Another week, another whirlwind of synth mods, software drops, and existential dread about bots flooding streaming platforms. The music tech world doesn’t stop moving—and neither do we. Whether you’re here for the boutique gear, the breaking news, or the slow-burn panic of AI-generated content taking over your playlists, we’ve got you covered. Consider this your weekly dose of curated chaos.
Oh, and if you're new here: meet Gianni. He’s our intern. Sort of. When he's here, he works out of our garage in the peaks of Appalachia—he’s a Music Industry Studies major at Appalachian State. We still don’t have a desk or a workstation for him, but we did pile up some Les Paul cases in the garage for him to sit on. He hails from Stuttgart, Germany. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of synthwave, ribbon mics, and headphone specs. A little too enthusiastic sometimes. A little too pretty. We don’t fully trust him, but we do let him choose one synth link a week. See if you can guess which one.
🧪 Reviews & Roundups
- Melbourne Instruments Roto Control is... a lot. The interface might not be for everyone, but it’s undeniably innovative. MusicRadar Review
- iZotope Equinox sounds phenomenal—but with a post-production price tag, it’s more of a tease for us music types. Equinox Review [1]
- Apple’s new Ultra Macs are out. Are they overkill? Yes. Do we want one anyway? Also yes. SoS Review [2]
- Arturia KeyLab 88 MkIII delivers expressive control with a real-world feel. Great pick for serious players. SoS Review
- Finally, GearNews’ Synth Mods roundup is chaotic good. DIY lovers, this one's for you. Synth Mods [3]
🧠 News You Can’t Unread
- Ian Anderson became a rock legend with one leg and a flute. Read how. MusicRadar [4]
- Mike Portnoy opens up about Dream Theater, merch, fan clubs, and everything in between. MusicRadar [5]
- Erica Synths’ new EDU DIY FM Drum might be your next weekend project. SoS
- Harrison Mixbus 11 lands with some long-overdue upgrades. SoS
- AEA 1029 compressor enters the boutique scene with serious character. GearNews
- And Snakes of Russia just dropped a plugin with Crow Hill Co. that sounds as venomous as it looks. Rekkerd
⚠️ Trends Worth Watching
- Can’t afford to tour anymore? You’re not alone. Hypebot
- Your music data is probably getting scraped by AI models. Yeah, that’s happening. Hypebot
- 20,000 bot-created tracks a day are flooding Deezer. Tell me again how the streaming model is sustainable. MBW [6]
🔀 What’s New on Sonic Odyssey
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🎤 How to Record Pro Vocals at Home – Techniques, tools, and hard truths.
Read it -
🎧 Dynamic vs. Condenser vs. Ribbon Mics – Everything you need to know.
Read it -
📰 Last Week’s Review – Catch up if you missed it.
Read it -
🎮 Best Plugin Deals (Updated Weekly) – Stay sharp, save cash.
Check the list
Needless to say, we’ll be back next week with more gear, gossip, and grumbling about the state of the industry. Until then, keep tracking, tweaking, and occasionally unplugging it all just to hear the silence.
...and don't let a neckbeard on YouTube tell you that you don't need a DI box.
Someone says NEW REVERB PLUGIN and I'm so there...but as the review points out, the price ain't great. If you have Music Production Suite 7, though, it's only $39. Totally nabbed it ↩︎
One of my closest friends from college is a Mac diehard, even more so back then. I remember when Apple made the switch to Intel CPUs and it caused a pretty serious existential crisis in my dude. He was somewhere between wanting to cry and vomit. ↩︎
Gianni flagged this one immediately. He insists the synth mod with the blinking LED “reminds him of Berlin club lights, but like, from a post-rational future where music is mostly just tension and sine sweeps.” We didn’t ask him to elaborate. He did anyway. This is what privilege and euro aristocracy does to people. ↩︎
I am a diediediediehard Jethro Tull fan. I have an unfinished doom metal cover of 'Aqualung' on a SSD somewhere. I always thought it was lame that they caught shit for winning the Metal Grammy over Metallica in '89. Yo, that's on the academy. Hate the player, not the game. And don't @ me. ↩︎
From my understanding, Portnoy sort of ruled DT with an iron fist for years. He told them he needed to take a break and was a little shocked when Petrucci and crew were like, “Cool! We’ve already got another Mike lined up.” Brutal. But hey—progressive metal is a cold and calculated genre. ↩︎
I've always been a bit confused when I look at my streaming earnings report. "Napster is still a thing? What the FUCK is a Deezer?" ↩︎
