As the makers of Pro Tools, the industry's leading audio recording DAW software, as well as top-of-the range Pro Tools HD systems, Avid are synonymous with professional quality. However, you don't need to have cash to burn in order to get an Avid product. Avid's range of compact interfaces offer …

Synthogy's Ivory II range is the piano software of choice for many-a-professional, including artists such as Howard Jones, Imogen Heap, Gary Barlow, Pete Townsend and many more.

The Ivory II range is renowned for its detailed, realistic sound, allowing you to perform authentic piano pieces without having to splash out …

This review was written by Joe Mann, who is part of the Absolute Music guitar team and one of our guitar technicians...

I currently own a Digitech Whammy & so when we got our first shipment of Electro Harmonix Slammi pedals in, I couldn't resist performing a side-by-side comparison to see …

iZotope's Iris software is a sampler with a difference. As well as allowing you to load in samples and manipulate them, Iris is also an amazing tool for sound designers, as it allows you to pick out the exact elements of a sample that you would like to hear and …

The Arturia MicroBrute is a compact analogue synth with mini-keys. However, despite its size, it features plenty of hands-on controls and a huge, aggressive, analogue sound, which is perfect for big basses and tearing leads.

The MicroBrute also features a classic Steiner Parker multimode filter, an external audio input, a …

For an extremely limited time (10 days), anyone purchasing a Roland TD-11, TD-15 or TD-30 kit or module, or an SPD-SX or SPD-30 sampling percussion pad will be eligible to claim a FREE BT-1 bar trigger. This offer only applies to purchases between the 7th and 17th November 2013 inclusive …

You'll find Boss effects on professional pedal boards all over the world. Whether you're looking for distortion, reverb, chorus, tremolo, etc., Boss' range of compact pedals have you covered!

From now until 13th December 2013, anyone purchasing two compact pedals will be eligible to claim a third pedal absolutely FREE …

Waves make some of the best software plug-ins in the industry and the Waves Native Diamond bundle provides you with over 50 of them for perfecting your mix. It includes a collection of professional EQs, reverbs, delays, dynamics plug-ins and more.

During November 2013 ONLY, you can make unbelievable savings …

It's the first new product announcement from Toontrack during Metal Month 2013! Metal! EZX is an expansion pack for Toontrack's EZdrummer and Superior Drummer software, offering nine custom kits from some of the most respected names in Metal production. On top of this, you also get a host of MIDI …

This review was written by local engineer, Dave Thomas...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I have been engineering for 20 years and have a modestly equipped home studio comprising of Cubase 7, Pro Tools 10, UA Apollo Duo and an AKG c414, which I use as a vocal microphone. I also engineer …