Strange Things: Subsocial Studios’ War on Boring Samples – Plus 25% Discount Code!
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EEnjoy a Subsocial Studios Now & Forever discount code, courtesy of Altwire! Purchase a forever subscription here, and use code ALTWIRE at checkout for 25% off the full price! Picture this: somewhere in Vancouver, ...
Sim’n Tonic Nome II Review: Finally Making MIDI Timing Work The Way It Should Have Since 1983.
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Here’s the thing about running hardware synths into a DAW: it should be simple. MIDI has been around since 1983. Your interface has MIDI ports, your DAW sends clock, and with significant advances in ...
The ESI XSynth Review: A Surprising Tiny Synth With Brilliant Depth
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I first saw the XSynth on Instagram and had to get my hands on it. At 387×148×27 mm and 634 grams, this is the iPhone Air of the synth world, with a size that ...
Home Bake Instrument’s Acid Mint & FM Mint MK1: Our Latest Cool Reverb Finds
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As with so many of my Reverb finds, this one started with a random Instagram account that the algorithm decided I needed to see: over and over again. My first encounter with Home Bake ...
Eternal Research Demon Box (2025) Review: Playing with Electromagnetic Fields
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A unique instrument that turns invisible magnetic fields into playable sound. Everything hums, but most of us never hear it. The Demon Box, created by Eternal Research in Los Angeles, captures invisible electromagnetic fields ...
Waldorf Iridium Core Review (2025): A Greatest Hits Collection Disguised as a Desktop Synth
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Waldorf has been around long enough that you can watch digital synthesis evolve simply by looking at their catalog. The early PPG influence shaped everything. Those bright, shifting wavetables became a signature of late-80s and early-90s electronic ...
Norand Mono MK2: A Delicious Sounding Acid Synth That’s Not A 303-Clone
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Norand hasn’t been around as long as the big Japanese or American brands, but their path is already pretty clear. The company is based in France and started with its first release, the original ...
Board Review: Rebuilding Game Night for Our Distracted Brains in 2025
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There is a quiet irony to modern social life. We have never been more connected, and we have never spent so much time sitting next to one another without actually interacting. Phones glow on ...
IK Multimedia ARC On-Ear: Better Monitoring, On The Go
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Headphones are often the most practical monitoring option, but they rarely replicate a full-room sound. They isolate each ear, eliminate acoustic blending between channels, and remove the cues created by speakers interacting with a ...
Gibson x Loog SG Guitar Review: 2025’s Best Guitar For Children
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When our tester, Jordan, first introduced the Gibson x Loog SG to their home, it wasn’t their first attempt to help their 11-year-old daughters, Adalynn and Autumn, get into guitar. Previous efforts with full-size ...
The Chirp Contour: Decompression For Those Scared of Chiropractors
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While we cover a lot of music gear, every once in a while, we cover something outside of that realm. Below is a review of the Chirp Contour, which we tried recently, that you ...
DEAL ALERT: Mixed In Key Black Friday Sale – Mixed In Key 11, Wingman and More!
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Mixed In Key Launches Biggest Sale of Year! Mixed In Key has launched its 2025 Black Friday sale, offering up to 73% off its catalog of DJ software, composition plugins, and software bundles. If you’ve ...
Noon Instruments: Vessels, and Toska Review – Impressive Atmosphere In Real Space
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NOTE: Noon Instruments’ BF sale is now live meaning both Toska & Vessels are currently 20% Off until 12/12/25. More details here. Sometimes it can be hard to find software that carries real spatial ...
Synido TempoPad C16: A Capable 16-Pad Controller Built for Mobility
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Most pad controllers follow a familiar outline. They hand you a grid, offer a few knobs, and call it a day. The Synido TempoPad C16 takes a different route. Synido fits a sixteen-pad performance ...
Reverb Opens Early Black Friday Sale and Revives Its Blacked Out Series
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Reverb has launched its Early Black Friday Sales Event, running now through November 17 at 10:00 a.m. US Central Time. The promotion includes discounts of up to 70 percent on instruments, pedals, and studio ...
Embodme Erae 2 Review: Exploring A Bold New Language of Touch
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I first saw the Embodme Erae series during the surprise livestream of Linkin Park’s From Zero secret concert. As a longtime fan of the band, I tuned in to the live stream, both nervous and excited about what ...
Fart Pedal 2.0 Review: A ‘Gas’-Powered Pedal That’s Pure Fun
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When the Studio Erupts The first time I stepped on The Fart Pedal: Number Two and hit a note to test it, the monitors let out such an aggressive blast that I glanced toward ...
Small Creator Spotlight: Shiela Dixon’s Retro MIDISID 4 Morpheus Revives the Legendary SID Sound
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Most musicians don’t look to Etsy for synthesizers. The site is better known for boutique pedals, handmade controllers, and other curiosities. Yet tucked between craft projects and circuit art lies a fun little nod ...
Woovebox Micro Music Workstation Review: A Compact Wonder Gets Even Better With Firmware 2.0
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The Woovebox Micro Music Workstation asks a simple question: Can something smaller than a smartphone replace a 1990s studio setup? Remarkable in both its size and functionality, the Woovebox combines a 16-part synthesizer, sequencer, ...
Franklin Audio RA-100 Review: The Quiet Workhorse Your Studio Didn’t Know It Needed
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Purchase the RA-100 here and use code ALTWIRE to get 5% off the Franklin Audio RA-100! Noise and level mismatches can derail a session before it starts. Hand-built in Sydney, the Franklin Audio RA-100 addresses this ...
