Another Monday, another flood of opinions, updates, and plugin releases nobody asked for. Still, we found some actual highlights this week — a couple worthy reviews, a few gear surprises, and at least one article that made us pace around the room. The intern wanted to be mentioned by name. There, done. He's not getting his own login yet.
Top Picks
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Roland JC-120 Plugin
Classic shimmer, now in software form. Sounds great — yeah, but does it CHUG? -
Metallica's 'One' Recording Story
Absolutely worth reading. Also the part where the intern lit his DT770s on fire because of the snare tone. -
MusicRadar’s Tech Myths List
I really don’t like starting off my week this riled up. (See the footnotes before I start pacing again) -
AI Lyric Tools Get Called Out
Great, techbros, you’re making the luddites right.
Reviews and Roundups
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Roland SP-404MKII review (MusicRadar)
Roland's beloved sampler gets a modern refresh — and somehow makes beat-making even more addictive -
Roland JC-120 Software Effect Review (MusicRadar)
The Jazz Chorus chorus — now in plugin form. Roland wants your clean tones to shimmer with 80s authority. [1] -
Best Microphones for Recording (MusicRadar)
A roundup of mics across all budgets and use cases. Mostly solid picks, with a few odd inclusions. [2] -
Audient iD48 Review (Sound On Sound)
Audient’s latest desktop interface packs pro-level performance into a surprisingly affordable box. -
Black Lion Audio Revolution 14x16 Review (Sound On Sound)
Black Lion's new interface takes aim at the high-end hybrid crowd. Classy conversion with routing to match.
Industry News & Highlights
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How Metallica pushed through fatigue to craft a classic (MusicRadar)
Behind-the-scenes look at the making of “One,” with insight into how the band worked through exhaustion to get it right. [3] -
10 Persistent Music Tech Myths...Busted? (MusicRadar)
MusicRadar attempts to bust some of music tech’s most enduring myths — with mixed results. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] -
SSL Launches Alpha 8 (Sound On Sound)
SSL adds a compact 8-channel interface to its growing range. Pro conversion, streamlined form factor. -
New Reverb Plugin from IAMREVERB Audio (Sound On Sound)
IAMREVERB Audio enters the plugin world with a lush new spatial tool for reverb lovers. -
Steinberg eLicenser Support Ends in May (Sound On Sound)
The long-running dongle system officially gets sunsetted. Cubase users rejoice. (5) -
MOTU Redesigns the 16A Interface (Sound On Sound)
MOTU updates its flagship interface with new converters, improved routing, and a sleek new look. -
Kilohearts Drops Free Clipper Plugin (Sound On Sound)
A free soft clipper from Kilohearts — because who doesn’t want one more way to mangle their drums? -
PPG Wavetable Eurorack Module (Gearnews)
Waldorf’s classic digital synth engine gets a Eurorack twist with this new PPG Wavetable module.
Trends to Watch
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Ivors Academy Slams Suno AI Over Lyric Generator (MusicRadar)
The Ivors Academy raises alarms over AI-powered lyric generators — and the risks to real songwriters. [11] -
Spotify's Ad Model Just Got Weirder (Gearnews)
Spotify continues to reinvent itself as a tech company that occasionally plays music. Ads, now with AI. -
How to Establish an Identity as a Musician (Hypebot)
Some genuinely helpful tips for standing out in an oversaturated industry — no brand manager required.
From Sonic Odyssey
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How AI is Changing Music Production
Our deep dive into the AI wave sweeping through music production — with thoughts, tools, and things to watch. -
Top Reverb & Delay Plugins for 2025
New roundup covering everything from gritty tape echoes to pristine digital spaces. -
Week in Review – March 31, 2025
Last week’s post, in case you missed it (or just want to relive the chaos). -
Best Plugin Deals (Updated Weekly)
Still the most consistently updated deals roundup on the planet. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Outro
We covered a lot this week — some of it useful, some of it enraging, all of it part of the wild mess we call modern music production. Whether you’re rage-reading myth articles or quietly browsing interface reviews at 2AM, we’re glad you’re here.
The intern says thanks too, even though he definitely added a bunch of links just to see if I’d notice.
We’ll be back next Monday with more chaos. In the meantime, go make something loud.
— The Sonic Odyssey Team
Has Ola done a WILL IT CHUG video on the Jazz Chorus yet? ↩︎
My therapists and ex-girlfriends tell me I need to be more open to the opinions of others but wow I really disagree with a lot (almost all) of their picks. ↩︎
Our new intern, Gianni, who is not at all a metalhead, looked like someone had lit his DT770s on fire the first time he heard ...AJFA. [12] ↩︎
This 'article' pissed me off a lot. It's lazy and cliche in all the worst ways. ↩︎
"Behringer gear is garbage" - Listen, real talk for a sec, I'm going to talk shit about Behringer gear a LOT in this space, because I'm that kind of asshole. They make tons of great stuff at a price point that lets everybody have cool shit. But remember, they're making that price point but cutting LOTS of corners. Let's be realistic about what we're buying. ↩︎
"GAS is bad" - This seems like maybe a straw man argument? I dunno, I've been having people talk shit about my gear collection for years so I guess I just tune it out. ↩︎
"Your monitors suck" - even as a died in the whole snob, yeah, this is obnoxious. Also, the people shit talking your Rokits are mixing on a pair of Packard Bell computer speakers from 1995. ↩︎
"Without sound treatment, your studio is worthless" - I'm pretty certain Michael Brauer mixes in a room that used to be his kids play room and it appears to have no obvious treatment. It depends on the room and your needs. Also, it's better to go WITHOUT or have portable solutions that to spend the time, effort and money to put up something shitty. ↩︎
"DAWs have their own sound" - Okay, I am fucking LIVID. You know, I get it, most audio engineers don't have a computer science degree. Cool. But this notion that it's all just 0s and 1s is bullshit. Different DAWs sound different. Do you REALLY believe that Pro Tools, Reaper and Harrison MixBus use the same algorithms and DSP libraries for summing, panning, automation? Just because you're the 'good with computers' person in your friend group doesn't mean you know shit about the inner workings of complex software. [13] ↩︎
"Moog synths are low-quality now" - I get REALLY sad every time I drive by the former Moog building ↩︎
AI is absolutely going to be a tool that gets used creatively but if it's spitting out lyrics to other's songs, fuck no. I don't know anything about the company behind this but I've been in the tech world long enough to know that start ups will throw out half-baked, bullshit, faked garbage to keep the VC money flowing ↩︎
Why a electronic music loving kid from Stuttgart wants to intern for a guy that claims to have invent 'Progressive Doom' is beyond me. ↩︎
I did a blind 'Pepsi Challenge' a few years back with another engineer. I mixed the same song in Reaper, MixBus and Pro Tools. I didn't tell him what we were doing, I just asked him to explain what he was hearing and what he liked. They absolutely did NOT sound the same at all and the die hard Reaper guy thought Pro Tools sounded the best. ↩︎
