The past two issues have had product reviews of SONAR-friendly products - the Xkey 25 keyboard controller and MIDIMATE II USB MIDI interface. My intention was to give an extra goodie to members, as well as provide something in the eZine that would be useful to people who hadn't upgraded to SONAR 2015. 
 
I'd be interested in thoughts/suggestions about whether having reviews is helpful, and if so, the type of products you'd like to see covered. For example, I feel one important plug-in SONAR doesn't have is a really good multiband "maximizer." I've traditionally used the Waves L3 Multimaximizer but have been playing around with the Maximizer in Ozone and it's exceptional...might be worth reviewing. I also plan to review hardware controllers, like Jamstix and the You Rock Guitar for those who want to do MIDI guitar inexpensively.
 
Thoughts?
 
 

If it's something that interests me or seems relevant to me I'll read it. Otherwise I won't, though if it becomes relevant to me later (e.g. I find myself in the market looking to buy a whatever-it-was) I'll probably read it then.

Knowing a device is definitely Sonar compatible without the risk involved in buying it then finding it doesn't work so well is certainly useful.

To be honest I often treat reviews with quite a bit of scepticism, especially if they look like a rehash of the manufacturer's sales literature or the reviewer doesn't seem to inderstand the thing they are reviewing. Over time you get a feel for who (or which source) to trust for product reviews in exactly the same way you do for reviews of lots of things.

I also tend to prefer in-depth reviews to ones that just skim the surface.

I read it all Craig.

I do read them ... and I appreciate if it's real world hands-on experience and not (as mentioned above) a rehash of marketing material ... I even appreciate a bit of personal bias/opinion in the review, especially if it comes from a very reliable source like you, Craig.
 
BTW, I picked up a MIDI MATE about a year ago by coincidence and first didn't want to buy it because it looked so cheap and was so inexpensive ... but it's done me a great service whenever I needed really quick and easy MIDI access from a PC ...

I read them Craig.  The reviews are interesting. A neat eZine bonus.

tlw
To be honest I often treat reviews with quite a bit of scepticism, especially if they look like a rehash of the manufacturer's sales literature or the reviewer doesn't seem to inderstand the thing they are reviewing. Over time you get a feel for who (or which source) to trust for product reviews in exactly the same way you do for reviews of lots of things.

Yes indeed...writing reviews is a job, and some people do a good job...some don't. I must say, though, that magazines sort of have themselves to blame. They pay little for reviews, insist on low word counts, and have the mistaken idea that it's more important to please advertisers than readers. Sound on Sound and Keyboard are, IMHO, two publications that are much more careful than average in terms of vetting authors and their expertise.
 
BTW interesting fallout from the CME review: I said it was really too bad you couldn't save presets of the custom assignments, other than having them live in the onboard flash RAM. CME is now working on a software update that addresses this, which I think would multiple the utility by 1000%. 
 
Thanks for the comments. Any insights on which products are particularly useful to review would be appreciated. I agree that one element of value is how well something works with or benefits SONAR.

I read the reviews, and have always liked the way you write yours. I'm always interested in new gear.
 
The most recent MIDI cable review came at the right time. I need more MIDI since I can't find another UM-3G to add to my existing one. I had no idea something like that existed, and I didn't want to downgrade to a midisport again.

I appreciate the effort that goes into reviews and I read the entire e-zine. Having said that, I feel I'm deluged by adverts and reviews on a daily basis. I get guitar magazines a few times a week and they're 60% advertising. I wouldn't pay for them but since they're free I give them a scan.
 
I would prefer that the e-zine only dealt with current Cakewalk products and if there's a need to advertise something it should perhaps be sneak previews of what the bakers are cooking up for future releases.

I read all reviews no matter:)......just to see what's new out there...
 

ampfixer
I appreciate the effort that goes into reviews and I read the entire e-zine. Having said that, I feel I'm deluged by adverts and reviews on a daily basis. I get guitar magazines a few times a week and they're 60% advertising. I wouldn't pay for them but since they're free I give them a scan.
 
I would prefer that the e-zine only dealt with current Cakewalk products and if there's a need to advertise something it should perhaps be sneak previews of what the bakers are cooking up for future releases.

I choose the review items based on what I think readers would find helpful. There's no mechanism set up for advertising...however I must admit if I was an SSD manufacturer, I'd ask if it was possible to advertise. Talk about a targeted demographic!!