Signal Processors

Douglas Doherty of DACS Audio walks us through the front-panel controls of the awesome DACS FREQue II, a ring-modulator-based analog effects unit that's capable of much more than simple ring modulation.  

We stop by the Burl Audio booth at AES 2010 to take a look at the company's range of products. It's a modest range, but when you pack this much firepower into so few models, you don't need to worry about overwhelming numbers.  

Working engineers demand straightforward solutions for basic problems. Elegantly solving issues with low-output, passive ribbon microphones is the Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter, a phantom-powered box that transparently boosts microphone levels by 20 - 25 db. We spoke with Cloud's Roger Cloud about this simple-yet-brilliant studio tool.  

Who'd a thunk you'd need separate even- and odd-harmonic distortion generators on a Class A mic pre? Dave Hill, that's who. The founder of Crane Song had a new company and its first product — the Dave Hill Designs Europa I microphone preamplifier — on display at the recent AES Show in San Francisco.  

Vintage sound is nice and all, but since when did the recording industry become a bunch of backwards-looking Luddites? Don't lump TRUE's Tim Spencer into the category. His thoroughly modern sounding TRUE PT2-500 is about as forward-thinking and current sounding a mic pre as you'll find at AES.  

BAE Audio has no affiliation with the BAE which designs and manufactures weapons of war, but the BAE DMP and BAE DLB still pack some serious audio firepower into compact chassis. No affiliation with the Dave Matthews Pand or Dave Latthews Band.  

You know who's fighting the good fight in the loudness wars? TC Electronic, that's who. They were at the 129th AES show with a veritable peacemaking arsenal, including the new LM2, TM9 and System 6000 MKII variations of their radar-style metering software.  

Utilitarian in design, the Benchmark MPA1 may look unassuming, but this 2-channel mic pre boasts some impressive performance specs and circuit design. We hear about the preamp from Benchmark's John Siau.  

Woah, deja vu. Or did someone change something in the matrix using the Manley MicMaid Microphone / Preamplifier Switching Matrix? Watch this video from AES to find out. Or did I say that already?  

With more features and functions than just about any other dynamics hardware we've seen, the Slate Pro Audio Dragon dynamics processor is impressive indeed. We chased it at the 129th AES show in San Francisco.  

Not only are the mic pre's in the Grace Design lineup transparent in an audio sense, they're also striving for as little an impact on the earth. Find out about the m101's environmental transparency in this video from the 129th AES show.  

In France, the Steven Slate Pro Audio Fox Microphone Preamp is called "la renard," and hunted with only its cunning to protect it.  

Whether you're looking for a monitor and headphone solution with total transparency or a hi-fi playback option for your computer, the new Grace Design m903 is a knockout little box. We took a close look at the recent AES show.  

I find it mildly amusing that ShinyBox started off producing ribbon mics and only thereafter moved on to producing actual shiny boxes like the Si 500-series mic pre, the Guillotine 500-series hi-/lo-pass filter, and the Si4 four-channel rackmount mic pre. Emphasis on the "mildly."  

Did you tremble when you first heard the Little Labs V.O.G. (Voice of God)? You will when you hear designer Jonathan Little explain how it works, and then you'll burst into flames.  

Unlike many microphone preamp designers, John La Grou was able to fit more features into his Millennia Media HV-3 preamp by moving it to the compact 500-series format. He explains the features of the pre and how he got around the power limitations of the 500 format to Gearwire's Gino Robair.  

Already a veritable studio Swiss army knife, the Little Labs Redeye D.I./reamper has been upgraded to the Little Labs Redeye 3D Phantom. Being that that's not the most self-explanatory of name-changes, we'll let designer Jonathan Little take over from here.  

Boss RC-50 Loop Station helps Megan Berson Of Linfinity turn her violin into an orchestra and gets kids to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with abandon. Berson says the RC-50 takes some time to master but it is well worth the effort.  

The Neve 2264A Mono Limiter / Compressor Module is back and now readily available in the U.S. from Vintage King Audio.  

Now available in the U.S. from Vintage King Audio, the AMS Neve 1073LB 500 Series Mono Mic Preamp Module effectively re-creates the big punchy sound of the original Neve 1073 module and readies that sound your 500 Series rack.  

Doepfer introduced the new Dark Time analog sequencer, which can be used as an add-on to the Dark Energy synthesizer, or be used with other MIDI, USB, or CV / Gate gear.  

Later this week, Empress Effects will be unleashing its green Empress Phaser pedal, which boasts a universal control port, numerous auto modes, eight waveforms, and controls galore.  

Korg's latest Electribe pattern-based music production stations offer many of the same features as other Electribes, plus artist-created patterns, large SD data storage, and more.  

SSL has introduced the Stereo EQ Module for the X-Rack -- a stereo version of the company's console Channel EQ. This module has high- and low-bands switchable between shelving or fixed Q bell curves, plus two mid-bands each with variable Q control, and much more.  

If you record you need to know about compression. Compression is your friend and Social Code's Travis Nesbitt gives his thoughts on compression and compressors.  

What's old is new again, with the Electro-Harmonix Germanium 4 Big Muff Pi effect pedal, which boasts a pair of 1960s Germanium transistors, independent Overdrive and Distortion circuits, and more.  

Create interesting, fuzzalicious effects from subtle to extreme with the new Fairfield Circuitry effect, Four Eyes Crossover Fuzz.  

Get audiophile-quality compression in a compact, stompbox-style box, with the new FEA Labs Opti-FET Compressor, which features sidechain EQ with an external loop and much more.  

In music school, they said I had to learn how to sing in order to proceed with my studies. What? I don't sing -- that's why I play horn. Well, the same problem exists for the majority of keyboard players out there, which is why Roland has released the VP-7 Vocal Processor. The compact black box creates backup vocals, instant harmony with both natural-sounding human voices and vocoded robot sounds, and more.  

TC Electronic's System 6000 multichannel reverb and signal processor is now shipping in its new and improved form as the MKII, after receiving a facelift and a number of hardware and software updates.