Music Radar Team

Yamaha hope to make oak shells a viable third option against maple or birch with this solid, well-specified, pro-standard kit

Emulate the tones of other guitars using Variax technology

Can you make music on a £219 children's laptop? Sort of...

Ludwig goes retro with this expensive Fab4 version of the acclaimed Accent series

Brass snares don't come much finer than this and if you can afford them, they'll blow you away

The Lord Of The Rings vibe of the Warlord Exotix kit divides opinion but sounds magnificent all the same

If a full electronic rig is overkill but you need some electro spice, the nifty Drum Mate is a winner

Considering the miniature size of AKG's clip-on micro mics, the sound quality they produce is breathtaking

If you want all the power of the UAD-1 DSP card in a laptop-friendly box, you'll want this

Something different from a company that specialises in tailoring its designs to suit your needs…

Producing a guitarist-friendly notation package isn't easy, but Notion Music's first attempt isn't bad at all

Urs Heckmann has produced a delay that offers far more than many of its plug-in rivals

These two plug-ins may look tame, but the tape-style effects they can produce are anything but...

The cheap cymbals on Traps' shell-less drum kit give the misleading impression that this is a low-quality, beginner's kit - it's far from it

It's got a spectacular name, but Sugar Bytes' filter plug-in is most notable for its mightily impressive sound.

Pacific's quintet of all-maple snare drums offer DW-like features on a budget

The studio processing giant has packed a selection of its delays into a powerful pedal.

This four-way bundle delivers studio-quality EQ and dynamics processing for a fraction of the cost of many similar suites

The only problem with these fabulous, competitively priced cymbals is the lack of available sizes

Traditionally meant for jazz, Instanbul is targeting rockers with this great-looking, handmade cymbal range

If you can live with rubber pads, the affordably-priced DM5 kit is a decent deal

Despite some improvements and additions, Magix's DAW still doesn't quite edge-out its big-name rivals

Choosing a top-flight snare drum is difficult enough and these beautifully made wooden snares just make it harder

Duallist attempts to appeal to the masses with these innovative yet straight-forward kick drum pedals

A good-looking, responsive set of hi-hats from Meinl and Austrian-born drummer and collaborator Thomas Lang