SpectraLayers 7
Price: $299 (c. £225) – pro or $79.99 (c. £60) – Elements (retail)
SpectraLayers is a very clever piece of post-production software from Steinberg that allows the user to process audio in very technical and useful ways. Steinberg has been developing a lot of software using AI recently and SpectraLayers is one example. It can analyse a finished track and dismantle it into the separate stems for analysis and processing.
You might do this because there is noise on one element and you want to process that individually, or you might just want to use it to work out specific parts within a recording. It is very similar to RX7 from iZotope and what SpectraLayers excels at is noise reduction, click removal etc.
Apollo Solo
Price: £450 (retail)
One of the top names in audio interface design and manufacture is Universal Audio. Its interfaces can be found in countless studios around the world. The company has just announced two new versions of its interface, the Apollo Solo. One runs via USB (Windows) and the other via ThunderBolt (Mac).
Both interfaces feature 2x mic and instrument channels and a single DSP core. This core allows the Apollo Solo to run effects and monitoring on the device for near zero latency. In addition, because it is a UA product, you get access to a lot of plugins that run on the Apollo to avoid taking up computer processing power.
RD-6
Price: £149 (c. £132) (retail)
Behringer is continuing its current trend: recreating clones of famous pieces of hardware. This time it has set its sights on Roland TR-606; Behringer calls its version the RD-6. Physically it bears a striking resemblance to the original – except that Roland only made its version in one colour (silver) and Behringer has released its iteration in a choice of 10 different finishes!
The innards are entirely analogue and feature eight sounds reminiscent of the original drum machine, and a clap sample from a different Roland machine. Behringer has also included a distortion circuit based on the Boss DS-1 that can be used to enhance some of the sounds. It features a 16-step sequencer that can be chained together for very long patterns and it can be synchronised via MIDI and USB.
Auto-Tune Unlimited
Price: $24.99 (c. £18) per month or $249 (c. £187) per annum
Auto-Tune is now so ubiquitous that it has joined Hoover and Biro as the generic term for a product. Yet Auto-Tune is, and always has been, one of the class-leading pieces of pitch correction software on the market. Antares, the maker of the software, has now launched Auto-Tune Unlimited via a subscription model.
Although this payment plan might be unpopular with some, it does allow access to the software without having to shell out £400 up-front. Also, it includes other vocal applications, such as a range of effects from utilities that control breath noise through to emulations of a talk box.
