Overstayer

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 Overstayer Stereo Compressor is a little known box that is designed for use in the recording studio. It's an analog piece of gear that is pretty versatile and is some of the best bang for your buck out there. The box has XLR inputs and outputs for both of the channels, and comes with it's own power supply. It isn't rack mountable in a traditional sense on it's own, but you could fit two of them in one space if you wanted to do a custom rack job as Overstayer sells hardware for racking these. UTILIZATION Using the Overstayer Stereo Compressor isn't very difficult, but at the same time there is a lot to work with. The main parameters that it has are for drive, output, blend, and attack. It also has buttons for 'Tint' and 'Dirt,' the first of which is a low pass and the 'Dirt' being a FET mode for extra harmonic distortion. The blend parameter is a unique one, as you won't normally see options for parallel compression. A manual shouldn't be necessary to use, although I haven't seen it so I can't speak to it's make up. SOUND QUALITY The Overstayer Stereo Compressor is a really versatile compressor that is capable of getting a number of different types of compression sounds. You can get a really heavy and overpowering overdrive, or can play it subtle with a cleaner compression. You've got control over your parallel compression level right on here, furthering the possibilities. The other buttons help to give you added control, making the Overstayer Stereo Compressor suitable for use for pretty much all applications. Also, being that it's a stereo compressor, it's great for sending two bus signals to it as well... OVERALL OPINION For the price, the Overstayer Stereo Compressor is one of the best you'll find, especially considering that you're getting two channels here! Overstayer is a very little known company that is based here in Los Angeles, but with high quality gear and prices like this, they will sure to be expanding sooner than later. If you're looking for a great stereo compressor at a stupid price, check this one out before too many people do...