Lovely Unaffordable Studio Technology


Home / Music / Studio / Gear / Lust

Audio equipment to die for...

(Note: Before you ask, I'm not selling this stuff - it's a [mostly olde/obsolete] list of kit I like and long for! But I will gladly accept anything you wish to donate to me :-)


Microphones

AKG C414 B-XLS multi-pattern condenser and C12VR tube microphone
Audio Technica AT4040 (reviewed) cardioid condenser
Beyer studio mics
BLUE Baby Bottle and Dragonfly (reviewed at Sound On Sound)
Coles 4040 Studio ribbon mic
DPA Microphones make tiny miniature omni mics
Earthworks TC30K omni-directional microphone
Microtech Gefell UM900 (reviewed at SOS) distributed in UK by First Sense, who also sell the Mic Spike
Neumann KM184 compact cardioid microphone and KU100 binaural 'Dummy Head'
Rode NT4 stereo mic reviewed at Sound On Sound
Royer Labs figure-of-eight ribbon microphones
Russian Microphone Muzeum
Rycote windshields
Sanken CSS-5 stereo shotgun [hilarious Google translation!]
Sennheiser MD421 Mk II and MKH Series
Sontronics was, as I predicted, my next mic purchase :-)
Soundfield SPS422B and ST250
Schoeps
C-Ducer contact mics
European vintage microphones make most modern kit look so boring!
See also some very funky radios (scroll down for marble madness!)

Mic Techniques

Mike Skeet's DIY Binaural Page
Stereo mic placement
Stereo Mic Techniques
DAT-Heads Digest Index and Microphone FAQ
Drum Drops kit recording tips

Input Channels

My CLM Dynamics DB8000s 8-channel mic-pre/limiter (makes a nice input stage for my RME Hammerfall DSP)
Frontier Tango24 A/D convertor and TranzPort control surface (now works on Linux :-)
Universal Audio 2108 dual microphone/instrument pre-amplifier
Pendulum Audio SPS-1 stereo preamp for acoustic instruments
Chandler Germanium pre-amp and Tone Control EQ - sounds ideal for my own music
Buzzaudio ARC1.1 Analogue Recording Channel
True Audio P2 Analog and Precision 8 M&S mic-pre
Sequerra's lovely 1070-A mic pre-amp
Channel Strips reviewed at www.digitalprosound.com

Signal Processing

My Eventide H949 Harmonizer
Sony DPS-R7 and MU-R201 vintage reverbs
Lexicon Vortex and Super Prime Time digital effects - they just don't make 'em like they used to...
I also use a TC Electronic M-OneXL dual effects processor and TC Electronic D*Two rhythm delay
Funk Logic Palindrometer :-)
Funky Junk
Quantec Room Simulator
The Ursa Major SST-206 is a new 24-bit version of the classic SST-282 Space Station - I WANT ONE!!!
Empirical Labs EL-8 Distressor compressor
spl 9842 Transient Designer 4
Really Nice Compressor now has cool rackmount and desktop housings, not to mention a devilish little brother
Ensoniq DP/4+ (.pdf manual)

Mixers

Analogue Consoles

Soundcraft Spirit SX, Studio, M Series and Live 42
Neve BCM10 1972 vintage analogue
Audient ASP8024, now with moving faders
Mackie 8Bus and 1604-VLZ Pro
Allen & Heath GL2200 and Allen & Heath Xone:464 DJ mixer, as recommended by Morialto
TL Audio Valve Technology Console

Digital Consoles

Tascam DM24
Sony DMX-R100
Mackie dXb
Studer Vista 7 has touch sensitive rotary controls and buttons within a flat screen display

Monitors

PMC (Professional Monitor Company) use transmission lines in their TB2S-A and AML1 ultimate compact active monitor (or why not build your own?) and also in their monstrous BB5 XBD-A
Adam S3A
KRK Systems curvy V-Series 2 and Rokit active monitors
PSI Audio 17-2 active monitors
Sequerra Met 7.7 Mk.IV passive monitors (check out Richard Sequerra's 50-year list of Technical Accomplishments) Very rich audiophiles should consider the $195,000 Sequerra Music System [!]

Headphones

Beyerdynamic hifi and studio headphones (I just bought some DT150's for monitoring, and DT990pro for home listening - highly recommended :-)
Sennheiser HD250-II Linear and HD600 Avantgarde headphones
HeadRoom - The Web's Best Place for Headphone Advice (obsessed headphone geeks at your service.)
Head-Fi forums have a user review of the Beyer DT770pro cans with Creek OBH-11 headphone amplifier
Furman HDS-6 Headphone Distribution System and HR-6 Personal Mixing Station is reviewed at AudioMIDI and Pro Audio Review (twice!)

Synthesisers

Roland Jupiter 6 and Jupiter-8
Roland JX-3P
Roland Super JX family (MKS-70, JX-8P and JX-10)
Roland MRS2 Promars Compuphonic Synthesizer
Roland Saturn 09 (I love those cosmic planetary names ;-)
Roland SH1 is cute!
Rhodes Chroma
Yamaha CS-30L (@ sequencer.de)
Oberheim OB1, Matrix 12 and Xpander
OSCar at Sound On Sound
Kawai K5 additive synthesiser
Kurzweil K2000 (OS Version 2 and Version 3) (More info)
Ensoniq SQ80 at Vintage Synth (see also SQ80 User Help, sounds and other pages)
Waldorf Microwave and Q synthesizers employ Hermode Tuning for non-equal-tempered scales (hmmm, just intonation... :-)
Dave Smith Instruments Poly Evolver Keyboard - at last, a beautiful new synth!
Sequential Circuits Inc. Prophet-5 and Pro-One
Technos Axcel Resynthesiser and 16PI (very cosmic)
P3 Analogue MIDI Sequencer
Analogue Synthesis page
Lots of Japanese brochures for classic synths
SynthFool
Synth manuals at www.retrosynth.com
Synth resources

Modular Synths

If I ever again get some serious money, the next synthesiser I buy will be a 5U modular system comprising Rob Hordijk's incredible phasers, multi-mode filters and Harmonic Oscillators, and ultimately a whole lot of MOS-LAB, Suit & Tie Guy Soundlabs and Club Of The Knobs modules.

ModularSynth.com
Robert Rich's MOTM and Dave's Hot Rod MOTM Shop
BugBrand make lovely blue modules with nice Touch Panels and Joysticks
Blacet Research Music Products
Wiard
Oakley Sound Systems in the UK
Analog Heaven MidWest and Larry's links
Analogue Systems
Technosaurus Selector with OSHO module for additive synthesis of sine waves
A new clone of the ARP 2600

DAT (Digital Audio Tape)

Tascam official DA-P1 page (data sheet), DA-P1 info page and Oade preamp upgrade
Sony portable DAT recorders
Core Sound for all things portable & binaural
DAT-Heads - a Linux-powered mailing list with cool dancing penguin
DAT World

DAW (Digital Audio Workstations)

In 2011 I built a silent studio workstation to run Linux and Ardour on. It rocks!

64 Studio - free studio software
DAWworld forum
Building a sound-reducing, ventilated cabinet for a DAW
Slashdot on Audio Format Listening Tests Concluded
Slashdot on Ogg Vorbis voted better than MP3 & others in listening test
Communication of Musical Gesture using the AES/EBU Digital Audio Standard

DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)

DVD-Audio Tools
DVD Writers
DVD+RW
Why you should boycott Blu-ray and HD-DVD
Campaign To Eliminate DRM

Audio Magazines

Audio Media
StudioTips.com
Pro Audio Review
Tom Loredo's audio bookmarks
Harmony Central User Reviews of Mics, Synths and Effects
Sound On Sound readers' adverts, e.g., Keyboards, Synth Modules, Effects, Preamps, and Mics, and informative articles:


© copyright Malcolm Smith 2002-02-05 - last updated 2016-08-15 - links verified 2002-04-12