Issue No. 35

Instruments

Variax modeling guitar

by Line 6  |  reviewed by Pete Weiss

Love it or hate it, the Pod by Line 6 is here to stay. And now it's got a companion, the Variax modeling guitar. Just as the Pod was intended to replace a warehouse full of amps and effects, the...

Direct Boxes

M-80 Bass D.I. +, Limiter pedal

by MXR  |  reviewed by Scott Craggs

Something old, something new from MXR. New first. When I was shopping for an affordable bass DI, I was intending to pick up the Sansamp on Larry's recommendation in these pages long ago, but somehow I...

Direct Boxes

Tube Amplified Direct Box

by Valvotronics  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

If you didn't know, musician-wise I'm primarily a bass player. As a bass player, I have always been somewhat unhappy with the sound of my bass when recorded. I've accumulated a stack of moderately...

Effects

Lo-Fi Loop Junky stompbox

by Z.Vex  |  reviewed by Geoff Farina

For a recent project, I needed to find a portable replacement for my delicate Roland RE-150 Space Echo that I was reticent to trust in the hands of Air France. A few hours at various music stores...

Software, Virtual Instruments

Live 2 Real-Time Audio Sequencing Instrument

by Ableton  |  reviewed by Chachi Jones

Sometimes the best way to make a new song is to just mess around, dive-in headlong, and improvise until something you like starts to take shape. In other words, jam. Jamming is a fundamental...

Dynamics, EQs, Mic Preamps

6176 Channel Strip

by Universal Audio  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

What do you get when you combine the UA 610B tube mic preamp and the 1176LN compressor? The 6176, of course. Beyond the mic pre and compressor, the 610 section also boasts simple low and high shelf...

Microphones

C 1000 S microphone

by AKG  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

With fellow engineer Scott Craggs giving away all his secrets in the MXR review, I figured I should come clean and give away one of my recording secrets too. My all-time favorite guitar amp microphone...

Microphones

D-2 Microphone

by Audix  |  reviewed by Eric Broyhill

Since drummers are always destroying tom mics, it's not uncommon that the necessity to try something new on the toms arises. This time it was a Sennheiser 421 that was destroyed and an Audix D-2 that...

Health

Doc?s Proplugs ear protectors

by International Aquatic Trades  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

If you've read my past reviews about hearing protectors and noise-canceling headphones, you know that I'm careful with my ears. A few months ago, I discovered an ear protection system that was...

Amplifiers, Consoles/Summing

Dangerous 2-BUS

by Dangerous Music  |  reviewed by Joe Chiccarelli

Mixing out of the Box, Part 1: High End Mixer Shootout In recent months, there's been a bunch of talk on the various online forums about mixing digital audio tracks within your DAW vs. through an...

Effects, Instruments

Evolver

by DaveSmithInstruments  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

Having cut my teeth on a big Buchla modular synth back in my college days, I have always wanted to put a modular analog synth into my control room. Two things kept me from doing this: space and money....

Monitoring

M3A DAW Monitor

by Coleman Audio  |  reviewed by Mike Jasper

Like many small studio owners, I don't use a true mixing board. Instead, I use the Pro Tools virtual mixer along with a MotorMix digital mixer worksurface attached to the MIDI ins and outs of a Digi...

Dynamics

ADL 670 stereo tube limiter

by AnthonyDeMariaLabs  |  reviewed by Pete Weiss

Crazy as it sounds, well-financed producers, engineers, and studio owners have for years been willing to pay upwards of $30,000 for a genuine Fairchild 670 stereo compressor. These back (and bank)...

Mic Preamps

N72 mic preamp

by Seventh Circle Audio  |  reviewed by Collin Dupuis

I recently had the opportunity to check out the Seventh Circle Audio N72 mic preamp with the CH01 chassis and PS01 power supply. The N72 is available fully assembled or in various kit forms. With the...

Consoles/Summing, Mic Preamps

MP20 Two-Channel Mic Preamp w/ Stereo Bus

by PreSonus  |  reviewed by Garrett Haines

The PreSonus MP20 is a microphone and instrument preamp consisting of dual Class A discrete input buffers followed by a dual-servo gain stage. This design translates into a low-noise, high-gain box....

Monitoring

TR8 Tuned Reference biamped monitor

by Event Electronics  |  reviewed by Eric Tischler

Two or three years ago, I read a review of Event's 20/20 monitors in this very magazine and promptly bought a pair. (I had been using a pair of Infinity home stereo speakers, not entirely...