Guitar rig VI: overlooking the obvious

Now, in my on going quest for the ultimate guitar setup,I have tried and used a lot of gear.Many were new to me. However, I named this one over looking the obvious because I found that is exactly what I did and it cost me in tone/sound.

Boomerang I+

I love Boomerang phrase samplers. I was an early user of the first boomerangs when they came out. The boomerang phrase sampler is a pedalboard which allows you to record some of your playing and then plays it back and repeats. you can then add additional layers on top of it to create a symphony of guitar sounds.Now, the boomerang I was fairly simple, but limited to mono and quite noisy.

Boomerang III 

The boomerang III is the latest of the boomerang phrase samplers and it boasted noise free 48k stereo looping and 4 loops at one time. Well, I got one and it is fairly complicated.Well, hell, I was using it and noticed that  I was getting some extra noise even when not playing. I had the boomerang III in a Mackie  mixer with some other looping gear and f/x.Hell, "noise free my ass" I thought. I took down each fader until the noise was gone and to my dismay it was the boomerang III.It was giving out a kind of hiss and amp noise. I love the silent no noise effects and amps. I love plugging into my albion amp and getting this crystal clear sound with no noise.So, this was really disappointing.I thought it was a limitation of the hardware.

While playing, I noticed that I was getting lights lighting on my mixer that showed there was a signal passing through it. I thought it was one of my 20 year old jamman loopers, taking the fader down didn't help. the sound was coming from the boomerang III. Then it donned on me, that  I never set the levels on the boomerang III . I recall that the boomerang I had a big switch that allowed the original guitar signal to pass through as well as the loop signal. this would explain why I was seeing levels on my mixer when there should have been none.

boomerang I kill dry signal switch

Now, I had to get the boomerang III manual as choosing to kill the dry sound is not as obvious as the old boomerang I. Instead of a big switch, it was a series of holding down 2 buttons. so I did and voila, all of a sudden the room became silent, no amp hum,no hiss ,nothing. I thought this cant be. I almost thought the boomerang III would not put out any sound as it was so silent. but I played a chord and recorded it and played it back and amazingly it played back at a healthy volume with no noise.

I felt like a numb nut, a boob, you mean this whole time I had been playing with my dry signal passing through the boomerang II causing a lot of extra noise. Lesson learned: know your gear and pay attention to the small details which may seem too obvious at first.

The hybrid amp: tube vs solid state

The hybrid amp: tube vs solid state

ok, well, its no secret that guitarist covet real tube amps for their glorious sound and I must say that being in a room and playing one of thee amps is spectacular especially when you stop plying and the amp goes deadly silent with no hiss as if not even on and then roars to life even with clean sounds.

Now, tubes present a set of problems. all tube amps are heavy as hell and you have to replace the tubes and they are expensive and fragile.  So, for years, companies have put out solid state amps without these limitations but the tone is usually compromised. So, they come up with these schemes to try to duplicate the tube: modeling, solid state preamps and so on and today i ran into the hybrid amp. A real tube preamp with a solid state power amp. that way you get the tone but not the headache and only 1 tube to deal with instead of 6-9 tubes.

 I was in a local music store trying out a super expensive fender twin reverb and it sounded good, but was freakin heavy as heck. and at almost a grand,wasn't going to happen. but I loved its clean tone. I then went through and tried almost every amp including a cybertwin, some other fenders, a couple of crates and they all paled into comparison. then as a last minute thing, I looked and hidden behind the fender twin ,obviously neglected, was this amp.It looked like a 2x12 combo amp. I just thought ok last amp, why not. I could tell the knobs were dusty and then it finally kicked in and I was stunned. here was that fender twin clean sound again and even at loud settings it still sounded clean like a twin. I mean it has that tube bass thump the solid state amps lacked. it reminded me of the Texas made Alamo amps (old and pretty rare).I then dialed in some of the effects,perfectly clean,not over the top. then the overdrive ch and it was pretty close to a  jcm800 sound ,better than a jcm900 anyway.it nailed a jtm-45 without even trying. not enough to do modern metal, but more like that jcm800 ac/dc tone. I couldn't believe a solid state could sound like a tube amp, this time for real. Best part was the price.I could buy 4 of these for the price of the fender twin.It was a hybrid amp, a tube preamp (1 tube) and a solid state power amp. I am on the hunt for a second one.Its the closest thing to being a full tube amp.The company is obscure and worse, they have discontinued that series of amps sadly. I wont tell you what they are just yet or they will be scoooped up before I can get a few lol..but hearing is believing.

Guitar Rig part V : Eventide H9 max and H9 core vs Lexicon mx series

Guitar Rig part V : Eventide H9 max and H9 core vs Lexicon mx series

ok well, were were we...oh yes, I was working out a new guitar rig and choosing effect processors. Ever since I got a Lexicon mx 200 and mx400 processors I have been obsessed with how clean an effect processor is and its audio quality including how large the stereo spread is, lack of hiss and the lushness of the reverbs and delays. the lexicon's surprisingly are low dollar budget effect processors, yet they are among the cleanest sounding I have encountered.

So, in my infinite wisdom, I thought, wow these lexicon's sound so very good, I wonder what the state of the art processor sounds like. To that end, I purchased, on payments an eventide h9 max pedal and an h9 core pedal for a price near $1000. Compare that to a used Lexicon mx200 for less than $100 and a used mx400 for under $200.                                                                                                   

first, I must tell you how guilty I felt spending $1000 on a couple of guitar pedals.I have always enjoyed and even reveled in using cheap gear and making it sound just as good as the expensive gear.Thoughts of someone slipping the h9 into their jacket and walking off with it at a gig came to mind.In any case, I unboxed the h9 with great care , I went to hook it up.While the lexicon's worked perfectly in my f/x loop, I was stunned to find that the expensive h9 max did not do well at all in the effect loop. I got a nasty distorted sound. So, that was a real disappointment. For the money, I had high expectations for the h9 and expected a lot.I eventually settled on running it in front of the amp as it was designed and using it as a stompbox.

h9 Pros

-----------                                                

I eagerly loaded the software editor on my PC for the h9.This allowed me to choose presets and algorithms. Then, the fun began. I tried every preset just about and each algorithm. My findings are that the sound quality is excellent, it is also super clean with no hiss. 90% of the algorithms sound great and all from a tiny pedal. The imitations of one algorithm at a time sucks and this is why I had bought the second pedal which I did not hook up.The stereo spread was large and the reverbs lush and dense.The delays and reverb were superb as well as the chorus and flanging and even the pitch shifting were super.I also loved the pc editor for editing and choosing presets via usb.So, reading this, you must think ,well whats there not to like then?

h9 cons

-----------

Well, lets begin with the cost. I just couldn't get that out of my mind. $1k isn't that much, granted, but for 2 f/x pedals it is a lot!! you could by 2 budget real all tube combo amps for that and for $1k it had better squeal like Ned Beatty in "Deliverance".

The Sculpt and Crushstations algorithms just didn't do anything for me and sounded terrible in my setup. Kind of 1/2 distortion in a clean preamp sound considered bad by most.So, completely useless for me.I also found some of the presets useless and more like toy sounds. I was also never overcome with sounds I had not duplicated before really. After a while, all the different delays and reverb kind of mesh into one overall type of sound.The pith shifter was just too gimmicky for me anyway other than used as an octaver. However, I did realize the sound quality of each preset was great sounding.

Sound quality wise, I was astounded to find my budget lexicon's holding there own against the newcomer. The Lex's sounded just as good as the h9's.Just as quiet and just as big a stereo spread and the delays and reverbs as good. I suppose not as extreme as in the h9, but the Lex's always seem to stay in the usable range. I would have considered ditching the Lexicon's if the h9 blew them away, but it simply did not at all.

On top of that, the Eventide has the h9 control pc editor which is really well thought out and works great, however , the Lexicon's have their own pc editor as well to control the mx200 and mx400 (mx edit). both run off of a standard usb port. The eventide can use an ios (Apple) device which I don't have so  and no it wont run off my android tablet.The lexicon is usb only and it works great.

Lastly, I tried the h9 with the Lexicon's and it added a little sweetening of the sound but most of the time was so much effects that it turned to a mushy  mess of guitar with over processed f/x sound wise.

Conclusion

---------------

Had I not had the low budget Lexicon's to begin with,I would be thrilled with the eventide h9 .But when you compare the price to the similar sound quality of sounds and the Lexicon's covering all the useful effects I could use and that the Lexicon's also had a pc editor.Granted it was possibly easier to get a good sound with the h9 editor, but not really as the Lexicon mx-edit editor could not be much simpler to use.It became clear that I was paying $1000 for some sounds that are toy like and I would not really use and for effects  I didn't need and made to sound over processed when used with the lexicon's. I re boxed and unboxed the h9 3-4 times to give it another shot,but eventually the conclusion was always the same. So I re-boxed it and returned both the h9 max and the h9 core.

After I returned the h9's I was feeling a bit more relief in my decision to return them and no longer felt the apprehensiveness of paying 1 k for 2 pedals..Lessons I learned, is 1) the most expensive is not always best 2) budget gear can sound as good as the expensive gear 3)take some time and really learn your gear inside and out , all the parameters and effects and what they do,etc...4)sometimes, "less is more", in this case, the Lexicon's and the eventide was way too much effects processing and sounded like an out of control mess of sound. Each repeatedly was plenty for getting  a clear guitar signal.5)for some reason, the small "pedal" form factor is all the rage vs the rack unit such as the lexicon's. Usually this means no midi and very limited number so sounds and presets. you just usually  get more features,connections and options with a rack unit instead of a pedal most of the time, usually due to the pedal size.I prefer rack gear.

 overall, the Eventide h9 is amazing if you can afford it and don't currently own any effects units, but similar sound quality and effects can be had via the Lexicon mx200 and the mx400 for much less money.

author: Denis taaffe

http://www.lexiconpro.com/

https://www.eventideaudio.com/products/stompboxes/multi-effect.../h9

 

guitar rig part IV: Lexicon mx400

guitar rig part IV: Lexicon mx400

Lexicon mx400

in the previous blog, I gave the mx400 a terrible review.Well, I have since worked this unit extensively. First , let me say the mx400 is capable of some awesome super high quality sounds. However, getting there is a task.The idea is to have 2 stereo multiple effects units each with 2 effects each in one box. In theory this 2 stereo in, 2 stereo out idea is sweet. in reality it totally stinks. 

I was assured by tech support at lexicon that there would be no loss of audio quality if I ran the outputs of effect A into the input of effect B.Well, as soon as I did I noticed a loss in quality and less parameters to edit on each effect and it seemed to amplify the noise (hiss) at the inputs. But worse, the mx computer based editor / librarian didn't work worth a darn. in fact it would only save 2 of the 4 effects per patch number. So if I brought up patch #11 with 2 delays on A and 2 compressors on B for instance, it would only save 2 of the effects (the 2 delays and ignore the rest). obviously useless. In a live situation you could not bring up the 2 delays and 2 compressors by calling up patch #12 only the 2 delays and the other 2 effects would be stuck on what last effects were loaded. completely retarded. if you cant save the 4 effects in a patch number and then cant recall those 4 effects with a patch number then what is the point of having 4 effects that you cant control?!?!Also, the effects didn't sound quite as clear.

I called lexicon and even sent screen pics and got bone headed answers as if they were reading the first line of the manual to me. Useless!!!

Solution

Finally I said screw it. I plugged one stereo input and one stereo output and completely ignored the other B in/out.I then set the processor to "stereo mode" as opposed to "dual stereo" mode. Suddenly, the hiss was gone, and incredible sounds came out of the unit. I was blown away . lush reverbs ,amazing delays and even the pitchshifter was cool. I thought I would miss the 2 other effects I paid for,but no I don't. It seems the 2 effects in "stereo" make up for it in sound quality.

Also, now mx-edit worked as intended. My suspicion is that lexicon knows its "dual stereo" multi input /output system sucks and doesn't work properly and to my ears anyway, hell no the effects do not sound as good as in simple "stereo mode". It's a shame really, just a few hours of programming could properly fix the problems. lame.Maybe this is why they never came out with the mx500 which they announced in 2007.

overall

Anyway, do not hesitate from getting one of  these boxes as the mx400 shines with super high clean clear audio quality in "stereo mode", just know that in the end for a guitar rig anyway, it is only good for 2 effects not 4.

guitar rig part III:: lexicon mx400 , mpx1,mpx550,mx200,digitech s200

guitar rig part III:: lexicon mx400 ,mpx1,mpx550,mx200,digitech s200

digitech s200

---------------

well, after fighting and fighting with the digitech s200 to try to get them to sync to midi clock,I finally got rid if them.Did I mention that I sold 3 then bought 3 more because I missed the sound and ended up selling those 3 as well. the digitech sounds good but doesn't sync to midi and for me that is a deal breaker.so, out the door they went.

lexicon mpx1, mpx550, mx200 and mx400

I tried  a bunch of the lexicon processors and each one sounded dated and needed a true bypass loop because it introduced a coloration of you tone when inline. the exception to this was the glorious mx200.the cheapest of the current lexicon processors at $199 new $100 or so used.yet, magically clean and doesn't color your tone.

lexicon mx200

--------------------

the beauty of the lexicon mx200 is that it is so simple to use and is perfect for a guitar rack. it has a mix level knob and 3 edit knobs, syncs to midi, fantastic sounds and looks good.

finally, I found a great sounding lexicon processor that didn't destroy my guitar rack sound. it added to it and it sounds amazing. the delays were every bit as good as the tc.electonics d-two I tried. so very clean and clear sounding. Now it only does 2 effects at one time,but it does them well. I really love it. sounds as good as and in some instances better than the digitech s200 and works great for guitar.

lexicon mx400 [see the next guitar rig part iv blog: new updated blog for the mx400]

--------------------

So I thought I would get its big brother the mx400, to complement the mx200, which is a 4 processor (2 mx200's in one box). well, that was a big mistake as well.

its just a poorly designed product. first off, for guitarists, its just a bad design. all the presets are 100% wet which sucks. you want a 50/50 mix,well,you have to go into each patch and changing the mix/routing,there is no mix knob. then the input volume is hard to setup and either at +4 or -10 it seems to overload/distort,unlike the sw200 which is perfectly happy with line level or guitar signal it seems. then, the manual says hey it can be configured three ways as it has 2 input and 4 outputs (hence dual stereo. well, how deceiving, I discovered that 1 stereo input doesn't access the 4 effects at all,it just disables 2 of the effects, so you paying for 4 effects but only have access to 2. the only way around this is to wire output 1 into input 2 and then use output 2( all in stereo) which works but is a clunky mess. so, the idea that the mx400 is 2 mx200's in a box is bs.Also, on the mx400, obvious items such as setting the dry/wet mix is buried in heaps of menu's. I loved the mx200's simplicity and it just works well,designed well where as the mx400 becomes a complex mess even with its lcd readout.

oh yeah, I almost forgot, the sound quality of the mx400 is decent. I prefer the mx200 sound quality though the 400 is supposed to sound better . but after hearing all the presets 100% wet while I tried to figure out how to change it to a global 50/50 mix [which doesn't  exist on the mx400 what an oversight?!] it kind of ruins it even when set for a 50/50 mix for guitar. so, its going back in the box and will be sold.

conclusion

-------------

well, my quest continues. I think I see another mx200 in my rack soon and hope it works well with my existing mx200. I will also give the mpx550 another try and if that fails as well, then perhaps a tc elecronic m-one xl (even with just xlr and no 1/4" in's and outs).

guitar rig part II:: lexicon mpx1,mpx550,mx200 ,digitech s200 ,disaster designs smartclock

guitar rig part II:: lexicon mpx1,mpx550,mx200 ,digitech s200 ,disaster designs smartclock

In my quest for better tone,I had sold all 3 of my digitech s200 processors because they did not sync to midi.I replaced them with the lexicon mpx550,mpx1 and mx200.Slowly, I re-bought 3 digitech s200 processors as I had sold my old ones and regretted it.I suspect that someone is cornering on the market on these as they were very hard to find and expensive.All of  sudden, that really smooth feel and sound was back. I don't know how to describe the digitech delays for instance as they have a pleasing grittiness,but ultra clear sound that sounds so very good and you cant find it in the lexicons or any other delay .

 When you play a processor and it make you smile you know you are on the right track. now , its one fatal flaw,syncing delay times to midi!! now, I researched and researched,even called the companies to try to solve this problem. I then discovered this tiny company called disaster designs who claimed they made a pedal that would take midi clock and convert it to tap tempo which the digitech s200 would sync to. Is this possible?I was So suspicious, but if it could it would be amazing. the pedal itself  is called the smartclock and its really expensive approaching boutique pedal prices a $179.00. I have not tried it yet but the potential of this pedal if it does what it claims to would be amazing .

I also discovered that no digitech pedals from the s100 top the digitech quad and 400 sync to midi, So we will see how the smart clock solves this problem.

More digitech s200
The digitech s200 has just a great sound , the kind that just being plugged into smooths out your guitar sound and even feel. Its the kind of processor that doesn't need to be in a true bypass and can stay in your signal chain all the time. The same cant be said of the lexicon processors except possibly the mpx550.The mpx1 has a great tone,but it has a glassy effect on the tone which doesn't work for distortion all that well and would benefit form a true bypass when not used in your guitar signal.

mpx550

mpx1

 Now, what happens when you combine the power of the lexicon with the finesse of the s200  in one guitar sound. you get heavenly bliss. The kind of tangerine dream gilmore type delays you only find in high end delays like the strymon timeline, tc 2290 and eventides for example.Just a solid delay with an ambient sound complementing it. AMAZING. It seems the lexicons and digitech's together seems to work wonders.

Be back soon with part III.................

guitar rig part I: lexicon mpx1,mpx550,mx200 ,tc m-onexl,podhd500x

guitar rig part I: lexicon mpx1,mpx550,mx200 ,tc m-onexl,podhd500x

I took the unusual step of overhauling my guitar rig.This was a frightening and expensive experience.I was prety happy with my guitar setup. I liked the sounds I got so why change? Well, I was searching for even better sound of course,but more than that, I had not achieved what was my original intention: to have my guitar rig replace an entire band via looping  .

For this to work, I needed to keep things in sync. perfect, I would use midi clock generated by my drum machines to keep all my loopers and delays in sync. Well, to my dismay, the three digitech s200 multifx processors I had didn't sync to midi clock??!?! wtf?!?!?!? So, determined, I sold all three!!! this gave me some money to buy new gear!!

next , was to find a replacement multi fx that would sync to midi clock. I first tried a tc electronics m-one xl fx processor

It was under $200 range as were my s200's. to my shock ,the damn thing only had xlr outputs?! WTF again?!! so I had to get these 1/4" to xlr adapters what a pain as I was already using 1/4" splitters to route audio around my other gear. it sounded really good ,very clear, but for me was a bit too clean, Eric Johnson type sounds came to mind. now, the data knob broke in my hand, what crap, I cant rely on a flimsy unit if I plan to play gigs. so I sent it back.

lexicon mpx1
What I really wanted was the lexicon sound. much more lush than tc electronic sounds. But which unit?!? The lexicon mpx1 was their early model and was great as it had 2 chips : one to handle reverb and the other for everything else, but to edit the model was difficult.I got one and the damn battery in it was dead and it had to be put on the board on so it would not save any user settings.  I sent it back and got another one. I have to say the sound was so very clear and pro sounding, wow!!!! and it syncs to midi.

lexicon mpx550
I had heard, however, that the next model lexicon mpx550 sounded as good as the mpx1 and they redesigned the editing to make it much easier. so I got one to try it.ok, first thing, it doesn't sound like an mpx1 at all, maybe 1/2 of one. however, it had some great sounds for guitar!!! easier to program but not by much, syncs to midi ,it only has one chip to handle everything.

now interestingly, the lexicon mx200 was their latest and cheapest processor, I got one used for under 1/2 of its new price of $199.I think it was $86. the mx200 is a strange beast as it syncs to midi and has some great sounds as well, not sounding like any lexicon before it.

heck, the built in compressor was worth the price alone.still working on this one to see if t works for me.

line 6 pod xt live/pod hd500x
now, as a side note, I discovered that my line 6 pod xt live did not sync to midi and had long been replaced by the line 6 pod hd500x at $500new and a just released model called the helix at $1500??!?I thought ok, $500 is already a ton of money,but $1500 hell no!!! So, I got a used pod hd500x which syncs to midi of course my existing pod xt live did not sync to midi. not a big deal as I get delays from the multifx units,but it was an added bonus to buy the hd500x:.

ok, this was a disaster for me. The hd500x presets totally stink and even the ones you can download stink.on top of that, it sounded dull compared to the pod xt live I was using. trying to get a good sound was like pulling teeth.even though everyone online raved of how much better it was. what bunk!!! I promptly sold it thank goodness.honestly, it took the fun out of playing guitar. the xtlive is a blast to play.fun!!!!

maybe I will play again with the pod hd500x when its $50 used . but seriously I already had great sounds out of my pod xt live and I got little sounds I can describe as usable out of the pod hd500x,I am glad I am sticking to my trusty pod  xt live.

Lastly, I made another mistake.I tried the pod distortion sound with the lexicons and got this noise with it and it sounded completely different, not in a good way.what I mean is, that without the s200 which gave the pod a bit or reverb and delay and had a built in noise gate, it kind was perfect to leave on for all the sounds. you cant do that with the lexicons.the lexicons blow away the s200 in reverb and quality but alter the sound of the pod in unpleasing ways if used to just add a bit of "air" ambience" via a tiny bit of delay and reverb. so, of course, i regret selling mine and am in process of getting another s200 for this purpose. instead of swappng out the lexicons I should of added them with the s200.Yes I know it doesnt sync to midi but doesnt need to for this ambience purpose.

Now, syncing my drum machine to my loopers via midi clock made all the difference. I use one for bass emulation on guitar and its syncs perfectly every time.then I use one for guitar loops done on the fly and man, its just heavenly. my dream of doing gilmorish tangerine dream stuff on guitar was becoming a reality.I also discovered that i had to rewire all my rack gear and discovered a bad midi cable, no wonder one of the loopers didn't seem to sync properly.

oh yeah, to control all this stuff you need some midi controller pedalboards. so I tried 2:

behringer fc1010
this was a cheap $120 midi controller to midi control everything .seems pretty nie with 2 continuous controller pedals.

lexicon mpx r1
I also got lexicon's version which is older. still a nice unit and I got it for less than$100.I figured I can sell it for more than I bought it if i don't use it.

 I like the buttons on the behringer better.

Conclusion
I guess the moral to the story is to try try try all kinds of gear and combinations and don't believe hype from other people. case in point the pod hd500x and lexicon mpx550 for example. neither turned out to be what I had read online about them .Also, just because its an older unit doesn't make it not as a good. don't spend $1500 on a unit just because its the latest greatest as in the pod helix. I would be embarrassed to have a $1500 pedalboard lol. I much prefer finding cheap gear and making it sound like super expensive gear I guess.Also, when trying this gear, make sure you have an avenue to sell the stuff you don't like or be able to return it.Overall, I spent as much as I got for my 3 processors so no harm done and now I know what works for me and what doesn't.


Anyway, regardless, find the right combination of gear that sounds good and works for you.
  

speaker shootout: vintage klipscH kg2, heathkit as-1039,yamaha ns-A636

INTRO
--------------
speaker shootout: vintage klipscH kg2, heathkit as-1039,yamaha ns-A636 , here are three sets of speakers I acquired. I was initially   excited about the Klipsch with 2 drivers in front and one passive radiator in back. just because of the brand, the yamaha 3-ways looked great and beey and then the ugly duckling heaths (heathkit speakers & only 2 way speakers).

Testing
--------------

Klipsch kg2 - hooked one up and sound was clear but small. hooked the other even worse only trebble. Turns out mine are not working properly,but I got the idea of the sound. One driver not working in one cabinet. but even if it was, I was disappointed in the puny sound compared to my larger sansui s2000 and electrovoice iV's and it could not compete with the heath as you will see...read on.

Yamaha- fairly modern neutral sound. good balance,but lacking in bass. reminds me of a JBL without the J...Just ok, not great, not bad.I expected a lot more especially in the bass department. cheap drivers I guess.

Heakit- this speaker looks like those cheap jc penny crappy speakers and only 2 way.but upon hooking them up, the sound was incredible!! supr clear,full range great bass,mid ,highs. very open sound. completely blew away the other two. i heard the woofer in each are going for $100 and I now see why. filled my living room very well for smallish speakers. very nice.big horn provides almost "holographic sound going way beyond the speakers.

 Conclusion
------------------
never judge a book by its cover.Same thing with speakers. the small homely heath (heathkits) came through loud and clear with exceptional sound for a smallish 2 wy speaker. Great imaging and sound stage. the other two  just don't compete. I would have never guessed.

Speaker Review:JBL Balcony speakers

intro
----------------
These inexpensive (under $100) JBL 2 way speakers carry a unique shape truly designed for wall placement as rear surround speakers. It also has to upward firing bass reflex holes.A nice silver speaker grille. It is very modern looking.

first listen
------------
 Very nice binding posts on the back and I noticed that to get the max out of these requires proper position of the speakers. So I mounted them on my rear wall of my home theater. What I noticed first was that distinct punchy JBL sound .A very high end audio sound similar to Polk or Klipsch. While it has little bass , it does deliver a silky,smooth high end which perfects a 5.1 or higher surround system. It was a clean sound and was fine for rear surrounds. I suppose one could eq more bass out of them if needed. For comparison, I swapped them out with some Klipsch speakers and found that smooth silky high missing though the Klipsch offered a bit more body.

Conclusion
---------------
There is no question that for this price point (street price of $59 or so) that these jbl are a steal. They will enhance any surround system and because there isn't much low end content in the surround ch's, these JBL's will do just fine.I would feel a bit silly with $300 Klipsch speakers as rears considering that there is not much rear surround content to begin with. Overall, these are a real bargain and do what they are designed to do: be a quality surround speaker.

speaker review: Vintage sansui s2000

intro
------
the vintage Sansui s2000 4 way 6 speaker comes in a massive mdf wood cabinet.So 12 drivers per pair.ok, they have a really dated wood patterned grille and are basically a big box. They may not look like much,but read on. They go on eBay for $200-400 range.;"As one would guess, they are made in Japan in the 1960's & 1970's and were a favorite of military stationed overseas during the Vietnam war era. they were known to be a"loud" speaker and at 47 pounds per speaker;These are heavy. on the back you find two knobs,one for the midrange and one for the tweeter.The listener can choose between soft to natural to clear (high) with these two knobs.The 12" paper cone woofer is quite common and then 2 midrange and then 2 tweeters horns and one super tweeter.

first listen
-------------------
I quickly replaced my electrovoice sentry 4's in my home theater system and was eager to hear the
Sansui. Well, the sound was clear, but underwhelming , almost thin. not much bass at all." Surely, they can do better,no one would want these" I thought.However, I then changed to standard stereo mode and cranked the receiver from 50db to 66db and they came alive. my god, these are tanks as far as speakers go!! At loud levels they come alive and sound gigantic,almost like a p.a. speaker. It accepted all my receiver could give and wanted more.clean sounding at very loud levels.

I think that this is the Sansui s2000's secret. Most, will drive them at moderate levels and while they will play, they will sound thin and lacking.But opened up at loud levels, its unbelievable!!! they come alive and dont even seem to mind super loud levels, the paper cone 12" bass doesn't seem to move at all.I wonder how they would do with a 500watt power amp ,but in this case a 750 watt 6.1 onkyo receiver with about 100 watts per ch or so.. Definitely, a true rock speaker. tight bass at loud levels.

I would recommend these to those with a minimum medium to large room and accepting neighbors. Small apartment dwellers  would not be happy needing to get the volume levels they require and their neighbors would not appreciate it either.It also makes for  a decent home theater speaker but you can tell that they are like a race horse waiting to get out on to the track. I  tried some contemporary jazz and other rock and metal sources and it is just incredible.the clarity and tightness at high volume levels. I don't think I have heard a better speaker at these volume levels.one disclaimer, I then added a Klipsch 400 watt powered sub and the sound quality is superb.They fit very well together.

I placed them on speaker stands and in 2 ch stereo mode they are just crystal clear. I can play them during the day when listening to music actively. Its just sometimes amazing to have this solid of a sound.On some material it was like Having the actual guitar amp in front of you.For home theater, the Sansui is quite reserved and has the finesse to still sound like a high quality speaker and fits right in as fronts to a 5.1 or above surround speaker setup..                                                             


conclusion
------------------
I was going to fork over $1k on a pair of new Klipsch r280f's (a great speaker as well). Well,no longer. The Sansui's provide audiophile sound and at high levels they provide a full range sound that not  even a Klipsch r280f can match without much strain if at all.the Sansui s2000 is a beast requiring lots of power (that any decent 100 watt amp can provide) but is still very efficient and even with a small receiver can deliver  high volume levels,but always super clean, undistorted audiophile quality sound. However, at low volume levels is does an ok job, but a bit lacking.

Sadly, most will not realize the potential of these beastly speakers because they are content to play them softly.However at loud levels, they sound like speakers costing thousands more. The volume equals what a live band in your living room would sound like. I absolutely love the snap you get from drums dues to its really beefy cabinet and then add the deep bass from its 4 way speaker setup and its magic.It just always makes you take notice. Try Pink Floyd "the Wall" at a loud level as a reference and its just stunning.So, really,ok for home theater but really best for times when you want to ROCK!!!!!  I liked them so much, that I immediately bought a second pair on ebay. I haven't been this excited about a stereo speaker since the jbl l-250 yeas ago. Even old material sounds crisp,beefy, tight and  airy!! Lets try to keep these a secret before they become too scarce or expensive!!
   

How to get real sounding drums from drum machine presets: an Alesis sr-18 preview UPDATE

Back in April, I wrote a blog about getting decent drum sounds out of a drum machine,which I have reprinted below.However,I made some discoveries that really should be mentioned.First, After having worked with both the Alesis sr-16 and the Alesis sr-18, there is no question that the Alesis sr-18 sounds better. It rivals drum samples and even cymbals sound real.The sr-16 cymbals were quite weak.

Here are a few tips that I ran across to make the drum machine sound realistic in your recordings or live.

First, the sr-18 has three different sounds in a preset, drums, percussion and bass. I highly recommend muting the bass out completely , it sounds lousy.Secondly, mute the percussion as well in most presets. The reason for this is that it usually contains hand claps, little bells, shakers and other noises that just aren't usually associated with a drum kit.


Now , for the most important tip and to be filed in the 'now you tell me department'. Select a pattern and then go into the drum machine setup and there you can change the drum kit associated with presets. There are quite a few drum kits and it is amazing what a difference that a drum kit will make.It can take a useless sounding preset and make it really sound realistic and useful. For example,I particularly like drum kit 70 and I tried it on a lot of different presets .The drum sound overall stays the same but it plays different patterns. Great for recording an album.Most bands don't use a different drum kit for each track on an album,but rather one kit with different patterns.

By the way, Drum kits on the sr-16 can also be chosen but they are more limited in sound than the sr-18.

original article
-----------------
For home recording enthusiasts ,getting realistic drum sounds has always been a pain in the butt. Access to a drummer and recording a drum kit is a daunting process for most musicians bedroom studio's. Also, if your not a drummer, how can you program custom drum sounds on a drum machine?!

For me as A non drummer who doesn't program drum machines with much success I rely on the presets. I got an Alesis SR-18 with a lot of presets,but even more importantly , a lot of different sounding drum kits that can be used on any of the presets.

For recordings late at night , the simplicity of a drum machine was just right and the drum sounds of the SR-18 are every bit as good as session drummer 2 and similar programs. Using the kits to change the sound of the presets is crucial for recording. Also, the drum machine has a swing setting that can humanize the drum playing a bit.Use the fills sparingly 

 and don't try to get the Neil Pert Phil Collins and Keith Moon mountain sized drum fills as they wills tick out too much as unnatural.but some fills is helpful to break up the monotonous.

 Also.Also, a fun tip is to take a preset and create a user preset of the original preset and then you can take out a one of the drums to create variations on the preset pattern.Though, for most non drummers like me, just changing the drum kit makes a huge difference to the presets.

Adding some reverb F/X and sometimes some delay to the presets can yield interesting results. as well.The SR-18 has some built in reverbs,but an external unit can be very helpful.

Also, if your playing while recording , get a set of pedals to start/stop the drum machine and a pedal for fills. its a blast to hit a fill pedal and it will play a fill from the beginning or where ever you are in a musical time (4/4,etc..). the presets on the SR-18 are broken up into A/B variations and and a/B fills.

 interestingly the presets are setup in a 16 bar sequence. I much prefer the SR-16 in this respect, that was setup for 4/4 time which works great for rocks.The fills are more immediate. the solution then is to midi an SR-16 to trigger the SR-18 sounds which sound much better.

Also, for a few bucks , many drummers would create some cool custom user patterns for you. I had a drummer friend who did this for me for free and in no time I had many usable user preset patterns that were vastly superior to my feeble attempts.But if your going to ask a drummer to do this, make sure you are familiar with the sr-18 as far as getting  into programming mode and so on or else a simple task will discourage the drummer from messing with it.
anyway, I have used the SR-18 live and on albums with much success. Don't listen to these saps who say well drum machines aren't 'real' drums. the SR-18 samples are 'real drum'' samples. Its the next best thing to having a real drummer  available at all times. Listen to Joe Satriani's surfing with the aliens album where most of the drums are most definitely drum machines.

The SR-18 has some really great drum sounds!!
Denis Taaffe
denis@dtguitar.com
http://www,dtguitar.com

A cheap light show for Musicians with Guitarist Denis Taaffe / a review for the 3 led rotating lamp bulb

I ran across a cheap solution to enhance your music studio's atmosphere or practice space or even for small gigs for less than $8 

How to get real sounding drums from drum machine presets: an Alesis sr-18 preview

For home recording enthusiasts ,getting realistic drum sounds has always been a pain in the butt. Access to a drummer and recording a drum kit is a daunting process for most musicians bedroom studio's. Also, if your not a drummer, how can you program custom drum sounds on a drum machine?!

For me as A non drummer who doesn't program drum machines with much success I rely on the presets. I got an Alesis SR-18 with a lot of presets,but even more importantly , a lot of different sounding drum kits that can be used on any of the presets.

For recordings late at night , the simplicity of a drum machine was just right and the drum sounds of the SR-18 are every bit as good as session drummer 2 and similar programs. Using the kits to change the sound of the presets is crucial for recording. Also, the drum machine has a swing setting that can humanize the drum playing a bit.Use the fills sparingly

 and don't try to get the Neil Pert Phil Collins and Keith Moon mountain sized drum fills as they wills tick out too much as unnatural.but some fills is helpful to break up the monotonous.

 Also.Also, a fun tip is to take a preset and create a user preset of the original preset and then you can take out a one of the drums to create variations on the preset pattern.Though, for most non drummers like me, just changing the drum kit makes a huge difference to the presets.

Adding some reverb F/X and sometimes some delay to the presets can yield interesting results. as well.The SR-18 has some built in reverbs,but an external unit can be very helpful.

Also, if your playing while recording , get a set of pedals to start/stop the drum machine and a pedal for fills. its a blast to hit a fill pedal and it will play a fill from the beginning or where ever you are in a musical time (4/4,etc..). the presets on the SR-18 are broken up into A/B variations and and a/B fills.

 interestingly the presets are setup in a 16 bar sequence. I much prefer the SR-16 in this respect, that was setup for 4/4 time which works great for rocks.The fills are more immediate. the solution then is to midi an SR-16 to trigger the SR-18 sounds which sound much better.

Also, for a few bucks , many drummers would create some cool custom user patterns for you. I had a drummer friend who did this for me for free and in no time I had many usable user preset patterns that were vastly superior to my feeble attempts.But if your going to ask a drummer to do this, make sure you are familiar with the sr-18 as far as getting  into programming mode and so on or else a simple task will discourage the drummer from messing with it.
anyway, I have used the SR-18 live and on albums with much success. Don't listen to these saps who say well drum machines aren't 'real' drums. the SR-18 samples are 'real drum'' samples. Its the next best thing to having a real drummer  available at all times. Listen to Joe Satriani's surfing with the aliens album where most of the drums are most definitely drum machines.

The SR-18 has some really great drum sounds!!
Denis Taaffe
denis@dtguitar.com
http://www,dtguitar.com

Create A Finished Album Without calling on satan

I saw a you tube video recently from a religious fanatic who swore that albums were made by magically created by Satan and brought to Satan's alter to be cursed and put spells on the listener?!! Ignorant I thought. It actually is a bit simpler than that and you don't need Satan or dark magic at all. lol. I thought I would take a little time and talk about something I am in the process of doing right now which is putting together an album.in this case, my 191th album called Modern rock guitar vol. 191 ''. I use simple software tool to put together a finished Album including song order, length, and spaces between tracks,album drafts. What I have to work with: 

1)a folder with tons of tracks I have recorded in the last week or so and some tracks that didn't make it on the last album.

2)each track is a mastered 44.1K 16 bit wav CD ready WAV. file which has a silly name such as : 191turkfinal, 191dopfinal1,191dopfinal2

3)a windows explorer folder of .wav files where i also create a folder called not used and one called masters whereI put the nonmastered original recording and the not used is where I put tracks I decided to not use for the album because of some reason. if I really like a track but it doesn't fit the album , I will instead put it in the next album folder (album 192 for instance) to be included in the next album. this helps me keep track of all these files that build up.

4)I use a simple program called Roxio CD creator Classic: I have a folder called album191 which contains a bunch of mastered unreleased tracks that were recorded for this album. Hopefully error free. From these, I choose which tracks will appear on the album, how long the album will be, the order of the tracks and length between tracks and then I burn a CD-r 'master'.

 NOTE: click on the graphic above to see it full size

Notice the names of each track are cryptic silly names.The reason for this, is that I base the names of the tracks on the artwork of theme of the Album usually after the track has been recorded,simple enough because these are instrumental tracks.So, eventually a track called 191mort2final will end up being called 'Escapade' ,etc...  I also try to keep an album to about 1 hour or people complain that its too long or too short.I have seen albums that are 30 minutes long only. In any case, this is just my preference.1 hour or so seems just right.

To me, ,even in the days of .99 single tracks, the order of the tracks is very important as it creates a theme for the album and the flow of an album. From slow to fast or vice versa and intensity or perhaps one track is a perfect intro for the next track ,etc..this is where your creativity or musical sense comes in and to me is as important as creating the music. for examples, see Pink Floyd the wall for example. or the Who "Tommy' albums. (except for that freaky fiddle about song...?!?!)

Transitions /gaps in songs - the industry standard is 2 seconds between tracks and it works for me most of the time. Sometimes if you want to have a track come right after the first for dramatic affect you might say no transition, but I have only done that one time on Modern rock guitar vol. 33 years ago.It had an orchestral intro and then the track would come in. But, most of the time 2 seconds per tracks works great,allows those crappy cheapo CD players mechanically to keep up without cutting off intro's or endings.

Use the preview section to listen to the tracks or even the first couple of seconds of the track, does the intro of one track sound like the one before or after it? if so, it may not be in the 'right' place for the CD.This is subjective of course. Also, listen for correct fade in's,etc...

I guess I should also mention CD volume of the tracks. I master my own tracks so they all have pretty close the same volume. But this is something to listen for as well.there are fancier red book CD creator programs that will bring all tracks to similar volume,but sometimes those have bad audio results.But it may be a needed,if your tracks go from way to loud to not loud enough.This should be handled in the mastering or at least for me this works out fine and I have rarely had to bring the volume down of one track to match others. Use your ears. Don't be a pinhead and try to get the loudest CD that distorts and has digital distortion to beat out the major label discs destined for radio. you squeeze the dynamic range and add noise and ear fatigue. I mean if your tracks are mastered they don't have to be the loudest of the loud, case in point: compare any  Rush album to a Michel Hedges album (Arial Boundaries is a good example) ,you will be amazed at how much louder the Rush album is compared to the Michael Hedges Arial Boundaries album, yet the Michael Hedges album will have every bit of sound quality if not more dynamic range.

I guess I should make an exception for those who use premastered tracks to send to a professional mastering house.But, some prefer the cheap home computer mastering which is cheap but can work ok..Of course a professional mastering house would be better but so would recording in a  million dollar studio instead of your bedroom /.

Another tip is burn a draft  CD of the album and go listen to it.I do this while going to sleep.It has been so very helpful, as I often find crappy choice of song order, faults in songs I didn't realize were there or tracks that were never faded out and abruptly end when they should not. If listening on the computer it is easy to get distracted and songs tend to just flow by with little thought.It is hard to concentrate on music critically for long period s of time,so I advice creating a CD to listen to and live with for at least a day or two if not longer. you may find you want to make changes.

.I have at least 3 or for 4 Cd-r coasters of earlier attempts before finding the right order for an album.I sometimes make a track change and even some further editing before its done. So make sure you stock up on those 100 CD-r rolls of blanks and a CD burner of course.

If satisfied, I  then send the cd-r to a manufacturer along (with arwork which I will cover in another blog)  to be made.Pat your self on the back that you didn't need Satan's help or dark magic to create an album/CD.

Denis Taaffe
denis@dtguitar.com
http://www.dtguitar.com

Electrovoice EV-four Speakers

As an audiophile, I often heard about how great Electrovoice speakers from the 1960's and 1970's, when Electrovoice was making home audio speakers, were.

Well recently, I ran across some Electrovoice EV-FOUR (EV-4) 3way speakers (original with midrange horn). Each speaker was in a real maple cabinet (none of this cheap simulated wood finish crap).The grilles were tweed like. More than that, each speaker weighed a ton (well about 50 pounds or more) and they were big and thick floor speakers.

This made me curious, so I went to google to see what I could learn about them. I rab across a thread on audio speaker forum and I usually trust the threads. However, I was saddened that these so called expert audiophikes dismissed it. Adding such comments, "perhaps it would sound better in a different cabinet", "must replace the caps", "well, ev speakers just are not interesting to listen to?!", "they are worth about $20...I never pay $20 for a pair of speakers" and my favorite "they just dont have any bass" and so on.

 I soon discovered that these bozo's making these comments were ignorant morons who not only didnt own a pair of ev-4's, but hadn't even heard them. They also commented that the price should be $20?! to maybe $100. . Strangly, these morons even posted a recent ebay sale of a pair of EV-4's for $450 plus shipping.Even after posting this, they kept saying that was ten times ore than there worth and how they should be $20 (this from the schmuck who wont spend more than $20 on a pair of speakers) others saying $40?!

I plugged in the 8 ohm ev-4's to a humble 100 watt solid state sony receiver and popped in a CD. My jaw dropped to the ground!! Suddenly the room was filled with a full range sound with a deep, tight bass, airy midrange and smooth hi sounds,all well balanced. These were one of the best speakers I have ever heard.The guy who posted they didnt have any bass obviously has never heard ev-4's. As it turn out , these speakers range goes from 30khz to 20hz. I mean 30khz is subwoofer territory!! Most speakers roll off at 60khz at best. Also, this isnt flabby bass, but tight ,punchy bass!! Kick drums, bass and double bass just were amazing.

Next the midrange which is switchable to low mid high on the back with a switch is incedible to listen to. I had an eric Johnson cD on and you would swear his marshall cabinet was in the room with you. Just a full sound. The trebble was not as bright as my bookshelf Polk speakers granted, However, it has a three way switch on back and the trebble is so smooth and fits the speakers correctly. Pink Floyd's the wall cymbals were lifelike.

 I would pay $800-$2000 or more for these and they just provide a full sound that was better than my canton's, klipsch and Polk speakers. The are very much on par with my 4 way jbl l-120's which cost way more than these with possibly a tighter bass.If you run into a pair of these grab them!! You wont believe the sound.I will never again believe these so called audio experts who were talking out of their butts without ever owning or even listening to these incredible speakers (my response is "take your pants off as I cant hear what your saying").

Dont take my word for it though, find a pair and see for yourself. I was going to sell mine on ebay after reading the posts at audiokarma before plugging them in, now they are staying with me as one of my favorite speakers and one of the best I have ever heard.

Digitech rp vs line6 pod xt live

I recently acquired a digitech rp70 which is a all in one amp modeler ,f/x unit and pedal board in one. Now keep in mind that this pedal is less than $100 new and mine was a whopping $35 used. My main unit is a line 6 pod xt live and it is similar as it is an amp modeler,f/x unit and pedalboard in one as well,but is closer to $500 new. I have used the line 6 pod xt live for a long time and have it setup the way I like it. I have had the rp70 for 2 days.My initial impression of the rp70 is very good.

The fact that I can even compare it to the $500 line 6 pod xt live is impressive from this cheap pedal. It incorporates the new audiodna2 chip which is also found in digitech's higher priced models. After playing and recording with this unit I found several things. First, the presets can be useful though most require a lot of tweaking to be used normally.however, it also had some amp modeling presets that were just right,especially marshall like sounds. It also has some really great amp models and good effects like the pod xt live.

Smoothness
Overall they are much smoother sounding than the pod xt live which is very rough sound. however, for recording the rough sound of the line 6 wins out as it sounds more realistic than the digitech which is a bit too smooth to sound or feel like an amp to me. the softness of the rp70 can be useful for clean sounds and rhythm guitar at times.

Lead sounds
the rp70 makes lead easy to play in comparison to the line 6 feel wise.But the line6 is much more convincing and balanced in this area.Part of this is to how clean the rp70 sounds are in comparison to the line 6 which is a bit noisier in a good way,much like a real amp.

Cleanliness
the rp70 and its sounds are very clean.no hiss,no noise ,just really clean. This makes for good recording, however, the line6 is nosier but in a good way in that it's noises are more like what you would find in an amp such as a bit "grumbling or growling noise, some hiss at times,etc.." very minor ,but the end result makes a big difference.This is why again ,the rp70 is better on clean sounds and "soft sounds" compared to high gain settings that are much more convincing on the line 6.

OVERALL
I am glad i got the rp70 as it is convenient ,very small and sounds very good. It also made me appreciate the line 6 pod xt live much more. the pod xt live is rough harder to play feel wise but the recording results are much better than the digitech rp's.The hype online is that the rp's blow the pod's out of the water.I totally disagree. The line6 sounds more realistic to me and better results when recording. That is not to say that the rp's are nice and in fact with some tweaking can yield some great results as well.It is a much smoother sound than the pod and really almost has its own sound and its very clean. Spending some time with it, one could easily come up with there favorite patches that sound good, recording and live.That said, to me the line 6 pod xt live is a more professional sounding unit but the rp is not very far behind and in fact can shines in some situations better than the pod and its fun to just to turn it on and experiment. For the money the rp70 is amazing but to dismiss the pod xt live is a big mistake with its pro and realistic sounds.

Audio studio on the Cheap

Cheap audio furniture: The microwave stand
For home audio studio furniture, there are a few companies that make this type of furniture and it is very expensive with a typical desk with some rack cases built in going for $2000 or so.now that is $2000 less that could be spent on equipment recording gear etc...Well, I was in need of a desk and rack case to carry a mixer and 2 ADAT machines and a power amp.About 12 rack spaces altogether and then a mixer on top. A rack case like this would easily be $200-400 or more. So, instead I substituted a used $10 microwave stand from a thrift store. I painted it black and it turned out very well. I removed the drawer to make more rack space. As luck would have it, the power amp and the 2 adats fit in the space perfectly. With the equipment in the stand , one would be hard pressed not to think that it was audio studio furniture custom made for this purpose. With some creativity and experimentation, one can get standard furniture to be functional audio studio furniture.



ok, well, my home studio has been growing at a steady pace. along with that came huge bundles of cables, equipment everywhere and soon no space to work in. Well, I added these computer desks and though that I could use these desks in my home studio to double as desk to do computer video and audio editing.Well, that ate up space and while it worked ,I was just very cramped.So out they go!! I just recently replaced my old crt monitors with flat screen monitors and that does help cut down on the space needed. We will look at some ways to save some space next time.

new gear

visit http://www.dtguitar.com/, Denis's website

Kahler Tremolo

My Schecter/Ibanez guitar that I had played for over 20 years finally gaveout. In particular, the Kahler guitar tremolo was no longer working. I though I could order a new one. how wrong I was !! Turns out they went out of business for several years and I could not find a tremolo anywhere. Well!! I am pleased to announce that Kahler tremolo's are back in business!! I just bought a brand new Kahler black tremolo from http://www.kahlerusa.com/ , http://www.kahlerparts.com/ & http://www.wammiworld.com/ .Amazing quality and quick shipping. Recommended. Kahler is back and there tremolo's are awesome!! Much nicer than the standard floyd rose. As a result my schecter guitar is back in business too!!

Behringer v-amp 2 guitar amp modeler

I recently bought a guitar amp and they threw in a behringer v-amp 2 modeler. you can get these for very cheap (under $100) from american musical, amazon.com and musiciansfriend. I tried it out direct first andwas blown away by the guitar sounds. In particular, the guitar "rythmn" sound. real Marshall sounds, fender amp sounds and more. Excellent. For direct leads it was lousy. I then tried it through a guitar amp and it was lousy again. bottom line, this thing has one purpose and that is rythmn guitar distorted when recording direct!! no other setup sounded good, but when used direct for recording rythmn guitar, it was amazing.

Denis's CD's at amazon.com

For a limited time only, purchase Denis's 2009 modern rock guitar Vol.133 "guitarglyphs" on CD at amazon.com. It's $20, but keep in mind that this is a rare independent CD release.Unlike a major label release which prints millions of CD's, there are very few of these made. Support Denis and allow him to create more Cd's.buy it here!!

new studio setup

coming soon a new studio look and new gear

update and new gear

visit Denis's official website at http://www.dtguitar.com



alesis sr-18 drum machine 9/10

I was a big user of the alesis sr-16 drum machine which hasn't changed in ten years or so until the release of the sr-18. street price around $259 though you can find it for $200 or so if you look hard enough. ok, the sr-18 has much better sounding drum sounds in all kinds of styles than the sr-16. they also added lots of percussion sounds and even a bass track. The bass track I found rather silly and useless,however guess to play along with its ok. Thank goodness you can mute the bass track. It syncs to midi very well and the drum sounds realistic. It also has a ton of drum kits so one pattern can sound like lots of different kits. It acts like an sr-16 in many ways. It has the magic fill button which gives you drum fills on command and drum variations.sweet!!! foot controllable via pedal. The drum pattern themselves are usually laid out by default in 4 measures which is kind of long and I prefer the old 2 measure patterns of the sr-16 then the fills come in real well. but no big deal, as you can copy and then change any pattern. Also, new is a roll button which allows you to do drum rolls. By itself it sounds great, but mix the sr-18 with drum samples or other drum machines and it is simply awesome!!!

Alesis sr-16 drum machine 9/10

The alesis sr-16 is a different beast than the new sr-18 which is just a great drum machine. the patterns are simpler but punchier and the fills are great and the drums sound not as good as the sr-18 especially the cymbals, but the core drum sounds are very good.They are different enough that the sr-16 is definitely worth while to use. In fact, After selling mine long ago, I was able to find a used one for about $60.00 or so. The fills are great as I mentioned but again when mixed with the sr-18 and/or session drummer, ez drummer or acid drum samples, it is just amazing,especially for recording.

Lexicon Jamman rackmount phrase sampler/ looper 10/10

This unit was discontinued in the 90's and are rather hard to find and go for some high prices .What is it? Well it is a rackmount phrase sampler looper. It comes stock with 8 seconds of looping time but can be expanded to 32 seconds. In one word these are simply AMAZING!!! I own 4 of these for the simple reason that they are for all practically the only looper that actually syncs to midi!!! Perfectly every time!! To this day,not one looper can sync to MIDI worth a dammn. I found out the hard way after getting burned on the roland rc-50 ultimate looper (pooper is more like it) and even the electroharmonix 2880 looper. weak these other units have midi jacks too but cant sync worth squat. the exception may be the gibson echoplex buts its pricey and not as simple as the jamman. For me they make playing and looping bass tracks on the fly effortless as well as phrases and backwards looping. but its main force is the way that it just takes anything you play into it and syncs to midi clock (no song pointer,mtc or smtpe crap). Just your basic midi clock like a drum machine. the morons over at digitech came out a few years later after acquiring lexicon with a digitech jamman pedal which is a piece of crap, as they removed the best part of the lexicon jamman, you got it, the midi sync capabilities. this is perhaps the biggest blunder in music gear history!!!!!!! fools. In any case, if run across one of these grab it as they are rare and getting rarer and are not made anymore and nobody has duplicated its midi sync capabilities. In fact there is a stinker engineering design among us which is a midi sync method employed by the roland rc-50 and the electroharmonix which requires sending starts and then independently trying to resize loops and it just doesn't work worth a damn.IT is downright embarrassing when I tried using these compared to my lexicon units. the lexicon kept a constant synced tempo while the rc50 and 2880 were losing sync and changing their tempos constantly.who is the brilliant doufus engineer who thought that one up and sadly these poor sap companies are using it and then wondering why their sales are lagging when they could have copied a super simple lexicon jamman rackmount unit that came and went sadly.

Mackie 1642-vlz3 4 bus mixer 10/10

this a 16 ch 4 bus mixer with ten mic pre ch's and the rest are stereo ch's. direct outs, insert, 2 auxes and 4 subgroups. Perfect fro the home recording studio. I know of no one who uses more than ten mic's at a time for a home studio. Even with drums you could do a sub mix. Well, I got this unit after missing the mackie 32x8 8bus I sold.sounds amazing on recordings and mic pre's are super.The sound quality of the mackie is just incredible!! highly recommended