KVR Audio

fantasyvn · Post by **fantasyvn** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 11:58 am

May I ask for your advice?

Do you think it's worth subscribing to the Sound on Sound magazine? I read some of their articles and think they are a level above magazines like Musich Tech or Future Music. But what are the thoughts of more experienced people in our forum?

At the moment, I am reading the free AudioTechnology magazine on my iPad. It is an Australian magazine. Given that there are many free reviews/tutorials on the web, should one still buy Sound on Sound?

Thank you

dwozzle · Post by **dwozzle** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:30 pm

I agree that they're another level of professional. Their reviews are way more in depth and trustworthy than other mags IMO.

Whether it's worth the money is each person's decision. Among other things, ideally you'd need to make time to read a lot of it...

FWIW, not sure if it's still going on, but Zinio had a special recently on Computer Music, two years for about $26 or so. Their content isn't as pro as SoS, but it's still useful, and the downloads are very cool.

bluedad · Post by **bluedad** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:49 pm

'should' is too strong of a word to have anyone make that decision for you.
SOS is probably one of the best out there, though. It's 'should' be up to you.

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:58 pm

They certainly cover a far greater range of audio topics than FM or CM (not many articles on mic'ing up strings etc in CM

) so if that's where your interest lies then go for it. If your more interested in modern EDM techniques (the perfect dubstep wub etc...) then maybe CM is better.

I had a subscription for a number of years but kind of grew away from it; after a while it felt like they were repeating themselves, but I guess only so many topics to write about (time for another compression article etc) so I only buy it occasionally now for specific interviews or reviews. But still a good, indepth read.

VariKusBrainZ · Post by **VariKusBrainZ** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 1:09 pm

All the future publishing mags are a bit noobish IMO, SOS is the mag to subscribe to if you have to choose one.

Excellent, well written articles by knowledgeable journalists

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 1:12 pm

SOS is the most knowledagble journalist I have come across so far. Many of the contributors have been in the music biz for many decades and have seen the coming and going of a lot of hardware/software.

SOS also seem to be a lot less biased by advertising money than Beat or CM/FM

But the thing with SOS is that they post all their content online eventually, so I'm too cheap to subscribe as I can read online for free

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 1:30 pm

They don't cover FL Studio though if that makes a difference.

BERFAB · Post by **BERFAB** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 1:49 pm

SOS is kind of the gold standard for this type of thing. By comparison, CM is sort of like People Magazine. Shiny, flashy, easy to digest, lots of cool pictures and stuff to keep you entertained. But SOS cuts through all of that with some very straightforward no-nonsense reporting.

I really like SOS. But I subscribe to CM.

Cheers
-B

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 1:51 pm

GaryG wrote:They don't cover FL Studio though if that makes a difference.

There is always an exception that confirms the rule

skipscada · Post by **skipscada** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 2:41 pm

I used to read CM regularly a few years ago, and have subscribed to SOS for the last year. I have learnt a lot more from SOS, which I suppose is the most important. In addition, it's a much better read (quality journalism that doesn't treat the reader as if he knows nothing and has an attention span of about 2 seconds). CM is of course much more focused on today's electronic music, so it's probably more inspiring if you're mainly into that sort of thing.

Now I have the feeling GaryG describes, so I'm not renewing my subscription to SOS, but reckon I will buy the odd issue now and then, or even just buy single articles if they're of particular interest. And of course there's the treasure trove of their free online articles.

fantasyvn · Post by **fantasyvn** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 3:06 pm

Thank you so much for your great replies. So it is true that SOS offers quality journalism. Perhaps I will subscribe to them.

Tricky-Loops · Post by **Tricky-Loops** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 3:23 pm

If you have the money, why not? It's always good to support quality journalism!

Another main difference to CM or Beat Mag is that SOS doesn't attach a DVD with magware, tutorials and samples. But if you're looking for in-depth articles, SOS offers great content, more professional than CM.

On the other hand, you could also save the £60, and buy two good audio engineering books with the money...

Ghostwave · Post by **Ghostwave** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 4:03 pm

The problem I have with SOS (I was a subscriber for a year and still buy current issues when I'm in the UK) is that a lot of the focus is on hardware (comps, EQ, preamps), which is irrelevant to me.
I wish there were some sort of magazine with the quality of writing of SOS but solely focused on computer music.
As to Computer Music, it always seems to be talking about the same basic things but it's still worth it for the magware, at least once in a while.

VariKusBrainZ · Post by **VariKusBrainZ** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 4:46 pm

Karten wrote:The problem I have with SOS (I was a subscriber for a year and still buy current issues when I'm in the UK) is that a lot of the focus is on hardware (comps, EQ, preamps), which is irrelevant to me.
I wish there were some sort of magazine with the quality of writing of SOS but solely focused on computer music.
As to Computer Music, it always seems to be talking about the same basic things but it's still worth it for the magware, at least once in a while.

http://www.computermusicjournal.org

Maybe?

VariKusBrainZ · Post by **VariKusBrainZ** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 4:57 pm

This is the bible though if you want to learn the fundamentals of digital audio and synthesis

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0262680 ... uter+music

Should one subscribe to Sound on Sound magazine?