Gear Reviews

REAL-WORLD ASSESSMENTS OF RECORDING EQUIPMENT BY WORKING PROFESSIONALS.

NO. 157 Gear Review

McDSP: KD1 Kinetic Drive APB Plug-In

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
September 15, 2023

Built to work only with the McDSP APB ("analog processing box") units (APB-8, APB-16) [Tape Op#134], the KD1 Kinetic Drive is a plug-in that uses this interesting system. The APB essentially is a one space rackmount box that attaches to your computer's Thunderbolt and audio interface's...

NO. 157 Gear Review

Ableton: Push 3

REVIEWED BY Dana Gumbiner
September 15, 2023

The new Push 3 is finally here! I've been an Ableton Live DAW [Tape Op#143] user since version 1, and was an early adopter of both of the first two generations of Push hardware, so I was eager to test the surprising spec and feature bumps of the 3rd-gen Push 3, Ableton's grid-based controller/interface/instrument....

NO. 157 Gear Review

Hazelrigg Industries: 4DI Quad Vacuum Tube DI

REVIEWED BY Jeremy Wurst
September 15, 2023

In 2020, I had the pleasure of reviewing the Hazelrigg Industries VDI [Tape Op#48]; Earlier this year, Hazelrigg Industries released their latest creation; the 4DI. In the three years since I demoed the single channel VDI, I’m now working out of a very different studio in a much more dialed-in acoustic...

NO. 157 Gear Review

Placid Audio: Copperphone AV20 Microphone

REVIEWED BY Joel Hamilton
September 15, 2023

It has been more than 20 years since I got my first original Copperphone microphone and wrote a review for Tape Op about it [Tape Op#42]. I fell in love with that microphone the moment I heard it, and I have used it on hundreds and hundreds of recordings since. Not to mention, I have put that microphone...

NO. 157 Gear Review

Sony: C-80 Condenser Microphone

REVIEWED BY Adam Kagan
September 15, 2023

Who doesn’t love Sony microphones? Their reputation is built on the C-37A, C-800G, and the C-38B; all of which deliver. I'd previously reviewed the C-100 series of mics [Tape Op#132] and was impressed by their quality, so I was curious to try out Sony's newest offering: the C-80 cardioid condenser...

NO. 157 Gear Review

Solid State Logic: UF1 Advanced DAW Controller

September 15, 2023

At some point, we all have heard enough of the never-ending “analog vs. digital” debate. It’s getting harder to argue when the digital side of recording continues to get better sonically. Even guys like me that started in the early 2000s have seen a massive evolution, as of late. Let’s face it, we’re...

NO. 157 Gear Review

Baby Audio: BA-1 Analog Modeled Synth Plug-In

REVIEWED BY Ben Bernstein
September 15, 2023

Baby Audio’s BA-1 is a reimagining of the cultish ‘80s analog synth, the Yamaha CS01, bringing with it some pure and authentic textures that are easy and intuitive to program. The CS01 was routinely used by some of Sweden’s most successful pop producers, and was also a staple of 1990s digital dancehall...

NO. 157 Gear Review

Heritage Audio: Herchild 670

REVIEWED BY Dan Knobler
September 15, 2023

It’s a good time to be an enthusiast of the classic Fairchild limiters of the past. Not all that long ago, there were no mass-market reproductions of the Fairchild 660 or 670, and only a smattering of less-than-convincing plug-ins. Nowadays, we have an abundance of hardware and software options to approximate...

NO. 157 Gear Review

PSPaudioware: PSP auralComp Multichannel Compressor

REVIEWED BY Adam Kagan
September 15, 2023

For those of us who have dived headfirst into immersive mixing (Atmos or Sony 360RA), there comes a vexing moment where we realize that there is no simple way to apply bus compression for the mix glue we’ve become dependent upon in stereo. In an Atmos mix, our groove elements may be assigned to a 7.1.2...

NO. 157 Gear Review

FLEA Microphones: FLEA ELA M 251 Tube Microphone

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
September 15, 2023

The original Telefunken ELA M 251 tube-powered condenser mics were made for Telefunken by AKG in the early '60s – when Neumann had pulled their U 47 distribution from Telefunken – and were somewhat similar (circuit and component-wise) to AKG's popular C12 mics of the time. The 251 has long...

NO. 157 Gear Review

Cranborne Audio: Carnaby 500 Harmonic EQ

REVIEWED BY Scott McDowell
September 15, 2023

The Carnaby 500 is a groundbreaking audio processor. Hands down, this device is stunning. At first glance, it looks like a three-band EQ – which it kind of is – but it's not like any equalizer I've touched before. When you boost a band, you're only boosting saturation. When you attenuate...

NO. 157 Gear Review

Erica Synths: Syntrx II Analog Synthesizer

REVIEWED BY Dana Gumbiner
September 15, 2023

The first-generation Syntrx from Latvian synthesis maestros Erica Synths was a fantastic "reimagining" of the 1972 EMS Synthi AKS. The original Syntrx was a highly desirable analog synth with a limited production run of 1056 units (and a premium price tag of $3029 USD). Erica is back with...

NO. 157 Gear Review

Steven Slate Audio: VSX Headphone Mixing System

REVIEWED BY Mike Kosacek
September 15, 2023

I watched and waited for over a year before I finally purchased the Steven Slate Audio VSX headphone mixing system. VSX is a set of over the ear, closed-back headphones and accompanying software (to use via your DAW) to “listen” in various virtual rooms and spaces. Some of the virtual rooms are modeled...

NO. 157 Gear Review

PSPaudioware: PSP stereoController2

REVIEWED BY Garrett Haines
September 15, 2023

There are many stereo field processors out there, but they are usually simply fixer tools or effects processors. Among the effect types, most of them do only one thing – meaning if you don't need that approach the plug-in is not applicable. Purchasing too many plug-ins to cover my main production...

NO. 157 Gear Review

MixWave: Benson Studio Tall Bird Plug-In

REVIEWED BY Larry Crane
September 15, 2023

In issue #126I reviewed Benson Amps' stereo Studio Tall Bird Spring Reverb, a wonderful piece of hardware that gets used a lot at Jackpot! Recording. The original Tall Bird has been discontinued, but a new iteration is arriving soon. It "sprang" from the Tall Bird All Tube Reverb, an...

NO. 157 Gear Review

2400 Audio: Imperium NG Monitor Controller

REVIEWED BY Tony Vincent
September 15, 2023

As a writer, I try to be as transparent as I can when reviewing a piece of gear. I also feel compelled to include a bit of a backstory that shares what initially lead me to doing the review.

Many know that I moved my studio, SoundShop370, from Manhattan to South Nashville a couple of years ago. When...