Ableton: Live 10 Suite
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
Ableton once again delivers a compelling update to their always imaginative music creation software suite, Live. Version 10 feels like an addition of significant fit, finish, and refinement to what...
Gear Reviews
by Dana Gumbiner
Arturia: 3 Filters & 3 Preamps You'll Actually Use Plug-Ins
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
True to their rather clever names, these two plug-in bundles feature easy-to-use and accurate emulations of 3 sought-after preamps and 3 classic synth filter sections, each with some creative...
UnderTone Audio: UnFairchild 670M II Compressor
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
Oh, my. Boutique pro audio builders/mad scientists at UnderTone Audio sent us their recreation of the revered, classic variable mu compressor/limiter, the Fairchild 670, and it does not disappoint....
Arturia: AudioFuse Desktop USB Interface
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
Arturia has been building stellar hardware and software instruments for years now, and the AudioFuse is their first ingress into the competitive world of audio interfaces. I was a little uncertain at...
Universal Audio: Apollo Twin MkII Audio Interface
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
Universal Audio has been refreshing its line-up of Apollo interfaces over the past few years, and now the Apollo Twin compact desktop interface [Tape Op #101] gets what UA is calling a...
Sound Radix: Auto-Align Multi-Mic Phase-Alignment Plug-In
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
God, this is gonna read like another episode of “Grandpa Reviews the Latest Gizmo.” When I was really getting my act together as an engineer (recording bands through a dilapidated Trident...
Novation: Launchpad Pro USB/MIDI Controller
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
The Novation Launchpad series of USB pad controllers [Tape Op #82 online] has gone through a number of iterations since the first Launchpad came out back in 2009, and here we are with the latest, and...
RME: Babyface Pro Desktop USB Interface
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
Great sound, flexible, tough, balanced, professional I/O, MIDI I/O, expandable, built-in DSP, bus-powered — these features and traits shouldn't have to be mutually exclusive in a compact, mobile...
Apogee: Symphony I/O Mk II Audio Interface
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
Hmm, what metaphor do we go with here? How about: Apogee's new flagship interface is a badass truck that drives like a futuristic sports car. Nailed it. Lemme explain. The new Symphony I/O Mk II is...
Audiofile Engineering: Myriad Batch-Processing Software
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
From the smart folks who brought us the audio-editing and mastering application Triumph, comes a complete redesign of their powerful batch-processing tool for macOS — Myriad arrived not...
Ableton: Push 2 USB controller/instrument
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
Whoa. Ableton has delivered a major upgrade/revision to their innovative Push controller [Tape Op #97]. This new version sports a ton of new features, including a vastly improved display with enhanced...
UnderToneAudio: Vari-Cap instrument cable
reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
It's almost annoying. This is the second UnderToneAudio product I've had my hands (and ears) on, and the second to become immediately indispensable to my recording setup. However, to be honest, I...