Gear Reviews

Monitoring  |  No. 111

Focal Professional: Alpha 50 Active Monitors, Alpha 80 Active Monitors

reviewed by Lance Jackman, Scott McChane

In a previous issue, I wrote a glowing review of Focal Professional's mid-priced Alpha 65 2-way active nearfield monitor [Tape Op #104]. The Alpha 50 is the smallest speaker...

Control Surfaces, Sequencer  |  No. 111

Arturia: BeatStep Pro Controller & Sequencer

reviewed by John Baccigaluppi, Suzanne Ciani

While I have a few minor quibbles, the Arturia BeatStep Pro is a super fun hardware sequencer and controller, and it's a great deal. Go price out a 16-step analog sequencer, and you'll have a hard...

DIY, Software, Virtual Instruments  |  No. 110

SunVox: SunVox Modular Music Studio: A Detailed Intro to "Tracker" Software

reviewed by Morgan Ross

I have had an ongoing relationship with computer music since I learned how to program PC speaker melodies in the scripting language in the old DOS shareware game ZZT, and while it waxes and wanes...

Control Surfaces, MIDI  |  No. 105

Keith McMillen Instruments: Not Your Parents' MIDI Controllers: Review of KMI's QuNeo, 12 Step, SoftStep & MIDI Expander

reviewed by Alex Maiolo

Berkeley, California's Keith McMillen Instruments (KMI) has a solid reputation for innovation in an industry sometimes known for releasing products that are often just another variation on a common...

Plug-Ins  |  No. 104

Airwindows: Console and Buss Colors plug-ins

reviewed by Kirt Shearer

Twenty years ago, there really wasn't much of a market for "plug-ins." Sure, there were some limited software tools for audio, but they were mostly proprietary to a specific editor. Very little...

Plug-Ins, Signal Processors  |  No. 103

iZotope: Izotope's BreakTweaker plug-in: Find Full Songs Inside a Single Rhythm Sequencer

reviewed by Brandon Miller

BreakTweaker is a fantastic new rhythm/drum-sequencing plug-in from iZotope and Grammy-nominated musician, producer, and all-around genius Brian Transeau (better known as BT). Their previous...

Accessories, Instruments, Interfaces  |  No. 103

Roland: Roland's GK-KIT-GT3 Divided Pickup Kit: Guitar Synthesis for the Nerd-Conscious

reviewed by John Hong

Somehow, a strap-on keyboard can pass as dorky/cool, especially with the rise of "nerdcore." But IMHO, a synth guitar is just... well... dorky, and always will be. Just check YouTube for shredders...

Mobile Apps, Virtual Instruments  |  No. 103

apeSoft: The VCS3 Synthesizer App for iOS: More Fun Than ACTUAL Analog Synths..??

reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

I've tried a lot of different iOS software synthesizers, but this app is probably the most enjoyable and best sounding soft synth I've used to date — on an iPad or a computer — and it has...

Recorders, Software  |  No. 101

Avid: Pro Tools 11

reviewed by Eli Crews, Andy Hong, Scott McChane

For many months, contributing writer Eli Crews and Assistant Gear Reviews Editor Scott McChane have been switching back and forth between Pro Tools 11 and Pro Tools 10 [Tape Op #89] for their...

Dynamics, Plug-Ins  |  No. 101

FabFilter: Pro-MB plug-in

reviewed by Dave Hidek

It seems like every time that I use a new plug-in from FabFilter, I find myself ceasing to use another similar plug-in that'd I'd been religiously using for years. Such was the case again with...

Software, Tools  |  No. 101

Weiss Engineering: Saracon sample-rate conversion software

reviewed by Garrett Haines

Perhaps sample-rate conversion is something you do rarely. On the other hand, if you're like me, you have to juggle multiple projects that need preparation for different destinations and sample-rates....

Amplifiers  |  No. 101

SBS Designs: S2 stereo amplifier

reviewed by Brandon Miller

Getting prepped for this review was something of a unique experience. For the first time in five or six years of doing reviews for Tape Op, the founder of a company wanted to speak live over the phone...