Summary - Audio quality is generally good. There is a little in the way of noise in places, described by the producers as "The sound of the engine", described by everyone else as noise or hum. Noise is easy enough to add without leaving it in, I like samples to be as clean as possible unless it's a part of the sample and I don't suspect I'm alone. There isn't a lot of effecting of the samples, there is some here and there but not too much. Also the whole CD sounds a little flat to my ears, processing the loops through an exciter/finaliser wouldn't hurt for sure.

Technopolis one feels hasn't aged well, whilst most sample CD's are fairly timeless, ones that tie in tight to a specific genre are most likely to be effected by time. Even when Technopolis was released in 1995 techno was passed it's popular stage per se of around the early 90's. So a few years later on and the time element becomes even more of a factor. Add to that a rather mild and uninspiring collection of loops and sounds and we're not left with a winning combination.

It's not so much that there is anything so bad about Technopolis, it's more when you compare it against some of the competition, it doesn't stand up too well. Of course if you are looking to make bone fide techno type tracks then you are going to find some useful material here, albeit generally rather tame, but certainly elements that you could use. One use I thought would be ideal, maybe not fairly, is the incidental music in technology/computer TV shows. Uptempo and dance like, but without being too prominent.

The other downside to the collection is that too often a sample would come along and it's "mmm" next please, just too anonymous, or sounding like a sound doodle rather than something you would want to add to your track or inspire you. There is some good material in here for sure, but nothing I'd call excellent, and too much "mmm". You would certainly need to do a little digging and work to get the most out of the collection.

Unless your a die hard techno fan or you can get this on sale price it's difficult to recommend Technopolis without you having the chance to audition the CD for yourself first.

Overall - Value for money 8/10 - Usability 6/10 - Documentation 9/10 - Sonic Quality 5/10. For die hard techno fans only - 5.5/10

Points Scoring Explained