With many years experience working as recording engineers and producers, our review team of George Shilling and Russell Cottier know the good from the bad. In many cases it's a matter of taste, some prefer one EQ over another but we try to provide unbiased and objective reviews of the equipment tested.
Phoenix Audio’s DRS-2 and DRS-1 microphone and instrument preamplifiers have been delighting audio professionals for a number of years, and I have been a regular user since reviewing the DRS-2 in 2002. From May 2009 Phoenix units have been built in California.
Read George Shilling's reviewI suspect that many readers outside the US have never heard of Geoffrey Daking. I hadn't. The man himself is a studio owner and 'audio tinkerer'.
Read George Shilling's reviewThis is a product that now seems obvious, and although there have been board room and financial shenanigans, one might wonder why it has taken Neve so long to produce it.
Read George Shilling's reviewSSL seems an increasingly go-ahead and dynamic company, especially since the last change of ownership.
Read George Shilling's review‘You ain’t seen nothing like the Mighty Quinn’ sang Manfred Mann. George Shilling ain’t seen nothing like the Mighty Twin… Ted Fletcher, the original Joemeek founder and designer, now develops products under his own name.
Read George Shilling's reviewSubtitled “Valve pre-amp with EQ & attitude”, The Rooster continues the series of bold, mildly eccentric, all valve, proudly English outboard from the workshop of the legendary Vic Keary, with partner Jonathan Bailes looking after front panel design, manual writing and so on.
Read George Shilling's reviewWhilst Crane Song lovingly craft transistor-based birds, Thermionic have been building an increasing reputation for bird-based quality valve gear over the last few years.
Read George Shilling's reviewIn the high-end 'voice channel' market, one can easily forget that Drawmer were an early entrant with the Vacuum Tube 1960. They now enter the crowded budget end of this market with the feature packed 'Front End One' MX60.
Read George Shilling's reviewSince the introduction of the Joemeek Compressor a few years ago, Joemeek have been steadily increasing their range. They have found a particular niche with the all-in-one type of processor for use mostly as a direct-to-tape microphone processor.
Read George Shilling's reviewI have long been a fan of Joe Meek's productions. I even went to a Joe Meek Appreciation Society event a few months back. But until recently I had not tried any of the famous JoeMeek range of outboard equipment, designed by Ted Fletcher.
Read George Shilling's reviewOutboard equipment - "Toys" to use the technical term - I love them. Big ones, small ones, red ones, blue ones, (thank you, Dr.Seuss!), and especially ones with lots of colourful knobs on them, and big flashy displays.
Read George Shilling's reviewA brief history lesson: The late Dick Swettenham was a maintenance engineer at Olympic Studios in its late 1960's heyday. In the early 1970's he built a rather wonderful desk for Olympic and subsequently a number of Olympic clients' private studios.
Read George Shilling's review