The Inexpensive Recording Articles for Tape OP Thread

[Knights Who Say Neve]

Before that asshole stole my thread, I was asking why more and more of the gear reviews seem to be of high-end gear. Larry seems to have said that if he gets more articles and gear reviews aimed at home recording, he'll print more. At least, he's implied that. I'd like to start a thread for this.

Ideas for reviews, posts of questions for how to write reviews and articles, etc. can go here. Good idea?

[soundguy]

have a goal when you review something, meaning, explain how the item up for discussion helped you achieve a goal you set out to achieve with the recording, how it complicated achieving that goal and wether that goal is realistic to hold the piece of gear. Find an application that well suits the item and for the love of god explain whhat you usually work with and wether or not its a step up, down or laterally.

Most gear reviews are useless, "I used this thing and it rocks" like I give a fuck, you know? Theres lots of stuff (like chinese condensers) that sound clear on top for the uniniated and perhaps more congested or "harsh" on top for those who use expensive condensers with a different quality high end on a regular basis. Perspective is important with a gear review and its something that is generally missing from a review. Tracking engineer doesnt like the limiter because its too sublte and doesnt do anything, mastering engineer doesnt like the limiter because its too coarse, that tells me something. Guy says, "I think this thing sucks because it didnt do anything on my session" is kinda meaningless when that box whatever it is might be more appropriate for a different application. Have perspective.

hows that?

dave

[pscottm]

right on.

[soundguy]

Ive got some free time today...

I purchased a neumann cmv563 because I read on the internet that it was cool, it looks pretty cool, its got name recognition, the price was right and thought it would be a good investment. This is a mic that was made in east germany and not only does it have old as hell parts, but it has old as hell parts manufactured to a communist standard. I have used this mic on the usual things you'll encounter on a rock and roll session, my primary recording medium is 2" tape. When I listen to the mic, I hear it performing about %70, it doesnt sound bad, but it really doesnt sound good. Not because it wasnt designed well, just because its old and needs to be rebuilt. While these mics are affordable, they pretty much shouldnt be viewed as an affordable option once you realize that you will need to spend quite a bit of money to restore them to get them to out perform a new mic of equal cost at the original affordable price. If you have money to rebuild, its a cool mic, if you are scraping by, you are probably better off saving money to afford the restoration or just buying a new quality mic. Of course you might get lucky and get a good one, but so far as Im concerned, every single tube mic out there that is 35 years old needs to be rebuilt, period.

This is the kind of review I would like to read. It has some useful info in it, you know? "I used this thing and it rules, I made a great recording" duh. What does that really tell you about any given piece of gear? Not too much. You can make a cool recording with anything.

I bought a reissue 1176. I chose to purchase it because I didnt want to search out a good old working one and I wanted something reliable. I was impressed with its sound, was able to do what I needed it to do and felt the stuff I recorded with it sounded beter, not just different, with it in as opposed to out. Based on the price I got it for, the amount of time it will hopefully work without needing to be fixed, client name recognition and decent sound, Id reccomend purchasing this.

blah. blah. blah.

dave

[Knights Who Say Neve]

That's exactly what I was hoping for soundguy...

It seems like the professional engineers with the higher end gear write most of the reviews. This is probably because (a) they get gear free on a trial basis to review, and (b) they have perspective. I'd like to see more of the big guys write reviews. Sure, the 200 dollar mic isn't as good for x as a 2000 dollar mic, but is it good for the money? Can it cover what a bedrtoom/gartage recordist needs? Those are the kind of reviews I'd like to see more of...the "bang for the buck" reviews...

[chris harris]

That's exactly what I was hoping for soundguy...

really? because Dave is a professional with high end gear. and the average price of the two products he reviewed in his post is about $1700!

useful reviews to be sure. but, not "exactly" what you were looking for.

[JASIII]

I think he means the kind of advice soundguy gave was what he was looking for, the gear was irrelevant.

[RefD]

this whole series of threads is making me want to post reviews for things like the Alesis MIDIVERB II (which i love, btw, and still use for it's particular texture and graininess) or the Symetrix 501.

but, hasn't someone already done a review of the Symetrix 501??

i also love reading reviews of four-to-five-figure gear that i'll not afford as a home recordist, mostly for the drool factor.

...but also cos the reviews of these items in TO are generally more useful than what i see elsewhere.

at any rate, i'm all for more middle to low-end gear reviews and would love to contribute.

does TO have a style manual?

Larry? Andy? Anyone? Bueller?

[chris harris]

lots of the better quality and useable inexpensive gear has already been reviewed. a stack of back issues would be a good investment.

[RefD]

lots of the better quality and useable inexpensive gear has already been reviewed. a stack of back issues would be a good investment.

have 'em.

it's not all there.

not anywhere close.

[cgarges]

Ashly SC68
Oktava ML53
Hycor filter
AT 2020
JBL 7126
Urei LA5
Altec 632
More products from the EggStatic mic guy and anything built by Erik Wofford or Brad Avenson.

I'd like to see reviews of these.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[thereminman]

re: some of these items already reviewed in past TapeOps---
I like hearing multiple reviews on an item.---they're esp. cool when they're back to back---you can see when the two reviewers differed and sometimes even more telling is when two different people liked or disliked the same thing about a particular bit of gear.

I guess, what I'm saying is, I wouldn't mind reading reviews of things that have already been reviewed.

[joel hamilton]

Egg static mic: Really cool Lo-fi mic that sounds interesting on most acoustic sources. It costs 25 dollars. It is really fun, but certainly not a mic for hi-fi recording at all. Not really the best for anything, but 25 dollars. Compare it to:

The placid audio copperphone: Really, really well made lo-fi mic. I called it "limited bandwidth" on purpose as it is really good within the frequencies it is meant to operate. This mic costs 250 dollars or so.

The Symetrix CL150: This compressor has made it onto almost every big rock record i have done in the last 3 years, on a mono room mic. SO punchy, and so grainy and screwy. It acts like a budget distressor IMO, and they are (were, before writing this) about 40 dollars average on ebay.Awesome little compressor. Will work in a pinch for a second vocal or an unruly trummpet, or anything that needs to be dimmed down. Fun one for sure.

DBX 160A: the most boring, awesome compressor ever? Will work on anything, will excel on certain things. This compressor has been the last thing in my main vocal chain on a ton of records,, I usually dont admit it though.. These always work, and last forever it seems. There is a reason there is a 160 or two in every single studio on earth.Price: under 350 no matter where you get it..

Joe meek SC2.2: for the life of me, I cant figure out what this compressor wants to go to work on... Kinda neat if you use it the same way you would use a Level Loc or a spectra 610 (for mayhem), but not that fun. Price (guess): Under 300 dollars seems to be normal.

Spectra sonics 610 complimiter: I had two, I sold one. I got both of mine for 800 dollars about 7 years ago. I had been using them for the last 10 years for destruction. Another "distressor" with character. Really cool to own if you already have a few classics, like 1176's or whatever. Price: seems to vary a lot. Anywhere from 600 dollars to 1000 dollars it seems these days.

Vintech X72 mic pre: My favorite 1272 type mic pre ever. Why? It doesnt sound like a 1272. The vintech is much "harder" and seems to have way more snap and life than the brent averill 1272 we have in the same rack. 1272's are a little boring, but the vintech x72 seems to hit right, even for kick and snare, certainly for rock guitars and certain vocals. Would be a good "do it all" mic pre for under a grand. Two channels, phantom/phase.I really like these, and I have a few choices of mic pre around, and I have worked on almost every series of Neve console/api...blah blah. Really good quality build especially for the price point: can be found for around a grand new, under used....

DaviSound TB2 compressor: optical, LA3A type dual mono compressor, made of wood. Sounds great. Likes to get hit. Reminds me of an LA3A type opto response curve with API sounding line amps. I use this thing just for the line amps sometimes. Awesome.

i will post more soon...

[MichaelJoly]

I purchased a neumann cmv563 because I read on the internet that it was cool, it looks pretty cool, its got name recognition, the price was right and thought it would be a good investment. This is a mic that was made in east germany and not only does it have old as hell parts, but it has old as hell parts manufactured to a communist standard. I have used this mic on the usual things you'll encounter on a rock and roll session, my primary recording medium is 2" tape. When I listen to the mic, I hear it performing about %70, it doesnt sound bad, but it really doesnt sound good. Not because it wasnt designed well, just because its old and needs to be rebuilt. While these mics are affordable, they pretty much shouldnt be viewed as an affordable option once you realize that you will need to spend quite a bit of money to restore them to get them to out perform a new mic of equal cost at the original affordable price. If you have money to rebuild, its a cool mic, if you are scraping by, you are probably better off saving money to afford the restoration or just buying a new quality mic. Of course you might get lucky and get a good one, but so far as Im concerned, every single tube mic out there that is 35 years old needs to be rebuilt, period.

dave

Now that is a great template for a useful review -

1). Why purchased
2.) historical or background info about the piece
3.) The context in which the reviewer used the piece
4.) The reviewer's results
5.) Caveats and disclaimers

Note that Soundguy also manages to put some personality into his review but that it isn't just another man-I'm-cool expletive-laden tirade divorced from meaningful context.

With this format, any gear review from $2.99 Panasonic electret condenser mic capsules to vintage mics is going to be a lot more fun and informative to read.