Gear Reviews

Many of you have run into this situation. You have audio cables that need to connect to jacks on the rear of gear and out to the front of a rack. I've drilled holes in blank panels, filed the sharp edges, and used rubber gaskets to protect the cable. But this is time-consuming and difficult to...

Ah, Neve EQ... the stuff dreams are made of. Famous for the 1073 and 1081. Fixed EQ points and basic controls. Warmth, silky smoothness, robust and solid lows. What if you could have all this in a reasonably priced, feature-rich, high-quality 500 Series module – the only 500 Series EQ designed by...

We had this mic at Jackpot! Recording Studio for a while before I got a chance to try it out, so I dropped a line to our manager and Tape Op contributor, Gus Berry, to ask him what his impressions were. He replied, "I love the FLEA 12. It's already become my go-to vocal mic. It's...

As BURL's Mothership B80 [Tape Op #84] has gained popularity with serious recordists as a flexible system to build your own AD/DA converter interface, there's been need for more daughter card modules in order to add flexibility. I've had my BURL stocked with 8-channel BAD8 and BDA8...

If you've been to Focusrite's website lately, you may have noticed that under the "Products" navigation menu, there is a "Focusrite Pro" tab. This tab brings you to into the realm of their RedNet [Tape Op #120] products. RedNet is Focusrite's implementation of the...

The eight reverb chambers built under the parking lot of the Capitol Records building in Los Angeles are some of the most highly revered, and closely guarded, environments for generating natural reverb in the commercial studio world. Capitol has never given permission for impulse responses (IRs) to...

In any discussion of large-diaphragm tube condenser mics, five models seem to get mentioned more than all others combined: the Neumann U 47, U 67, and M 49, the AKG C12, and the Telefunken ELA M 251. To buy a clean, original example of any of these microphones requires a stretch into five-figure...

The most remarkable thing about McDSP's APB-16 is just how simple it is to use. One of their ads says, "The Future is Here," and they're not wrong! It really feels like Colin McDowell and his team has travelled back from the year 2029 in order to bring this revolutionary tech,...

The French brain trust at Arturia has done it again with MicroFreak; yet another brilliantly designed instrument that's intuitive, highly playable, and builds on some classic designs – but one that is also a unique hardware instrument offered at an affordable price. The modular world and some...

I have been the proud owner of the original Retro DOUBLEWIDE mono variable-mu compressor for several years now. It's a handsome, timeless, and classic-styled module that delivers character-filled dynamics control for a variety of sources. It shines on vocals and bass – where it frequently...

Hey, look! Unique low-latency plug-ins from Apogee Digital, the same folks that have brought us such stellar hardware interfaces over the years. Though it may strike some as a late entry into a crowded market, Apogee clearly have given these plug-ins the same time and attention to detail that has...

Money and I just don't get along. Sound familiar? We're engineers, not accountants. Though it may be a tad pricier than QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks is very similar and a little dumbed down for us non-accountant types. You can generate custom email or PDF invoices (JB loves the analog...

Anyone familiar with the iconic Roland Juno-6 or 60, will know and love the analog bucket brigade (BBD) chorus effect that is part of that instrument. Now that classic effect is available as part of a standalone pedal from TC Electronic. Like the original, the June-60 uses an analog bucket brigade...

Last winter, I set up an extra room in my house as a digitizing and restoration studio. I don't master in this room, but I still need it to sound good sothat when calibrating my tape machine, adjusting azimuth, or QC'ing masters I can trust what I hear. For most of my career (lucky me!)...

MAAT's thEQorange is an update of the famous Algorithmix PEQ Orange linear EQ plug-in. The original Orange EQ (along with its Red sibling) were very popular with mastering houses. Users suggested that plug-ins were approaching the quality of hardware/dedicated digital processors. A series of...

Drobo is a US-based company specializing in data storage solutions. More than a drive enclosure, the 5N2 provides data protection, web-based file management, and scalable capacity. My photography and videography colleagues rely on Drobo. When other creatives agree on a reliable tool, it's a...

Unusually heavy for its size and price point, the RØDE PodMic dynamic broadcast microphone feels overbuilt to the very meaning of the word. With an industrial black and silver look and minimalist all metal construction, this mic (and included yoke mount) weigh nearly two pounds. It's a cliche...

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the part of the Behringer business model that seems to copy designs and intellectual property from other manufacturers, then rebuild said designs super cheaply in China. But on the other hand, not everybody can afford to buy fancy, handmade, boutique audio...

When I asked a handful of reviewers to consider writing about Hamptone's 500 Series JFET microphone preamp, the prolific Don Gunn from Seattle and stalwart Detroit gear nerd Chris Koltay were among the first to accept. Hamptone's owner, Scott Hampton, generously provided preamps to both...