Gear Reviews

REAL-WORLD ASSESSMENTS OF RECORDING EQUIPMENT BY WORKING PROFESSIONALS.

NO. 171 Gear Review

AKG: C151 small diaphragm condenser microphone

REVIEWED BY Geoff Stanfield
April 29, 2026

As part of their new line of very affordable C Series microphones – aimed at both first-time buyers and seasoned engineers who want solid utility mics in the studio – AKG has released the C151. It is a small diaphragm condenser (SDC) microphone that is perfect for all sorts of applications. The...

NO. 171 Gear Review

Vongon: Polyphrase digital delay pedal

REVIEWED BY John Baccigaluppi
April 29, 2026

I'm gonna say right off the bat that I'm not a pedal/stompbox collector, but I'm totally digging this Vongon delay. First off, it's beautifully built and cased in a solid walnut enclosure that looks more like a nice piece of furniture than a pedal, plus the knobs and sliders...

NO. 171 Gear Review

Roland: TR-1000 Rhythm Creator drum machine

April 29, 2026

Drum machines have defined and redefined several genres of popular music for nearly five decades. Many of the most recognizable electronic drum sounds originated in analog units manufactured by Roland in Hamamatsu, Japan. After six years of building pre-programmed models designed to accompany organ...

NO. 171 Gear Review

Roswell Pro Audio: Cab Mic guitar mic

REVIEWED BY Daniel Ryan Morse
April 29, 2026

What’s the best kind of microphone for recording electric guitar? On first glance, this seems like a straightforward question, but dig in a bit and notice the layers of sedimentation. The pat answer is that you position a Shure SM57 or other dynamic mic on the grill cloth, pointed on or near the...

NO. 171 Gear Review

Soyuz: V1 dynamic microphone

REVIEWED BY Chris Koltay
April 29, 2026

The folks at Soyuz have been making noise for the last decade or so and releasing top-quality and extremely functional gear, presenting audio in a way that is both familiar and, dare I say, formally unique. I’ve been a fervent supporter since we crossed paths in the Before Times, and the brand...

NO. 171 Gear Review

IK Multimedia: ARC ON·EAR

REVIEWED BY Scott McDowell
April 29, 2026

ARC ON·EAR is a hybrid headphone amp/DAC with built-in EQ correction for popular professional headphones. Like most audio workers, I do a ton of work while wearing headphones. Spending hours a day critically listening in headphones is a big part of my job. Whether I’m using the old Apple EarPods or...

NO. 171 Gear Review

Earthworks Audio: M23 G2 & M30 G2 reference microphones

REVIEWED BY Geoff Stanfield
April 29, 2026

My studio space sounds pretty good. I have worked toward a balanced listening experience by utilizing space-specific sound treatments such as absorption and diffusion, keeping my monitors decoupled from my desk and their stands, and following all the usual recommendations for treating a room for...

NO. 171 Gear Review

Universal Audio: LUNA 2.0 DAW

REVIEWED BY Dana Gumbiner
April 29, 2026

Universal Audio’s free DAW, LUNA, has a major update that just cleared the launchpad – LUNA 2.0 for both macOS and PC. It includes ARA 2 support, AI-infused instrument detection, and, if you own or purchase the LUNA Pro upgrade, a total of 29 UAD plug-ins, some new third-party ARA and MIDI effects...

NO. 171 Gear Review

Universal Audio: Volt 876 audio interface

REVIEWED BY Dana Gumbiner
April 29, 2026

The 1U rack-mount Universal Audio Volt 876 audio interface is on the bench! The larger cousin to the rest of the affordable Volt interface range, the 876 brings quite a bit of additional fit and function to the family. Notably, the 876 can be used as an ADAT expansion unit and features completely...

NO. 171 Gear Review

Rupert Neve Designs: OptoFET Dual Stage Compressor

REVIEWED BY Adam Kagan
April 29, 2026

For the past two decades, Rupert Neve Designs has delivered a steady stream of innovative and powerful analog audio processors, including the Master Buss Processor [Tape Op#89], the Master Bus Transformer, and the Shelford, Newton, and Portico series. Naturally, my interest was piqued when I heard...

NO. 171 Gear Review

Cranborne Audio: Brick Lane 500 Series compressor

REVIEWED BY Scott McDowell
April 29, 2026

Hey, did you hear that Cranborne Audio just dropped its first compressor? Every single unit this company designs is filled with so much amazing outside-the-box thinking. It’s inspiring. I’ve read about pulse width modulation compressors before, like the Great River PWM-501 [Tape Op #102] or the...

NO. 170 Gear Review

Editors Keys: DAW-specific ASCII keyboards

REVIEWED BY Rich Hardesty
April 29, 2026

Raise your hand if you've spent a considerable amount of time memorizing, or at least creating, your own personalized cheat sheet that catalogs the vast number of keyboard shortcuts for your DAW software of choice. I've had to do it twice: First when learning Steinberg’s Cubase [Tape...

NO. 168 Gear Review

Soundtoys: Space Blender Reverb plug-in

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
April 29, 2026

I love effects that take a sound, morph and modulate it, creating whole new textures. Valhalla's Shimmer [Tape Op#111] plug-in has been a favorite of mine for creating Brian Eno [#85] soundscapes out of almost anything. I'm always on the lookout for any tools that feature various ways to...

NO. 170 Gear Review

Teaching Machines: FuzzBillion fuzz pedal

REVIEWED BY Geoff Stanfield
April 29, 2026

Like Teaching Machines’ first product release, the Wellspring spring reverb [Tape Op#155], their new beast of a product is also jam-packed with features and functionality. FuzzBillion is a fuzz pedal, but that may be the understatement of the year. Though initially it may have been intended to be...

NO. 170 Gear Review

Nordic Audio Labs: NU-24K FET microphone

REVIEWED BY Matt Anderson
April 29, 2026

I generally steer clear of microphones specifically marketed for vocals. Past experiences have taught me that vocal mics are typically not “my thing,” as many in this category tend to be fairly bright and aggressive in the high end. There are obviously exceptions, but I personally prefer a...

NO. 170 Gear Review

Audeze: CRBN2 electrostatic headphones

REVIEWED BY Geoff Stanfield
April 29, 2026

Although I monitor on loudspeakers for mixing, I do spend a significant amount of time doing detail work on headphones, and Audeze’s LCD-Xs [Tape Op#119] have been my first choice for several years now. They provide a fantastic amount of detail, are comfortable, and have been operating without...

NO. 170 Gear Review

Reunion Blues: Expedition instrument cases

REVIEWED BY Corey Reidy
April 29, 2026

I recently had to fly across the country for a recording session, and this time I needed to bring a bass. Normally, I would just use whatever was on hand in the studio, but circumstances demanded otherwise. Excitement for the trip was quickly followed by dread; how was I going to get my bass to a...