is it me or is computer music magazine loosing its touch

eyeknow · Post by **eyeknow** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 11:08 am

We are behind in the states so I don't know what the new issue is......but here music tech and future music both reveiwed the project i/o and one loved it, the other hated it.

It was kinda wierd to me.

headquest · Post by **headquest** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 11:16 am

eyeknow wrote:We are behind in the states so I don't know what the new issue is......but here music tech and future music both reveiwed the project i/o and one loved it, the other hated it.

It was kinda wierd to me.

Well in the UK versions that was not the case. MTM gave it 10/10: Excellence Award, while the UK version of FM (Which is defferent to the US one) gave it 45/50 and a Platinum Award. So pretty consistent there.

As I said though, I would not trust any MTM review.

The SOS review for the ProjectMix I/O was pretty good across the board though, which is the review I would most trust

If you are in the market for ProjectMix I/O the reviews do seem to be consistently good, and I hope that is useful.

markthedoc · Post by **markthedoc** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:59 am

With my latest copy of CM I got a letter telling me my subscription is going up, so I think I might cancel it.
I used to look forward to it dropping on the mat but now 9 times out of 10 I don't open it up until about a week later.

charles-l · Post by **charles-l** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:01 pm

hey mate thats exactly how i feel - i remember when i actually looked forward to getting the magazine now i don't even read it sometimes

chrispnyc · Post by **chrispnyc** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 4:10 pm

i totally agree with you guys - almost all of these mags suck now. Remix hit an all time low recently. They had an article about how you should buy 'vintage' gear taken from old consoles and it will be like having a neve studio!!!! They say things like, 'oh you just need to wire up a power supply.'

Are you kidding me!!!! People like Brent Averill have created an industry of revamping these old treasures - it costs, at a minimum, hundreds of dollars for just the power supply, let alone the metal work involved in racking this stuff up. And, if you aren't a highly skilled electrician, wiring up +/- 24v power supply could be the last thing you ever do.

That, and I am so sick of these mags pushing inferior products. Trade mags are traditionally filled with gear ads and that's fine. but to straight up pimp this plastic junk is pathetic. It really makes me wonder where their motivation is.

When was the last time you read a bad review in one of these mags?

Of course, I love Sound on Sound and Mix. But let's not forget The Greatest Recording Magazine of All - TAPE OP and its FREE!!!

charles-l · Post by **charles-l** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 8:48 pm

Have you ever noticed how cm always gives good or great reviews of nearly every product. How can so many products really warrant +9 marks, infact how often do you really see a bad review? Rarely

djadonis206 · Post by **djadonis206** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:02 pm

They're just magazines with good intentions of helping people out.

Like most you probably grew up on CM - now you're probably at a level where you don't really need to know how to program a midi hi hat

or the basic song structure of a trance track

Probably a lot more information, tips, tricks and 'know how' right here on these boards.

I like artist interviews - but really they seem to only do "Sound like XXX" or some old english guy who invented the pitch bend 49 million years ago - good stuff but...I'm just not feeling the latest 80's indie rehash who uses a Nord Electro

I would rather read a article on Marco Bailey and how every track he does is absolutely huge or a in depth interview with DJ Preach and how every track he does is like dinosaurically massive <--- that kind of stuff

Also, I know when products are going to be released like months before they even hit the CM cover page - and by then you've bought, and the company already releasing another version

too expensive and late in the states to justify buying it monthly - but I read it at the local news stand when I'm waitng for the bus - if something is like "wow" I'll buy it but...why would I read CM magazines review of ABLETON when I'm here.

DKushner · Post by **DKushner** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:06 pm

All the mags mentioned are in one way or another just brochures for consumers. Except SOS thats the hardcore stuff right there.

I stopped reading CM awhile ago because its reviews were worthless. Just a rundown of the feature list really. Every different product got a score of 8 or 9. Im sorry, but sometimes, there has to be something that sucks.

headquest · Post by **headquest** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:36 pm

On the subject of over-generous reviews I do generally agree, but in CM's defense the latest issue contained a couple of real jaw droppers:

Native Instruments Bandstand was given just 5/10
Arturia Brass scored even worse: just 4/10

Quite a change from the norm!

DKushner · Post by **DKushner** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:12 pm

Awesome. I'll be sure to pick up this revolutionary change of M.O. CM mag when it hits the borders by my house in two months.

DKushner · Post by **DKushner** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:22 pm

Or, on the other end of things, perhaps Bandstand and Brass are really really deplorable filthy plugs. Think about it. If CM actually gave them a 5 and a 4, they must be 1's or 2's to the rest of the world.

Of course, this is not the case. SOS gave both products decent scores.

headquest · Post by **headquest** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:25 pm

DKushner wrote: Of course, this is not the case. SOS gave both products decent scores.

Erm, SOS hasn't reviewed either of them yet

DKushner · Post by **DKushner** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:38 pm

I noticed that SOS gave them OK scores

page 1
This thread http://forum.midiaddict.com/viewtopic.p ... sc&start=0

Im just going by what this guy said.

SOS didnt review it yet? Yeah, maybe. I didn't see it for myself thats for sure.

headquest · Post by **headquest** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:29 pm

The internet is such a great place for misinformation

fyi, SOS don't even give "scores". And FM slammed Brass and gave it very low scores.

Bottom line is the products probably are very lame, at least compared with those developers' usual standards. If they hadn't been from major software houses, CM and FM probably would have simply ignored them anyway.

STRATEGY_510 · Post by **STRATEGY_510** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 3:05 pm

charles-l wrote:i've been a hardcore reader of the magazine for years now but in the last year i feel its gone down hill

same watered down articles, no substance, stating the obivious, and when i was new to computer music it just didn't really understand what on earth it was saying/explaining

charles

Still going through it, but the all ABLETON issue seems to be chock full of useful information. I'm a newbie to Live tho, lots of the stuff is probably old hat to youse guys.

STRATEGY

is it me or is computer music magazine loosing its touch

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