up, we have a light but nourishing pair of SWR class-D heads (an amp/preamp combo and a power amplifier).
How to Compress a Guitar or Bass - Dynamics Processing Meets Rock Guitar
LearningDynamics processing with studio-oriented processors? Been there, done that. But have you re-visited it lately in a guitar context? Dynamics control for vocals or program material is very different co…
