When describing equipment we love, we often use words like "weight," "character," or "glue." Many would argue that the analog domain is where these adjectives thrive – I would have to agree. In...
There are pieces of studio gear that are essential and there are color or flavor machines that enhance, adding personality to your recordings or mixes. There are very few that are both, but the Crane...
Back in "ye olde days," when control rooms were built around a console, monitor control was generally handled in the master/center section of the desk where one could switch between multiple sets of...
As both a refurbisher and seller of pro tape machines, the name Mara is synonymous with tape. When I saw they were entering the iOS app world with their Mara tape calibration program, I was both...
If you have a studio, you have a microwave – odds are the inside of which looks and smells like a truck stop toilet apocalypse (or a Hertz rental car return from Burning Man). Interns would...
Acme Audio has been hitting home runs for the last few years with their Motown D.I. [Tape Op #116] and Opticom XLA-series tube compressors [#86], so when the MTP-66 Motown tube preamp recently popped...
Plug-in reverbs sure are handy at times, but most mix engineers will admit that the majority of these plug-ins are more convenient than actually good-sounding. I find myself using certain plug-in...
My studio in San Francisco is built around an Avid control surface instead of an analog console. Because of that, I rely exclusively on outboard to get sounds before I leave the "infinite sample rate"...
While reading Tape Op #128, I came upon Larry Crane's review of Qdea's Synchronize! Pro X backup software. About half way through I came upon the dreaded phrase "for Mac OS only." No worries! I'm a...
As engineers and studio owners, we all get excited (and check our cashflow) when a new microphone design hits the streets – especially when that microphone is built by an expert with a deep...
Along with failing solder joints and dust, overheating can be an equal opportunity menace to electronics. Previously, the solution for keeping the Mac mini, my UAD-2 Satellite [Tape Op #83], and a...
If you're not a crate digger, DJ, EDM track sampler, post production whiz, or music historian, you might not know what library music – also known as production or stock music – is, or why...
