Roland's U-110 is proving to be one of the most popular expanders this year. Darrin Williamson finds out why

Roger Brown continues his exploration of the Interactive Phrase Synth...

Anatek SMP16 MIDI/Audio Patchbay

One of the most refreshing synths of '89 was Ensoniq's VFX, but how does it fare with a new keyboard, disk drive and a powerful onboard sequencer? David Bradwell looks at Ensoniq's workstation.

Korg DW8000 Polysynth

Korg's flagship poly gets a touch-sensitive keyboard, a built-in DDL, and a lot more besides. Simon Trask concludes it’s what the DW6000 should have been all along.

It has come to our attention that some of you have bad back-up habits. You know who you are...

Yamaha DX21

Synthesist Ian Boddy casts an eager eye over Yamaha's low-cost DX21 polysynth and discovers some little publicised aspects of its performance...

Yamaha's classic CS80 makes a welcome appearance alongside the CZ101, Bit 99 and DW6000, and more ROMs for the DX7 complete this month's selection of readers' sounds.

With on-board midi mute automation, six auxiliaries, 16 inputs and 16 monitors, Allen & Heath's new pint-sized Saber looks set to emulate the success of its larger brethren. Dave Lockwood checks it out.

A Quick glance at the crystal ball reveals new products on the way from Kawai, Stepp, Tascam, Soundtracs, Ramsa, and others...

Ideally every synth and sampler editor would allow you to edit sounds while your sequencer is running. One that does is this desk accessory for the Atari ST. Vic Lennard opens the box.

The Multi-Instrumentalist

Taking over where the TX816 left off, this DX7II in a rack is the very latest in a long line of powerful FM synth expanders. Mark Badger puts it in perspective.

We know something that you don't...

More and more mixer manufacturers are waking up to the benefits MIDI can offer in a mixdown situation by incorporating MIDI-controlled muting on their products. Engineer/musician David Mellor checks out what the PC can do.

Where everything clicks

Your questions answered

More of the mysteries of MIDI dispelled, as Bob O'Donnell puts MIDI plug into MIDI socket and connects controller to expander. Part two of this new series.

A new Super-synth, Samples, and more

A definitive af-a-glance guide to MIDI and Music Orientated Peripherals.

IT's guide through the MIDI jungle

Digital Synthesiser

Roland's latest professional digital synthesiser crosses the frontier between their successful D-series technology and a new generation of Roland synths - without costing a fortune. Simon Trask welcomes the JV80.

preset poly

As synthesizer prices continue to plummet and the number of features increases, Korg introduce a colourful range of low-cost 8-voice, multitimbral, aftertouch and velocity sensitive performance synths. Mark Jenkins straps one on...

A review of the Desert Island sample collection for the Mirage joins readers' own patches for the Roland D110, Ensoniq ESQ1 and Casio CZ5000 in this month's action-packed edition of Patchwork.

What's new in the world of the Micro Musician