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Gear Reviews
Alloy plug-in
I've been hesitant to write this review, as I'd prefer that no one else know about iZotope's Alloy but me. Being a long time iZotope fan, I was excited to work with their new do-it-all plug-in, and it didn't disappoint. Alloy, like its name suggests, is a conglomerate of several sound-shaping...
Gear Reviews
EQSM1 500-series EQ
Even though the format has been around for decades, there has been an explosion of products in the last few years produced for the 500-series format. About the only thing that hasn't been shoved into one is a pair of nearfield monitors. This popularity is a good thing, because it means that you can...
Gear Reviews
Max for Live
Cycling '74 and Ableton have introduced a fascinating new version of the Max programming environment tailored specifically for instrument and effect creation within Live (Tape Op #72). Max/MSP and its video-oriented cousin Jitter have long been the go-to object-based programming environments for a...
Gear Reviews
MC Mix, MC Control, and MC Transport
Whether to work with a control surface or not is a personal decision. If you do prefer to have faders, knobs and buttons under hand, the one thing we will all agree on is that the integration between the surface and the software is the key ingredient. Tight integration is why we still have...
Gear Reviews
Mellodrama: The Mellotron Movie
I would imagine most of our readers are familiar with the Mellotron, a tape-playing keyboard that became popular in the late '60s on songs like The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever." Ms. Dilworth took on the task of creating a video documentary of this curious device, from its origin as the...
Gear Reviews
PT2-500 mic preamp
New at the 500-series lunchbox cafe this week is the PT2-500. TRUE Systems' Tim Spencer has managed to take the clean, full sound of his P2analog (Tape Op #44), create an even more full-bodied, high-resolution mic preamp/DI with his new "Type-2" circuit design, and shrink it down to fit into one...
Gear Reviews
SRH840 headphones
Shure just launched its first line of headphones aimed specifically at music-making applications -the SRH series. The idea's been to fill a growing demand for pro-level gear by an audience that's breaking from the norm. Improvements in the performance of software and the chaos of the music industry...
Gear Reviews
Studio One Pro 1.0.2
My primary music DAW is now Studio One Pro. When I first saw the advertisement for it, I thought, "That looks cool, but not cool enough to spend the time learning a new DAW. My DAW's working fine." I am really glad that Tape Op gave me the opportunity to review it, because I don't think I would've...
Gear Reviews
TT/DB25 patchbay & cabling
With ubiquitous products like Digidesign's converters (now Avid) having adopted the balanced 8-channel DB25 connector as standard, these jacks have found their way onto all kinds of pro gear. There are two standard pin-outs for DB25 wiring: Yamaha, which is typical for digital connections; and the...
Gear Reviews
UAD-2 Powered Plug-Ins
When I recently wiped the system disk of my primary music computer to replace Windows XP Pro with Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, I installed only the applications that I knew I'd be using regularly. Similarly, I didn't bother adding any plug-ins or accessories that I didn't find essential to my own...