Gear Reviews

REAL-WORLD ASSESSMENTS OF RECORDING EQUIPMENT BY WORKING PROFESSIONALS.

NO. 160 Gear Review

Earthworks Audio: DM6 SeisMic Kick Drum Mic

REVIEWED BY Geoff Stanfield
March 15, 2024

Earthworks Audio has always been known as a maker of extremely high-quality microphones, historically aimed at studio use. I have used their mics for years, including the kick drum mic included with their DK7 Drum Kit System. I love that mic. It can be clean and punchy when used in a traditional way...

NO. 160 Gear Review

Alder Audio: H44 Ribbon Mic

REVIEWED BY Chris Koltay
March 15, 2024

The first thing you see when encountering Alder Audio’s H44 online is their slogan: A Better Ribbon For Less. This statement may seem underwhelming against the backdrop of today's pro audio hype machine – touting plug-ins that turn you into Chris Lord-Alge or sample packs that contain Bernard Purdie's...

NO. 160 Gear Review

Mixland: Subloom Kick Drum Plug-In

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
March 15, 2024

Ostensibly a drum mixing tool especially built for kick drums, Subloom is one of those plug-ins based on a mixer's workflow, specifically Jesse Ray Ernster [Tape Op#151], and combines several functions in a single "two-channel" GUI. When I look at my own plug-in chain for kick drum mixing,...

NO. 160 Gear Review

MixWave: Coil Audio CA-70S Plug-In

REVIEWED BY Matt Anderson
March 15, 2024

Last year, at least once a week, I heard someone mention Coil Audio. Even a few engineers I knew who never hype gear were straight-up saying, "These are the best preamps on the planet.” My curiosity got the best of me, and I offered to do an extensive video review on the CA-70S and CA-286 preamps...

NO. 159 Gear Review

Harrison Audio: 32Classic Console

REVIEWED BY Dan Knobler
January 15, 2024

If you took at face value the mythologizing of recording consoles as it stands today, you could be forgiven for thinking that Neve, API, and SSL made all the classic desks used for record production in the '60s, '70s, and '80s. But at the height of the analog recording era, it’s fair...

NO. 159 Gear Review

Denny Tedesco, director: The Immediate Family (film)

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
January 15, 2024

In Tape Op#107 I interviewed Denny Tedesco about The Wrecking Crew, the documentary film he had recently directed. I'd always wonder how Denny would follow up that fantastic doc, and now we have The Immediate Family, a film about the generation of players post Wrecking Crew – the ones that worked...

NO. 159 Gear Review

Kludge Audio: 509 500 Series Rotating Limiter

REVIEWED BY Scott McChane
January 15, 2024

“What is this crazy thing?” is the heading of the second paragraph in Kludge Audio’s instruction manual for the one knob / two toggle switch 509 Rotating Limiter. Before slotting this single-channel unit into my 500 Series chassis, I was giddy at its perceived simplicity. I’m a big fan of gear that...

NO. 159 Gear Review

Universal Audio: UAD Sound City Studios Plug-In

REVIEWED BY Scott McChane
January 15, 2024

To list all the classic, quintessential rock 'n' roll recordings that have been tracked at Sound City Studios is beyond the scope of this review – but trust me, you’ve heard them: Nirvana's Nevermind, Fleetwood Mac's Fleetwood Mac, and multiple Tom Petty albums just to name a few....

NO. 159 Gear Review

Royer Labs: FlexBar Stereo Mic Mount

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
January 15, 2024

I'm a stickler for using stereo mounts for setting up pairs of microphones or grouping two mics on an amp when recording, and I am usually completely unhappy with how all these stereo bars and mounts are designed. My favorite for years has been a simple one K&M made, with two adjustable arms...

NO. 159 Gear Review

McDSP: SA-3 Spectral Processor Plug-In

REVIEWED BY Scott McDowell
January 15, 2024

The SA-3 is a massive evolution of McDSP’s SA-2 Dialogue Processor. Like its predecessor, it’s still a killer dialogue and vocal tamer, but it’s so much more than simply that. This is a full bandwidth dynamic resonance suppressor. It’s not exactly groundbreaking, as I’ve relied on similar tools such...

NO. 159 Gear Review

Freqport: FT-1 Freqtube

REVIEWED BY Scott McDowell
January 15, 2024

In what seems to be a growing trend, Freqtube FT-1 is a saturation plug-in for DAWs that uses an outboard analog processor in conjunction with software. This is my first experience with anything from the Freqport brand, and I hope this well-designed analog/digital hybrid is a sign of more to come. The...

NO. 159 Gear Review

Baby Audio: Transit Transition Plug-In

REVIEWED BY Adam Kagan
January 15, 2024

Baby Audio collaborated with producer Andrew Huang [Tape Op#85] to create the Transit transition designerplug-in. Like most Baby Audio plug-ins, Transit aims to simplify a complex task, offering an intuitive approach to generating impactful mix transitions such as risers, sweeps, and build-ups that...

NO. 159 Gear Review

Lauten Audio: Snare Mic

REVIEWED BY Mike Kosacek
January 15, 2024

I have quite a few snare mics, but none that are actually named “Snare Mic.” That's about to change. I'm a drummer, and I've mic’d a lot of snare drums. I usually rely on dynamic microphones as a snare can generate high sound pressure levels (SPLs) that dynamic mics typically handle well....

NO. 159 Gear Review

Ear Trumpet Labs: Brass Mic Clip & Copper Shock Mount

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
January 15, 2024

Sure, there are a few elegantly functional mic mounts out there (Royer, Audio-Technica, Rycote), but are there any aesthetically beautiful and functional mic mounts available? Manufactured in Portland, Oregon, Ear Trumpet Labs (ETL) have made a name for excellent-sounding and sort of retro-looking condenser...

NO. 159 Gear Review

SAMAR Audio Design: MG20 Small Diaphragm Condenser Mic

REVIEWED BY Liam Nelson
January 15, 2024

SAMAR Audio is a refreshing voice of innovation. Dr. Mark Fouxman founded the company on his passion for electronics engineering, classical piano virtuosity, and pro audio expertise, and has consistently delivered intriguing contributions to the microphone market – particularly in the ribbon microphone...

NO. 159 Gear Review

Neumann: MT 48 USB-C Interface

REVIEWED BY Alan Tubbs
January 15, 2024

The MT 48 isn’t just another desktop interface; it is Neumann’s redevelopment of Merging Technologies’ high end Anubis interface as Neumann and Merging Technologies both now operate under the Sennheiser umbrella. The MT 48 can connect to networks and computers via AES67/RAVENNA IP-based protocol, but...