Gear That's Made A Marked Difference

[Devlars]

In my cassette 4 track days my CD burner was a godsend for bouncing tracks and reductions. The RNC is, of course, a welcome addition to the gear family.

[Kyle Motor]

* Otari MX-5050 8 track (stepping up from a Tascam 238, but I won't get rid of that either)

* Weber Blue Dog 12" speaker in my '65 Deluxe Reverb......then also using said speaker as a mic for kick drum/bass cabinet. That was $90 well spent.

* Weber California Bass 15" to replace blown 15 in old Fender 2x15 cab.....I LOVE WEBER...just replacing one of the two speakers made that cab sound so much richer and about twice as loud.

* Moving from a really shitty sounding basement to a normal sounding basement.

* Laundry room next to basement recording room.....one SM57 in the open washing machine for an ambient drum mic....not harsh-sounding like I expected it to be, plus it adds an odd quality to the attack and release to sound similar to a dirty-yet-light compression (which is really cool, since I don't have any compressors).

* Not gear, but getting questions answered on the TapeOp MB.

[object88]

...
3. Gyraf G7 DIY microphone
4. homebuilt 1290-like preamp
5. homebuilt 660-like compressor

I like the way you think.

[mjau]

BLUE Baby Bottle mic - before this mic, I don't think I ever understood how much attack I could actually record on an acoustic guitar. I had tried the Rode NT1000, AT3035, mk319, c1000's, a 57, and others, but this mic allowed me to hear that initial attack that the other mics smeared over on an acoustic guitar.
I was a little underwhelmed by the RNC, but understand why it is what it is. That said, I love the Alesis Smashup as a toy / effect comp. Not the greatest fidelity, but it's definitely made a difference in how I process sampled beats and such.

Not sure if this counts, but early into recording I paid for PSP's Vintage Warmer plugin, which taught me great respect for what compression can do. I still think it's one of the best plugs you can get.