Very sophisticated piece of signal processing equipment which, although designed with live music in mind, has a number of applications in the recording studio. The 20-bit converters provide an impressive signal-to-noise ratio of 108 dB. The equalizers, while lacking the glamor of top-end analog equivalents, operate smoothly, with no apparent vices. The operating system is simple enough, but having to move the cursor along a row of 31 virtual faders obviously makes setting up less simple than grabbing a fader. However, the additional features more than make up for this, especially the additional parametric EQs and shelving, limiter and noise gates. In terms of creative potential, the ability to switch programs and control master fader levels via MIDI means you can use the Ultra-Curve (via your mixer's input points) to set up two very powerful channels of mix automation using your sequencer. The variable crossfade time allows you to set up some very neat filter shaping effects which, with more radical filter settings, can sound more like dynamic flanging than EQ. The RTA side of the unit is less obviously useful in the studio, apart from controlling your room and monitoring system, but is a powerful tool for PA applications, as is the feedback suppressor. For larger PA installations, the delay option means that distant speaker towers can be time-aligned, although I suppose you could use this with feedback from your mixer to provide a nice Shadows guitar echo in a pinch! The main gripes are simple things like the lack of a printed scale around the screen, a working MIDI output, or a direct means of switching programs from the front panel without having to go through edit mode. Nor is there an immediate readout of the currently active patch number — but since this is a software-based system, improvements can be added with later software revisions. Already, manufacturers are considering a MIDI master/slave setup for multi-unit use, while PC-based control software is also under development. Options include Delay 8000 and AES 8000 digital I/O, although from what the manual implies, they are not user installable. Overall, the Ultra-Curve is a very capable processor that brings digital EQ closer to many more recording musicians, live performers and PA operators.