Gear Reviews

Lately, I've been working on a project tentatively called The Greatest Small-Diaphragm Mic Shootout of All Time, so I've been testing a veritable truckload of SD mics-Neumann, Gefell, Schoeps, RØDE, Studio Projects, MXL, and everything in between. Naturally, I wanted to get an MK-012...

Over the past few years, Mojave Audio has established itself as a manufacturer of quality, affordable microphones with their MA-200 (Tape Op #55) and MA-100 (#62) tube mics. The MA-201 fet is the third microphone in their line. With the same build-quality and form-factor as the 200, the MA-201 fet...

I've never been one to jump to the last page in a book, and I generally don't like to hear what happened at the end of a movie before I've seen it, but in some cases (like an opera or a good Broadway show) knowing the gist of things can help you follow along better from start to...

So, what is this Twin-Finity bit all about? It's the "two, two, two mints in one" preamp-tube and solid state! This is the perfect preamp for those who want it all, but can't make up their minds. Using a solid-state transimpedance input, the 710 combines two separate gain stages...

I have been looking for a fully-sweepable EQ for two channels of our API 1608 console that sounds as good as the classic stepped API 550 EQs. I prefer the sound of stepped EQs in general, but sometimes you just need to get in between the selectable frequencies no matter how many there are-on drums...

My first lesson in audio mastering consisted of reading the documentation included with an early standalone version of T-RackS 24 that I purchased in 1999. The manual read like a "mastering for dummies" quick-start guide-helpful, informative, and most of all, very encouraging for the...

Several months ago, I noticed the Dramastic Audio Obsidian compressor on the Mercenary Audio website. The units had not shipped, so I had little to go on. After a while, I started to think it was just an SSL bus compressor knockoff with a blue VU meter. Then I heard that it was a feed-forward...

This handy item is a USB bus-powered instrument DI with integral headphone monitoring that's about three-quarters the size of an SM57. On one end of the anodized-aluminum housing is a 1/4" jack that's surrounded by an LED-lit plastic endcap; on the other end you'll find a...

Control room monitors are a tricky thing. They need to really perform to allow us to hear the nuances in the mixes we obsess over. At the same time, they need to help us deliver a mix that will translate to a $50 boombox, a car stereo, and a full-blown home stereo. To make things more difficult, we...

This is the only ear wax removal method I have tried that is both safe and effective. Ear wax is my least favorite bodily secretion, especially because it affects hearing. I get a lot of it. (No, I don't listen too loud; that's a myth.) It is, however, more dangerous to remove than people...

I've owned a GRAMMA isolation platform (Tape Op #34) for six years now. It's a 23" x 15" MDF deck covered in Ozite fabric (the stuff you find lining car trunks), sitting on two rails of Auralex PlatFoam high-density isolation foam (Tape Op #36). A piece of Auralex Studiofoam is...

Over the holiday season, I added a handful of new software instruments to my audio arsenal, including M-Tron Pro (an update to GForce's well-known M-Tron plug-in). M-Tron Pro includes both standalone and host-based versions of VST, AU, and RTAS plug-ins for Mac OS X and Windows. This plug-in...

On the Spanish isle of Majorca, in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, there lies a luxurious recording studio and production facility named Calma Estudis, who recently made available for free download a set of QWERTY shortcut stickers they designed for Pro Tools....