penningtron wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2024 3:48 pm

jimmy spako wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2024 3:14 pm ..the revelation has been recording absolutely everything (live shows, studio jams, experiments, ad hoc stuff outdoors or elesewhere) with a field recorder

I need to do more of that (I have a Tascam deal). Inspiration is so fleeting for me at this point that running into the side room, creating a session, hooking up the interface, a handful of mics/stands/cables is a momentum killer (or the original idea is forgotten). Plus they sound pretty damn good for what they are: definitely one of those "I would have killed to have one of these at age 15" devices.

oh wow, so true.

It's worth investing in a mixer type interface where you have everything hooked up for multitrack recording (I have a Soundcraft Signature 22MTK), but then always have a field recorder with a line-in on the headphone or alternate out. Then you can discipline yourself to just switch on the mixer and flip on the recorder and go, no laptop, no DAW. You have to live with the mix and all, but that is part of the fun. Definitely makes sense for hardware electronics set-ups etc., if not also for drums and synths and all that.

I like the Olympus LS-5 because it still has the line-in, is streamlined and recording is always just two quick pushes of the same button away. I got all three of mine for around 80€ a piece or less. I have a couple hooked up to different hardware set-ups and one for recording on the go. They are quite robust, never had issues with mine, even after heavier rough outdoor use.

The other aspect is that you can use them to do automatic stereo backups (using the routing above) when you are multi-track recording, just in case anything goes wrong with the computer. That's actually how I started using them so extensively. I think that makes them something every digital home studio should have and get in the habit of using.

jimmy spako wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2024 9:56 am It's worth investing in a mixer type interface where you have everything hooked up for multitrack recording (I have a Soundcraft Signature 22MTK), but then always have a field recorder with a line-in on the headphone or alternate out. Then you can discipline yourself to just switch on the mixer and flip on the recorder and go, no laptop, no DAW. You have to live with the mix and all, but that is part of the fun. Definitely makes sense for hardware electronics set-ups etc., if not also for drums and synths and all that.

The always-ready-to-go setup is probably useful for some people (especially if they just want to capture ideas to rework later) though for me it adds a bit of psychological pressure to 'always be performing'. By keeping things lean I can trick myself into letting go, and then setting up an additional thing in under 30 seconds isn't too much of an obstacle if it comes to that. (even a stereo capture of dry drums can sound really cool with some plug in stuff added after the fact)

Another reminder with the handheld recorder is to take it with you nearly everywhere you go. I had my acoustic guitar with fresh strings in an A-frame house that sounded like a damn chapel and I didn't have the thing on me. We were hiking in Michigan and 10,000 birds appeared out of nowhere, created a tornado of chirping sounds (I asked some locals if this was common and they'd never heard of this phenomenon), which lasted for maybe 10 minutes and I didn't have the thing on me. Stupid.

ChudFusk wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2024 1:13 pm

airloom wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2023 2:36 pm FM Dr. Tony Balls built me this Pentode Box, and then we had him build 2 more stereo units.
If I travel, I always bring one with me. Saves a lot of time "dialing in tone" and helps recording guitar pedal bands immensely.
My studio partner used it and immediately fell in love with it. I record other recording guys and they're like "how did I live without this?"
Simple, elegant and powerful.
Totally a must have.

What kind of applications did you use the pentode box for? DI from a pedalboard?

Best application is prior to DI point for synths and bass, preamp for a rhodes, using it before wimpy amps (I guess what it was designed for). all sorts of reamping applications. and creative/incorrect impedance driving shit.

airloom wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2024 7:35 pm

ChudFusk wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2024 1:13 pm

airloom wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2023 2:36 pm FM Dr. Tony Balls built me this Pentode Box, and then we had him build 2 more stereo units.
If I travel, I always bring one with me. Saves a lot of time "dialing in tone" and helps recording guitar pedal bands immensely.
My studio partner used it and immediately fell in love with it. I record other recording guys and they're like "how did I live without this?"
Simple, elegant and powerful.
Totally a must have.

What kind of applications did you use the pentode box for? DI from a pedalboard?

Best application is prior to DI point for synths and bass, preamp for a rhodes, using it before wimpy amps (I guess what it was designed for). all sorts of reamping applications. and creative/incorrect impedance driving shit.

It was originally designed for a guy who was teching for Bruno Mars. His guitar player had some sort of modern digital effects rig that worked for him but apparently was a bit sterile sounding and the tech wanted something to jazz it up before hitting the amps. Its just a really simple EF86 preamp. Original guy ordered two. Here's one is in use with said guitar player's rig:

That’s quite a stack of amps for such wimpy music

SansAmp Bass Driver. I've had this thing 25 years at least and it's still great. Have not tried version 2 but have heard some of the later "upgrades" to this that just do not sound as good to me.

It definitely does "a thing" but for a long time only having 1 track for bass due to track limitations, it did an excellent job putting bass directly to tape having a lot of the benefits of both running it through a cab and having the direct signal. I was also doing a lot of full band sessions so it was super nice keeping bass bleed out of drum mics when doing live sessions.

I've taken this thing on tour playing bass for many shows where I'd be using provided backline and plugging this into the effects return would give me a sound I liked w/out having to learn a new amp every time. I also usually keep it in my live rig in case a bass player shows up and has a dead amp.

For folks that hate the DI sound of bass but are not in a good recording space to mic a cab, this to me has always sounded like proper bass vs that sound that I think most folks hate about DIs on bass.

Has Headphone distribution amp been mentioned yet? If not: Headphone distro amp. I bought the 6-channel ART one a couple years ago to replace my crap Samson and it's a HUGE difference both w/ sound and power output. Way better build quality too. I really wish I had one of these instead of that Samson one back in the day. Any more, I hardly need multiple headphones out but here we are with a whole studio and no real motivation to hustle/rustle up clients.

losthighway wrote: Sat Feb 25, 2023 6:32 pm If we're talking underdog, unsexy, utilitarian items:

- Masking tape, sharpies, notebooks and pens that are easy to write with

I love these for both live and studio applications. Hell, for any event that is a session; meetings, grocery shopping, international assassin's task list, etc. Inexpensive, durable paper, fit in a back pocket, can leave them everywhere and have one nearby.

penningtron wrote:

jimmy spako wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2024 3:14 pm ..the revelation has been recording absolutely everything (live shows, studio jams, experiments, ad hoc stuff outdoors or elesewhere) with a field recorder

I need to do more of that (I have a Tascam deal). Inspiration is so fleeting for me at this point that running into the side room, creating a session, hooking up the interface, a handful of mics/stands/cables is a momentum killer (or the original idea is forgotten). Plus they sound pretty damn good for what they are: definitely one of those "I would have killed to have one of these at age 15" devices.

TallChris sent us his spare Zoom R16 since we're a bi-coastal band now. It's just set up vertically in the practice space against the wall and we use the internal stereo mics right now (would like to individually mic the guitars and vocals eventually). Turn it on, it remembers where we were, hit record. We are ludicrously loud, and it still sounds not bad. SD cards KICK ASS. Put two tracks in Reaper*, pan, apply the saved EQ and compression chain, export the mp3, put it in the sky for TC to grab. What a GD time to be alive.**

*for fun I plugged the USBC adapter into the ipad pro and did it in Logic one night. Not as fast since I don't know Logic as well, but proof I don't even need a laptop to do The Thing.

**I just spent two weeks teaching a digital recording technology class for high school juniors and seniors. The amount of change that has happened since I was their age is extraordinary, but when I do the math it kind of makes sense while simultaneously making me feel very, very old.

Also: they may actually have too many options now. Reaper is free to mess around with forever and inexpensive to buy and basically depthless in its capability. Interfaces and controllers are cheap. Spitfire Labs plugins are amazing. When a Portastudio and a Maxell XL-60 and a couple Realistic mics with suspiciously too-easy-to-move switches were the only things you had, maybe the mind had more room to think about songs. I was still definitely a lot worse at songs then though.

echokiloromeo wrote: guest checks

Now THAT's a blast from the past for me - I was supplementing my studio income waiting tables for years before finally giving up on studio/sound work as a full-time endeavor and going back to school. Piles and piles of these partials laying around. Little notepads like this are SUPER handy for sure. I think the past years once those finally ran out I've switched to leftover 1/4 page hand-out flyers from various shows. Not nearly as handy since they aren't bound but whatever works.

Pretty decent for playing Boggle/Big Boggle too.