Gear Reviews

REAL-WORLD ASSESSMENTS OF RECORDING EQUIPMENT BY WORKING PROFESSIONALS.

NO. 170 Gear Review

Earthquaker Devices: Easy Listening amp sim pedal

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
June 9, 2026

Years ago, I was advising a band on how to track their gothic metal home recording project. They were using several "housemate-friendly" techniques, such as electronic drum pads to capture the percussion patterns and DI'd electric guitars into amp simulator plug-ins. After checking...

NO. 170 Gear Review

Sony: WH-1000XM6 closed-back headphones

REVIEWED BY Geoff Stanfield
June 9, 2026

Headphones are a very personal choice – different heads, different ears – some like them hefty, some like them light. I know people who love certain headphones that are not a good match for me personally, and some of my favorites are unloved by people whose ears and opinions I respect. Another...

NO. 170 Gear Review

Useful Arts: BF-700 bass amp/preamp/DI

REVIEWED BY John Baccigaluppi
June 9, 2026

I don’t love dealing with bass amps in the studio, and often prefer to run the bass guitar direct. However, many engineers and artists disagree with that approach and prefer to mic up an amp. To that end, we have a vintage Ampeg SVT head at Panoramic Studios for folks who want to use an amp for...

NO. 169 Gear Review

FLEA Microphones: FLEA M 251 FET condenser mic

REVIEWED BY Danielle Goldsmith
June 9, 2026

Hailing from Slovakia, FLEA Microphones has built a well-deserved reputation in classic vintage mic reproductions for over 20 years. They’ve tackled reinterpretations of iconic tube mics such as the AKG C12, the Neumann U 47, U 49, and M 49, and recently the renowned Telefunken ELA M 251. FLEA has...

NO. 169 Gear Review

Focusrite: RedNet TNX Dante interface

REVIEWED BY Don Gunn
June 9, 2026

Focusrite has had a firm foothold in the growing world of Dante-networked hardware for several years, and one of the cornerstones of their RedNet products has been the PCIeNX card, designed for use with tower computers or expansion enclosures. With many studios and artists now using desktop or...

NO. 169 Gear Review

Hamptone: HOC500 500 Series compressor

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
June 9, 2026

The HOC500 is labeled as a "parallel opto compressor," and is a cousin to Hamptone's HOC1 half-rack version [Tape Op#100]. Adapted for a 500 Series chassis, there's a lot less room for controls, so a unique feature set has been adapted here. A pair of house-made opto cells are...

NO. 169 Gear Review

plunk: plunk guitar bridge damper

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
June 9, 2026

What is plunk? It's simply a piece of grooved rubber that fits on 6-string guitars right next to the bridge, damping the strings' sustain significantly. Inspired by the Reuben Cox (Old Style Guitar Shop, Los Angeles) rubber bridge guitars that are all the rage (Phoebe Bridgers, Blake...

NO. 169 Gear Review

Sherman: Filterbank 2 dual analog filter

June 9, 2026

In late 1996, I heard the “Setting Sun” radio single (featuring Noel Gallagher) by The Chemical Brothers. The sound was so unexpected and bombastic that it felt like the opening salvo of a pop revolution. My knowledge of synth-based music at that time ran fairly deep, encompassing genres from dance...

NO. 169 Gear Review

Wolff Audio: ProPatch patchbay

REVIEWED BY Eli Crews
June 9, 2026

Over the past several decades, many of our most essential tools from the analog era have either adapted to give us more flexibility, recallability, and automation, or been replaced by digital versions in which these features are much easier to implement (and now come standard). One holdout, until...

NO. 169 Gear Review

PSI Audio : A226-MAIN active monitors

REVIEWED BY Andy Hong
June 9, 2026

These are the most accurate speakers I’ve heard. Listening to them, especially for extended periods of time, is truly a revelation. I was lucky enough to host the public unveiling of this model during the opening party for my new home studio in Nashville. Earlier in the week, Roger Roschnik and...

NO. 169 Gear Review

Eternal Research: Demon Box audio processor

REVIEWED BY Dana Gumbiner
June 9, 2026

Okay, my studio might need an exorcist now. We're testing out the Demon Box, an odd analog/digital hybrid instrument/controller/listening device that translates EMF (electromagnetic fields) into audio, MIDI, and control voltage (CV) signals. It's the first commercial product from...

NO. 169 Gear Review

Freqport: FreqInOut FO1 hardware interface

REVIEWED BY Matt Anderson
June 9, 2026

I made a few huge decisions and changes to my studio this year, which involved selling almost everything in my control room and starting from scratch. I needed a very specific, specialized recording interface for my needs. Because I was already massively over budget, I was going to have to wait...

NO. 169 Gear Review

Grace Design: m701 audio interface

REVIEWED BY Don Gunn
June 9, 2026

I’m a fanboy of Grace Design's gear, so when they announced the m701 interface at the NAMM Show in January, I immediately got in touch with Michael and Eben Grace to ask if I might be able to review it when it became available. Now that I’ve had a beta unit here in my studio for a few months...

NO. 168 Gear Review

Soundtoys: Space Blender Reverb plug-in

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
June 9, 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. 168 Gear Review

Creation Audio Labs: Clean Boost Pedal

June 9, 2026

With an extensive background as the lead tech for a pro audio retailer and the service manager for a console manufacturer, Alex “Skip” Welti founded Creation Audio Labs in 2003. He began working as a mobile tech for studios around Nashville, repairing everything from consoles to guitar amps in his...