SKnote MatterTone Review
SKnote’s gentlemanly, unassuming admission into the league of transient shaping is not one that should go unnoticed or be easily overlooked. Rather, this robust, able-bodied dynamics-device merits serious consideration. MatterTone packs quite a whollop for its low, conservative CPU demands. It doesn't hit your pocketbook hard though; it’s priced at only $30 (USD). This plug-in holds up very well under scrutiny. MatterTone can stalwartly occupy the same DAW space as any of its more costly competition without shame or timidity.
Perhaps, dear reader, you're thinking that we already have enough transient shapers on the market to choose from. What makes this variant of transient shaping unique? For starters, it is a “Level-independent” apparatus. Unlike typical compressors, limiters and most envelope shapers, this plug-in does not react according to the amount of channel gain – it responds directly to the audio source. Secondly, MatterTone is truly a multi-band design, providing separate ‘attack’ and ‘release’ controls for each band. MatterTone takes typical transient shaping, splits it into three separate bands, and hands it back to you, empowered with some serious BAM! C’mon, gang, let’s get to know this new recruit better, shall we?
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MeldaProduction’s MDynamicEQ & MAutoDynamicEQ Review
MeldaProduction have long established themselves as one of the most avant-garde audio plug-in specialists out there. Not only are Melda’s digital wares innovative and feature-rich, but the quality of their products puts them forward, where they need not take a back seat to any competitor. MeldaProduction plug-ins are heard on mumerous, professional recordings from all over the globe.
MDynamic & MAutoDynamic EQs are yet another couple of Melda’s leading-edge “must-haves”. These binary wonders must be experienced to be fully understood! Once an engineer has been spoiled from relying on these astounding “GO TO” EQs, it would be most difficult to resort to any previous fan-favourite.
Yes, they are “that” good.
Priced modestly at €60/$78 (MDynamicEQ) and €120/$156 (MAutoDynamicEQ) , the wise, self-starting engineer who purchases these elaborate compilations of highly optimized DSP code, will be a very blessed individual indeed. Having conducted exhaustive, careful analysis, the lab reports are back. Reviewer’s Revival is very pleased to share the test results with you. LVC-Audio ClipShifter 2 Review
A recent entry into the plug-in swarm of limiters, transient shapers, saturators, and distortion devices, ClipShifter 2 by LVC-Audio is a keen little handy-dandy “Go Go Gadget Clipper”. When I first chatted with developer, Mr. Matt Witimer, about it, I honestly wasn't quite sure what a “ClipShifter” did. To nutshell it for you, this tidy, cross-platform, native plug-in is a wave-shaping unit that functions like a clipping-style limiter. The sonic characteristics of its clipping/distortion are variable; from hard, brickwall-style clipping, to soft, compressed saturation.
Draw in a deep breath. The cost of this clip shifting goodness is not to be considered by the feint-of-heart. Only the most ardent, full-time professional recording engineer would even begin to entertain the notion of applying for a 2nd mortgage in order to furnish his/her studio with this exorbitantly-priced digital weapon. Are you seated and prepared? ClipShifter costs an overwhelming $1176 (USD). Retract that order and stand down! That was a typo. It should read, $11.76 *Grin.
Ok, comrade reader, fall out! Let’s recon LVC’s sassy, satisfying, insatiable, ClipShifter. 4Front Technologies’ True Pianos Review
In the seemingly never-ending quest for glorious tone, authentic playability, and modest system requirements, many pianists are left disillusioned with many of today’s ITB offerings. Few musicians have either the physical space or the bankroll to actually invest in a baby grand; or even a high-end “Digital Grand”.
Many keyboardists struggle to keep their computers afloat in the sea of multi-gigabyte sample libraries; with each new library promising to deliver finer sound and greater piano realism.
I own a few substantial piano sample libraries, and for the most part, they are all very good. However, they consume a great deal of precious hard drive space, and available system memory. For those who own up-to-date computers housing fast hard drives, and large denominations of blistering-fast RAM, this isn’t as much of a concern . . . ‘ yet’; wait another year or two and maybe the newest sample libraries will be even that much more demanding.
But all is not lost! We can thank God and the good folks at 4Front Technologies for finally making the dream a reality. For the gracious price of only £121.55, or $180 (USD), 4Front’s suite of five modelled pianos is nothing shy of spectacular and splendorous. Furthermore, True Pianos is ‘truly’ multi-platform in that it is available for Windows PC (32 bit & 64 bit), Mac (Intel & PPC), Receptor, and vMachine! ValhallaDSP ValhallaRoom Review
Unless you’ve been comatose since 2009, when glimpses of ValhallaDSP were first seen on the DSP horizon, it is very probable that you’ve been aware of Valhalla Plug-ins. It approaches outright comedic lunacy to even contemplate comparing an independently-crafted $50 (USD) reverb plug-in with those costing upwards of FIVE times more.
Nevertheless, this true-stereo, cross-platform, algorithmic reverb plug-in deserves nothing less.
Why?
Sound quality. The resultant reverberation quality heard on audio tracks having been processed with ValhallaRoom is nothing less that breath-taking. And don’t you know, the reverberation decay can be as long as 100 s e c o n d s . . . . . L O N G & O N & O N. Acon Digital Acoustica 5 Premium Review"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, audio-software fans of all ages, welcome to Reviewer's Revival; one of North America’s most beloved audio-related web dugouts. Now batting for the Norwegian Acon Digitals, Acoustica 5 Prem-EEEE-umm." Settle in with your favorite libation. We're in for an edge-of-the-bleacher, nine inning, exhaustive review of one of Europe's most underrated competitors. If you're an antsy, 5000 words-or-less review fan, then you may not have the endurance for this one. If you're in it for the joy of the audio game, you're gonna LOVE IT! Ready? Ok, let's go.
Sound Forge Pro, Sound Forge Audio Studio, Audition, Wavelab, Wavelab Elements, Audacity, Waveosaur, Gold Wave; what to do, what to do? The upper crust of these products requires a deeply indrawn breath, a flush bank account, and a commitment to pro-calibre audio editing. The lower range of available audio editors provides decent audio-editing features that will appease novices or those who only want/need to make simple changes. If the user is not concerned about achieving professional results, or hasn’t a need for pro features, then a freeware or inexpensive audio editor will suffice.
Consider this question . . . .
What if you ‘need’ professional features, but can’t quite bite off the ‘professional’ costs associated with the upper range audio-editing software packages? You take a look in the direction of team Norway. Since 1987, Acon Digital has been diligently refining their powerful, affordable product-line. Heading up the roster is team captain, Acoustica 5 Premium. With a MSRP of only $119 (USD), it is entirely plausible that Acon Digital’s Acoustica 5 Premium is poised to win gold as THE BEST audio editing software package within its price range. Competing products (in this price range) DO NOT offer the extensive, powerful features that Acoustica 5 Premium provides. Sound Magic Neo Preamp Review
Neo Preamp:
Neo Preamp is reminiscent of a vintage channel strip which not only boosts or cuts the audio signal, but also adds "things" to it. Many of us remember any given “this or that” piece of vintage gear that would add a certain ‘color’ to a recording. This is exactly what Neo Preamp was created to do. By modeling several famous vintage units, both for Neo Dynamic and Neo Preamp, Sound Magic has found “something” that works well for them. Part of the Neo Series Giveaway, here on Reviewer's Revival! SoundMagic Neo Harmonic Reivew
Neo Harmonic:
In this reviewer’s opinion, this pluggie is a real tasty little treat in this bundle of goodies that SoundMagic are kindly giving away. This one fits somewhere between being an EQ and a harmonics exciter. Part of the Neo Series Giveaway, here on Reviewer's Revival! SoundMagic Neo Loudness Review
Neo Loudness:
This one shares the interface design of its brother, Neo Preamp. It looks good and sounds good (In this reviewer’s estimation). As the name denotes, this jobbie can definitely get your final mix nice n’ loud. However, in contrast to most ‘maximizers’ and volume-increasing brickwall limiters, this one promises to retain musical dynamics and transparency. I enjoyed what I heard in my listening tests and I found that it upholds its promise quite well. It’s very worthwhile to note that this wonderful performer also comes with a dedicated M/S version which works wonders towards lovely, spacious-sounding aster tracks. Part of the Neo Series Giveaway, here on Reviewer's Revival! SoundMagic Neo Reverb Review
Neo Reverb:
Neo Reverb is a brilliantly unique approach to convolution reverb. Neo Reverb is an interesting marriage of algorithmic-like features joined to the natural space prowess typically dominated by convolution reverbs. It is, of sorts, a hybrid reverb plug-in. It is a novel take on the “static” convolution reverb and it does prove itself to be a very interesting concept. Part of the Neo Series Giveaway, here on Reviewer's Revival! |
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