Interviews

Joe Boyd: Roots of Rhythm

by Ian Brennan

Having produced classic albums for Nick Drake, Richard & Linda Thompson, R.E.M., and Toots and the Maytals, amongst others, Joe Boyd [Tape Op #60] is arguably the most renowned, living, roots...

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End Rant

Ignore These Rules

by Larry Crane

After the internet came along and made sharing of information easier, I noticed an interesting trend. Maybe it's because of that misguided impulse of "doing it the right way" that beginners attempt to...

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Gear Reviews See more →

P422 Fairuz EQ Plug-In

by Pulsar Modular  |  reviewed by Matt Anderson

Pulsar Modular never seems to disappoint when it comes to unique and colorful designs. I’ve always kept it pretty simple when it comes to EQs. I have one main software plug-in that is surgical...

HEDDphone TWO Headphones

by HEDD  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

"Wow, I don't feel like I'm listening to headphones. They sound so open" were the universal reactions from mastering engineers at Infrasonic Sound and students at The Blackbird Academy that I...

SOLO VLA Compressor

by ART  |  reviewed by Tim Pratt

I’ve been a longtime user of Applied Research and Technology (ART) hardware, as have most of my engineer friends with home, project, and professional studios. I remember many of my early-2000s...

705P 7 Series Monitor

by JBL Professional  |  reviewed by Geoff Stanfield

There are so many choices when it comes to studio monitors these days that I often forget that one of the original names in that space is JBL. For years, JBL was the monitor found in many of the best...

EF-P2 Spring Reverb Pedal

by Echo Fix  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

Maybe it was my childhood fascination with The Ventures, but I've always been a fan of spring reverb devices in the studio. I have four rack-mount spring units (Demeter [Tape Op #21, #109], Benson...

013A Ambisonic Mic

by Soyuz  |  reviewed by Matt Anderson

I’ve loved everything Soyuz has made so far and own many of their mics, but ambisonics seemed like an odd direction for them. When Soyuz announced the 013A Ambisonic Mic, I began doing more...

TAPE APB Plug-In

by McDSP  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

Here's another new plug-in that comes included with McDSP's APB ("analog processing box") units (APB-8, APB-16 [Tape Op #134]). In case you don't know what APB processors are, they're 8 and 16-channel...

32Cpre+ 500 Series Preamp

by Harrison  |  reviewed by Tim Pratt

If you’re of a certain age (mid-40s/50s), you probably remember sifting through and being raised on the records of your parents and/or siblings. Such listening sessions probably included the...

Smooth Operator Plug-In

by Baby Audio  |  reviewed by Daniel Ryan Morse

I recently discovered that my mixes sounded a bit thinner than I wanted because of a buildup in presence frequencies (4 to 6 kHz). Looking for a cure, I turned to Baby Audio’s Smooth Operator...

T10S Active Subwoofer

by ADAM Audio  |  reviewed by Daniel Ryan Morse

I’m nearing the end of a search for a new monitoring setup in my small home studio (aka spare bedroom). I fell in love with the ADAM Audio A7Vs [Tape Op #153] and a matching subwoofer Sub10 MK2...

Songzap iPhone DAW App

by RT60 Ltd  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

A pocket DAW app for your iPhone? Sure! Songzap is built for creating and capturing song ideas. Professor Rob Toulson and Dr. Mike Exarchos developed this app, and Rob wrote the excellent book Drum...

Motion Filter Plug-In

by Denise Audio  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

In the fall of 2023, Baby Audio acquired Denise Audio, a company with an awesome line of deceptively-simplified plug-ins. Motion Filter is their reworking of Denise's The Sweeper, a digital motion...

SideMinder Max Plug-In

by Raising Jake Studios  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

Billed as a "Spectral Dynamic Stereo Width Maximizer," the SideMinder Max plug-in works on stereo tracks to adjust the width of a signal at different frequency ranges. I reviewed the original...

Linda Perry: Let It Die Here (film)

by Don Hardy, director  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

In Tape Op #143, Dawn Landes interviewed Linda Perry, one of the most successful producers and songwriters of the last 30 years. In this documentary, Don Hardy captures Linda in action, writing and...

Tom Mic

by Lauten Audio  |  reviewed by Mike Kosacek

Drum-specific mics have been around for some time, but innovative companies such as Lauten Audio are still finding ways to improve them. Recently unveiling the Snare Mic [Tape Op #159] to bring out...

ARC Studio

by IK Multimedia  |  reviewed by Scott McDowell

ARC Studio is an easy-to-use acoustic room correction tool, and one of my favorite recent studio upgrades. Set up is relatively simple; while it does require a computer for the calibration, once...

Electronic Perspectives (book)

by Tom Rhea, author  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

Subtitled "Vintage Electronic Musical Instruments," this is a treat of a book. From 1977 to 1981, Dr. Tom Rhea wrote 52 columns for Keyboard magazine called "Electronic Perspectives." In an era...

AS78 Dual Peak Limiter

by AudioScape Engineering Co.  |  reviewed by Brian Tarquin

Well hell, let’s face it – who doesn’t love a good sounding 1176? It’s one of my favorite compressors! Everything – vocals, guitars, bass, drums, percussion, and sax...

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