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If you're looking for some very high end mic preamps and are handy with a soldering iron I would recommend checking out Seventh Circle Audio. Their range of DIY mic preamp kits range from $79 up to $329. The higher end models offer circuit topology & sonic characteristics very similar to a classic Neve (shown above) or API preamp. Also available is a PSU, wiring harness and rack frame for a completed, 8 channel, professional product.
Bigger purchases get a discount, so for example, 8 Neve preamps with PSU, rack & wiring would set you back less than $3,000 or under $400 a channel. The Cheapskate studio loves that!
Then check out this interactive Flash based Roland 909 emulator. Faithful down to a coffee stain & the boom-boom low tom, it's a great way to spend some quality time. Or record the output to a DAW and build a song around this classic beat box.
From Flux comes this dynamics processor with both compression (sweet side) & expansion (bitter side). It can also selectively process either the center-mono component or the L/R-stereo component of the input signal. Available in AU, RTAS & VST for both Mac & PC.
Like many I'm sure, I send a lot of people to Sweetwater. Their print catalog has a drool-worthy selection & the website is fast & intuitive. They also have free phone & e-mail tech support for all the products they sell which is often a lot easier to access than the manufacturer's support.
Sweetwater often offers deals such as 90 days same as cash, 12 months same as cash, a credit card & other financing. These are a great way to get stuff you want without the cash up front and I use mine like a revolving account. A quick phone call & "put it on my bill" is all it takes (great when you're traveling).
However, like most of these deals the devil is in the details and a late payment or extension beyond the terms can land you some huge (& backdated) interest payments (<25%). Neither the website or monthly statements advertise it but you can track, schedule & make online payments through GE Finance which is a much easier way to keep track of your account. Setting up online is a fairly painless process similar to any credit card and once in, any Sweetwater charges can be viewed & paid.
I plan to cover more financing tools further in the weeks ahead. Look for an upcoming piece on the pros & cons of leasing.
Time to return to the Mac platform I guess. Soundflower is a unique, useful & free package that allows audio from one application to be routed internally to another. It has both a 2 channel interface and, as shown here connected to my Metric Halo 2882+DSP, a 16 channel too.
The uses are almost limitless, for example, you can route the output of a player such as iTunes into a DAW, add plug-ins and send to an interface outputs.
Apple's bundled Garage Band is a deceptively powerful DAW, however, it is obviously Mac only. Continuing with my PC friendly posts here is a heads up on Mixcraft 3 from Acoustica which appears to be Garage Band for the PC. For $49.95 (free trial version) it's great value and the website includes some good video tutorials to get you started.
If you're looking for some very high end mic preamps and are handy with a soldering iron I would recommend checking out Seventh Circle Audio. Their range of DIY mic preamp kits range from $79 up to $329. The higher end models offer circuit topology & sonic characteristics very similar to a classic Neve (shown above) or API preamp. Also available is a PSU, wiring harness and rack frame for a completed, 8 channel, professional product.
