Dev that is a tasty looking axe

Incoming:


Because if I have to mix on headphones most of the time, might as well mix my mixes on headphones meant for mixing on.

Why are they wet? Did you leave them in the rain?

It's the finish.

No, seriously. Don't ask me why, as I don't know, but that's the finish.



In any event, I haven't had the chance to leave them in the rain yet as I just bought the damn things, and that's the seller's picture. We'll see if they suck or not. Should be here by the end of the week.

Yo when they arrive, I'd like pics. I think that finish would be WICKED on a pedal enclosure.

I'll see what I can do. It probably would look very cool on a pedal enclosure, but I don't know how they achieved it. If it's molded into the housing and headband material itself, then you're probably out of luck. If it's sprayed on, then it's probably do-able if you can track down whatever it is they used.

Might be sprayed on. Back in the day, they used to put a rubberized coating on the bottom of doors and rocker panels on cars and you would spray this rubbery type finish on. It looked a lot like that. Comes in a spray bomb can. In black.

Kinda like "True Coat" from Fargo


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I'm guessing it's sprayed on like you mentioned. I'm wearing 'em right now (and don't want to wake up my ladyfriend hunting around for the camera which I think is buried on her desk?) and the finish is represented well in the photographs. Looks pretty much like it does IRL. It also smells of "new car", if that's anything.

They sound fantastic- very clear in the low end, and transients punch hard.

I take it hiphop with death metal growling, performed by (hipster?) metalheads over otherwise pretty standard hiphop beats is a thing now? To be fair, it actually does make a sort of sense- DM vox and rapping aren't exactly unrelated. Still, if I'm aware of it, I figure it's already done its thing and left the building. I'm not exactly ahead of the curve on anything

I think you just witnessed the nu-metal revival bro. It's a thing,

That sounds like it might be the worst thing ever.

I know a guy in the revival.

Think I'm gonna be saving up for a decent-nice 12 or 16 channel A/D converter and an API lunchbox really soon...

You'll need some D/A as well, but unless you want a console or hardware inserts, you only need two channels.

On the more affordable-ish side, I've heard good things about the new MOTU Thunderbolt stuff. You can get those sans preamps, just line I/O over Thunderbolt. On the less affordable side, you'll need some sort of PCI card-based interface (Lynx, RME, etc.) and my suggestion, unless you need uber-high sample rates, is to go for an older generation Apogee, Lucid, or the like off Ebay. (Are you recording at 192? Didn't think so.) They don't devalue quite like consoles do, but a lot of great records were cut with that stuff and sound damnfine. Hell, the older blue face Digidesign/Avid HD96 or HD192 you can get for peanuts, and those never seemed to fuck up my records. If you really want to piss a ton of money away on this, you absolutely can. I suggest trolling Ebay or the Gearslutz classifieds.

There's a lot of options in lunchbox land depending on how many slots you want and what extra functionality you're looking for. You can sometimes find these with modules, too, though obviously what you're getting in that regard is a total crapshoot. Unless you're looking at a Radial Workhorse or something like that, you can probably find one pretty cheep.

Any plans re: what you're gonna load the thing with? A metric shit-tonne of cool modules have come out in the past year or two, especially if you want some EQs and comps. If you're looking at that stuff and not just pres, that may affect what you want AD/DA wise if you're looking to bring this stuff in at mix time.

I should have said A/D D/A, and the HD192 is exactly what I have had my eyes on.

What I am looking to throw in there is very much still up in the air, but I have ideas. I am thinking maybe an 8-slot. I am thinking some Neve flavor. I have not really pinpointed which of the dozens of Neve-inspired designs available, however. Probably like, 5-6 preamps and a couple of shapers and/or smashers. I still plan on acquiring a Sytek MPX-4, so I think with that and the Tone Beast, I would be pretty well golden on preamp action.

One thing I am totally positive of is that I never one of them Standard Audio Level-Ors. Seems like just the ticket, as I love dirty smashing. As for EQs, jury is totally out. That is some biz I need to read into.



It is going to be a terrifying, miraculous journey once I financially plunge into those waters.

Those HD192s are probably the best deal going for "pro" AD/DA. If you don't mind them not being supported- and you're not using PTHD anyhow- those fuckers go cheap, as bigger studios want something compatible with PT10+ HD rigs.

The Rupert Neve Designs 511 is pretty much consistently available for under $550 new. That's modern Neve, not 1073/1081-flavored Neve, but it does have the current Neve "Silk" control to add some fine, fine THD. If you're liking the Warm stuff, there's a Tonebeast 500 series (2 spaces) and a plain old WA512 (single space) out there. I believe Chandler Germaniums are available in a 500 rack as well, and those are my absolute fave-o-rite thing I've heard on an electric guitar.

Re: smashers, the good ol' Valley People Dynamite is now available as a 500 unit. That will wreck the shit out of stuff. Nice gate, too. The "vintage" rack ones are impossible to find for decent money these days anyhow, and are probably old enough to warrant a re-cap. Probably best just to get the 500. DBX 160 is available as a 500 rack now, too, for some classic beat-on-your-snare-drum compression.

If I was looking at spending a lot of money on an EQ, I'd be seriously looking at the Maag EQ4. There's a few Pultec-ish EQs out there too.

I am digging the TB12, but I am feeling like I want to keep my API-flavored stuff to just a couple channels. Might get another one of them shits, might not. Definitely will probably run that on top snare a lot though. i5 into the TB is like, "oh fuck... that's it!".

Them Geraniums look beautiful, I also know that I love the sound of them.. Mr. Ballou uses those a lot. They are however, pretty fucking pricey.

This, looks like something I could get a lot of use out of: http://www.lindellaudio.se/index.php/6x-500/

I imagine that would make a fine kick or bass pre.

I've heard nothing but good things re: the Lindell stuff. It's affordable as hell, and seems to be well made/sounds good. Plus the guy who makes 'em is a mod on Gearslutz and should be easy to contact. Alas, the EQ section isn't a full Pultec-style where you can cut and boost at the same time, but that would really be asking too much from a li'l 500 module.

The Germaniums do turn up used often enough, the racks specifically, as the 500 version is new-ish. They're still fucking pricey, but they are the best thing ever on electric guitars. I'm not sure what, if anything else, does "that sound". If I had cash on hand and saw one for $700, I'd grab it in a heartbeat. I only need one of 'em. The Chameleon Labs 581 is probably your most inexpensive ticket to a Neve-flavored thing.

Re: EQs, the Trident 80B EQ is available as a 500 rack now; that might be worth looking into as a classic aggressive guitar thing. I see Kush Audio has some 500 stuff out, and considering the plugin versions rock and have become some of my go-to kit, I can only presume the real versions are even better. Definitely "character" stuff. The Moog Ladder Filter catches my eye just for its ability to fuck with things.

Re: smashers, the DBX 560A (160A in 500-format) is $200 new these days. They haven't been out long enough that used ones would be common. That'll punch up your snare drum. It's a pretty recognizable sound as a drum compressor. All the DBX stuff seems quite reasonably priced, and they have a module for everything.

Lindell does make a full-featured Pultec-flavored 500 rack, though. Yeah, it's not a 50-60 year old box full of tubes, but it does let you do the cut/boost trick, which owns on kick and bass.

My fucking drunk ass wrote up like 3 replies to this yesterday that never ended up getting posted cause I kept exiting out of Chrome before I posted them.

The minimal EQ on that Lindell preamp is not quite as fancy, but I think it would be sick for sharpening and/or fattening up bass or kick drums before hitting da box. Or really, anywhere else I would like to pre-EQ something in those ranges.

I will def check out the 560, especially with that price tag. I've got my eyes on that for something a little more subtle, and the Level-Or and the Dynamite for nasty smashing. It's probably going to come down to just one for the time being. For whatever reason though, the Level-Or is speaking out to me. Seems like it would rule on anything that wants to be raunch-ified, particularly for parallel smashing on drums or super fucked vocals. In a perfect world, I could have both, I suppose.

Suppose I get an 8-slot rack.. Plus the Sytek. Plus using the MPA for the time being, I do believe. That would give me two open slots for non-preamp biz. I could run them bizzes in real time on whatever I please..

Another question... Should I be looking into stereo buss compressors? I mean. Should I really?