Many of our readers letters reflect concern that much of the equipment now available to the home studio owner is too expensive to be afforded by the majority of enthusiasts, and I can sympathise. After all, if a guitarist is offered a Mesa Boogie amplifier at £1200, the usual response is that this is an absurd price to pay for a combo and so he settles for something else. However the poor home recordist is entreated to spend the same amount of cash on a digital reverb unit which is only one of many effects that he or she might need, so what is the answer?

Like any interest, home recording can be enjoyed at a great many levels and in some ways, the struggling enthusiast may well learn more than someone who constantly gets whatever equipment he wants and so doesn't have to improvise to create a given sound. Sadly the technology does cost a lot of money if you want the best so it's no good writing to H&SR to say 'How am I supposed to afford it?' After all, it's no good me complaining that I can't afford a plane just because I like flying and think that I should have one.

Having said that I am aware of the problem and that is why we at H&SR are constantly on the look out for truly useful bits of budget gear to bring to your attention. Fortunately manufacturers are waking up to the fact that home recording is popular and that they can sell a lot more affordable units than expensive ones, and there are several of these in the pipeline at the moment, one of which is reviewed in this very issue. This is a new and genuinely cost effective 4-track cassette multi tracker from those clever Vesta people which should give some of the more established brands a run for their money.

There are rumours of other goodies to be unleashed on us at the Frankfurt show so as soon as we find out, we'll let you know all about it. This year should see samplers and digital reverbs aimed at the enthusiast rather than just the semi-pro studio and everyone seems to be competing to produce the best budget cassette multitracker at the cheapest price. As always though, your ideas and talents are worth more than any equipment and they can't be bought at any price.