Electronic Musician have a very interesting article up comparing real guitar amps versus their software pretenders. Basically, they got a few classic amps in a studio and knocked up their equivalent patches in a few different software amp sims, before presenting the lot in a blind test to a few ‘name’ producers. The results are interesting, the take-home message of which is it is pretty much impossible to reliably distinguish an amp sim from the real thing. In addition, even if you spot it the amp sim may give you a ‘better’ or more useable sound, not to mention all the benefits of total recall and all that jazz. If you’re not convinced, check out the listening test and see if you can spot the real amp. The experiment is described here, and you can check out some discussion about the results in a video.
The audio gear industry is chock-full of opinion and ‘wisdom’ rarely based on hard evidence. This kind of testing really appeals to the scientist in me, as did the Focusrite Liquid Mix Challenge. At the end of the day if it sounds good it is good, whether it’s vintage valves or the latest DSP, and you should always be open to having your preconceptions challenged.
Native Instruments have announced the release of 
In what must surely sound the death knell for Digital Rights Management as we know it, Apple have 
for the first time over Christmas. They boast 4 million tracks in 256Kbps MP3 format, with no DRM or bulky client software to install (there is a small download helper app which seems harmless enough), and my experience of the whole buying process was very smooth. I am very much enjoying 
too - a lesson in music production parody!