With food, fuel and other living costs soaring, who has got the cash to fork out for overpriced music software? Here is CM´s guide top five great bits of music software that won´t leave you penniless, along with their equivalent value in supermarket goodies to put things in perspective…
Vapour ($29)
www.audiodamage.com
This lush chorus effect uses diffusion, usually only found in high end studio chorus effects, to add shimmer to your sounds.
Supermarket alternative:
10 x 12 Birdseye Omega 3 fish fingers from Morrisons.
Reaper 2 ($50 non-commercial license)
www.reaper.fm
This superb PC and Mac DAW boasts flexible audio routing, a comprehensive FX suite, and a 64-bit audio engine - all for around £25!
Supermarket alternative:
World Wine Tour Mixed Case from Tesco.
energyXT2 (€49)
www.energy-xt.com
Modular routing, REX2 support and light system usage - what´s not to like about this great PC sequencer?
Supermarket alternative:
2kg British Beef sirloin steak, hand cut from Waitrose.
Oligarc ($40 non-commercial license)
www.stillwellaudio.com
Filter, phaser, drive, chorus, brickwall limiter - Oligarc has a wide range of bread and butter effects for a bargain price.
Supermarket alternative:
2x 48 Whiskas Pouches “Fishermans Choice” in jelly from Asda.
Cubase Essential 4 (£119)
www.steinberg.net
The cheapest version of Cubase might cost over a tonne, but it's got nearly all the capabilities of its expensive big brothers.
Supermarket alternative:
119 x 6 Muller Vitality yoghurt drink from Lidl.
“From a music production perspective, I really like a lot of what Equinox is capable of – it’s a shame it's priced for the post-production market”: iZotope Equinox review
"This is the amp that defined what electric guitar sounds like": Universal Audio releases its UAFX Woodrow '55 pedal as a plugin, putting an "American classic" in your DAW
