Sony Acid Music Studio 8 review

Acid Music Studio is difficult to pin down. It’s based on the extremely capable – and quirky – Acid Pro, and this ensures levels of sophistication and elegance that belie the low price. It even costs less than other cut-price versions of professional software, such as Cubase Essential 5.

At £40, it’s ready to compete with software designed for hobbyists, such as the eJay range. These titles aren’t up to the task of producing release-quality recordings but they often provide a shallow learning curve for those who want to make music just for fun.

In some respects Acid Music Studio provides the best of both worlds. It’s certainly easy to get to grips with, especially when working with the 3,000 high-quality samples included in the boxed version. These samples are automatically looped, time-stretched and pitch-shifted to fit the project, and layering them up is incredibly quick and easy.

The downside is that large-scale stretches and shifts compromise audio quality – samples become muddled and glitchy. Even small changes take the edge off a sample’s fidelity. As such, we’re delighted to see the introduction of a new time-stretch and pitch-shift algorithm, which produces significantly better results than the old one. Sadly though, casual users may never find it. B

izarrely, it’s available for live recordings (which rarely need processing) but not for loops (which regularly need it). There is a workaround: locate the Clip Properties panel from the View menu, switch the clip from Looped to Beatmapped and choose élastique Pro from the drop-down list. Then rebuild any looped sections you’re created using copy and paste, as Beatmapped clips don’t loop automatically. We can’t imagine many people will bother.

Another new feature in version 8 is the Mixing Console, which supports auxiliary and group channels, both of which allow effects to be used across multiple sounds rather than processing each one independently. It’s an important development to help Acid Music Studio compete with serious recording software, but its execution leaves a lot to be desired. The Mixing Console’s extensive use of text rather than graphics looks uninviting, there’s too much non-standard terminology and the buttons to show and hide mixer components are bound to confuse less experienced users. They’ll have to look elsewhere to learn how to use auxiliary and group channels, and then figure out how this knowledge relates to Acid’s confusing Mixing Console.

Even so, there will be some existing users who are ready to get their heads around the Mixing Console. They will also appreciate the excellent virtual piano and guitar amp plug-ins that are added in version 8, and there’s a clutch of minor improvements such as better plug-in management and tempo curves that are all welcome.

Ultimately, though, it’s the limitation to 16-bit recording that rules Acid Music Studio out for anything but casual use. 24-bit recording is essential in order to capture audio with plenty of detail without having to keep the level so high that it risks accidental distortion.

With the new features feeling at odds with Acid’s friendly, streamlined approach, this is an uninspiring update. Steinberg Sequel 2 is a little more expensive but it’s a better option for casual users. More ambitious musicians should go for Cubase Essential 5.