Satin OMG

[Numanoid]

Satin gets 10 out 10 review in latest issue of Computer Music (out today)

It gets CM Performance and CM Innovation reward.

Their verdict: "A stunningly realistic and surprisingly creative tape emulation at a price that makes it nothing short of essential"

[djscorb]

Not that I don't think Satin is great, I do and bought it on release, but a 10/10 in computer music is pretty meaningless.

I would trust the opinions in a public forum such as KVR or GS way before I took any notice of a review in a magazine. It's not just that they are biased and pander to advertisers, they really aren't very knowledgable about audio. If they were, they would be in the industry making music and money not waxing lyrical about plugins.

I buy the mag occasionally to get some of the freebies but the content is a joke. The letters page is full of pats on the back and the articles / reviews are shallow and barely skim the surface.

Fine for beginners but hardly worth basing purchases on.

Cheers

Scorb

[ariston]

I think their reviews are pretty fair. They do a good job of assessing pros and cons, and I can usually surmise how they arrived at the final score (a numbers rating system is always kind of stupid - is a "10" plugin twice as good as a "5" plugin?). They generally give scores above 5 because they only review plugins that are already in the "good" category. They have never been afraid of criticizing big-name companies. I haven't found fault with their audio know-how, aside from the little errors that we all make now and again. They receive critical letters and print them. And the age-old rebuke: "a critic is a failed artist" is such a tired cliché... a writer is a writer and a critic is a critic.

Your review gets a "4". Oh, and once again praise and salutations for U-He!

[damoog]

Not that I don't think Satin is great, I do and bought it on release, but a 10/10 in computer music is pretty meaningless.

I would trust the opinions in a public forum such as KVR or GS way before I took any notice of a review in a magazine. It's not just that they are biased and pander to advertisers, they really aren't very knowledgable about audio. If they were, they would be in the industry making music and money not waxing lyrical about plugins.

I buy the mag occasionally to get some of the freebies but the content is a joke. The letters page is full of pats on the back and the articles / reviews are shallow and barely skim the surface.

Fine for beginners but hardly worth basing purchases on.

Cheers

Scorb

Totally agree on CM reviews,they are worthless,nothing ever scores below 8/10 in that magazine,I to occasionally buy it for the freebies but content is a total waste of time with ad after ad and 'guides'

[Hewitt Huntwork]

The biggest problem with tech magazines - not just CM - is that by the time they reach you, the information they contain is usually a few months out of date.

[djscorb]

I have had personal dealings with a couple of magazines. I won't name them but most here will have heard of them.

From my experience they are about advertising and little else. I have both advertised in them myself and also contributed content to coverdiscs so speak from both sides of this particular fence.

I suggest that a review of any product from a company who either has advertisement space in the magazine or has done freeware for coverdiscs is not going to receive an unbiased review.

To think otherwise would be naive at best.

I can think of several times when a product has received 10/10 but the tested version I personally knew was buggy. Anyone doing a detailed review should have used the plugin enough to have found these bugs and yet they did not.

It's situations like this on which I base my judgement as to whether the review has any worth or depth. Sadly, it is clear to me at least that they often have neither.

Cheers

Scorb

[Numanoid]

they really aren't very knowledgable about audio. If they were, they would be in the industry making music and money not waxing lyrical about plugins.

What a weird statement

To compare: Why do people work as journalists commenting on political decisions. Wouldn't it be better to be a politician instead?

And by the way, who is making money on music these days?

[ariston]

Ah, well, that's fair enough if that's your POV and experience. I don't expect an unbiased view from a review, because no one is unbiased (and there's no such thing as an "objective" review - it's naive to think that something like that exists). I expect a reviewer to explain how he arrived at his conclusions, so that I can make my own decision. That's something they do rather well in my opinion. And I find myself agreeing with their sentiments more often than naught. They point out bugs when they encounter them, but these don't factor into the final verdict as much, which is one way of doing it. Others might go "zomg! this sucks, its buggy as hel, I giv it a 0", that's their prerogative. I actually prefer their way of doing it.

Of course a magazine needs revenue from ads, but to think they're just industry lapdogs because of this is too black and white and knee-jerk for me. They've lambasted quite a few big-name products in the past. And I don't think any company is interested in people hearing that they pulled ads from a mag because they got a bad review (or in not maintaining their presence in the best-selling computer music periodical). It works both ways, it's not a one-way street, with the mag being on the receiving end.

Anyways, enough hijacking of this thread. Off to the potty with the December CM.

[sascha]

I can't comment on the review itself (since I haven't even read it myself yet), but I'd like to point out that we don't push reviews by placing ads in magazines in return. AFAIK, we got asked by other mags (won't mention names), but paying for reviews collides with our understanding of the term 'review' or 'product test', therefore our answer is always a clear 'no'. For us, this might lead to less buzz upon a release but the articles available are independent, and hopefully honest and unbiased.

[djscorb]

I can't remember a single time when I've read something in a magazine that has given me one of those valuable eureka moments that's improved my production skills.

Working with others more experienced than I am gives me these moments frequently. Occasionally some of the stuff on Pensado's Place can be good for these insights too. CM magazine? Nope.

Your point about there being more money catering to musicians rather than being in the industry is a very valid point though

The sheer volume of audio interfaces and DJ equipment is testament to the fact that these days the market for music consumption is far outweighed by the market geared towards making music.

With that in mind, perhaps my statement about the writers being in journalism because they wouldn't cut it as musicians seems a little harsh. They are perhaps wiser than those of us scraping by as musicians some months!

Anyway this is getting way off topic. All kudos to u-he, Satin is deserving of much praise regardless of what CM does or doesn't print.

Cheers

Scorb

[hibidy]

I grow weary of the "your information cannot be correct" society and it's membership fees. I don't trust them

Anyways, I demoed it, I like it, I bought it. Congrats on the 10/10

[frejahel]

Personally I always find the Producer Masterclass interesting and entertaining! All the included CM versions of audio programs have been invaluable for me, and some of the tutorials have really helped. I especially remember a very nice Reaktor tutorial a few months back, which I found highly educational! For the price, I think Computer Music is a really great read! (maybe I sound naive and a bit too polite, providing a female touch opinion to a more male oriented tech world, but I definitely know my DSP concepts/maths and beyond ).

Edit: Oh and I bought Satin when it was released. I'm sure the CM rating of Satin is justified. Even if the CM ratings are always high, it's not *that* often a program/plugin will be given 10/10.

[Sparky77]

No posting while drinking or cross-dressing...

EDIT:

Or drinking and drilling, thats my vice...

[VariKusBrainZ]

Not that I don't think Satin is great, I do and bought it on release, but a 10/10 in computer music is pretty meaningless.

I would trust the opinions in a public forum such as KVR or GS way before I took any notice of a review in a magazine. It's not just that they are biased and pander to advertisers, they really aren't very knowledgable about audio. If they were, they would be in the industry making music and money not waxing lyrical about plugins.

I buy the mag occasionally to get some of the freebies but the content is a joke. The letters page is full of pats on the back and the articles / reviews are shallow and barely skim the surface.

Fine for beginners but hardly worth basing purchases on.

Cheers

Scorb

Totally agree on CM reviews,they are worthless,nothing ever scores below 8/10 in that magazine,I to occasionally buy it for the freebies but content is a total waste of time with ad after ad and 'guides'

Agreed
Plus it cant be innovative if someone else beat them to the punch ie Sknote

[Tp3]

I grow weary of the "your information cannot be correct" society and it's membership fees. I don't trust them

Anyways, I demoed it, I like it, I bought it. Congrats on the 10/10

Me too !

I demoed CM, liked it, I bought it.

I can't remember a single time when I've read something in a magazine that has given me one of those valuable eureka moments that's improved my production skills.

Maybe haven't looked good enough ?

Or haven't payed attention ?

From what I read (in your words) you are so biased, your words are so "colored"... that we can use you as a tape machine !!

No, seriously... have you found something that CONTRADICTS all the things you know from here and GS ? probably not...(haven't read the article myself).

The biggest problem with tech magazines - not just CM - is that by the time they reach you, the information they contain is usually a few months out of date.

From my 15 years or so reading CM, it is the FIRST when it comes to freshly released processors (given the time it take then to test it).

Although I do read CM, FM, and all other magazines.... usually I await the Sound on Sound review of stuff.