Gear Reviews

The Sonnox Claro equalizer (from their Toolbox range of plug-ins) is a fantastic sounding, intuitive EQ for professionals and beginners alike. Multiple interface options provide visual feedback in addition to traditional EQ functionality. I have never met a Sonnox product that I didn’t think was useful...

The MDWDRC2-Native represents a paradigm shift in dynamic processing for plug-ins. Rather than a traditional compressor or limiter, this is a comprehensive dynamic conditioning tool. Massenburg DesignWorks, headed by none other than engineer/producer/gear designer George Massenburg [Tape Op#54, #63],...

Oh, I remember… outboard gear can be fun! I am fortunate to have 31 flavors of compressors, EQs, tone-makers, and boneshakers. I even own a few studio spring reverbs, but nothing quite like the Wellspring, an "analogue stereo spring reverb system" from Wales-based Teaching Machines. With two...

Late last year, I received an awesome email from Takeo Yamamoto, who had stumbled across Tape Op#4 when he was living in NYC ages ago. He now owns the pro audio sales/distributor and development firm, Umbrella Company, in Japan. One of their products is the Active Mic Cable, an interesting new idea...

I've been using OWC RAID drives at my studio for around 15 years, and the Gemini is the latest version we purchased. Ostensibly simply used as an external hard drive to store data, this unit is described by OWC as a "Thunderbolt Dock and Dual-Bay RAID External Storage Enclosure." It can...

Subtitled, "A Half Century of Recording in One of America’s Most Innovative Studios, Through the Voices of Musicians," Antonia Tricarico's photo-filled (250!) book on Don Zientara [Tape Op#8] gives us a wonderful glimpse into who Don is, and what has made his Inner Ear Recording Studios...

As a perfect companion to our interview this issue, director Robert Fantinatto and producer Jason Amm's 87-minute film on Morton Subotnick brings to the screen a portrait of where he is now and what he has accomplished. Interspersed with a journey into live performances in his 70s and 80s, where...

I made sure to start this plug-in delay's review without touching a single preset. Despite the feature-filled control panel, I understood and utilized most functions without reading any manuals and ignoring the tool tips. Right away, creating stereo delay lines was simple, and setting up times...

Clones of classic vintage tube microphones have become a common occurrence in pro audio. As a result, I have had the opportunity to hear and compare many different reproductions of famous mic designs next to their predecessors, such as the Neumann U 47 and U 67, AKG C12, and Telefunken ELA M 251E. Unfortunately,...

Avantone began making microphones close to 20 years ago, and has recently updated their BV-1 large-diaphragm tube condenser microphone to the BV-1 mkII. First off, this upgrade comes as a significant design change. The original BV-1 was in the form of a large lollypop, whereas the mkII looks more like...

Many of us might be familiar with this scenario: A client brings in a hard drive of old DAW sessions to remix. You plug the hard drive in (likely needing some weird cable and adapter), and nothing appears on the computer's desktop. Many HD issues like this are simply due to the electronics in the...

This is going to be shorter than my usual overly wordy review – not because the product doesn’t warrant the page space, but because the message is fairly simple. So, let me give the conclusion right up front and then explain what I actually mean: The Soyuz 1973 is an excellent mic, especially if your...

The new MBOX Studio demonstrates why Avid remains at the top of the heap for music production professionals. After spending several weeks with this interface, I can attest that it brings unparalleled professionalism to gear at a project studio price point. The team at Avid truly addressed every feature...

Wayne Jones' career as a successful bass player led him to develop a line of well-respected bass amplifiers and cabinets for the stage and studio, utilizing his custom-manufactured Kevlar-impregnated eucalyptus pulp 10-inch driver. Building upon his cabinet and loudspeaker design expertise, Jones...

We’re all super excited over here at Tape Op when API introduces new gear, and the enthusiasm doubles when said equipment is priced affordably. Additionally, a joyous hysteria breaks out “around the office” when our industry shows signs that supply chains are beginning to normalize. All of this is true...

I like to think of my mixing desk as the control center. I hate running around the studio, behind racks, or bending down to search for a power switch, which is why I have several power strips in racks situated right on the desk. One is a standard surge suppressing strip with a single switch and eight...

Ah, the AKG 414. There are so many iterations of this mic. Every studio worth its salt has at least one, and if they’re on their game, they own several. We see them often used as drum overheads, room mics, on acoustic guitars, and percussion. However, I have placed them on all sorts of sources – such...

I still believe that analog mixing sounds better than in the box mixing, and I enjoy the workflow more as well. I’ve been mixing with a hybrid analog/digital setup and process for years now, and feel like I get faster, better mixes working that way. Fewer and fewer people still mix on large format analog...

Folks, let's chat about PreSonus Studio One Professional, now leveled up to version six. I tend to “DAW-jump” these days between Ableton Live [Tape Op#143], Universal Audio LUNA [#138], and Studio OneProfessional (based on the project's needs) – Studio One has become my go-to for complex mixing...