RNC.....great compressors....and cheap too
don't expect a LA-2 or a fairchild
but real versatile and solid

i dig 'em

also the ART VLA
pretty cool compressor....for the money
better for midrange stuff like guitar, toms...

just my opinions,
j.hall

RNC.....great compressors....and cheap too
don't expect a LA-2 or a fairchild
but real versatile and solid

i dig 'em

also the ART VLA
pretty cool compressor....for the money
better for midrange stuff like guitar, toms...

just my opinions,
j.hall

Urei/JBL 7110 comp/limiter
Milab Microphones(certainly not cheap, but....)
Mexican P-basses

Kooch,
What Milab mics have you used? I heard a recording of one of their large diaphragm mics years ago, and I dug it a lot. Slight midrange hump, but very natural-sounding otherwise. (Don't remember the model #)

My contribution to the "sleeper gear" discussion would be Radio Shack Minumus speakers - the smaller and crappier the better. I have one hooked to a mono feed off my board and I use it more than the mains.

Yours,
Dan Popp
Colors Audio
USA

CLM Dynamic Expounder - it's a dynamic EQ. It does everything from adding extremely subtle 'glows' on vocals to serious dynamic filtering.

Also the CLM pre-amps are a steal. We recently tested them next to various channel strips (Amek/Focusrite) and they won hands-down.

-Peter
And no I don't work for CLM.

Ok, here I am - the "King of Cheap"!!
Here are a few bargains that many people don't know about:

dbx 242 parametric eq. - This isn't even in their catalog, bit you can usually pick them up on ebay for cheap. Designed by Bob Orban, this is a killer 5 band unit.

Ashley SC or CL-50 compressors - A little noisy, but still great.

Oktava MC0-01 with the 33 mm Lomo head - The sound room sells this wonderful Russian combo, and it's great.

Marshall MXLV67 and 603S microphones - These are copies of the AKC C12VR and the Neumann KM184s and they rock, for dirt cheap. They're Chinese, but they sound and look killer.

Audix TR-40 (MBHO MB-550) omni mics - Made by MBHO in Germany, these are great small omni calibration mics for a reasonable price.

Beyer soundstar MKII - These SM58 look-alikes are bullet proof and they sound great. You find them on ebay every so often.

Beyer M201 hypercardioid mic - The "other" snare mic. Better than the SM-57 for most snare sounds.

Audio Technica ATM-25 Kick drum mic - Often overlooked because of the AKG D112, this is another great mic when you want the tight big bottom, with a lot of beater crack.

T.H.E. mic line - Unveiled at the AES show, these are gonna be real contenders from Germany. The binaural head at under $2k is amazing, and their reference mics are fantastic. The reference mics lie between the Audix TR-40 and the B&K omnis with VERY low noise. They're several steps up from the Oktavas, but built like little jewels.

dbx 120X sub-harmonic synth - If you need that big kick sound(I mean a "BIG" kick sound), try running the kick thru one of these babies.

Boss Se-50 Stereo Effect Box - ebay cheapy, but still a really useful multi-effects box, vocorder, lush chorus, fairly quiet, and a good second effect.

Beyer M260 Ribbon mic with the $125 Sank mod - This turns a 260 into a wonderful warm RCA 77DX - for cheap. The straight body works better than the tapered body.

There's more, but those are a good start.

hey Harvey could you elaborate as to why the straight bodied beyer is better than the tapered body.Does it have something to due with the tapered body being intended for vocal use or something?-daniel

Originally posted by thedmc:
hey Harvey could you elaborate as to why the straight bodied beyer is better than the tapered body.Does it have something to due with the tapered body being intended for vocal use or something?-danielI had Mike River's straight-sided 260DX with me when I went to have my tapered body mic modified to sound closer to his. The tapered body 260 doesn't sound the same as the straight-sided version. We got it close, but it wasn't exactly the same. The straight-sided 260DX sounds almost exactly like the 77DX.

thanks for the quick reply Harvey. I think i read about you saying that your 260 sounded different whe i did a deja seach awhile back.Regretfuly i have never heard a beyer 260 or a rca 77. do you think you could explain the difference tonaly between the two.And what you tend to use your 260 dx on.I realize that the 77 is a multi pattern mic and the beyer is not so i guess it would only be relevant to the cardiod pattern.i recently got a rca varacoustic that needsa new ribbon that i'm going to send to Mr. Sank
and that will be my first ribbon mic experiance. That and the beyer will hopefuly get me aquainted with ribbon's without spending the big bucks on a royer or a coles (even though i want one real bad)-thanks for your help.-daniel mcclenaghan

Hey Dan,
The Milabs I've used were (I think) 96B's--something like that. I know they are from the middle of the Milab line--and only cardioid. Didya know that the diaphragms on those are *rectangular* not round! The place I interned at had a pair of them. I used them a lot--room sound, acoustic guitar, overheads, vocals, strings--everything. These mics are very overlooked IMO. And when it comes to piano mic-ing these were just phenomenal!

Thanks for all of the responses. I have come across a mic made by the east german Geffel factory (after it was stolen from Neumann) called the MV691. It sounds cool and I know that it has interchangable capsules, but I don't know how many and what kind. Can anyone shed any light on this particular microphone.

Contact G Prime (http://www.gprime.com/) for any Geffel mic questions.

Originally posted by hargerst:
Ok, here I am - the "King of Cheap"!!

The King lives! Hail to the King!

:cool:

Kooch, thanks for the Milab info. Yeah, rectangular diaphragm. I think the Senn. 416 (a very weird mic that we think of as normal because they are so common) has square diaphragms...

Yours,
Dan Popp
Colors Audio

harvey,

whats the deal with te DBX120's, ive used then several times in different places but for some reason they all looked different. one thati came across had 4 frequencies to boost/cut that was my favorite of the different models but i cant remember for the life of me which one it was... you have any idea? also, where can i get my hands on one to buy?

oh yeah, they sound phenomenal on bass too!

My sleeper contribution: The Audix 35102 mic pre-EQ module. Built in the 1970s for the BBC, the EQs are gorgeous.

A lot of you guys are really gonna hate & disbelieve this totally uncool sleeper-tip:

Behringer single ended noise reduction.
The people over at George Lucas´ Industrial Light & Magic can afford (and have) any gizmo in the biz such as NoNoise, Cedar etc. You know what they use most often? The Behringer!

I don´t have it myself, but will try when I find one.

Disclaimer: This is NOT information that I got from Behringer. I read it in an article that Behringer has never referenced to AFAIK.

/Mats

Originally posted by The Establishment:

Also the CLM pre-amps are a steal. We recently tested them next to various channel strips (Amek/Focusrite) and they won hands-down.

OK, here's a question- what did you think of the build quality? For $759, it seems kinda like a no-brainer, but a friend of mine bought the 4 channel pre a while ago, and ended up sending it back because it just wasn't put together all that well- knobs and buttons light and not centered, all the meters different heights off the faceplate, stuff like that. Normal, you think? It'd be pretty cool to have it as MS encode/decode tool as well...

Originally posted by Jon Best:
OK, here's a question- what did you think of the build quality? For $759, it seems kinda like a no-brainer, but a friend of mine bought the 4 channel pre a while ago, and ended up sending it back because it just wasn't put together all that well- knobs and buttons light and not centered, all the meters different heights off the faceplate, stuff like that. Normal, you think? It'd be pretty cool to have it as MS encode/decode tool as well...

We had absolutely no problems with ours. It was set-up just fine. Maybe because our dealer is also the main uk distributer (Serious Audio) and they deliver/install/check all of our gear for us FOC. Having said that, its the sound that counts so I probably wouldn't be that bothered if the meters were a bit wonky. The limiters alone are worth the money.

-Peter

EV RE15s and 16s: listed for 365.00 in the late 70s (not that *that* matters...), but are great sounding sleepers at the pawn shop, and usually work just fine...

The Roland SP202 sampler: great, cheap, simple units for many applications, but especially useful for getting that Tchadish low-fi drum sound...

Symetrix SX202 mic-pres: 150 bucks used for 2 channels of useful mic-pre...

Berlant tape-recorder elctronics: Give-away units that, when tweaked, are nice, tubey mic pres that rival the Ampex 350s. And they look mah-velous...

Beyer Soundstars: not the one previously mentioned by Harvey, but the ones that look like a 421 to the point of copyright infringement. (I don't know which one came first). They smoke a 421, IMHO, and can be had for under 100.00...

Any of those small minuet organs that fill with air. Sound *huge* on tape, all for 10 bucks or so...

Beyer M422: I just bought one new for 60 bucks, and it's now my snare mic of choice...

Can anyone comment on the solid state German stuff that followed the V-series tube modules? Several of the German manufacturers (Telefunken, TAB, Siemens, Mahaik, etc.) made solid state preamp, EQ and compressor modules that are now being shipped over here by the boatload as "inexpensive" alternates to the V-series or more famous solid state modules (Neve, API). Depending on which specific module you are talking about, they can be had for as low as $50 to up around $250 each. If they sound good, that seems like a helluva bargain. But if they sound like ass, $5 would be too much. Anyone worked extensively with these things?

this piece my cousin chris athens [sterling sound, NYC...mastering engineer stupendo, and not just cause he's family :)] turned me on to:

SANS AMP PSA-1. get 2, run everythign through them. you have to hand match them, cause tey don't link, but this lil guitar amp simulator rocks my world. killer on kick drum, if you set it up right, the low end can get all over driven and almost synth-y [but use a gate /w this one, if you just want to treat kick]. need an agressive vocal sound? run a doubled vocal through this, then ooch it up in the mix to taste.

and duh, reamping guitars.

also: i just picked a lexicon signature 284 3 watt class A tube amp. stereo. you can reamp through it too. this is a GREAT guitar amp, but whenever possible use actual speakers and not the DI's with it...just sounds better.

--owen

dbx 242 parametric eq

Another to add to the list:
Studio Projects C1 and T3 mics. The C1 is a large diaphram condenser for around $200 and is quickly becoming the deal of the century (kind of the RNC of mics). It doesn't quite have the clarity in the high end of a Lawson, or some other $2k+ mics, but is warm, smooth and sits beautifully in a mix on vocals, and also sounds great on acoustic guitar. Another owner says it sounds great on strings too.

The T3 is a tube (valve) mic and supposedly sounds amazing for around $800.

I know many people balk at Chinese mics, but these are the real deal - real mics designed in the US, made in China by people who seem to really know what they are doing (based on they way they sound - I was skeptical that a mic could sound that good for only $200, but it just goes to show the markup in the mic industry). Both are about as solidly built as you will find.

Harvey--thanks for mentioning the Sank mod. I had heard of it a long time ago but had assumed it was much more expensive. Sounds like a great deal.

What do you like your modded M260 on? I'm guessing it would be great for solo horns and woodwinds. Anything else?

Thanks,
Brian

Peavey VCL2 compressor. It's an El op model. Two channels, like 8 tubes,very good transformers, and and Electro lumitive panel. Not much different than the Manley el op or LA2a in design. Sounds amazing. Even if I don't use the compressor for something I end up just running the signal through it to warm it up. I got Mine for around $900. no solid state in the path. Even better sound and warmer than their VMP-2 preamp which could also make this list. $900 isn't cheap but in combination with the RNC makes a nice pair of comps limiters that run the gamet. Better than the comp on my Avalon 737.

The Sonys are a bargain but weren't advertised much. Most of the dealers who could get them were also Lexicon dealers. Harman requires that dealers buy a LOT of Lexicon if they want to handle it at all so most dealers aren't keen on selling anything else because they can't afford NOT to carry Lexicon.

This kind of manufacturer tactic makes it hard to try out a lot of great sleeper gear.

Realistic PZM mics. They were selling them for $55 a few years ago. Mount one on a large piece of plexiglass and you have a great 'room' mic.

Ok, here's one. The UREI LA-22, a killer compressor that sells on ebay for about $650

CAD equitek e-350 microphone, the upgraded version of the e-300. we have one of the first e-300's in our studio, and got it upgraded - this thing sounds awesome, great vocal mic, great on acoustics. it has a great vocalist "play" range, where the tone retains it's very usable musicality as the vocalist moves towards and away from the mic. i compared the e-300 to mics costing 3x as much, and this one just sounded the best to me.

Originally posted by David R.:
Realistic PZM mics. They were selling them for $55 a few years ago. Mount one on a large piece of plexiglass and you have a great 'room' mic.

That's not a sleeper, that's famous : )

Sleepier Radio Shack: their telephone pickup, essentially a contact pickup on a suction cup with a mini plug on the other end. Just "thhhwwock" it onto anything; amp, snare, horn, piano. I bring it into a Baggs para acoustic (a sleeper in itself for $130) and sneak it a little of it in.

Originally posted by Charles Di Pinto:
For the life of me, I cannot understand how the whole "pro" sony effects line didn't pick up. The R7 is nice too. The reverbs on both of these are top top notch. Of course, you may just hate them, but I've preferred them over 480s on occasion.

I like the SONY DPS-V55M also alot.

Here's one:

Look out for a Roland GR50 guitar synth second hand. Stick it on any old guitar and route the synth output (at a low level) through a distorted guitar amp. It's a pain to play but some of those distorted synth pads low in the mix can work wonders. To me, using a MIDI keyboard isn't the same - you really have to struggle with this bastard to get clean notes and the results of this struggle can be well worth the effort.

How about some of the Mcurdy or Ward Beck pre's chopped out of these old consoles?

I'd go the Sony R7 too....although I have always found it to be a pain in the ass if you want to dive in and do some serious editing of parameters.
At least some of the presets are pretty useable as is.

Gil Eva Craig