Signal Processors

Drawmer announces the availability of their A2D2 analog-to-digital converter. What's the big deal? For starters, it can output 44.1 kHz and 192 kHz at the same time.  

If you've been stuck using the standard preamps on your audio interface or multitrack recorder, it might be wise to look into a dedicated mic pre. Find out how fine tuning more controls can improve your sound.  

The ART Pro VLA returns for a final installment as Bob DiFazio uses it for a practical application. Also, catch his final word on the Pro VLA as a compression unit.  

Bob DiFazio continues his look at the ART Pro VLA Compressor. This video features a closer view of the ratio and output knobs, complete with one of the most unnecessarily involved LOTR references I could imagine.  

An engineer without a compressor is like a professional eater without a mouth. Bob DiFazio explains the ART Pro VLA compressor and how the only recipe for success is no recipe at all.  

Schaack Audio has announced that Transient Shaper is now at V2.0. This update allows the dynamics processor to use attack and release shapes as well as analog saturation.  

BTE Audio has designed up another Program Equalizer Algorithm, the PEQ3. Like the PEQ2, it features "Air Band," a versatile boost only high frequency shelving band.  

The PreSonus ADL-600 preamp has a wide load of interesting features, and Gearwire's Bob DiFazio explains what they do. When should you use a polarity switch? What has T.J. Cross done since 2002? Half of these questions and more are answered in the enclosed video!  

BTE claims that their new Program Equalizer, the PEQ2, utilizes an "air band" to emulate rare mid-90s program EQs. What does a group of jerks playing imaginary instruments have to do with Program Equalization?  

The boutique analog audio processing manufacturers, Burgin McDaniel, have released their first self-branded product: a compressor called the Komit. Try not to let any associative wordplay taint your image of this high-quality compressor, though.  

Sound Performance Lab came out with an innovative product platform last year with their Rackpack modular processing system. At this year's Musikmesse, they announce a slew of new modules for the Rackpack system, and a new ad campaign slogan: "Gotta Patch 'Em All!"  

Rupert Neve Designs, the great mic preamp company, made the price right on the Portico 5012. The budget-minded gang at Milquetoast Studios considers this their best piece of gear.  

Angel Alanis has worked with clients such and Dusttraxx, Greenskeepers, DJ Colette, and Johnny Fiasco. Although busy producing and releasing music under his own A Squared Music, he is also one of Chicago's go-to guys in the world of dance music mastering.  

PreSonus announces that their newly released DigiMax D8 preamp has the green light for shipping. If you want 8 XMAX preamps and everything but the word clock sync. Actually, it has that, too! LOL!  

Earlier we talked to Ras Iron Teeth about broader recording issues and DAWs. Now we move on to the "little things" and building a studio.  

Gearwire's Robert DiFazio takes us through the rack gear at Skybox Studios, the studio he helped outfit. Though Robert likes to keep his outboard gear minimal, he's still narrowed down a very enviable core of hardware.  

The self-effacing Bob Popp says he's not a very good bassist, and that's why he uses the "very expensive" Avalon U5 and the special "channel 15" on his board to track his playing.  

dbx is proud to show their new dB10 [passive] and dB12 [active] -- a pair of direct boxes that dbx wanted to be both qualitative and unique. Check out this video to see what dbx came up with.  

Kenton, provider of studio solutions, solves another studio quandary with the Merge4, an affordable, simple way to combine MIDI signals. And when those MIDI signals combine, I am Captain Planet!  

Universal Audio's renowned LA-610 channel strip goes special edition at NAMM, and David Crane goes over what else is new with Universal Audio. Watch it, you might learn something about learning something.  

What is Duende? In Spanish artistic circles, it is an esoteric phrase with no direct translation in English, connoting both "emotion" and "authenticity." Difficult to translate, perhaps, but super easy to transport thanks to SSL's new Duende Mini!  

OK, I admit that the accompanying picture is just a rendering of what the ISA One will look like, but that thing looks like a prop from the original Stark Trek. . . strike that. . . the original Battlestar Galactica! Yeah, I went there. Regardless, it probably sounds awesome.  

Quick poll: does anyone else find ART Audio Gear's black and purple aesthetic theme reminiscent of a certain Sith Lord? Hmm . . . At NAMM 08, ART has unveiled two new Pro-Grade Signal Processors that have me humming the Imperial March.  

You won't find any of the latest DSP plug-ins at Gallery of Carpet recording. Brian Zieske has built up a very impressive collection of some classic hardware that's been tried and tested for decades.  

The last segment of Crosstalk 36 features some good old viewer mail. Bill, Britton, and Henry answer some recording questions dealing with mic preamps, guitar pickups, and more.  

Focusrite's Liquid Mix Challenge pits Focusrite's own Liquid technology against the classic hardware it attempts to emulate. Challenge your ears with this test of audio detail.  

Director of Computer Music at the University of Chicago, Howard Sandroff, uses Cycling '74 Max for signal processing. In this video, Howard shows his knows with a history of Cycling '74 way back from its days in Middle Earth the mid 1980s.  

With a few obvious exceptions, Bob Popp of Gunpoint Studios keeps all of his rack equipment below $1,500, and he keeps his setup simple. Bob records fast, hard-hitting rock, rap, and some gospel, so he doesn't need too much in terms of delays and crazy effects. Check out the video to see what he's got.  

MOTU, dbx and Behringer are some of the names you'll find at Gunpoint Recording Studios in Chicago. Owner Bob Popp has worked in live sound and recording for years, and he knows what to take from each discipline to enhance the other, as well as what to leave behind.  

Neptune's Jason Sanford conceived of the band's aesthetic over twelve years ago, in a welding class. Since then, the aesthetic and inimitable sound of the Boston trio has taken them all over the world and into a deal with the label Table of the Elements.