ProCo Sound Misc music/audio gear

The ProCo Sound MAX20 is a -20 db pad that you insert in between your mic cable and microphone to give you some more head room and -20 of attenuation with hot mics and on loud signals. There isn't really anything that you need to know other than that as it will simply give you -20 db of attenuation. There is also both a -10 db and -30 db version of this pad, each of which varies in price but this one if the most expensive since it's right in the middle and is kind of the perfect amount of attenuation you'd need if you were using one of these. A studio that I recently started doing some work at has one of these on hand for situations where there might be a loud source and we're using a sensitive mic. It definitely comes in handy more times than you would think and is something that every studio should have one or two of. Of course many microphone preamps have a built in pad, as do many microphones, but there are plenty out there of both that have neither of these, so it's always good to be prepared for whatever, especially if you're working in a professional or semi-professional environment. I can't say that the price of the ProCo MAX20 is too unreasonable, but it does seem like there are other pads out there that could be a bit cheaper than this one. Still, it's not all that much more and it's probably in the end worth it as it seems to be a pad that is built to last and can be your studio mainstay for however long you might have it. I'd scope out pads made by Shure and others but you can't really go wrong here with the Proco Sound MAX20.

The ProCo Sound TTXF3 is a female XLR to TT cable for use in the recording studio. We've got a couple of these types of cables on hand in our rooms and in reserve at the studio where I work, as they're necessary for plugging microphones directly into the patch bay. I don't tend to do this all the time, but it can be really helpful for times when you're working in the control room and want to set up a mic in there rather than in the live room. They're also useful for hooking up external gear to a patch bay if you don't have any extra tie lines. However, the main thing I've used them for has been for plugging a mic directly into the bay. In any studio with a patch bay it's going to be a good idea to have a few of these, and it's especially important to have them in a professional studio environment where you're never sure what you're going to need next. I've found the ProCo Sound TTXF3 female XLR to TT cables to be as good as any of them out there. Of course you can always get better cables, but for situations where you'd need one of these I don't think it's imperative to have a top of the line, gold plated cable or anything like that. Since it's kind of an obscure kind of cable it's not the cheapest that you'll find out there, but it's not too expensive for what it is and it's worth having them around. Also, I don't think you're going to be finding them for all that much cheaper, although I maybe wrong about this. Either way, check these out if you're going to want to plug microphones into your TT based patch bay.