IMPORTANT SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

Reviewer's Revival has a new online home and is actively being migrated. The new, redesigned site will be live and fully functioning by Feb 29th. *chuckle

Seriously, come visit at the new location; I think you'll like it.

The new Reviewer's Revival Blog site is faster, it works with ALL current browsers, and  it offers a much nicer graphical interface. The existing blog site will not be shutdown nor deleted; however, it is not anticipated that new reviews will be published on it, going forward.

New Reviewer's Revival Blog Site Here.

Xils-Lab Le Masque Delay (1.5) Review – Futuristic Digital Delay

Reviewer’s Log: stardate 19.02.2013

Delivering the quality that one expects from Xils-Lab, and perhaps exceeding those expectations, the recently upgraded Le Masque Delay 1.5 docks itself into your DAW with the grandiose entry of the Starship Enterprise NCC-1701-C. To celebrate the momentous occasion, Xils-Lab are making Le Masque Delay 1.5 available until February 28th, 2013, for only 44€25 ($58). The MSRP will be 59€ ($77) after that stardate. *Wincing at my own flayed attempt to use kool Star-trek-ian terminology.*

By Xils-Lab’s admission:

“Le Masque Delay inherits the renowned XILS-lab filters and all the experience accumulated from the making of Virtual Analog synthesizers and audio effects. But, Le Masque Delay can also perform like a regular Delay”

Some droids may put Le Masque Delay into the “weird, dude, I don’t know how to work it” category, but remain at your station! I have some relevant logistics data that will keep your attention transfixed for the next few continuum. By the end of this reviewer’s report, you may even engage the internet transporter (known as a web browser) to transport you to the Xils-Lab coordinates for a worry-free cyber transaction.

Why worry-free? No dongles. No C/R challenges. You authorize Le Masque Delay with a personalized license code received via email. The email arrives shortly following the purchase transaction.

To say that Le Masque Delay is an innovative new concept is an understatement. Beware! This review is involved. Those who suffer from A-D-D may need to  . . . . huh? What? Hey! Look over there.

Trekkies will appreciate the style of creative writing that this article is written in. Non-trekkies may not. No, wait! Only Moms, wives and girlfriends fail to appreciate classic sci-fi. "You aren’t a ‘girl’ are you, MR. Worf?!"

SKnote C165a Review – DBX Compressor Modelling Excellence

If you're a fan of the revered DBX VCA compressor/limiter sound, then the C165a by SKnote is an absolute must-have! As though it were the starring role, featured in a box office opening prelogue, the C165a dramatically impresses us with its with its stylish, visual finesse and sonic supremacy. Higher-priced compression nemeses could be well justified to keep a wary eye on C165a's forward advance into present-day production environments.

SKnote C165a offers at a glance:

1. Built-in side-chain filtering with three bands of internal EQ control.
2. 4x oversampling for pristine audio quality.
3. "Sample aligned" internal Parallel Compression.
4. Impressively accurate modelling of an actual DBX 165a compressor/limiter.
5. Elegant photo-realistic 3D GUI.

I'm an ardent admirer of SKnote plugins. Each and every one of them that I have reviewed has become an integral part of my personal favorite and most-used production toolset; the SKnote C165a included. As a company, SKnote is well-respected and is fast becoming a common name within the home production and semi-professional recording community. For good reason! Excellent quality plugins at extremely affordable prices. Personalized water-marked plugins. No dongles. No Call/Challange Response protection mechanisms. Easy-to-use plugins wrapped in functional, attractive graphical interfaces.

Many full-scale studios enlist only the highest-ticket softwares and tend to overlook less expensive offerings from small developers such as SKnote. Fortunately, we home producers and small studio owners can aquire excellent quality plugins for very affordable rates. Case in point: C165a only costs $29(USD).

Let's charge up some shiny, silver virtual knobs and prepare for the best.

OverTone PTC-2A Review - Nice Pultec EQP-1A Clone

Let me briefly give you a quick run down on one of my very best-est, favorite-est 'secret ingredient' EQ plugins.

I really like this EQ. It's light on system resources and is just plumb attractive (in an ol' skool, knobby hardware kinda way). I really like the rich, dark blue color. The knobs match the period that the 'real' Pultec EQP-1A originates from, authentically.

It sounds GREAT too!

Kuassa Vermilion Review - Retro, Tube Amp Sim Gold Medalist

Kuassa have recently released one of, if not “the”, finest vintage/retro guitar combo amp sims to have ever been seen and heard “In The Box”. Considering the spectacular quality that this top-shelf plugin delivers, the $39 USD price point is most definitely affordable!

This polished, new guitar amplification simulator is a definite BEST in CLASS product. The vibrant, authentic-sounding, retro tube amp tones that come out of this piece of programming creation are par excellence. Kuassa have released Vermillion in native 32bit & 64bit for Mac and PC.   Bam!

Sit down on your favorite studio stool, and let’s give this boutique combo amp the center stage; shall we?

Many Thanks to Tony Belmont & PluginDiscounts.com

I recently had such a wonderful shopping and customer support experience in dealing with Mr. Tony Belmont and PluginDiscounts.com that I wanted to give honorable mention.

How many home-producers have desired to have professional top-drawer reverb in the famous Lexicon tradition? Right! There have been thousands n' thousands of us. I saved some hard-earned, shiny shekels, and took the plunge. I'm very thankful that Lexicon reduced their prices so greatly; I'm very thankful that PluginDiscounts.com reduce their MVP member prices even further.

Within (3) hours from the time I placed my online order, Mr. Belmont had my order transaction processed and sent me a personalized email with my new Lexicon software/iLok license code. I've dealt with another online audio software merchant, whose prices are very good, but the order processing time would take up to 24 hours or longer.

Visit the PluginDiscounts website. MVP password is: "MVP".
PluginDiscounts.com

SplineEQ Review - Definitive Mastering-grade Audio Scalpel

Twenty dollars doesn't net you much these days. More often than not, you haven't enough change left out of a twenty dollar bill, to even tip the pizza delivery guy. If you've ever had to rely on pizza delivery money to earn a few urgent dollars during your high school or college years, you know that it's better to have $25 or $30 for pizza. *wink.

So what can $20 buy, that you will know was very well spent and beneficial? (well, $19 actually) Surely it couldn't be an incredibly powerful, linear-phase, mastering-grade EQ plugin . . . . Could it?

SKnote VerbTone Review - Plate Reverb a la Deluxe

Looking for "expensive" sounding plate reverb without it costing as much as a typical week's worth of groceries? I have some GREAT news for you! Spending only $20 US dollars will get it done. No dongles required. No call/response protection mechanisms. Within 24 hours of time-of-purchase, a direct download link is sent to your email inbox. Mr. Quinto Sardo concentrates on creating VHQ plugins without spending precious programming efforts on arduous licensing schemes or layers of bothersome piracy protection. The one caveat? No downloadable demo. The plus? SKnote's VerbTone is an excellent, well-modelled Plate reverb plugin.

SKnote StageSpace Review - Affordable, Lush Reverb for Everyone

Firstly, let's get your attention with the extremely affordable price point. $20 US dollars will get this incredibly lush-sounding and immersive ambience effect into your plugin folder. No dongles required. No call/response protection mechanisms. Within 24 hours of time-of-purchase, a direct download link is sent to your email inbox. Mr. Quinto Sardo makes it simple and easy without arduous licensing schemes or layers of bothersome piracy protection. The one caveat? No downloadable demo.

Many home recording enthusiasts and studio professionals anticipate spending much higher prices to facilitate their DAWs with deep, lush, pleasant-sounding reverbs. We read reviews and download demo plugins promising professional grade results with the foreknowledge that it will cost $150 - $250. There are the exceptions – ValhallaRoom excludes itself from that list. Yet, the quest for top-drawer, expensive-sounding ambience effects remains high on most self-starting producers' lists.

I'm very happy to introduce a product that will provide you with that elusive, rich sounding reverb – without requiring you to dine on Mr. Noodles for the next month in order to pay for it. Italian developer, Quinto Sardo, aka, SKnote, has recently unleashed such a component in the heavy weight class - enter StageSpace.

Neo GraphicEQ Review - "Thinking Outside the ITB Box"

Famed piano VST creators, SoundMagic, have uniquely designed and coded one of the most inventive EQs to have come across this reviewer's bench in a long time. With all the recent industry buzz of pseudo multiband compressors/Dynamic EQs, this particular graphic EQ design is very welcome as a worthy and refreshing diversion.