Anderton

cclarry

cleats


x2 is reviewed in Computer Music, Cm185 December 2012.

They conclude that the Console Emulator "sounds fantastic", Breverb and TH2 "are winners", "Automation lanes at last!", "Auto Zoom is most helpful" and the Smart Tool "keeps getting smarter".

9 out of 10.

There is usually "Payola" involved in many reviews...which means the Companies "pay" the reviewer
to write a good review..I know....I've been the person who delivered the "payola"...

"Usually?" I've been writing reviews since the 70s, and no manufacturer has ever offered me money to write a review, let alone a positive one. I guess I haven't figured out the protocol yet, or I'd have a timeshare on Kona

The closest I've come to that is a manufacturer saying that if I end up liking a product, I have the option to buy it at dealer cost. That's common in the industry, though; it saves them shipping costs and figuring out what to do with a used (or in my cases, sometimes abused) unit.

If I found out any of the authors whose articles I'd edited had been paid for a review, I would have never used them again, nor run the review. And I would have contacted all the editors in the other MusicPlayer group publications (Keyboard, Guitar Player, Guitar World, Bass Player) to advise them to watch out for that particular individual. Maybe I'm just old school, but I always thought the readers are my boss, more so than the people running a magazine or advertising in it.

I'll add one more thing about reviews. I don't think anyone really cares whether I like something or not (and if they do, they shouldn't!). I think they want to know if THEY would like it. Therefore, I try to give the reader the experience of having checked out the unit.

I reviewed NI's Kore once. One reader went out and bought Kore because he thought the review was so favorable, and he told me how much he loved Kore, and thanked me for the review. Another reader asked me at NAMM whether NI canceled their advertising because the review was so negative! The reality was that I described what Kore was good for, and what it wasn't good for. It fit the first person's needs like a glove, so he saw the positive elements in the review. It wasn't well-suited for the second person's needs, so he saw only the negative elements.

As to NI...they just said "Finally, someone has explained what it does in a way people can understand." It's been my experience that reputable manufacturers with a long-term outlook would rather have a review that summarizes a product accurately than an over-the-top, "as I opened the box, my body started tingling with anticipation" type of review which no one believes anyway.

Craig,


To be fair, it wasn't a "Music" publication...it was a newspaper...and it was several years ago...

But I wouldn't say that it "doesn't" happen...because I'm sure that it does...

And YOUR approach is the RIGHT approach.   A reviewer has to tell what he likes and dislikes about something, and give the
consumer a tool to use in making an "educated" decision.  He must be fair and objective.  Nothing more - Nothing less.

cclarry


To be fair, it wasn't a "Music" publication...it was a newspaper...

Well, so much for my timeshare on Kona...you've dashed my hopes! At least I no longer feel rejected because no one has tried to bribe me


But I should have known it wasn't a "music" publication - music business companies generally don't make enough money to have a "bribe budget."

Dang,

And I was hopin' for an invite to Kona too....

cclarry


As it is, it is still THE BEST DAW out there for me....second to NONE...but that's just my opinion...I haven't tried DP 8 yet...
but DP 8 is going to have to be one heck of a DAW to beat X2....just sayin'

I looked briefly at DP8 but couldn't tell if it did MIDI editing or not. Seemed like it was all audio. Is that so?
 
Like their ideas for color & GUI customization though. Wish Sonar did that.
 
 
Steve

xxxsoundxxx


I know a couple magazine reviewers personally. They spend a day with the product and give their (usually biased) review. If the product they are reviewing pays for ads in their mag a favorable review almost always ensues. If not often no review occurs!

Name some names?  I'm sure Craig would love to know who these friends of yours are.

I looked briefly at DP8 but couldn't tell if it did MIDI editing or not. Seemed like it was all audio. Is that so? Like their ideas for color & GUI customization though. Wish Sonar did that.

 
AFAIK, DP has always done MIDI, going back to its "Performer" days.   It's supposed to have one of the better Staff Views and includes lots of options for doing sound to picture.  But where it fits in from an editing/VST host/mixing/workflow aspect...  good question.    I'd be curious to try the demo whenever it's available, but I highly doubt it could replace SONAR for someone like myself.   As much as I'd love to have a better Staff View it's the overall package that matters most.

DP has always been my "Mac only" program of choice as opposed to Logic or pre-Windows Pro Tools. It's a fine program, particularly for audio-for-video, but its workflow is very different from Sonar's. That doesn't mean it's good or bad, but having used DP since its MIDI-only days, I'm comfortable with it. I don't know what I'd think if one day I just decided to switch from Sonar to DP.

For the record, neither MOTU nor Cakewalk paid me for that "review"

Anderton


DP has always been my "Mac only" program of choice as opposed to Logic or pre-Windows Pro Tools. It's a fine program, particularly for audio-for-video, but its workflow is very different from Sonar's. That doesn't mean it's good or bad, but having used DP since its MIDI-only days, I'm comfortable with it. I don't know what I'd think if one day I just decided to switch from Sonar to DP.

For the record, neither MOTU nor Cakewalk paid me for that "review"

One of the reasons I staid with Sonar is because of the trial versions. I just can't see paying full price for something I can't try first.
Cubase was a freebee with my soudcard years ago so I got to try that but just didn't like it.
 
I think DP is gong to loose out for not having a trial even though they now offer a PC version.
 
I haven't paid for this review... but I might!
  
 
Steve