Studio Equipment

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Studio gear I use

Microphones
Outboard
Recording
Computing
Monitoring
Keyboards

Microphones

AKG CK91 cardioid and CK94 figure-8 capsules mounted on SE300B bodies in Mid & Side configuration within a Rycote full windshield and fluffy windjammer
AKG C1000S (hyper-)cardioid condenser microphones (x2)
Audio Technica AT4040SM cardioid condenser microphone
Audio Technica ATM11 cardioid electret condenser microphone
Audio Technica ATM21 cardioid dynamic microphone
Sennheiser MD421 Mk II cardioid dynamic microphone
Sennheiser/Telefunken TD26 super-cardioid dynamic microphone
Sontronics Sigma active ribbon (figure-8) microphone
Sontronics Helios variable-pattern vacuum-tube condenser microphone

Mic stands

2 x AKG ST1 foldable mini-tripod
3 x Studiospares mic stands with bag
2 x Konig & Meyer overhead mic stands
Konig & Meyer KM24050 multi-purpose mic arm
Konig & Meyer KM258 table clamp boom arm
Konig & Meyer KM235 stereo bar
various other desktop/podium mic stands

I've always loved rackmount outboard gear, but hate to see it just thrown into a rack all higgledy-piggledy, with absolutely no aesthetic forethought whatsoever. My rack has been lovingly designed to be both functional and colour co-ordinated. OK, so everything is black (I couldn't avoid having the silver-edged Digiface up there as it was the absolute best sound card for Linux Audio when I got it), but black is the best colour for audio gear anyway; last year's vogue for silver looks too much like cheap DVD players or 1950's radio equipment for my liking (with a few exceptions, naturally). Of course, there are some companies who have a flair for colourful FX units, and maybe one day I'll complete my blue/black rack...

So I've done my best to make this rack look like it is one unified unit, choosing devices with nicely-proportioned controls and similar switch-types. Indeed, many of these boxes are now going to be employed in series in a single mega-process known as the Ululating Feedback Occultifier... I love the way the curved white borders on Eve's front panel nicely match the TC 2240HS above her, looking like they were made by the same manufacturer; hmmm, a TC 2290 would look great on top... ;-)

Since these pictures were taken, the rack has inevitably grown and sub-divided into two halves, evolving into the UFO on one side and the dbx gear, digital convertors and power units on another. A third blue rack is also growing, and some beige Akai units sit with the computer. New pictures to follow soon...

Rack 1 (preamps - 10U blue/black/silver)

Philip Rees 2M MIDI merge box
RME Digiface breakout box for the Hammerfall DSP PCI soundcard
Sontronics SPS1 power supply for Helios microphone
CLM Dynamics DB8000s 8-channel M&S mic-pre/limiter (makes a nice input stage for HDSP)
[One spare rack space, eventually to be filled by an spl 9842 Transient Designer 4]
Funklogic Palindrometer
Waldorf MicroWave rackmount wavetable synthesiser

Rack 2 (digital/dbx - 10U black)

ETA Systems PD11LVIEC-CE power conditioner
dbx 163X OverEasy compressor / limiter (x2)
dbx 463X OverEasy noise gate / expander
dbx 263X de-esser
dbx 563X 'The Silencer'
[Blank rack panel]
Frontier Tango24 8-channel 24-bit A/D-D/A convertors (x2)
dbx 160A mono compressor
TC Electronic D*Two rhythm delay
TC Electronic M*OneXL dual effects processor

Rack 3 (UFO - 10U black)

Sony SRP-L200 stereo compressor / limiter / expander / gate
dbx 166 stereo compressor / limiter / gate
dbx 363X dual noise gate (x2)
TC Electronic 2240HS dual 4-band parametric EQ (same as two 1140's)
Eventide H949 Harmonizer
Urei 565 filter set

Rack 4 (MIDI - 10U beige atop computer)

Panasonic SV-3700 professional DAT recorder
Akai ME80P 10x8 MIDI patchbay
Akai ME35T drum-MIDI trigger unit
Akai S3200XL digital sampler
Audio Architecture Function Junction 8x8 programmable MIDI patchbay
Chloride Power DeskPower UPS

Recording

Soundcraft Spirit Studio LC 16:8:2 in-line console
Tascam DA-P1 portable DAT recorder
Sony TCD-D7 portable DAT recorder
Yamaha MT2X 4-track tape recorder (retired)
I'm just beginning to record audio direct to computer

Computing

I'm a firm believer in using open standards to make music that will last, and so use GNU/Linux as a robust and secure platform. It may not have all the flashy bells and whistles of other closed operating systems (nor the viruses or inflated prices ;-) but excels at the important things, namely reliable low-latency operation, complete user-configurability, powerful file handling and scripting capabilities. More crucially, it is based on the combined efforts of thousands of software experts worldwide, instead of reinventing the wheel each time. Since the development is all open and free for anyone to contribute, it promotes co-operation and collaboration, thus protecting the user from becoming locked into a particular company's overpriced products which become obsolete when the company folds. While the idea of not having a technical support droid to phone up and complain to may disconcert some people, the friendly community of Linux Audio users and developers are always quick to help out with suggestions and bug fixes, much more responsive than any company. After many years of development, the tools are approaching truly professional levels and have the distinct advantage of intelligent design, using the Unix philosophy of lots of small tools capable of specific tasks, all interconnected to form a very powerful system.

A new machine is being planned...