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.
Vertigo Sound VSC-3
German based Vertigo Sound has been a name in high-end audio gear since 2007, launching with the VSC-2.
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Vacuvox U23m
The first audio compressor was the Telefunken U3, used at the 1936 Olympics, and in the 1940s came the U13. Then, Rohde & Schwarz developed the third generation U23 in 1953.
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Warm Audio Bus-Comp
Since 2011 Warm Audio of Austin, TX have built up quite a range of studio outboard based on classic designs, marketed at bargain prices. The Bus-Comp is no exception.
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Bettermaker Bus Compressor
Bettermaker’s new Bus Compressor treads a now familiar path for the Polish hardware manufacturer. They have built a reputation for digitally controlled, recallable, high quality analogue hardware since the EQ230P Pultec-style EQ.
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AnaMod AM670
So, here we go again with yet another Fairchild 670 recreation. Only, hold on, this one really doesn’t feel quite right. Yes, they’ve made a good stab at the front panel, but this thing is almost as light as a feather.
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CharterOak SCL-1
CharterOak have been making boutique microphones since 2002. Endearingly, rather than boosting his ego, founder Michael Deming, (an engineer and producer of some note), named the company after a local Connecticut landmark.
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ACME Opticom XLA-3
The Opticom is a 2U mono opto limiter which combines high speed photocells with all-valve circuitry.
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Universal Audio 2-LA-2
UA have been at it again. Previously, the 2-1176 packed a pair of mono 1176s into the space usually occupied by just one of them. And UA have performed another magician’s trick with the LA-2A.
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SSL Mynx and E Series Modules
SSL’s XLogic X-Rack system is now well established with a large range of modules with the flexibility to cater for all kinds of application, and boasting the major attractions of mixer configuration possibilities and Total Recall, utilising the excellent sonics of SSL’s SuperAnalogue circuitry.
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Groove Tubes The Glory Comp
The Glory Comp (GC hereon) is a sister product of the ViPre microphone preamp.
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D.W.Fearn VT-7
Such is his perfectionism, Douglas Fearn spent nearly 10 years researching and designing this stereo compressor.
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Ted Fletcher Audio Gear P38
King Edward is dead. Long Live King Edward the (P)38th, proclaims George Shilling… The P38 “Edward the Compressor” is the latest in a line of designs from Ted Fletcher that officially started with the Joemeek SC2 in 1993.
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Chiswick Reach
Chiswick Reach Studio has carved out a niche for itself in the London studio market as a provider of vintage recording technology.
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Crane Song STC-8
This is a sophisticated US-built stereo compressor, designed with attention to detail in both function and form. The unit's designer David Hill has taken a very scientific approach: the manual is littered with charts and diagrams. But this approach is firmly based on sonic performance.
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Daking 52270 Mic Pre/EQ and 91579 Compressor/Limiter
I 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'.
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Neve 8801
This 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.
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