Other Studio Effects

See below for the list of effects. Personally, I use it mainly as a syncable resonant filter but also as a MIDI step sequencer (it even sends notes...). No PC editing, it's not rack-mountable, very digital, jack in for a mic, RCA for line or phono (it has a built-in RIAA preamp). RCA output. Midi In and Out. USE Everything is relatively simple and can be easily edited. The manual is clear and you might need to read it thoroughly to learn how to get the best out of the unit! SOUND QUALITY Effects are digital and a bit dated, so they can seem a bit cheap. But the fact that the effect can be synced to the MIDI tempo makes this machine really useful. In the worst case, you can avoid the internal effects and control the effects of an external expander via MIDI. The possibilities are huge. The analog-like step-sequencer made me buy two (one for the note, one for the filter). OVERALL OPINION I got one as soon as it came out, but sold it because I didn't know much about MIDI. It was only later that I realized the possibilities the unit offered and bought two of them. There's no other unit on the market that can do so much for so little money. Excellent value for money secondhand, but take your time to actually understand it.

(Originally written by plastok2/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Almost 800 presets: harmonizer, pitch, delay, rev, chorus, flange, phazer, doubler, etc. Two analog inputs and outputs Last device from the H3000 Series launched in 1992. UTILIZATION Pretty easy to use but I still recommend you to grab the user's manual from time to time. Clear and typical Eventide design (it's the same for all series). Huge preset number... (includes all presets of the previous series). SOUND QUALITY I love using it as delay and doubler effect. Some reverbs sound very nice. But the thing I like most is the wideness of the sound. Eventide is the reference if you want to create wide vocal ensembles or incredible stereo delay effects. The sound is warm. The unit has a more natural sound than the DSP Series, which have much more processing power. But when it comes to a The Edge doubler or delay effects, I prefer the H3500 because it provides a more "analog" sound. Good signal to noise ratio considering it's a modulation effect made in 1992. OVERALL OPINION When producing music it's important to have the possibility to quickly choose a certain sound color and the H3500 allows that. You can double lead vocals, process a snare with a fat gate reverb, add subharmonics to a synth, create a beautiful delay on a guitar recording, etc. The H3500 does all these better than most other processors!!!

The Ursa Major SST-282 Space Station is a echo/delay/reverb unit that is pretty hard to come across from what I can tell. It's got a ton of versatility and although I'm not sure when these were made, it definitely looks pretty old. It's got an XLR input and stereo XLR outputs, and is powered up by a regular power cord. It is indeed a rack mountable piece of outboard gear. UTILIZATION The configuration of the Ursa Major SST-282 Space Station is definitely a unique one. For starters, it's got a series of buttons that allow you to choose between different types of preset delay and reverbs and a series of knobs to control your delay mixes. It then has a reverb/echo feedback knob, an echo delay time knob, and smaller knobs for input level and high and low cut. There are a few other parameters that can be manipulated here, but getting a real feel for how the SST-282 works will happen with putting in the time with it and checking out the manual for sure. SOUND QUALITY The sounds that are possible with the Ursa Major SST-282 Space Station are varied, as the device is extremely flexible. I've used it mostly on electric guitar and for a small amount of vocal effects, but any time you might be looking for some delay or echo, the SST-282 will be able to do the job for sure. In general it has a clean sound, but where it makes it's living is on it's ability to get interesting sounds that are hard to find elsewhere. The starting points that it offers up with the buttons are definitely cool, but I've gotten some crazy sounding effects with the SST-282 that go way beyond these more traditional tones... OVERALL OPINION I had actually first used the Ursa Major SST-282 Space Station in the form of a plug-in made by Princeton Digital, but then later got to use the real deal. While the plug-in is definitely a nice emulator, I was way more impressed with the real deal. I don't see too many of these in recording studios out there, and I don't really know anything about the price. I do know that the Ursa Major SST-282 is a unique device to itself and is one that is simply put, awesome.

Original Made in Germany. Die im SNR202 DENOISER verwendeten Operationsverstärker sind außergewöhnlich. Sie zeichnen sich durch extreme Linearität und sehr geringe Verzerrungseigenschaften aus. Um dieses Design zu ergänzen, umfasst die Auswahl der Komponenten hochtolerante Widerstände und Kondensatoren, Rastpotentiometer und mehrere andere streng ausgewählte Elemente. Er ist gebaut wie ein Panzer und sprüht noch von der guten alten original Behringer Qualität, die dafür gesorgt hat, dass Behringer weltweit zu einem der führenden Hersteller aufsteigt. Die alte Behringer Serie ist absolut ernstzunehmendes professionelles Studioequipment. Hat nichts mit heutigen Behringerprodukten aus China zu tun.

The ATTY is a stereo two channel passive line level attenuator box. Controls are dead simple: a smooth feeling rotary pot for continuous signal attenuation, and a quality pushbutton for hard mute, both of which control both channels all the time. The ATTY has Neutrik combo XLR & 1/4" TRS connectors for inputs, and goldpin XLRs for outputs. The only thing stopping me from rating this section as "Perfect" is that I'd have liked to see some parallel 1/4" TRS jacks at the output as well as the input. The box itself is strong as a brick and is finished in A-Designs lovely but durable glossy black with quality silkscreening. My oldest ATTY is at least 6 years old now and still looks good. UTILIZATION This box is a general purpose unit for any line level signal attenuation. It has a good, smooth range of attenuation and a fairly linear taper. My favorite uses are for digital tracking situations where I want to run an analog output hot, but have the signal hit a digital converter lightly for best headroom--so the ATTY is a natural to have inline between a mic preamp that I want to hit hard, but still have my signal into a digital converter peaking at no more than about -9dBfs. I especially appreciate the stereo nature of the ATTY between fast-transient stereo signals such as drum overhead mic pres and digital inputs. I also like to patch the ATTY inline between my analog console's 2mix out and digital converter ins when printing mixes into ProTools--I can cream the console's 2mix to my heart's extent but still get sober levels into ProTools by attenuating the post-2mix signal into the digital converters. Many ITB users will find the ATTY to be a great, simple analog volume control between digital interface output sums and active studio monitor inputs--which is no doubt what A-Designs had in mind when offering a hard mute button on the unit. I have three ATTYs (all of which I find routine use for) and I can't remember if they even came with a manual. There's one knob, one button and they're both labeled, what more is there to know? ;-) SOUND QUALITY Well, you're always going to lose a little bit when you're adding two more connection points to a signal chain, but the ATTY mitigates this with good quality, gold plated connections that don't tend to oxidize, and the passive nature of the unit means there's nothing to power up and add noise to, and as little as possible to additionally make the signal pass through. This all means that the ATTY does very little to harm your signal. It brings the level down and that's about it. No more, no less. OVERALL OPINION A-Designs is one of my very favorite gear makers. Overall, the ATTY is a great general purpose studio tool that does what I want it to as simply as possible--no more, no less. It's dead simple to use, quiet, and the quality is very good. There's only one thing that particularly bugs me about this unit: when the level pot is almost at its lowest point of travel, one side of the stereo signal will drop out before the other. This is very common with passive attenuation, but it still would would have been swell if A-Designs had used a pot that gets around this and keeps both channels dead even 'til the bitter end of the pot's travel. The upshot is that I wouldn't use this box for an analog fade-out cue. Having some 1/4" TRS jacks at the output as well as input would have been nice too, though adapter patch cords get around that just fine. Otherwise, no complaints and this doesn't stop me using my ATTYs all the time to great effect. I would and did buy more.

It would take way too long to explain all the connections on this box and if you're looking into it then you should really check out Moog's website. This is an all analog control voltage generator. Basically what that means is it produces signals that can be plugged into Moog gear (or any gear using the +/-5v voltage) to automatically alter the settings. Any knob on the Moogerfooger pedals can be altered with this box to create some other wordly sounds. Construction is solid, the potentiometers feel smooth, and the inside looks like a tiny city. UTILIZATION Ease of use is very dependent on what exactly you are trying to accomplish. Control voltages are something that you don't really grasp without extensive hands on experience. The manual does get pretty in depth with information on how to use the voltages to open up the possibilities of the gear it's connected to but ultimately it takes time. I read the manual front to back before using the box and continue to reference it whenever needed. I currently own the Moog phaser, delay, murf, and freq.box in addition to the cp251. I was getting pretty wild sounds without this box but after getting the CP it's like having a whole other set of Moogers at my disposal. Any control knob on any of the Moogers can be altered with any combination of square, triangle, and saw waves as well as the amazing sample&hold circuit. If you've ever wanted a random time changing and pitch shifting delay you can achieve that with this box and the Moog 104. SOUND QUALITY n/a This box produces no sound except the white noise output. OVERALL OPINION I love this box. You can get tons of sounds with digital gear these days but sometimes it's more rewarding to just concoct something yourself with analog devices. I already loved the Moog pedals before getting this but the amount of new sounds I got after having it are definitely worth the cost. The Moog delay in particular is greatly enhanced by this. I have always loved modulated delays and a simple triangle wave into the time input on the 104 makes the most beautiful echoes I have ever heard. The sample&hold is also a favorite especially with the freq. box and phaser. As far as I know there are no other similar devices to compare this too and even if there are I would doubt they would be better than the Moog. As far as price; that would depend on what you are looking for. You have to keep in mind with this type of thing that there are no presets and sometimes you might find an amazing sound but if you don't write down notes you will have a hard time repeating it. If I lost it I would buy another, I'm thinking of actually buying a second.

This box is a noise maker's analog dream. It is a Voltage controlled oscillator that can latch onto your guitars frequency (note) and add a layer of synthy goodness. Think of the synth sweeps in classic songs like Rush's Tom Sawyer ( the "bwaaaahh" sound during the verses) or any Pink Floyd song and imagine being able to cop that sound with your guitar. Controls: Freq.- controls the frequency of the oscillator waveform- allows you to use sawtooth,square,tiangle, skinny pulse waves and inbetween sounds envelope amount- changes how much the freq. is raised when the pedal gets a signal. fm amount- sets the frequency modulation dependent on the audio signal mix- blends your dry sound and the sound of the oscillator sync- on allows the oscillator to track to your note and off mixes in whatever freq. you choose on the freq. knob Input- adjusts the gain at input allowing you to achieve distortion before the vco. very useful output- adjusts the gain after the VCO and mix knob In typical MOOG fashion it has more inputs and outputs than most people will even understand how to utilize until they dive into the manual. You get a jack for each knob, except input and output, that allows you to plug in an expression pedal or voltage control device such as the MOOG cp-251. This gives you real-time hands free operation of every parameter on the pedal. In addition you get your standard 1/4" inputs and outputs plus an output to hook the envelope into other devices that support control voltages. Previous MOOG pedals had an always active preamp that many guitar players complained about. MOOG wised up on this model and gave the unit a clearer bypass that does not overly color your signal. I say overly because there is a slight change but nothing that a quick amp EQ adjustment won't fix. There is also a rack kit (sold separately) that allows you to rack three separate Moogerfoogers together. UTILIZATION Getting a classic synth sweep is very easy to accomplish. Right out of the box you can start making some serious noise and once you tire from that you can get into the manual and start exploring the even wilder sounds. The manual gives you a quick and painless explanation of VCOs (voltage controller oscillators) and how to utilize the controls and rear jacks. This is not the type of manual that you want to throw away. Being analog there are no hidden features so everything is right in front of you for quick changes. SOUND QUALITY I mainly use this with my guitar. I have dabbled with synths but really I just end up zoning out and making sounds that will cause most animals to scream and cry. My rat terrier in particular. I always loved the sound of synths and tried for years to emulate that sound using many different distortion pedals, wahs, ring mods, etc... I was lucky enough to be in Asheville ,NC and took a tour of the MOOG factory just before this pedal was announced. I got a rather lengthy demo there and put in a pre-order as soon as I got home. One thing I will say is that you honestly cannot get too much use out of this pedal without having some control devices to go along with it. At least an expression pedal will get you many more sounds and make the pedal much easier to work into something musical. I personally own almost all of the MoogerFooger line along with 3 exp. pedals and the CP-251. Some people would probably find this to be a specialty effect that can only be used once in a set. Using the mix knob makes it so you can add subtle textures that can liven up many sounds without being overpowered. It can also be used as a wild wah sound by plugging an EXP. pedal in to the frequency jack and manually sweeping through it. I would say that is probably the sound I use the most with it. OVERALL OPINION This pedal is surely not for everyone but for me it's perfect. The price may seem steep but after touring the factory and seeing how the workers are treated I would say the price is perfect. This is not built in a massive plant like other manufacturers. All of the people I met at MOOG were musicians and seemed to really care about what they were doing. Open up the lil guy and it looks like a tiny city inside. There aren't many devices like it out there and the closest I've had was the electro harmonix micro synth. I can't really say which is better but I will say I still own both. The MOOG line is a slippery slope though and could put a dent in your wallet. I started with the phaser in 06' then went on to buy the delay, murf, freq., and the cp251. If I had to I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Even without making any conventional music you can get hours of entertaining noise out of these boxes and it increases exponentially with each Moogerfooger added to the chain.

Frostwave's Sonic Alienator is a really unique pedal that can be used with any electric instrument. I've only used it on electric guitar but it's definitely more versatile than just for this. The pedal is simple in it's make up, with 1/4" connections for input and output and requiring power from a nine volt power supply. It's not rack mountable as it's in stomp box form. UTILIZATION The make up of the Frostwave Sonic Alienator isn't too hard to figure out, but it's definitely a unique configuration due to the nature of the pedal. It gives you knobs for input drive, output level, sample rate, cutoff frequency, and resonance. It also has a button for setting the orientation to be pre or post routed. Lastly, the main parameter is for setting the amount of decimation that you'd like. The manual might be helpful for explaining these parameters, but I believe using it a bit will achieve the same effect. SOUND QUALITY The Frostwave Sonic Alienator can definitely make your instrument sound unlike anything it's ever sounded like before. Nowadays it's easy enough to use a synthesizer to get similar, lo-fi kind of sounds, but there's not much out there like this that will transform your instrument to make crazy sounds as found here. It's best described as a lo-fi distortion box, but really needs to be heard to be understood. Definitely not a pedal for everyone, but those who will use it will love it. OVERALL OPINION The Frostwave Sonic Alienator is a really fun pedal to mess around with! It's definitely not a necessity for anyone's pedal board, but will always bring something to the table for sure. It's not something that I'd need to personally have on my pedal board, but in the studio it's an awesome tool to have around for all different types of purposes. If you're into lo-fi sounds I'd highly recommend checking out the Sonic Alienator!

The Overstayer Instrument Driver is essentially a saturation device for warming up your sound a bit. Overstayer is a small company out of Los Angeles, but they have a few great products at extremely reasonable prices. This unit is two channels, and has XLR connections for both inputs and outputs. I believe that it also has 1/4" jacks, but since we hooked it up to the patch bay via XLR to TT cables, we didn't use these. One of the staff engineers at the studio where I work has this and brings it in on almost every session. It isn't rack mountable as is, but I believe you could custom build a one space unit if you had two of these, as Overstayer also sells some hardware on their site for doing this. UTILIZATION The general make up of the Overstayer Instrument Driver is pretty simple. Each of the two channels has parameters for saturation and master volume, as well as buttons for a high and low pass filter. It also has buttons for choosing between your mic or line input, a preamp boost, and for putting the saturation parameter in or out. I haven't seen the manual, but this is easy enough to figure out on your own that one probably isn't necessary. SOUND QUALITY The sound of the Overstayer Instrument Driver is terrific. This thing is perfect for adding a little bit of gain and warmth to a number of different applications. A lot of times we'll plug a keyboard directly into it, as it's like getting a DI sound with a bit more warmth and a more realistic, analog sort of sound. It's also great for bass DI and for just about anything where you would want some saturation. It's definitely a versatile piece of equipment. OVERALL OPINION Overall, the Overstayer Instrument Driver is a great piece of studio gear to have around. The price of it also makes it accessible to just about anyone interested in something like this. As far as getting a lot for a little amount of money, you're not going to find too many deals like this out there. I'd also recommend checking out the Overstayer Stereo Compressor, as it's the best for the price I've seen. Overstayer and their Instrument Driver are definitely some things to be aware of...

The Dolby Model 361 is a noise reduction device that I've used in the recording studio. I don't really know if this would be useful outside of a recording studio setting at all, and this will review will be focusing on this application of the 361 since that's the setting I've used it in. The Dolby 361 is an analog piece of gear that is designed for removing tape hiss and other noise. It's got mostly XLR jacks for your main connections, but also has 1/4" jacks for linking them. It is rack mountable and will take up a single space in a traditional casing. UTILIZATION It isn't very difficult to learn how to use the Dolby Model 361. There aren't very many parameters to work with outside of some basic transport and monitoring buttons. You kind of just let it do it's thing once it's all good to go, as the only buttons it has are for putting the noise reduction in or out, record, play/remote, and then for monitoring either normal or to check. It also has an analog meter. A manual isn't necessary here, nor have I seen one. SOUND QUALITY The Dolby Model 361 will actually do a pretty good job of getting rid of unwanted noise or hiss, but since there aren't any real parameters to change the gauge of the reduction, it's somewhat limited in it's capabilities. We've got a pair of these in the studio where I work, in addition to a Dolby 360. They don't get used very often, but every once and a while someone will decide to use them. They are definitely suited best for use with a tape machine or for when you've recorded to tape. OVERALL OPINION While I'd prefer to use a modern day noise reducer since they are more in depth, the Dolby Model 361 is pretty cool for what it can do. I probably wouldn't recommend buying one unless you're a professional recording studio where anything might be needed on any given day, but if you can get one or two really cheap and might have a need, you might as well go for it. So while not exactly using modern technology, he Dolby Model 361 is an adequate noise reduction system that's still worth using in the right situations.

The Eventide H3000 Ultra Harmonizer is a unique studio effect that is one of the first of its kind in terms of harmonizers. It is an all analog unit and is a rack mountable unit that will take up two rack spaces. I'm not sure what connection types the Eventide H3000 Ultra Harmonizer has because the studio I have used it at has it pre racked. UTILIZATION The configuration of the Eventide H3000 Ultra Harmonizer isn't the easiest to follow, and since it is a unique effect, it takes a little while to understand and be able to use everything on this unit. There aren't that many parameters, but the lay out is sometimes hard to follow since it is one of the first analog harmonizers out there. The possibilities are pretty varied when it comes to this unit, but isn't the easiest unit to navigate on. SOUND QUALITY The sound quality of the Eventide H3000 Ultra Harmonizer is pretty good considering how old this unit is. It can definitely be useful in the studio if you want to figure out or add some harmony parts to your vocals or any other instruments you might want to add to. I mostly have used the Eventide H3000 Ultra Harmonizer for vocals, but have also tried it on guitar and keyboards, with some pretty interesting and cool results. OVERALL OPINION I've been using the Eventide H3000 Ultra Harmonizer for about five years and it is definitely an interesting piece of gear to say the least. When it comes to harmonies, I would rather actually sing them myself than let a machine do them for me, but this can provide you with some awesome sounding effects and definitely has interesting creative capabilities to it. The price isn't that cheap if you can find one used, but I wouldn't really recommend buying one of these unless you are a professional studio anyway because it isn't worth it this day and age. The Eventide H3000 Ultra Harmonizer is definitely worthy of a try though.

The Aphex Systems 124A is an audio level interface that is designed for high end audio gear. It can be used for a variety of purposes, both in the recording studio and for broadcast purposes. Essentially it's designed to create a balanced connection for things that might not be balanced or leveled to begin with. It's an analog piece of gear that has connections in the form of both RCA and XLR and for both inputs and outputs. It isn't rack mountable as it comes in it's own sort of box. UTILIZATION You don't need to know much in order to use the Aphex Systems 124A. Basically, if you know that you need it, you're good to go. All you have to do is set up and make your connections, and then set your levels for each of the two channels with the gain knobs on the front panel. Since there isn't much to using it, a manual most likely isn't necessary. SOUND QUALITY It's hard to say much about the sound quality of the Aphex Systems 124A considering the situation that I've used it in. I've used it basically as a leveling impedance converter in a professional studio for use with a small set of Apple computer speakers. The speakers were old school Apple M6082, which are computer speakers that have been utilized by audio engineers to check mixes on in the recording studio. All I can say is that the 124A gets the job done for using these in this sort of environment. Beyond this, I'm not sure how well it works since this is the only situation I've used it in to date. OVERALL OPINION Beyond what I've used it for, the Aphex Systems 124A can offer up a lot of different uses in the pro audio world. I don't have much background information on it however, since I only recently used it for the first time and used it in the previously mentioned limited sort of scenario. Having said this, if you need them to level out your signal on an unbalanced connections like computer speakers, it will most certainly get the job done...