After 20+ years in professional audio: live sound engineering, studio technical direction (Deep Forest, Pierre Jacquot), head of digital marketing at Playback.fr. A first-hand witness to the analog-to-digital shift, I track the whole audio landscape and break it down here — no fluff.
Switching to in-ear monitors changes a performer’s life on stage — provided you pick the right earpiece. Here are seven honestly ranked models, from unapologetic budget to pro custom, with what each one really does, and what it doesn’t.
Serum 2, the go-to wavetable synth, has opened a public Linux beta — a rare move for a flagship commercial plugin. A good moment to revisit what version 2 actually changed under the hood.
Parish Audio has launched Parametric Compressor, a dynamics plugin that drops up to ten compression bands anywhere in the spectrum with no fixed splits. A ‘parametric’ take on dynamics that leans as much on dynamic EQ as on multiband.
Ahead of IBC 2026, Wheatstone is spotlighting VMX, a fully virtual mixing platform reachable from a plain web browser. Radio console, TV control room or utility mixer: everything spins up on demand, with no physical surface.
discoDSP ships Corona 7, a major update to its hybrid virtual-analog and wave synthesizer. The headline features: full MPE support, a JP-8000-style Super 7+ unison mode, a step sequencer and 8x oversampling — all free for existing Corona 6 users.
Minimal Audio launches Lucid, a granular effects processor that chops audio into grains to rebuild it. Its real trick: a scale lock that retunes every grain to your chosen key, in real time.
Mid/Side splits the center of a stereo signal from its sides so you can treat them independently. Here’s how the encoding works, what it’s good for in the mix and at mastering, and the traps to avoid.
In 2026 the choice between an analogue and a digital console no longer turns on sound but on how the stage is cabled and whether settings can be recalled. Latency, stageboxes, real costs and a decision table.
On stage you equalise first to win gain before feedback, and intelligibility comes second. Understanding the loop, finding the resonances, cutting narrow, and setting level last.
Console feed, frequency plan, gain structure, limiter: the full method for an in-ear rig that survives the night, and the mistakes that cost a show.