The M300 is a really nice unit with a useful range of good-quality effects and pragmatic flexibility, but its key strength is its immediacy. TC Electronic have managed to invent a user interface that does exactly what you want without you having to squint at nested menus on LCD screens.

For the stage musician, live sound engineer, or theatre sound balancer the M300 is a godsend, providing no-fuss, immediate control of every effect parameter, with a good range of decent effects and reverbs. The inclusion of a simple preset facility adds to the functionality and ease of use in choreographed performances, yet retains the facility to simply reach out and change a parameter if required.

For the recording musician or studio engineer, the pure immediacy of control will, in many cases, outweigh the relative lack of adjustable parameters. After all, who really tweaks all the variables in most multi-effects unit's algorithms? TC Electronic have provided the most important and significant parameters on knobs, and everything else is preset within the algorithm to provide a good, 'usable straight from the box' sound.

I recently acquired an M*One XL to serve as a general-purpose second reverb and multi-effects unit in my own studio, so impressed was I with its performance during a recent review. It inevitably formed a basis for comparison with the M300, despite the latter retailing at almost half the UK price. I found the multi-effects algorithms were virtually identical at their default settings, and although the M*One provides a wealth of adjustable parameters, the M300 compensates with a wider variety of preset starting points. For example, the M*One doesn't have a 'Tape Delay' algorithm, but it is easy to create the effect with careful manipulation of high cut, delay, and feedback parameters. The Dynamic Delay functionality is completely absent from the M*One though, and this is definitely a feather in the cap of the M300. Comparing reverb algorithms created a similar impression of near equality, although I think the M*One was the smoother and more detailed of the two by a small margin. Once again, the lack of adjustable parameters was more than compensated for by a greater number of starting presets in the M300.

The bottom line is that this is an extremely competent, well-designed machine, packing a lot of professional features, I/O flexibility, and excellent sound quality into a really compact, easy-to-use, effects processor. It is ideal for any kind of live sound application where immediate controllability is essential. It would also serve as a great first step on the ladder for a home studio novice, and is unlikely ever to be outgrown. As a second, general-purpose multi-effects and reverb unit, it would be hard to find a more cost-effective machine, and its operational immediacy makes it really fun to use and to experiment with creatively. Highly recommended.