Sony Acid Pro 7 (Win) Review

Jul 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Jason Scott Alexander

           
 

Plenty of new features for taking control of your music.

Bundle of Joy

If all this new user control and mixing prowess isn't enough, the included plug-in bundle might seal the deal.

For starters, you get two entirely new effects suites. Developed with iZotope, the Acid Pro 7 Effects Rack is based on its world-class time, pitch and compression/limiting DSP technology. The rack offers phaser, analog delay, chorus/flanger and dynamics effects through four individually selectable processor blocks. The algorithms sound gorgeous — capable of adding luxurious depth, silkiness and an expensive Harmonizer-type quality to Acid Pro.

The second suite is geared more toward making beautiful noise. Originally released on its own several years ago, Guitar Combos by Native Instruments recreates three classic amp/speaker setups, delivering authentic tube warmth and dynamics (see Web Clip 1). AC Combo is modeled after the indie-favorite, Vox AC-30. Paired with a 2512 cabinet and vintage condenser microphone, this delivers an expectedly wide range of clean to crunchy sounds, and includes a treble booster, tremolo and spring reverb. Psychedelics and metal heads will rock out to the Plexi Combo for its take on the Marshall JMP50, pumped through a 4512 and dynamic mic rig, adding fuzz overdrive, distortion pedal and reverse delay. For the rockabilly crowed, Twang Combo is modeled after the Fender Twin Reverb, a 2512 cabinet and tube condenser mic, plus overdrive pedal, chorus, vibrato and spring reverb. More than 100 awesome-sounding presets will inspire you to shred more than just guitar loops.

Sony also teamed up with Plogue Art for the Garritan Aria for Acid Pro Player, a sample playback engine that includes a generous suite of orchestral, big band and general MIDI samples. Finally, Submersible Music's KitCore 2 offers more than 400 MIDI drum files (beats, fills, variations, click tracks, etc.) and MIDI grooves from its acclaimed DrumCore library.

While on the topic of plug-ins, it's great that you can now sort plug-ins into various categories, as well as rename the plugs for better organization. Other DAW makers should add this feature immediately.

A Cheap High

Going from V. 6 to V. 7 isn't the biggest technical leap Acid Pro has ever made, but there's a significant pile of newfound function and control here. It's hard to imagine the program now without the dedicated full-format mixer and tools such as MIDI track freeze; we expect these from DAWs today. The live input buses and enhanced track metering are a big deal if you monitor and mix outboard gear using a computer. But for arrangements with complex timing, the enhanced Beatmapping and new tempo curves really steal the show.

Sony's processor optimization of this update showed up everywhere — even simple playback. Everything felt extremely snappy and more responsive. On a multi-core system, Acid Pro 7 sings, and you'll appreciate what the new effects rack plug-ins can do for your music. Having extra processor headroom is also great when you use the new élastique Pro mode, which can eat up CPU quickly.

I still long for a decent waveform editor in Acid Pro; I'm sure Sony would rather you buy Sound Forge separately, but at least a simple built-in editor would be handy. I'd also like to toggle between various project views (session overview, tracking/arranging, mixing console, editing/chopping, etc.) as in other DAWs.

I've always loved how Acid Pro's signature pick/paint/play interface has allowed me to work with samples in the same way that a composer hears music — as a malleable cloud of sonic colors, instrument phrases and note clusters. Sony hasn't become distracted by the “me-too” competition. It focused on enhancing and complementing the core elements that made Acid unique in the first place. Acid Pro 7 is a classic that's come of age. That it now costs $100 less than before is a gift.

Jason Scott Alexander is a regular contributor to Mix and Remix magazines and runs a world class mix/production facility in Canada's capital, Ottawa, Ontario.