Alta Moda Audio

This is a parametric EQ for use in the recording studio or home studio. As it's a rather expensive piece of gear, it's probably better for use with analog consoles or mic-pres, as opposed to digital ones that come in the Digi 003 or something like that. With a home studio setup you are probably just as well off using plug-ins. There aren't any crazy effects or anything like that with this EQ. It's an analog technology. There are no computer or MIDI connections. UTILIZATION The Utilization of the EQ is pretty easy for the most part. It has four bandwidths, Low, Low Mid, High Mid, and High. There is a frequency knob for each bandwidth that actually overlaps the next bandwidth on either side, giving you a complete control of the sound assuming you want to boost on the lower end of one bandwidth but cut the higher end of the same one. There is also a shape knob which will determine the amount of frequencies boosted or cut. SOUND QUALITY I was pretty impressed overall with the sound of this EQ. I'd say that we have got a pretty phenomenal deal with this as it works just as well as a lot of the other EQs in our console but is much cheaper. It's super flexible for one of these EQs but gives much better response than most other EQs in the studio. The boosts don't seem as artificial as some of the plug-in EQs do, and the cuts are much more forgiving of tone. I'd have to say I am disappointed we don't have more of them as I'd use them on everything I could if I had the opportunity! OVERALL OPINION I like this EQ quite a bit, it's certainly one of the better stand-alone EQs we have at the studio, and definitely a better one than most. I'd certainly say that the price is pretty reasonable overall considering how phenomenal it is. It's definitely a great piece of gear and can hang with the old console EQs any day of the week. I've used lots of EQs and this is one of the better ones I've used. Highly recommended.

The Alta Moda AM-10 is an in depth single channel compressor and limiter that is for use in 500 series racks. It is an analog piece of gear that doesn't have any connections of it's own as you need to hook it into a 500 series rack. It has FET (field effect transistor) based gain control and won't be rack mountable outside of a 500 series rack. UTILIZATION The configuration of the Alta Moda AM-10 has a good amount going on, especially for a 500 series module where you don't have as much physical space for parameters. The AM-10 is split into a compressor and limiter section, with knobs for comp, limit, attack, release and effect and dry levels. It also has three switches for the limiter - slow or fast release, linking, and a high pass filter at 120 Hz. The compressor also has pretty much the same switches, except instead of the release it has one for auto or manual. The manual isn't necessary unless you're a beginner or unfamiliar with these basic parameters. SOUND QUALITY The tone quality of the Alta Moda AM-10 is in general awesome, especially because you've got so much control over the end result. In my opinion it should be able to adapt to most situations, but I've gotten my best results with it for mixing drums and guitars. It's got a really full sound to it, and is great both for subtle compression and for hard limiting. I can't imagine too many users being disappointed with the overall sound of the AM-10. OVERALL OPINION The Alta Moda AM-10 is definitely a compressor/limiter that I would consider or at least check out if you've got a 500 series rack. It's not the typical make up of a compressor/limiter, but that's one of the main things that I like about it. The price isn't unreasonable by any stretch, so if you've got a 500 series rack or are looking to put one together, beyond the API modules, the AM-10 would be one of the first places I'd look.