Gear Reviews

REAL-WORLD ASSESSMENTS OF RECORDING EQUIPMENT BY WORKING PROFESSIONALS.

  • NO. 165

    Cranborne Audio: Carnaby HE2 EQ

    REVIEWED BY Scott McDowell

    The two-channel Carnaby HE2 is the new flagship version of the Carnaby Harmonic EQ® designed by Cranborne Audio. What do I mean when I say, “Harmonic EQ?” It operates like a multi-band saturator that presents as a 3-band EQ strip. It’s obviously helpful to think of it as an EQ, but it functions...

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  • NO. 165

    Chase Bliss: Clean Stereo Compressor Pedal

    REVIEWED BY Dana Gumbiner

    Chase Bliss’ latest original pedal design, Clean, delivers an all-analog, two-stage stereo "creative compressor." I've been obsessing over pedals as creative outboard tools for some time, using them in a dedicated setup with the Radial EXTC-Stereo [Tape Op#146] effects re-amper...

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  • NO. 165

    Solid State Logic: 2+ MKII Interface

    REVIEWED BY John Baccigaluppi

    Though there are many two-channel computer DAW interfaces on the market, I’m often a bit stymied when friends call and say they need a decent, affordable unit for themselves or for their kid just getting into recording. After using the Solid State Logic 2+ MKII, that question is much easier for me...

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  • NO. 165

    Serato: Hex FX Multi-FX Plug-In

    REVIEWED BY Geoff Stanfield

    Hex FX from Serato is a virtual multi-effects rack that works as an AU or VST3 plug-in and is compatible with Serato Studio, Ableton Live [Tape Op#160], Apple Logic Pro [#74], Native Instruments Maschine, and FL Studio. It can also be used with Pro Tools via a conversion “wrapper” plug-in, such as...

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  • NO. 165

    Universal Audio: Topline Vocal Suite Plug-In

    REVIEWED BY Daniel Ryan Morse

    Universal Audio’s Topline Vocal Suite offers an entire vocal chain’s worth of UAD analog effects in a single Native plug-in. Rather than overwhelm you with options, Topline divides its eight individual effects into three helpful sections: Tuner & Shift; Channel Strip; and Modulation, Delay,...

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  • NO. 165

    Malcolm Toft: EQUATE 8-Channel EQ

    REVIEWED BY Brian Tarquin

    Being a loyal Trident console user, I jumped at the chance to review Malcolm Toft’s [Tape Op#26, #165 online] new EQUATE: Eight channels of six-band EQ in a three-space rack unit built in the UK. Malcolm has been in the audio recording industry as a gear designer, an engineer, and even a professor...

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  • NO. 165

    Groove Synthesis: 3rd Wave Synthesizer

    REVIEWED BY John Baccigaluppi

    If you are a synthesist, we currently live in a golden age of instrument design. The original “East Coast” and “West Coast” analog synth designs that were supplanted in the mid-‘80s by digital synthesizers have evolved into a huge palette of options to consider when shopping for (or designing) a...

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  • NO. 165

    Earthworks Audio: DK6 6-Piece Drum Mic Kit

    REVIEWED BY Geoff Stanfield

    Earthworks Audio has been known for its quality mics for decades, and they are my first choice for clean capture of sources without hype. I have always found them to be natural and detailed sounding, and I use them frequently for acoustic instruments such as drums, acoustic guitars, and woodwinds....

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  • NO. 165

    AKG: P420 Microphone

    REVIEWED BY Geoff Stanfield

    I have a list of microphones that I recommend for people looking for good quality that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Most of these people are hobbyists, making home recordings for themselves or dipping their toes into the wild waters of recording. My go-to list includes mics from Audio-Technica,...

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  • NO. 165

    ADAM Audio: D3V Active Monitors

    REVIEWED BY John Baccigaluppi

    For over a decade, I’ve been using a pair of Tascam VL-M3 [Tape Op#77] monitors with my Universal Audio Apollo Twin [#101] interface for in the box editing and overdubbing in my small home office studio space. They’ve served me well, sounding better than built-in computer speakers or cheap consumer...

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  • NO. 165

    Universal Audio: UAFX ANTI & Enigmatic Amp Pedals; UAFX Control App

    REVIEWED BY Corey Reidy

    In Tape Op #159, we published an overview of the UAFX Pedal line. This summer, the UAFX Amp pedal line expanded with two new models: the ANTI 1992 High Gain, and the Enigmatic’82 Overdrive Special. Though their form, physical size, rear panel, and connectivity options are similar to the Lion ’68...

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  • NO. 165

    Adam Moss, author: The Work of Art (book)

    REVIEWED BY John Baccigaluppi

    Subtitled “How Something Comes From Nothing,” this heavy, beautifully designed and written, 423-page book explores the “celebration of the art that happens when instinct meets rigor.” Author Moss interviews 43 creative folks, ranging from visual artists, filmmakers, and musicians to playwrights,...

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  • NO. 165

    Ferrofish: Pulse 16 MX Converter

    REVIEWED BY Geoff Stanfield

    Recently, I’ve been working on streamlining my studio setup, and part of that plan was to ditch my patchbays and integrate all of my beloved analog gear via hardware inserts. I don’t run a commercial studio (I’m the sole engineer), so my main goal is to simplify my personal workflow. I have an...

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  • NO. 165

    Grace Design: m303 Active DI

    REVIEWED BY Danielle Goldsmith

    Whether working in a live venue, a professional studio, or at home, every recordist knows the importance of having a reliable DI unit. I use a DI on almost every session, so I was excited for the opportunity to try the Grace Design m303. As soon as I took it out of the box, I noticed its solid,...

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  • NO. 165

    Expressive E: Osmose Synth/MPE Controller

    REVIEWED BY John Baccigaluppi

    I have seen the future, and it is this instrument. In an industry that overuses terms like “revolutionary” and “game changer,” Expressive E’s Osmose is an amazing new instrument with an extremely elegant and refined culmination of over 40 years of research into sound synthesis and electronic...

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  • NO. 165

    Elysia: Xpector Dual Headphone Amp

    REVIEWED BY Adam Kagan

    Like many, I’ve grown increasingly comfortable working on headphones ever since the COVID lockdown – to the point that even when mixing and mastering commercial projects in my studio, I often spend long stretches working exclusively on headphones. Because of this, I’ve become quite critical of both...

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  • NO. 165

    Black Salt Audio: Silencer Drum Gate Plug-In

    REVIEWED BY Larry Crane

    Subtitled “Where cymbals go to die,” Silencer is a plug-in that claims to remove drum bleed on the individual tracks of a drum set recorded live, a problem I frequently deal with while mixing. I hate resorting to drum samples and would prefer to use the real drum tracks sent to me for mixing, but...

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  • NO. 165

    Serato: Hex FX Multi-Effects Plug-In

    REVIEWED BY Geoff Stanfield

    Hex FX from Serato is a virtual multi-effects rack that works as an AU or VST3 plug-in and is compatible with Serato Studio, Ableton Live [Tape Op#160], Apple Logic Pro [#74], Native Instruments Maschine, and FL Studio. It can also be used with Pro Tools via a conversion “wrapper” plug-in, such as...

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  • NO. 164

    Universal Audio: UAD Lion ‘68, Ruby ‘63, & Dream ‘65 Guitar Amp Plug-Ins

    REVIEWED BY Corey Reidy

    In an effort to cover all of the bases, Universal Audio has taken some of their ever growing and uber useful line of UAFX pedals [Tape Op#159] and turned them into plug-ins. When I heard that they were virtualizing these pedals, I expected the plug-ins to appear as visual facsimiles of the...

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