JULY 16, 2025 INTERVIEWS
James Demeter: Behind the Gear with Demeter Amps
Since the early '80s James Demeter has been promoting the use of tubes in pro audio, and in his excellent amps as well.
Interviews
Interviews
Interviews
MORE FROM THIS ISSUE
JULY 16, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Kim Rosen: of Knack Mastering
Kim Rosen built up her mastering skills and reputation at West West Side Music, before branching off in 2009 to set up her own Knack Mastering in Ringwood, NJ. Since going out on her own, she' s worked with Title Fight, Sarah Jaffe, Jeff Bridges, Braid, The Barr Brothers, Bettye LaVette, Basko Believes, a vinyl remaster for Superdrag's Headtrip in Every Key and even a Johnny Cash remake of " Bitter Tears".
JULY 16, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Kyle & Jason Lehning: Waylon Jennings, Randy Travis, Kenny Rogers, George Jones
Kyle Lehning's recording and production career is one to be reckoned with, featuring artists like Waylon Jennings, Randy Travis, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Kenny Rogers, and George Jones, plus a stint running Asylum Records in Nashville. His son, Jason Lehning, caught the bug early on and has worked steadily as an engineer, producer, musician, and songwriter. I caught up with the two of them at Kyle's studio, The Compound, located behind his home in Nashville. You couldn't ask to hang out with nicer folks, and the amount of experience they bring to the table is staggering.
JULY 16, 2025 INTERVIEWS
More Dialogue with Gary Paczosa: Alison Krauss, Nickel Creek, Dolly Parton
Establishing himself as one of Nashville's top engineers and producers, Gary has worked with Nickel Creek, Alison Krauss, Sarah Jarosz, Harry Connick Jr., John Prine, and even Dolly Parton. He is also VP of A&R at Sugar Hill/Rounder Music Records. I visited Gary at his private studio and home that previously belonged to Alison Krauss. In fact, Gary even helped design the studio for her.
COLUMNS
GEAR REVIEWS
Gear Reviews
+10db Compressor & EQ plug-in bundle
I'm a fan of compressors that bring something to the table other than transparency, so I've had an eye on the legendary ADR F769X-R Vocal Stressor, an early outboard "channel strip" incorporating the Compex compressor alongside an EQ, for quite some time. When Boz Digital Labs announced that they...
Gear Reviews
ADR Compex F760X-RS dynamics processor
I've been thinking a lot lately about how we evolve as engineers, and in a way, it's my favorite part of the job. You wake up one day and realize you are doing something totally differently, like the day I realized I'd stopped obsessively fighting phase issues between bass DI and mic signal. In...
Gear Reviews
AN-16/i v.2 Input Module
It has always been a priority for me to provide the ability for each member of a band to dial in her or his own headphone mix during a tracking or overdub session. It was essential to me when building my first studio nearly 15 years ago, and the long-discontinued Oz Audio Q-Mix HM-6 boxes [Tape Op...
Gear Reviews
ASP880 8-channel mic preamp & ADC
I first came across the ASP880 when I was looking to expand my mic preamp inputs for an upcoming recording project. I was looking for a multichannel preamp unit to augment my collection without breaking the bank. I found many of the usual suspects (e.g., API, Daking, TRUE Systems, etc.) too...
Gear Reviews
ATH-R70x open-back reference headphone
I love this new model from Audio-Technica's growing line of professional studio headphones. It features open-back earcups housing proprietary 45 mm drivers, and a unique headband with spring-loaded "wings" that self-adjust the fit. It's by far the lightest and most comfortable circumaural headphone...
Gear Reviews
AudioBox Stereo bundles
I'm always impressed with the sheer value that PreSonus is able to offer across its product lines. For decades, the company has been selling affordable audio gear and software, while still managing to include features and deliver sound quality beyond what you'd expect for the price. Take for...
Gear Reviews
Cassette tape splicing block
Many of us remember the days of cassette-based 4-track machines. Likewise, we can recall the days of receiving mixtapes on actual cassette tapes, not over email. I have found that the problem with playing old cassettes is usually mechanical in nature - crinkled tape, broken tape, or the worst-case...
Gear Reviews
d:dicate ST2011A stereo cardioid mic kit
When I was in school at the University of Michigan, I did a lot of recital recording of ensembles and piano. Through this, I learned that all the orchestra recording was done with DPA mics (marketed under the Brüel & Kjær brand), which were apparently the best of the best. So I was excited to test...
Gear Reviews
Komplete Kontrol S49 keyboard
You guys, my home studio now sounds like the Blade Runner soundtrack, and looks like the set of TRON. And, what? There are Ks where all the Cs should be! Wait — lemme explain. Native Instruments sent us their latest MIDI controller keyboard to test, the Kontrol S-series, along with the latest...
Gear Reviews
Lineage 8-channel mic preamp
I haven't spent any time on a Harrison console, but I do know that many important albums and films were recorded or mixed on Harrison consoles over the decades, and company founder Dave Harrison kickstarted his console-designing career with the MCI JH-400 series, the first production desks with an...
Gear Reviews
Reference 3 speaker & headphone calibration software
It goes without saying that our studio monitors, be they speakers or headphones, influence the sound of our productions more than any other processor, instrument, or device. Recently, the technologies of speaker system design and advanced materials have allowed manufacturers to produce accurate...
Gear Reviews
SM9 active studio monitor
The quest for the right studio monitor can be long and frustrating. Or, the first pair you audition can instantly become the pair you know and trust, allowing you to do your best work right from the get-go. Focal Professional's flagship French-made SM9 monitor was the latter for me — and for...
Gear Reviews
StereoMonoizer software
One of my biggest frustrations as a mixer is importing audio files from a client and finding 160 stereo audio tracks have been created in my DAW. Most of the time, I'll figure out that the bulk of the stereo tracks delivered to me do not actually contain any stereo information but are, in fact,...
Gear Reviews
Two18 studio monitors
A few months ago, I took on a project that pushed me into the dreaded realm of needing new studio monitors. After about ten years of using a pair of Behringer Truth B2031A passive monitors (don't turn up your nose or ears until you try them; they blew away all similarly-sized speakers I tried until...
Gear Reviews
U 47 fet condenser mic (reissue)
The U 47 fet reissue from Neumann is a faithful recreation of the solid-state version of the U 47 manufactured from 1972 to 1986. It has a fixed cardioid polar pattern and employs a K 47 capsule and the same head grill and nickel finish as the original U 47 fet, as well as the classic Neumann badge...