Audio & music gear guides & articles

When it comes to punk music, Gretsch is not really the first guitar brand you think about. And yet, Tim Armstrong, Rancid's famous guitar player, chose the US brand for his signature model. Overview …

For simplicity’s sake, there are basically three types and price levels of cymbals: beginner brass, intermediate sheet bronze and professional cast bronze. The brass are usually used only by young be…

IK Multimedia was one of the pioneers in guitar amp simulation software with their famous Amplitube launched in 2002. The Italian company comes back eight years later with the third version of their …

First launched in 2009 at Musikmesse, the ADAM S3X-H is the successor of the jewel in the crown of its previous product range. But is it really an innovation or just an upgrade from the German manufa…

More controversial than the Stones vs Beatles, more uncompromising than a Bush vs Obama debate, and hotter than the cold war, the Mac vs PC question ignites passions, endless debates and might even b…

Top 7 tips to learn and live by when you are behind the mixing console at a live show.

If you are interested in guitar stompboxes, you must choose between two different worlds: you've got the mass-produced effect pedals that use more or less average-quality components for cost savings …

Native Instruments has been announcing the launch of Traktor Kontrol X1 for several months now and it was even possible to pre-order it on the NI website, if you wanted to be one of the lucky first o…

British amp and stompbox manufacturer Blackstar is known among guitar players for its Artisan Series of hand-wired amps that crunch, and its One Series, a line of hi-gain models for metal freaks. The…

When famous guitar amp developer Mike Soldano is leading a fully new brand of affordable tube amps it is hard not to pay attention. We tested the characterful and very affordable 20-watt amplifier he…

After a few summer festivals, The Black Eyed Peas’ The Energy Never Dies tour began with September shows in Japan and October shows “down under.”

A computer to make music? Sounds great. Which computer should I get and with what specification? Good question. But first things first: what is a computer and how does it work?

Guitar Pro started out as a small tab editor but, as time went by, it soon became an indispensable software for guitar and bass players alike. Now, with the sixth version out, Guitar Pro could actua…

They came to Frankfurt, Germany, showed their stuff, we looked, touched and video taped. Now with everybody back home, it's time to make sense of the best gear presented at Musikmesse 2010.

When it comes to guitar tuner pedals innovations don't come by everyday, so when TC Electronic announced the PolyTune, a pedal that allows you view all at once which strings are out of tune,we got cu…

Fed up with Cubase? Sick of Logic? Bored by Sonar? PreSonus will take back your software in exchange for Studio One. But, is it really worth it?

Digidesign surprised the world last year when they brought out a guitar amp simulator for Pro Tools called Eleven. They have now launched Eleven in rack format for applications in the studio and on s…

Native Instruments' virtual guitar and bass amp comes back for the fourth time with more amp simulations and effects than ever before and a very promising control room section... New functions in an …

Spectrasonics has been living a love story with bass guitars for sixteen years. A long time before Omnisphere, Stylus and the famous Distorted Reality, one of the first products developed by Eric Per…

In addition to recording music with your iPhone, you can also edit and produce your music with the little magic machine. A DAW in your pocket!

Why are line arrays so popular? Are they a fad or here to stay? And what will be the “next big thing”?

Novation surprised everyone by bringing out an Ableton Live dedicated control surface. Like Akai's APC? Not really, and obviously not at the same price.

As the dust is settling in Anaheim, and the post-buzz is gathering wind, us here at Audiofanzine present to you our Top 11 gear picks from NAMM 2010. Why 11? Well, it's one louder isn't it?

The POD inventor comes back - for the fourth time - with its Spider modeling amp range. This time around we deal with the small, 15-watt combo which offers six effects, four amp models and some nice …

DAW systems are good but you don't always have a computer by when you feel the rush to record music. Mini studios were created for that purpose: they are practical solutions but not very comprehensiv…