Gear Reviews

While continuing to update SONAR X1 (Tape Op #82) for free, Cakewalk is adding functionality to their top-shelf version of SONAR X1 Producer with a paid upgrade - SONAR X1 Producer Expanded. Most of the improvements are to Producer's ProChannel console strip, so Expanded isn't available...

I jumped at the chance to audition the DocDerr EQ/compressor, a new 500-series module designed by ELI’s founder/designer Dave Derr. I, along with almost everyone else in the audio world, am a huge fan of his Distressor compressor, so my interest is always piqued when a new product of his is...

Recording equipment manufacturers, as in any other product segment, fall into trends. When something sells, everyone wants to jump on the boat, and it's easy to write off late-comers in the competition. This applies to Neve clones and 500-series modules, but even while falling into both...

Gregory Scott of KUSH Audio is one of those guys that seem to really think about the process of making music. In talking with him at trade shows or seeing his posts in recording forums, he communicates his ideas in a way that is informed, intelligent, and artistic. His company has in recent years...

Like many Tape Op readers (especially guitarists), I've amassed a somewhat embarrassing collection of effects pedals over the decades. For me, it started in 1982, too young to drive, when I pedaled my bike three towns away to buy a used Univox Micro Fazer for $15. I still have it, and...

This compact audio interface allows you to record up to 8 channels simultaneously on an iPad; delivers 18 input and 18 output channels on Windows and Mac OS X (8 analog, 10 digital); supports USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 connectivity; provides onboard routing and mixing as well as DSP effects; supports...

Inspired by the straightforward approach Equator Audio takes in selling the D5 direct to consumers — without middleman margins and BS sales tactics — I’m going to just cut to the chase here. The D5 studio monitor is high in quality, low in cost, sounds fantastic, offers amazing detail and imaging,...

This is the sentence where we make some stupid snake joke, or worse, a juvenile double entendre. Moving on, this is a cool new 500-Series bus compressor. Last year, Serpent Audio released the SB4000 compressor as a DIY project. Response was positive, but the designer wanted to enhance features and...

I admit to having been quite skeptical when Eventide’s most recent stompbox, Space, arrived at my doorstep. In the first place, I’m the kind of guy whose favorite pedals have a maximum of three knobs. I generally have very little patience for any device with menu scrolling and multi-use rotary...

At first glance, the Liaison is not much more than an insert switcher. Plug in six of your outboard processors, and you can use Liaison’s front-panel buttons to switch your processors in and out of two stereo buses. The buses can be used individually, or they can be daisy-chained to form a single...

The first time I ran music through a pair of these tiny speakers, I had to double check to make sure I wasn’t listening to my larger ADAM P11A monitors (Tape Op #33). Bass extension in particular is surprisingly good for a 2-way speaker of this size.  The 4’’ Polyglass woofer, driven by a...

Tonelux was one of the first companies to design and build summing amps, and as the field continues to grow, Tonelux has released their newest offering, the OTB16, a 16-channel summing amp designed by Paul Wolff. (Mr. Wolff owned API for much of the ‘80s and ‘90s.) The OTB16 elegantly exemplifies...

The Opticom XLA-3 uses a photocell-based detection circuit coupled with tube make-up gain. The first famous compressor with this topology, of course, is the Teletronix LA-2A; its rich and dark tone has produced classic vocal sounds for decades. At the other extreme, the Manley ELOP demonstrates...

When Steinberg announced the plug-in versions of the Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5033 EQ (Tape Op #57) and 5043 Compressor (#59), I jumped at the chance to try them. These plug-ins are based on Yamaha’s Virtual Circuit Modeling technology. VCM utilizes carefully tweaked, digital reproductions of...

Fairly young and becoming something of an instant legend, the Event Opal is getting tons of attention. It’s not often that a company scales a rather diverse monitor range down to a single product (recently updated to two). So is the attention all hype, or has Event once again created a new class of...

Are your ears being damaged? Do you attend loud concerts? Set up mics on fidgety drummers? Rehearse in a small room? Ride the subway? I don’t think that most of my friends are aware of the damage that is being done to their ears, and this is why I’ve started recommending (and handing out) the...

 Rockruepel

With so much amazing boutique gear available these days, I have to confess that I don’t get all that excited when I hear about yet another expensive tube compressor being made in small numbers by experienced designers to quality standards that surpass every military spec known to

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This hefty, 350-page hardbound book is based on the studio design firm Recording Architecture Limited’s 23 years of experience in recording studio design — from small, private project studios (Kravitz, Bernard Sumner, Sade) to large, commercial studios (Lansdowne, Konk). Inside are over 140 project...

  SNAZZY FX

In the current age of computer-based recording, it’s easy for in-the-box effects like reverb, delay, and such to come off as sounding too “under control.” I’ve found myself extensively re-amping signals, printing real tape delays, using plate and spring reverbs, and blasting sounds


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