LYRA-8 from SOMA Laboratory is a synth that behaves like it’s from outer-space. From otherworldy drones to modulations that certainly aren’t from Kansas, LYRA-8 isn’t like any other synth. But is that a good thing? Check it out if you’re … Continue reading Review:SOMA LAB LYRA-8 explained
There are quite a few solid hardware sequencing options on the market – both standalone sequencers spanning from Arturia’s KeyStep and BeatStep Pro, through Novation’s SL MkIII, all the way to Squarp’s Pyramid, as well the capable sequencers built into … Continue reading Pioneer DJ/Toraiz SQUID: Review, tutorial and top 14 features that make it special
MOOD is a new effects pedal from Chase Bliss Audio – developed in collaboration with Old Blood Noise Endeavors (its left side, with spacial reverb/delay style effects) and Drolo FX (the right side, micro-looping and granular synthesis). What got me … Continue reading Review: MOOD from Chase Bliss and its unique clock explained
The Roland SH-101 is a classic for good reason. It sounds great and has a clear and straightforward interface. Unfortunately, Roland stopped making them over 30 years ago, which is what makes Behringer’s MS-101 so interesting, not to mention the … Continue reading Roland SH-101 vs. Behringer MS-101: Can you hear the difference?
FaderPort 8 from PreSonus is a controller designed to work with multiple DAWs, and its main differentiating feature compared to regular MIDI controllers is it motorized faders. While this may initially sound like a gimmick, using these faders is quite … Continue reading Do motorized faders improve DAW workflow? Ableton Live and Presonus FaderPort 8 Review
Blackbox is a new standalone sampler/sequencer/looper from 1010music – known for their powerful and flexible eurorack modules. It can play back samples chromatically and polyphonically, so you can play it like an instrument (including using single cycle waveforms) and it … Continue reading 1010Music Blackbox: Review and full workflow tutorial
Digitone Keys from Elektron has the same synthesis engine as the “regular” Digitone, but as it quite clear from the first time you look at it, something is very different: Elektron added a three octave keyboard, as well as the … Continue reading Elektron Digitone Keys – what’s new? Review, tutorial and comparison to Digitone
SWN – Spherical Wavetable Navigator – is a six voice stereo wavetable synth, and what makes it special is the way it stores wavetables and the “spherical” way it moves between them. Typical wavetable synths morph between a series of … Continue reading SWN by 4MS: Tutorial and Review of Spherical Wavetable Navigator
Moog’s Spectravox was Moogfest 2019’s Engineering Workshop synth. It’s not available commercially, at least not yet. The only way to get one is to have built it at the workshop (or buy it on eBay…). To see what it’s like … Continue reading Moog Spectravox – detailed overview, and How Vocoders Work
If you’ve seen my Eurorack videos, Plaits from Mutable Instruments is in many of them. It’s a very flexible module with 16 different sound engines and three control knobs for each. In MicroFreak, Arturia have taken 7 of the 16 … Continue reading Arturia MicroFreak Review and Massive Tutorial, including all 12 sound engines