
Matt McCracken
Matt is a Junior Deals Writer here at MusicRadar. He regularly tests and reviews music gear with a focus on audio interfaces, studio headphones, studio monitors, and pretty much anything else home recording-related. Responsible for over 60 buying guides, a large part of his role is helping musicians find the best deals on gear. Matt worked in music retail for 5 years at Dawsons Music and Northwest Guitars and has written for various music sites, including Guitar World, Guitar Player, Guitar.com, Ultimate Guitar, and Thomann’s t.blog.
A regularly gigging guitarist with over 20 years of experience playing live and producing bands, he's performed everything from jazz to djent, gigging all over the UK in more dingy venues than you can shake a drop-tuned guitar at. He's an alumnus of Spirit Studios, where he studied studio engineering and music production. When not writing for MusicRadar, you'll find him making a racket with northern noise punks Never Better.
Latest articles by Matt McCracken

Left-handed guitarists have been overlooked for too long, but Thomann’s up to 20% off Lefty Deals sale changes that
By Matt McCracken published
Southpaw guitar players can finally get some decent savings on guitars, but only for a limited time

“With no smartphone app, no IR loader, and just a single knob for control, it does away with all the distractions”: Earthquaker Devices Easy Listening review
By Matt McCracken published
EQD's new guitar headphone amplifier aims to make things easy breezy for players with pedalboards

With guitar amps starting from just £44, Thomann’s massive Hughes & Kettner sale just made modernizing your rig a lot cheaper
By Matt McCracken published
With prices on Hughes & Kettner amps slashed by up to 40%, here are my top picks from the sale at Thomann

"A very capable package that will give beginners the tools they need to make good quality recordings": M-Audio M-Track Duo HD Producer Pack review
By Matt McCracken published
This recording studio in a box from M-Audio looks to give beginners a complete home studio setup for below $/£200

Best guitar VSTs 2025: Get the best simulated guitar tones for your next production
By Matt McCracken published
My pick of the best guitar VST instruments will get great guitar tones for your productions, even if you’ve never played guitar before

Best Alesis electronic drum sets 2025: My pick of Alesis electronic drums for beginners to pros
By James Farmer last updated
My expert guide to finding the perfect Alesis electronic drum set for your budget and skill level

“It took 400 audio tracks for me to get it to throw an error, which is frankly insane”: Asus ProArt P16 review
By Matt McCracken published
Looking for an alternative to a MacBook? Asus might have just provided the answer for musicians everywhere

“At times it can really feel like more of a multi-effects pedal rather than just a straight reverb pedal”: Electro-Harmonix Oceans Abyss review
By Matt McCracken published
EHX brings us a reverb pedal with sliders, a screen, and all the potential to be a Strymon-killer

Best drum sets: Top drum kits for beginner to pro drummers
By James Farmer last updated
Explore 17 of the best drum kits for the studio, stage and bedroom from Ludwig, Pearl, Tama, DW and more

Best acoustic guitar amp 2025: Amplify your acoustic with a top-rated amp
By Jonathan Horsley last updated
Whether you’re practicing, busking, or performing, amplify the finest qualities of your guitar with our selection of acoustic amps

Best 3/4 acoustic guitars 2025: Portable playability from Taylor, Martin, Yamaha, and more
By Matt McCracken last updated
Perfect for beginners and seasoned professionals alike, 3/4 acoustics make great songwriter guitars or for players on the go

“Will definitely please those who are a fan of the sound already, but standalone price is expensive”: Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus plugin review
By Matt McCracken published
The world’s most famous solid-state amp finally gets an official amp model for your DAW

"You can absolutely craft some great mixes on these": JBL 305P MkII review
By Matt McCracken published
JBL's budget studio monitors are priced crazy low and promise good quality mixes that don't cost the earth

Best amp modellers 2025: High-tech tone solutions for all guitarists
By Matt McCracken last updated
Simplify your rig and take your tone anywhere with my pick of the best amp modelling units around

Best field recorders: Top portable recorders for capturing sound on-the-go
By Simon Fellows last updated
From foley and found sound to recording your rehearsals, a field recorder can unlock the sonics that surround us

8 cost-free tips to improve your mixes in 2025
By Matt McCracken published
Get ahead on your mixing game in 2025 with these spend-free tips from a master mixing engineer and producer

“If you’re all about getting as close as possible to period-correct as you can for this price point, then you won’t be disappointed here”: Epiphone Inspired By Gibson Custom 1960 Les Paul Standard Reissue review
By Matt McCracken published
We get hands-on with Epiphone’s ode to one of the most coveted Gibson guitars of all time

“A genuinely fun take on the classic distortion-slash-fuzz pedal”: Soma Laboratory Harvezi Hazze
By Matt McCracken published
Soma Labs' foray into guitar pedals adds an element of the unhinged into a classic format

“It has the ingenious ability to give you easy routing to external hardware with no re-patching”: Audient iD48 review
By Matt McCracken published
Audient’s iD range gets a new flagship audio interface with a potentially game-changing feature

“It’s honestly got me thinking hard about adding one to my own studio set up”: Two Notes Reload II review
By Matt McCracken published
A reactive load box from Two Notes that makes the case for keeping your tube amp and forgetting about switching to a modeller

I’ve looked through all 372 deals in the Thomann Easter Sale - these are the 5 deals I’d grab right now
By Matt McCracken published
Thomann’s Sweeter Than Chocolate sale has just been unveiled with some incredible savings of up to 50% off

Best microphones for recording: My top studio mics for instruments, vocals and more
By Matt McCracken last updated
These are the best recording microphones from the biggest brands including AKG, Rode, Audio Technica, Neumann and more

Best MIDI keyboards for beginners: Entry-level controllers for those starting out in music production
By Andy Jones last updated
Get producing your own music with my pick of the best MIDI controller keyboards for beginner musicians

Best guitar audio interfaces 2025: Record killer guitar parts at home with our top picks
By Chris Bird last updated
The best audio interfaces for guitar from IK Multimedia, Focusrite, UAD and more

It's your last chance to save an extra £10 when you spend over £100 in the massive Flash Sale at PMT with this exclusive deal for MusicRadar readers
By Matt McCracken last updated
We’ve unlocked an extra £10 off brands including Fender, PRS and Korg - but you’ll need to claim it before the day's over. Here's my top picks from the sale
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