Ramirez

The H9000 is a fairly recent product from Eventide - I think you might be thinking of the classic H3000 rack. But your point still stands - it's not all about processing power. If they sounds good, they sound good - the old Eventides ar a good case in point, as are the high-end digital reverb of their time such as the AMS RMX16. We have an RMX16 at the studio (and an old H3000!) and it sounds absolutely fabulous. To the point where they're able to charge £1000 for a modern version with exactly the same limited processing power in a small 500-series chassis! The UAD plugin version also sound brilliant. Digital processing has so much flexibility that it's hard to objectively quantify the cost sometimes. I think the new Eventide H9 is an interesting one - if you look at it as a guitar pedal, it's extremely expensive (about £1000). On the other hand, if you look at it as two of their wonderful old SP2016s reverb in a box with line-level I/O, it almost becomes cheap (I think a new single SP2016 in a reverb in a rack is around £2k!) - and that's before you consider all the other effects!

Well, I don’t mean that they build a hardware pedal than can host VST plugins. What I meant is they probably port the code over to the hardware platform. I can’t imagine they would create a brand new digital recreation of an LA2A when they already have arguably the best one in existence.

Well, the code would need to be ported over to whatever hardware’s in the pedal. But the hardware in the pedal would have been chosen for this task. But I don’t think they’d code a new emulation from scratch when they already have such a good one! These digital pedals are all computer codes running on a chip, and they’re usually available as plugins too (Helix, Tonex etc) that are cross-compatible. The car engine analogy doesn’t really work. Not saying the Cali76 etc isn’t good! But the UA is probably more accurate to a real 1176. But who cares about accuracy really.

I’m assuming this is essentially the UAD 1176/LA2A plugins in a pedal. Top level mixing engineers have been using those plugins instead of the real hardware for years. I’ll bet they sound closer to the ‘real deal’ than any analog ciruitry anyone could fit into a pedal enclosure…

That sounds like complete nonsense. Recording systems have gain controls precisely in order to make a signal "hot" enough. If there was an issue it should have been addressed at the time. A signal not being "hot enough" is only a problem if there are noise issues, and if bringing the gain up makes the noise problematic. That should a very obvious problem that can be sorted together at that time. In all honesty, I'd avoid him. Doesn't sound like someone who runs a professional service.

Doesn’t the JMJ Mustang come with exactly this? Or are they not strung through the body?

Multi-FX units/modellers - put in a ‘monitor input’ on XLR (preferrably stereo) to receive a mix from front-of-house that we can blend into our earphones or speaker. In these days of IEMs you can’t call it an ‘all-in one solution’ until it can do that! The larger Helix etc can do it, but it should be becoming standard by now, and not by repurposing return inputs.

Yes the ADAT 500 rack (not Eurorack!) is very neat, and almost ticks all the boxes for me. It does have a few drawbacks that has kept me from buying one though (namely, you can’t access the AD and DA stages independently like a ‘normal’ ADAT expander - both stages are tied to the 500 slot by design, and, most surprisingly, ADAT is not available as a source for the headphone amps, which is the killer blow for me) Cranborne are really making awesome stuff though. I am surprised the EC1 hasn’t made more impact in bass DI/IEM land as it’s an almost perfect, very elegant solution, especially for double bassists using a mic. Having received the unit though, it is a bit ‘posh’ for laying down on a stage floor!

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Hello there, This doesn't really fit in the 'Effects' category, but neither does it fit in the 'Amps & Cabs' section, but there we go...! This seems to be flying under the radar a bit for bass players etc seeing as it's being marketed more as a studio mic preamp, but it ticks so many boxes that it could well be the perfect solution for a lot of people, especially if you're using IEMs. www.cranborne-audio.com/camdenec1 https://www.andertons.co.uk/cranborne-audio-camden-ec1-preamp-signal-processor-headphone-amplifier https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/cranborne-audio-camden-ec1 The Cranborne Camden is an exceptional microphone preamp, originally available as a 500-series module (I have four in the studio, they really are wonderful!). It was then made available as the 2-channel rackmount EC2, and more recently as the single channel EC1. I'm expecting delivery of an EC1 this afternoon, because having looked at it, it seems like a great small bass rig. The Camden is in essence a very clean preamp with a DI input, but with variable 'Mojo' circuitry with two different flavours, so it can be a very colourful/characterful DI for bass (the Mojo circuitry really works nicely with bass guitars, and I prefer it to most amps). They've also incorporated a link-through socket like a typical DI box, and there is a very well-specified headphone amp built in for your IEMs, into with which you can feed your bass signal as well as a monitor mix from the desk (mono or stereo) or whatever else you see fit. There are other features that may not be of so much use for a gigging bassist (the CAST connectivity etc). Being a microphone preamp, it should also work very well for double bassists gigging with a DPA microphone or similar. Bear in mind though that it a single-channel unit, so no blend options between pickup/mic etc (the bigger EC2 might be more suited for that) I'm obviously a fan, already being the owner of four of the same preamps in a 500 rack, but the Mojo circuitry can really do something special to a bass - it's probably one of the best sounding and best-specified DI box you can find at any cost. And if you do some recording as well, then you have a world-class mic pre at your disposal too!

M88 is very good, and is a great mic for many applications, -it's one of my favourite all rounders - but it requires care on a gig - it has very strong proximity effect, so some EQ/HPFing at the desk is a must. It's also not ideal for handheld use due to high handling noise. Ond a stand in the studio though, it gives the posh condensers a good run for their money! Ond a budget I've always liked the AKG D5, though I've seen many of them break. Shure KSM8 is very nice.

I was going to come and recommend Orchid, but plenty have beaten me to it! They really are top quality. Radial quality at Behringer prices. I have the Classics and a few Micros. However, it's worth bearing in mind that they don't offer galvanic isolation like a transformed based-DI, so can be more dangerous if something does go wrong.

What I find funny is that the guitar/bass world has adopted the term "FRFR" to described something that was already in existence- an (usually active) PA speaker! It didn't need a new name. Calling it "FRFR" suggests that speaker cabinets with an intentionally restricted frequency response is somehow the norm - it isn't outside the guitar world! If you want to use a car analogy, it's a bit like deciding to refer to cars as a "four wheeled motorized transport vehicle" just because you've used a bike all your life, even though everyone else calls it a car.

Aha! Yes, the one you had for sale is what I was thinking of. +1 on the active speakers. Yamaha DXRs are just great things to have! (I have a pair of 10s)

Totally agree with this. They're not the toughest though - my Polytune broke after while. I replaced it a Unitune which works just as well if you don't need the polyphonic tuning.