The UK’s Future Music magazine has reviewed Apple’s upgrade to Logic Pro and Logic Express. The upgrade takes Logic from version 7 to 7.1. FM like it and think it’s a worthwhile upgrade from version 7, even though it’s not free — it’s about US$20 for Logic 7 users.

FM’s favourite new features in Logic include universal plugin delay compensation, which should allow you to avoid delay problems no matter how you route your sounds. They also like the Audio Follow Tempo feature, which detects tempo in a piece of audio so the song’s tempo matches with the audio.

They point out that this is one of a number of the new features that seem to come from GarageBand 2. Audio Follow Tempo seems to use the same underlying technology as the Apple Loops functions in GarageBand. Also, the two new hybrid synth instruments, Hybrid Basic and Hybrid Morph, are both already in GarageBand. It’s also now possible to create your own Apple Loops from selected audio in Logic. Hopefully this isn’t a sign that Apple is trying to simplify Logic along the lines of GarageBand. They say “Logic is such a powerful and complex program now it’s often difficult to know where to start.” But this is one of Logic’s strengths, so they hope it’s not the shape of things to come.

The full review is not available on the website, but only in the print edition available in shops. Overall, FM give the Logic 7.1 upgrade ten out of ten for versatility and quality of results, and 7 or 8 for their other criteria.

Future Music magazine has reviewed Kontakt 2, the software sampler from Native Instruments. They gave it a glowing review, praising everything from the updated GUI to the new effects. Their verdict: “Kontakt is quite simply the most creative and flexible sampler the world has ever seen. It’s an inspirational and revolutionary piece of software that sets new standards — not just for sampling, but also virtual instrument design in the broadest sense.”

They liked this sampler so much that they found only one major flaw. Kontakt 2 has a “Universal Import” feature, which enables it to import almost every sound file format in existence. However, Kontakt 2 cannot automatically map samples by detecting their pitch. This is especially strange since most competing programs now do have this feature.

The review describes the new features in more depth. Unfortunately, it’s not available on their website; you have to buy the print version of the magazine. Now that each issue comes with a DVD, it’s worth it even at high import prices.

Mix magazine favourably reviewed Sony’s Acid Pro 5. They especially like the fact that it now has VST effects support. WIth VST effects and the new Groove Mapping and Groove Cloning quantization processes, they say Acid is now closer than ever to being an all-in-one music production system.

Their conclusion is very positive: “Is this latest update worth the wait for Acid’s legions of dedicated users? The answer is a resounding yes. It may have taken a while for the new release, but the program’s developers have kept up with what their main competitor, Ableton Live, has been doing and upped the ante in several ways. Support for VST effects, new organizational tools, tempo-based effects and bus-to-bus routing, and the bountiful content disc give the user plenty to groove with right out of the box. The new tools are well done and vastly improve workflow. Depending on what you do, Acid may very well graduate from being a construction zone to a comprehensive final stop.”