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.
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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! Blue Cat Audio Liny EQ Pack Review
From Paris, France, Blue Cat Audio has positioned itself as one of the world’s finest craftsmen of cross-platform, higher-end DSP software and frequency analysis tools. Not to be mistaken as eclectic, over-priced fodder, Blue Cat’s audio-software is deservedly held in high regard by professional audio engineers and studio owners as that of ‘blue ribbon’ excellence.
With a MSRP of 119€ or $159(USD), this studio-grade EQ solution is not necessarily one that some home producers would consider ‘affordable’ (read: cheap-software). Blue Cat Audio was founded by Guillaume Jeulin in the pursuit of achieving exceptional software quality and reliability. Blue Cat Audio soft-wares are enlisted and deployed by recording studios, universities, recording schools, home studio owners, and recording engineers; as well as professional and amateur musicians from all over the globe.
Having this precedent established, let’s investigate Blue Cat Audio’s LinyEQ Pack to determine if it upholds that bar of excellence. Voxengo Polysquasher 2 Review
* The morning news-boy was making his usual boisterous announcements about last night's brawls, hooplas, and mishaps. I was tired. Sleep was a luxury that I hadn't been able to indulge in very much of late. One news-worthy item the kid was yelling out did grab my fogged-up attention:
"READ ALL ABOUT IT. VOXENGO POLYSQUASHER! $79 MASTERING VST AND AU COMPRESSOR PLUG-IN FOR PROFESSIONALS! DESIGNED TO BE TRANSPARENT. READ ALL ABOUT IT ."
This review was written with an obvious, story-like, creative flair. If you would prefer to read a more straight-forward article, without creatively-written embellishments, [Click Here]
I tossed him his nickel and muttered my thanks as my gaze transfixed upon the front-page lead line:
"...glue your mix together. Nobody will be able to tell that something isn't 'sitting' well . . ." |
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