New music tech gear of the month: review round-up (August 2010)
Cubase's big brother strikes back
Steinberg Nuendo 5 (£1,531)
Every month, MusicRadar’s industry-leading sister magazines - Guitarist, Computer Music, Total Guitar, Rhythm and Future Music - publish the best independent and in-depth music-making gear reviews.
We’ve collated the latest plug-ins, controllers, synths and mics to have fallen under the watchful eyes of Computer Music and Future Music’s test teams. All the gear on show here was originally reviewed in Computer Music issue 155, Future Music issue 230 and Guitarist issue 332, and published on MusicRadar throughout July, August and September.
Scroll on for this month’s top picks and click through to read each product’s full review. First up: Steinberg’s Nuendo 5.
This beatbox wants to be all things to all users
Toontrack Beatstation (£80)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
An engaging performance instrument
Wizdom Music MorphWiz (£5.99)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
Create complete tracks on the go
4Pockets Aurora Sound Studio HD (£23.99)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
Waves remodels a channel strip based on the classic Helios mixing console
Waves HLS Channel (£232)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
The classic Pye bus emulated to put the squeeze on your DAW
Waves PIE Compressor (£232)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
A noticeable facelift for v4, but it's what's inside that counts
NuGen Audio Monofilter 4 (€119)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
A multi-faceted Cakewalk-branded MIDI controller keyboard
Cakewalk A-300 Pro (£210)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
A limiter with a vintage tube sound that adds 'mojo' to just about anything
112dB Big Blue Limiter ($149)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
Wouldn't it be great to have two backing singers who fitted in your gig bag?
Vocalist Live 3 (£334)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
A chorus of choruses?
MeldaProduction MMultiBandChorus (€30)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
Yet another application of Melda's multiband mastery
MeldaProduction MMultiBandDistortion (€30)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
We get playing with Yamaha's new flagship stage piano
Yamaha CP1 (£4,501)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
What's rubbery, sits on the corner of a deck and promises to change your DJing game?
Novation Dicer (£79)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
The Fat Bustard gets itself a more compact mate at last
Thermionic Culture Little Bustard (£2,262)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
We take control of the mixing mothership
Pioneer DJM-2000 (£2,000)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
Promising big performance for a very small outlay
Adam Audio A3X Monitors (£398)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
A high-quality but modestly-appointed audio interface
Apogee One (£161)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
We clear some desk space and plug in this little analogue synth box
Vermona Mono Lancet (€449)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
We get our arranging hat on with Wallander's new libraries
Wallander Instruments Brass and Wind collections (from $399)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
A stylish, specialised synth box from Vermona
Vermona Kick Lancet (€265)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
The new addition to the R-F-T range draws upon classic heritage
Telefunken Elektroakustik AR-51 (£1,522)
MusicRadar’s verdict:
A SuperAnalogue routing matrix that's home in the studio or on the stage