One of the best things about using a dedicated recording chain is that it frees up inputs and busses on your mixing console. It's also impossible to accidentally "buss" some other audio into your recording when you forgot a pushed buss button somewhere on your board. I have discovered this snag coming into a session and I have said as cheerful as possible: "I hope you like your bass part because it got recorded along with your vocal on the same track!" The Applied Research and Technology Pro Channel is a three-in-one box that contains the ART MPA mic pre-amp, the Pro VLA optical compressor and the Tube EQ parametric equalizer. You can plug in your best mic or take any instrument direct by way of the front panel 1/4" jack and then output directly to your recording deck... completely bypassing your mixer. The mic pre has plenty of gain and the equalizer is a 4 band type with sweep-able mid-range control. The compressor operates in smooth optical mode or you can switch to the more aggressive Variable-Mu mode.
Rackmount | No. 126
M-8S Rack-Mount Power Conditioner
by Scott Evans
Unlock the studio and walk in. Power up each rack, then the console, then lean over the console to turn on each powered monitor. Be sure to do the monitors last or they go pop and swearing ensues. Ten...