Two inexpensive but extremely impressive reverbs

Reverb No. 1: Liquid Sonics Seventh Heaven

This is the best sounding reverb plugin I've ever used. There is also a professional version. I recommend starting with the regular version and seeing if you need more before getting the professional version. The normal version reminds me of the Kurzweil Rumour. 

Simple. Sounds fabulous. It is a very high quality reverb. According to Liquid Sonics, 30 of the Bricasti M7’s finest ever reverbs are including in the Seventh Heaven. You need an iLok 2 or iLok 3 unfortunately. If you do not have an iLok I suggest getting the iLok 3.

Reverb No. 2: H-Reverb Hybrid Reverb

Holy hell this is a full featured reverb. No iLok. Usually on sale for less than $50. I like who these reverb literally makes drums breathe. 

In using reverbs, remember that presets tend to make everything "wet." You normally need to dial in the sound to get a balance of dry and wet. Also, do not forget EQ. The Seventh Heaven has an easy control for rolling off the low or high end. Do a search online for "Abbey Road reverb trick." Learn it.

If you need more reverbs than these two plus the stock reverbs in your DAW, then nothing likely will ever cut it with you.

Klark Teknik EQP-KT and 1176-KT: A quick look, review coming soon

Playing around with the Klark Teknik 1176-KT and the EQP-KT today... Some thoughts...

Obviously, the 1176-KT is an 1176 clone and the EQP-KT is a Pultec clone. 

I am fortunate enough to have a Great River MP-2NV microphone preamplifier to feed the Klark Teknik compressor and EQ.

More later. But, short review: They work as advertised. I have always loved the sound of an 1176 or a Pultec. I will leave it for others to talk about whether the Klark Teknik clones merit comparisons to the originals from UREI and Pultec. However, each of the Klark Teknik clones sound good (better than plugin versions, for sure).

From the top down, Klark Teknik EQP-KT, 1176-KT and Great River MP-2NV.

I am waiting on the release of the Klark Teknik KT-2A before doing a full review on all three.

The man behind the ribbon mic

Check out this profile of longtime ribbon mic technician Clarence Kane in Radio World.

http://bit.ly/fXEAb8

Funky and Uncommon Recording Gear: JBL 8330 Cinema Speakers

Why own a pair of these? For the fun of it. Sometimes, music is supposed to be something enjoyable. Get a pair of these as an alternate pair of speakers. Give your ears a break. Put a movie theater or club vibe in your mix room as an alternate check on a mix. These come to market used all the time due to movie theater upgrades. It is not uncommon to find these for $100 to $200 each.

--Steven Langer

Funky and Uncommon Recording Gear: Ashly SC-50 Compressor

Bear's Gone Fission wrote:

Ashly SC-50 compressor - The general view on this model is that the blue pannel versions are the best as they use a discrete component VCA instead of the later dbx VCA, but my black pannel has the discrete VCA. Remove the foam inside the cases, as if it hasn't started yet, it will start falling to bits and sticking all over the circuit boards. Socketed opamp construction is the norm, generally older types, so there might be some value in trying upgrades, but I think it rocks stock. Not the quietest thing, but it sounds excellently distressed on guitars.

Fletcher said:

It happens to be one of the finest compressors known to man for lead guitar/loud guitar solo shit.