Premier Rock Forum

Garth wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2024 7:36 am

llllllllllllllllllll wrote:

Mickey242 wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 10:35 pmAudix i5

I’ve read that Sanford Parker likes these in place of a traditional 57

I've used the i5 on stage a few years now and definitely prefer it over most other mics for snare. They're not too badly priced either IDK why I never got one for recording or even my own live rig.

Weird Audix mic I really ended up loving was the little SCX25's. They sound great on a piano and as any kind of over head pair. Always wanted to get a pair but they are never cheap on the used market. They almost always cost the same as new for some reason. Great mic.

I'll add Brady Cable Label Printer to the list. These things rule so hard when you are building racks. Also something like https://h2rgear.com/ or even Draw.io is great for drawing a map of studio patching so regulars can figure shit out.

Big fan of Draw.io

If you are looking for a pretty cheap and easy to use NAS storage the WD MyCloud EX2 Ultra is pretty ok. I got a 8TB for like $350 but it is 2 4TB drives running in Raid 1 for redundant storage. You can set up multiple users so Heather can access it too and using the Cloud Portal I can access all of it from anywhere I have internet. Weirdly the Firewall at (Big Shoe INC.) doesn't block it! It even blocks One Drive and Drop Box.

Not studio gear per se and not a must-have, but it's probably more useful for recording than live and it's definitely underrated: Korg ToneWorks G1. It's an early multi-effect focused on distortion, with options for delay and wah. The "Classic" and "Tube OD" settings have the best tones IMO, and they sound fucking amazing! It can get a very "stacked gain stages" amount and quality of dirt, and all the lower gain settings sound very nice. They can still be had for stupid cheap, although the G5 bass synth pedal from the same series still lists for $2-300 used. The only reasons I wouldn't use this live are 1- it's super uncool, and 2 (real reason)- the sound cuts out momentarily when you switch between presets, which though brief is noticeable unless you have a good amount of reverb after the pedal (the built in delay cuts out too so you can't use it to schmear over the cut-out). Apparently Dimebag Darryl used this pedal a lot, and I have some Randall Switchmasters so I ran this pedal through them and holy shit, Pantera tone all day long! That may be a good or bad thing depending on who you are, but there are lots of other good high and low gain sounds to be got from this thing, and it doesn't sound artificial unless you use the really fizzy settings.

Kniferide wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 2:18 pmIf you are looking for a pretty cheap and easy to use NAS storage the WD MyCloud EX2 Ultra is pretty ok.

It was ten years ago but my experience with a WD MyBookLive Duo, set up similarly, was good for six months and then a neverending nightmare of drive crashes, data loss, endless rebuilds etc. Since then I've used Synology NASes exclusively - buying them used, but even a ten year old Synology is pretty much bulletproof. When I upgraded from the first one I had to the second one, I put the set of four drives in the new unit and turned it on ... it muttered to itself for half an hour and was then ready to go with no config needed and all files available. And then one time a drive failed and I corrupted another trying to fix it, but it retrieved everything after a seven day reconstruction.

Not gear but software:

Ginger Audio Room is a fantastic software monitor control solution. Multiple ins and outs, Up to 4 of each to use simultaneously, plus loopback and virtual inputs so you can like, make Zoom a input or something. it has LUFS metering on all inputs and outputs, hosts VST on both inputs and out puts so you can run room speaker correlation EQ or delay a sub or what not. Has all the regular monitor control stuff that really expensive controllers have like Swap sides, Mono, Dim, Pol Flip on sides, Custom output volumes, A Cue bus, Etc. It is maybe the best monitor controller on the market and if you pair it with a Stream Deck that has the 4 knobs on it you can set up an input page and output page and have all the controls at your fingertips. I've been using it for about a year on my laptop and love it. It's like $150!

Only bad thing... MAC ONLY, which is total bullshit. They are leaving a ton of money on the table by being turtleneck nerds. I've considered using my old laptop and a MOTU Ultralite over AVB just to drive my monitor control on my DAW setup which is a PC Tower (correct way). Eating that hardware is still cheaper than buying a new highend monitor controller and to get the functionality this thing offers you have to pay like 2 grand. If you try it and like it, bother the Ginger Audio people about making a PC version so they will do it. I really want to use it for VMix