Issue No. 101

Recorders, Software

Pro Tools 11

by Avid  |  reviewed by Eli Crews, Andy Hong, Scott McChane

For many months, contributing writer Eli Crews and Assistant Gear Reviews Editor Scott McChane have been switching back and forth between Pro Tools 11 and Pro Tools 10 [Tape Op #89] for their...

Dynamics, Plug-Ins

Pro-MB plug-in

by FabFilter  |  reviewed by Dave Hidek

It seems like every time that I use a new plug-in from FabFilter, I find myself ceasing to use another similar plug-in that'd I'd been religiously using for years. Such was the case again with...

Software, Tools

Saracon sample-rate conversion software

by Weiss Engineering  |  reviewed by Garrett Haines

Perhaps sample-rate conversion is something you do rarely. On the other hand, if you're like me, you have to juggle multiple projects that need preparation for different destinations and sample-rates....

Amplifiers

S2 stereo amplifier

by SBS Designs  |  reviewed by Brandon Miller

Getting prepped for this review was something of a unique experience. For the first time in five or six years of doing reviews for Tape Op, the founder of a company wanted to speak live over the phone...

Software, Tools

Media Center

by JRiver  |  reviewed by Garrett Haines

I often need to audition audio files or compare different sources. I used to have a generic session in my DAW for this, but that became unmanageable. There were simply too many sample-rates, formats,...

EQs, Plug-Ins

TrackSpacer plug-in

by Wavesfactory  |  reviewed by Eli Crews

This is a simple little plug-in that does one thing extremely well - it gets other stuff out of the way. It does that by employing a unique and elegant method, creating a reverse EQ profile of...

Acoustics

London 12 Room Kit

by Primacoustic  |  reviewed by Scott McChane

Many of us live in the "real world" - a place where we don't always have the resources to select, structurally modify, or build a "perfect" production room within the spaces we rent or own. Nine times...

Monitoring

SCM25A three-way active monitor

by ATC  |  reviewed by Thom Monahan

At its core, recording, like any creative endeavor, is about us making decisions one-by-one, until they all pile up on each other to form something meaningful from the raw material - in our case, the...

Microphones

SOM50 SuperOmni condenser mic

by Ashman Acoustics  |  reviewed by Adam Kagan

In a world of modern mics which are all beginning to look and sound alike, the SOM50 mic stands out from the pack both visually and sonically. Ashman Acoustics, a Seattle based company, is headed by...

Dynamics

Chimera 500-series opto compressor, Send N? Blend 500-series wet/dry bus

by Serpent Audio  |  reviewed by David Hidek

Serpent Audio's Chimera is the first LA-3A clone to fit in a 500-series module, complete with that opto-circuit compression that so famously soothes vocal dynamics or unruly bass lines, or... well,...

Plug-Ins, Software, Virtual Instruments

EZdrummer 2 drum production plug-in

by Toontrack  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

Back in the '80s, when we needed a beat and didn't have a drummer present, we used to have analog and digital drum machines to keep time. They were rarely confused with real drums, but some had a...

Dynamics, EQs, Mic Preamps

RC 500 channel strip

by Presonus  |  reviewed by Joseph Lemmer

The RC 500 is a 1RU-height, rackmount, solid-state channel strip, with a mic/line/instrument preamp that routes to a FET VCA-based compressor followed by a three-band semi-parametric EQ. The EQ and...

Dynamics

Comp 500 VCA compressor (500-series)

by Daking  |  reviewed by Geoff Stanfield

I just got a new knife. It's Japanese, ceramic. I can use it for damn near everything I need to prep and cook a meal. I have other knives - boning, chef, serrated. So why do I use my new one for just...

Amplifiers

DarkHorse 15H guitar amp, DarkHorse X12 speaker cabinet

by Traynor  |  reviewed by Scott Evans

Maybe it's love for the underdog, but I dig Traynor amps. When I play music instead of recording it, my main amp is a big-ass '70s Traynor Mark 3 - a Twin-style circuit with EL34s. It's an oddball...

Dynamics

Channel Compressor (500-series)

by AwTAC  |  reviewed by Chris Garges

AwTAC (Awesome Transistor Amplifier Company) of New York is quickly proving itself as a manufacturer with high standards. Since the introduction of its Channel Amplifier [Tape Op #93] three years ago...

Interfaces

Apollo Twin audio interface w/ UAD-2 DUO DSP

by Universal Audio  |  reviewed by Dana Gumbiner

I've been slowly building up to a realization that my older FireWire interface and I have to break up. We've been a good couple. At first, she was clearly too good for me, what with her classy 96...

Mic Preamps

Radial PowerTube 500-series mic preamp

by Radial Engineering  |  reviewed by Will Severin

I have always been a fan of Radial's direct boxes and have gotten plenty of use out of their JD4 rackmount DI over the years, so I was excited to record some tracks with their latest 500-series unit....

Consoles/Summing, Dynamics, Mic Preamps

The Box analog project console

by API Audio  |  reviewed by Scott McChane

Hybrid mixing is here to stay. (Required reading: "What is Stem Mixing?" [Tape Op #87]) This may explain why our friends at API Audio, with their rich history in analog gear, have "thrown-in" to the...