As a music recording magazine, certainly one of the aspects of what we do involves recommending and mentioning the tools used in our craft. The variety of recording equipment and range of cost has changed drastically in the decades since Tape Op began, with everything from incredibly affordable computer interfaces to top-of-the-line, over-engineered analog consoles and monitors now available to anyone with $100 or a ready credit card. In the early nineties, when I began doing a lot of home recording, a few of us would chat about what gear we could utilize and what was out there. The choices were minimal, and most paths could be easily defined by budget and the tasks at hand. Not so anymore.