Studio Equipment

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Studio gear I use

Keyboards
Microphones
Outboard
Recording
Computing
Monitoring

Microphones

AKG CK91 cardioid and CK94 figure-8 capsules mounted on SE300B bodies in Mid & Side configuration within a Rycote full stereo windshield and fluffy windjammer
2 x AKG C1000S (hyper-)cardioid condenser microphones [these were given away to GearSlutz :-]
Audio Technica AT4040SM cardioid condenser microphone
Audio Technica ATM11 cardioid electret condenser microphone
Audio Technica ATM21 cardioid dynamic microphone
Audio Technica Pro25 hypercardioid dynamic microphone
Sennheiser MD421 Mk II cardioid dynamic microphone
Sennheiser/Telefunken TD26 super-cardioid dynamic microphone
SIB Drum Systems D727 cardioid dynamic microphone
Sontronics Sigma active ribbon (figure-8) microphone
Sontronics Helios variable-pattern vacuum-tube condenser microphone with SPS1 power supply

Mic stands

2 x AKG ST1 foldable mini-tripod
3 x Studiospares mic stands with bag
2 x Konig & Meyer KM26085 one hand mic stands with KM21110 telescopic booms
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 floor/desktop/podium mic stands

Outboard

[For now, these racks correspond to 2011's setup. I'll update the new rack layout when 2014 pics get added...]

Rack 1 (preamps - 14U blue+black)

MXR Flanger/Doubler Model 126 analogue BBD flanger
Sony SRP-L200 stereo compressor / limiter / expander / gate
CLM Dynamics DB8000s 8-channel M&S mic-pre/limiter (makes a nice input stage for HDSP)
Funk Logic Palindrometer
Philip Rees 2M MIDI merge box (behind Palindrometer)
Waldorf MicroWave rackmount wavetable synthesiser with Philip Rees C16 MIDI slider control unit
Lexicon Model 97 "Super Prime Time" monster digital delay

Rack 2 (digital/patchbay - 12U black)

RME Digiface breakout box for the Hammerfall DSP PCI soundcard
ETA Systems PD11LVIEC-CE power conditioner
[Blank rack panel with dbx compression graphs]
Signex ARC32 Smartpatch 16-way audio router (balanced version) with V2 firmware including Multiple Destination Routing
Signex Universal Panel custom-configured with various USB, BNC, Jack, XLR Universal Panel Modules
Signex CPX16MJ 16-way XLRM patchbay with rear jacks and lacing bar
Signex CPX16FJ 16-way XLRF patchbay with rear jacks and lacing bar
Frontier Tango24 8-channel 24-bit A/D-D/A converters (x2)
dbx 160A mono compressor
TC Electronic D*Two rhythm delay
TC Electronic M*OneXL dual effects processor

Rack 3 (UFO - 11U black)

Casio CZ101 synth sits on top alongside Palmer MCT-8 cable tester
dbx 263X de-esser
dbx 563X 'The Silencer'
dbx 163X OverEasy compressor / limiter (x2)
dbx 463X OverEasy noise gate / expander
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)

industrial PDU
Audio Architecture Function Junction 8x8 programmable MIDI patchbay
Chloride Power DeskPower UPS
Akai ME80P 10x8 MIDI patchbay
Akai ME35T drum-MIDI trigger unit
Akai S3200XL digital sampler (creating 'The Malcotron')
[Switched mains 6-way extension lead for annoying wall warts]
Panasonic SV-3700 professional DAT recorder with RAK-SV012WH remote control

Rack 5 (reverbs - 2U black/blue)

Behringer BCR2000 rotary encoders
Sony MU-R201 digital reverberator
Sony DPS-R7 digital reverberator

It's only a matter of time before Rack 5 gets combined with Rack 6 and maybe one day evolves into some kind of live effects rack, with a rackmounted mixer on top for stage usage...

Rack 6 (FX - 3U black/red/blue)

Sony DPS-F7 Dynamic Filter / drum synth / monosynth / vocoder...
A third dbx 363X dual noise gate
Lexicon Vortex audio morphing processor
Undoubtedly more to come...

Other gear acquired since this 2011 setup pictured

Eventide PS-101 Instant Phaser
Maxon PT9Pro+ phaser pedal
Estradin Effekt-1 flanger
Wersivoice analogue BBD ensemble/tremolo/phaser
Montarbo PB-2 V2 Phase Shifter/Buzzer
Sony MU-A081 four channel power amp
Sony MU-L021 stereo compressor/limiter/noise gate
Sony MU-E311 31-band graphic equalizer
2*Sony MU-E041 4-band parametric equalizers
Sony MX-12 six channel vintage mixer
AudioKit 64 six channel mixer with Gain, Bass, Treble, Aux1, Aux2, Pan, 4 outputs
2*PASS Digital Audio Workstation Buddy (BBC Version) monitor controller/headphone amp
Henry A. Patterson vintage milliammeter
Beltone 109 Audiometer
Balanced Ring Modulator DU1000
Campden Instruments 564 Reaction Timer
Bruel & Kjaer 1027 Sine Random Generator
Bruel & Kjaer 2107 Frequency Analyzer (1964 50dB/octave swept valve BPF)
Bruel & Kjaer 2113 Audio Frequency Spectrometer (stepped solid-state BPF)
Northern Telecom Conference 2000 Acoustic Module
Payton Scientific 300B Dual Channel Aggregation Module (inoperative)
Armfield Pulse Generator (nucular deterrent) (decommissioned... for now!)
Wurlitzer Brasshorn (sonic cannon)
Monacor AR50 Audio Resonator (50W exciter)
Dawe Stroboflash 1200E vintage strobe light
Gallenkamp Spinmix SGP-200 Laboratory Mixer ("goes to 11")
Signal Generator collection housed in Deep Beige 32U rackmount cabinet: (from top to bottom)
- Dynamco Instruments A2 Precision Oscillator + B2 Attenuator
- Nagard Double Pulse Generator Type 5002C (valve oscillator)
- AudioKit 62 six channel mixer with Gain, Bass, Treble, Aux1, Aux2, Pan, stereo output
- Philip Harris 3305 dual trace oscilloscope
- Topward TMV-360A voltmeter
- Sutter BV-10M megohmeter
- Feedback DCS297K Audio Module
- Feedback DCS297M Power Supply
- Feedback TWG500 Variable Phase Function Generator (analogue oscillator)
- Feedback TWG501 Function Generator (analogue oscillator)
- Hewlett Packard 3310B Function Generator
- Advance Instruments LF Oscillator H1E (valve oscillator)
- Linstead Type G5 Wide Range Generator (analogue oscillator)
- Gow-Mac Instruments 40-201 Power Supply Control Unit
- CFP 8185 Homoeothermic Blanket Control
- Tactical 310 SHPS Temperature Controller (magic Big Red Switch (DANGER))

That is a total of ten oscillators! Just wait until I get some photos up of this mission control centre! :-]

Recording

Soundcraft Spirit Studio LC 16:8:2 in-line analogue console
Tascam DA-P1 portable DAT recorder
Sony TCD-D7 portable DAT recorder
Yamaha MT2X 4-track tape recorder
Tascam LA-40 Mk.II 4 channel bi-directional balanced-unbalanced converter
Tascam LA-80 Mk.II 8 channel unbalanced-balanced converter
Tascam LA-81 Mk.II 8 channel balanced-unbalanced converter
Alice Matchpak bi-directional stereo balanced-unbalanced converter (the older black version) (to+from hi-fi and 4-track)

After years without a viable multitrack (apart from my old 4-track) I finally began recording audio direct to computer in 2009. The following year I embarked on a vast climb up a massive mountain of DAT tapes, many of which are now happily gathered together on computer, and some are being released online as time allows.

Computing

Custom-built six-core high-efficiency silent AMD Phenom II workstation with 16GB ECC RAM, SSD, etc. (full specs) plus:

A nice pair of EIZO S1961 19" LCD monitors running off a Radeon HD5750 silent triple-head graphics card
RME HDSP PCI 26-channel professional sound card and Digiface breakout box
Frontier TranzPort wireless remote (now works on Linux :-)
Debian GNU/Linux running Free audio software:
- Ardour digital audio workstation
- Hydrogen virtual drum machine
- Rosegarden notation/sequencing
- ALSA and JACK

Monitoring

2*APS Aeon active mid-field monitors (150W LF + 70W HF) in Control Room
2*Fostex PM0.4 active mini monitors (18W LF + 18W HF) in Piano Room
Classic Mission 707 hi-fi loudspeakers
Ancient Marantz hi-fi loudspeakers
Beyer DT150 closed-backed headphones
Beyer DT990pro open-backed headphones
Passive headphone splitter allowing headphone sharing in any room

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