Can't afford one of those classic Neve consoles that sound so good? Neither can I. But now that dream is getting closer through the efforts of Universal Audio and Neve. The UAD Nevana X2 system, powered by two PCIe DSP cards, emulates seven classic Neve processors including EQs, compressors, and a full 88RS channel strip. The virtual Neves run in AU, VST, and RTAS plugin formats.

It's great there are so many multichannel USB audio interfaces now, but most of them are missing something near and dear to an engineer's heart: knobs. Yamaha understands this and has started shipping the new MW Series II USB 2.0 Mixing Studios. These combination mixers and computer audio interfaces feature eight or more input channels, low-noise mic preamps, tweakable digital multieffects (including reverb, delay, modulation, and distortion programs), and an analog compressor. List prices start at $249 and Yamaha even includes a starter version of Steinberg Cubase.