Purchasing headphones and headphone mixing systems is not among the funnest parts of building and running a studio, but it is one of the most essential. If the artists recording can’t hear themselves, it’s not likely you’re going to get a good take, no matter what vintage mic and esoteric mic...
These speakers would be remarkable if they were several times their size. But given that they're relatively tiny, with a single 5.5-inch ceramic-matrix mid-woofer and a 2-inch Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter, they're unbelievable. They have the extension and dynamics of a big...
We live in a portable world. With entire studios in our laptops and backpacks, every room – even the back seat of an Uber – has become a workspace. The main problem point now is monitoring. Headphones provide accurate monitoring on the go, but speakers in a well-tuned room remain the gold standard...
For years, the Sony MDR-7506 headphones were in studios everywhere. I found them to be incredibly bright, but many of my friends used them regularly and loved them. I will say that I still own a pair, and even though the ear pads are a crumbly mess, they are operational and sound the same as they...
My first digital reverb was a used Alesis MidiVerb II in the late ’80s. I'd previously built a Radio Shack echo kit, messed around with spring reverb tanks, and owned analog and digital delay stompboxes, but I wanted those cascading, long reverbs and gated drums I'd heard on then-current...
Since 2003, I've relied on a Furman HDS-6 headphone distribution amplifier and HR-6 personal mixers [Tape Op#38] for artists' monitoring. All the bands that I recorded in my Boston studio were happy creating their own headphone mixes on the HR-6, with its four mono and one stereo...
In my experience, microphones either feel like tools or they feel like instruments. Tools get the job done. Instruments make you want to work. When the Monheim Crème and Crème XL arrived at my studio, it was clear pretty quickly which category they belonged to.
Monheim isn’t a mass-production...
My professional life includes tuning acoustics and monitoring systems for both commercial and independent studios at every price point. The workflow always starts with acoustic treatment and monitoring geometry. The final step, and the icing on the cake, is electronic monitor calibration. This...
Like many a reader, I am a full-on guitar tone junkie and audio nerd. I'll discuss amps, pedals, speakers, room acoustics, mic choices, and more with anyone. I’m fascinated by details such as the sag and feel of different amp power sections, the tonal role of an output transformer, and the way...
Shure first introduced its KSM line of studio condenser mics in 1998 with the showing of the KSM32 at the AES show; this was quite a departure from what was the company’s bread and butter for multiple decades – the SM57/58 (and the later Beta variants) were arguably the most common...
Incorporating guitar pedals into studio workflows has become increasingly popular lately. I’ve seen everyone from Walrus Audio collaborating with Aaron Sterling to Chandler offering inserts specifically for guitar pedals in their new REDD Mixing System. Needless to say, everyone’s quickly catching...
Farther back in time than I’d like to admit (or can believe), I was the president of my college’s Audio Engineering Society chapter. During one lucky semester, we were able to make a trip to the AES Convention being held in Los Angeles. In the process, we were fortunate enough to tour a handful of...
Royer Labs has been making quality ribbon mics for decades. They are no-compromise products that meet the demands of everyday use. The newer R-12 is a phantom-powered ribbon microphone that features the same 2.5 micron ribbon element as the R-121 [Tape Op #19]. It handles high SPL (160 dB at 1...
AKG has just released a new line of microphones that are aimed at the first-time mic buyer. You may ask yourself: Would these mics stand up to daily use by an experienced engineer in a professional-level studio? Absolutely yes. I really don’t care how much a microphone costs, and I certainly...
As an independent audio engineer who likes to have access to my projects wherever I am, headphones have become an essential part of my workflow, especially when I’m traveling or working outside of a traditional studio. They give me flexibility to check mixes in different environments, catch details...
I feel very lucky to be in the type of community where friends will sometimes contact me and say, “Hey, I have this cool thing I’ve been borrowing that you should hear. A buddy made it, but it’s actually really good!” That community is the New York Hudson Valley producer/engineer network, and in...
We’re already big fans of Josephson microphones at the studio where I work, Tiny Telephone. We have the C725 tube mic, the C700A, and four e22S mics that get constant use. Most of our collection is vintage; the Josephsons are among the few newer mics we’ve added over the years. It’s easy to get...
Do you get sent folders full of audio files from other recordists to mix? If you do, I'll bet there are frequently stereo audio files in there that are actually mono. Apple's Logic DAW seems to be the worst culprit, organizing sessions in an "always stereo" way that confounds...
Something that I look for when I select microphones is the translation from what I’m hearing in the room to what I am hoping to hear come out of the speakers when playback begins. It’s the challenge of being a recordist. It’s chasing a sound that my ears call “done” or “right.” I am constantly...