With most pro audio gear, there's never enough control right where the gain-staging starts to get interesting. The upper range of the operating levels of a circuit is often where full-bodied...
It seems like most of us own or have owned a piece of ART gear at one time or another, and Tape Op has reviewed many of the company's recording products. The Tube Mix falls right in line with ART's...
"Compressor Tone-Shaper Mix-Inflator Mojo-Maker" — I guess that was too much to put on the front panel, so Overstayer called it Stereo Voltage Control instead. Contrary to the company's...
Don’t tell my wife I just bought another compressor. She thinks I have “enough” or maybe even “too many,” and I have to admit, I’ve been pretty lucky on the...
The 2264A diode bridge compressor/limiter has been the stuff of audio drool forever. The original model was released in 1974, and aside from some faster attack times and the smaller form factor, it...
Version 2 of the renowned Sonnox Oxford Limiter [Tape Op #68] introduces the plug-in to the UAD-2 platform and brings with it a few under-the-hood updates. For those already familiar with Oxford...
The venerable dbx 160A is a compressor you see frequently in studios — home and pro alike. It's super easy to use, and it's flexible enough to perform relatively unnoticed gain-reduction,...
Standard Audio caught my attention around six years ago when I reviewed the amazing Level-Or [Tape Op #78]. With the Stretch, Standard again took the DNA of some hard-to- come-by vintage gear and...
When it comes to checking out new recording equipment, we all bring expectation biases. Some really want to believe that the latest truly is the greatest, while others are skeptical of the new and...
BAE has been making high quality gear in Los Angeles since the '80s, when the company's initials referred to the name of original owner Brent Averill, and Brent got his start racking vintage Neve 1073...
Last summer, I invited myself to Panoramic House, John Baccigaluppi's studio in Marin County. I was thinking about buying a new mix-bus compressor, and Panoramic had a few I wanted to audition. Plus,...
Since around 2002, those in the know have held secret appreciation and employed covert application of the ART Pro VLA and Pro VLA II compressors. These 2RU-height, tube-based, optical...
