Here's your main course, folks. Crosstalk 50 is chock-full of meaty discourse on VST hosts, T-Bone Burnett's secret audio encoding format (it's 1,000 island dressing) and "HiDef" digital audio. Oh, and let's not forget The Coug (leaner than bison).  

One of the more popular units at the Empty Bottle is the TC Electronic M-One XL, a 1U effects processor that'll have you hearing double. You'll be double-fisting reverb with this one.  

John Ritz teaches courses on composition and computer recording at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, and as a teacher, he's quite smitten with Digidesign Pro Tools and tells us why. As if you needed another reason to check out the industry standard DAW.  

The simply named "Class A" Combo amp from Jeffersonville, IN's loudest son, Doc Electro, pushes out a mighty 20 watts from a single 6550 Power Tube. All Doc Electro amps are custom-built, utterly unique pieces, each with its own unique back-story, and this amp is no exception.  

To say "6/8 Grooves" is a debatable statement. Certainly, in the hands (and feet) of a drummer like Carter Beauford, it might be the case. Ringo, on the other hand, ranges from "swing" to "shuffle, at best. Regardless, one cannot deny that these loops from RealLiveLoops are in 6/8. OK, they might actually be in 3/4.  

Yes, that's what that thing in the picture is: a kick pedal bracket -- manufactured by Metropolitan Drums -- that converts any floor tom into a compact, upright cocktail bass drum. You'd think they could find a decent photographer in New York, wouldn't you?  

Many guitar wall hangers put unnecessary weight on the neck and headstock of your guitar thanks to poor design. The Hang'em High guitar wall hangers provide much more balance with rock star good looks also included.  

Ueberschall pulls another library out of their hat with Club Electro. It features sounds based on a number of tasty classic and modern synths alike.  

FXpansion adds to their BFD2 drum workstation with the release of their JEX Expansion Kit. It brings a very high-quality, custom hand-built XDrum Xotica series kit to your artillery.  

Gibson has really put some crazy design ideas to work with the Reverse Explorer, their Guitar of the Month for September 2008. It's got lightning bolts, art deco logos and all the other shapes you'd normally find in Lucky Charms cereal.  

And by "pranks" we mean "queries him about high fidelity digital audio," and as a member of the esteemed team at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Mr. Sedillo has a few choice words to say on the subject. Will Scott remember Britton from the days when he (Britton) used to drop two-track studio masters off at BGM? You'll just have to find out!  

FOH engineer Shelly Steffens shows us the only active DI Box that the Empty Bottle uses, a Behringer ULTRA-DI DI-100. Though they've proven troublesome, they do have at least one redeeming quality.  

Ernie Halter is endorsed by Taylor, but he's long been a Taylor guitar player. He shows us his 310-CE, which got an electronics makeover once Taylor gave him their endorsement.  

Gearwire crosses state borders over to Jeffersonville, Indiana where we visit Doc Electro Amplification. The good doctor is in to show us his prescription for crunch tone deficiency -- the Doc Electro DE-50H Crunch.  

Masters of cranial audio wear, Ultrasone, have announced the Pro 900 headphones, the first in the Pro series to feature S-Logic Plus "surround sound" acoustic technology. The resultant tonal image is so immersing, so accurate, we recommend NOT using these headphones to listen to Saving Private Ryan on your portable DVD player during your morning mass transit commute.  

For close to a decade C.F. Martin has been tinkering with aluminum guitars (they have patents on several). The new 000CE AL is their latest effort at a sustainable material instrument.  

After building up some mad respect for seven years, the UAD-1 is finally passing the torch. Universal Audio is super psyched about the UAD-2, which utilizes Analog Devices powerful SHARC DSP Processors.  

As FOH mixer at the Empty Bottle -- Chicago's bastion of independent music -- Shelly Steffens has used the Whirlwind IMP2 in more than a few unique mixing situations. Shelly's life will get easier once these indie bands get over their Brian Wilson rock-orchestral fixations.  

Realsamples gives back to the sample community with a free download based off of their Edition Buermann Sample Library. The masses shall have their harpsichords that they dost clamor for so, I decree!  

The Mac-only, Firewire bus-powered Metric Halo Mobile I/O 2882 was introduced in 2001, and is still the company's flagship mobile recording solution. The "Expanded" models are virtually identical to the originals, save the inclusion of the factory-optional 2D card, which greatly improves the interface's DSP and other processing power.  

It gets hot on stage; hotter than the sweltering desert heat, the luminescence of the colored lights painting you with the scorn of the sub-Saharan sun. BLOWiT Personal Cooling System aims to undermine the phenomenon known as the Hot Stage Effect, one that's dehydrated the likes of many, including Eddie Vedder and Vance "Guitar" Kelly.  

Britton, Bill and Owen walk like heroes into Gearwire studio to talk about XO(TRIANGLE)E, T-Bone Burnett's new format. If you haven't heard Life, Death, Love And Freedom, here's your chance to hear it.  

When miking bass drum at the Empty Bottle, Shelly Steffens makes different decisions based on different situations. Here, she discusses times when the AKG D112 is the most advantageous mic to use.  

If you try and pronounce "SX" phonetically, you might utter an approximation of the supposed quality of Behringer mixers. Whether or not that reputation is deserved is a matter we'll leave up to other, braver souls. Regardless, they've got some new mixers. Yippee.  

We know that Proletariat Productions prefers using Steinberg Nuendo 4 over Digidesign Pro Tools. Now we get to see it in action with special thanks to SICKFRoWN and their smash hit "The Way."  

Don't confuse low-end presence with low-end presents. Low-end presents are what poor kids like me got for Christmas, and low-end presence, as FOH engineer Shelly Steffens explains, is something you'll get out of the Shure Beta 52. I grew up on the streets.  

If you've ever dreamed yourself away to a funky space station junkyard in the sky, Bitworld Oxide Kits Vol. 1 may just be for you. Either that, or you need to lay off whatever it is you're laying on.  

With the release of Wallander Instruments WIVI v2, digital knob spinners can put their mice to rest. Bountifully packed with templates, WIVI v2 gets you right to intuitive loop sequencing without necessitating the riddling eternal twiddler in you make himself known!  

Tired of recreating fictional effects pedals (though some industry lawsuits might say otherwise), Behringer introduces its new line of Real Sound Modeling effects pedals, or RSM for short. I just hope they're still made from "real plastic."  

Virtuasonic announces the release of MIJOY PRO 3. It allows you to take a break from MIDI controlling your tunes to play Earthbound on your SNES emulator and back without dropping your joystick.