Magic Gear that Sounds Better than it Should

[phelbin]

I'm looking for the cheap pieces of gear that have a certain magic to them. I have a well stocked studio with some great gear, but I find myself reaching for the cheap pieces of crap in certain applications.

I have a $100 Aphex 107 preamp that sounds amazing on acoustic guitar...and nothing else.

For vocals, I use my SM7 instead of the $3k Neumanns on half the projects I do.

I paid $150 for a 160X and use it almost every day.


What cheap gear do you use, and why?

[Brent Hahn]

A Bellari stereo tube DI box. Found it in a box of crap left in the hallway when my neighbor got evicted. It's sorta wooly sounding and lo-fi, and sometimes it's just the thing.

[Ricey]

Yamaha GC2020B stereo compressor. you can find them used for like $70

i use it almost as much as i use my C2!

[lwr]

my sm7 gets used pretty much all the time instead of other more expensive mics.

another vote for dbx 160x

i use a drawmer lx20 all the time on drum room as it does the most amazing pumping compression !

[marchhare]

And another vote for the DBX 160X.

[Blindside]

I'll get shat on for this, but my c3000b sounds really good on my zildjian K/Z hihats. They are super dark and super loud and the c3000b about a foot and a half from the hats near my left elbow does them sweet justice. The overly bright mic brings out some high-end in them and actually makes them sound better than they really do. Other than that maybe with the exception of dark crashes or dark ac. guitars it's hard to find a good use for it.

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by Ricey

Yamaha GC2020B stereo compressor. you can find them used for like $70

i use it almost as much as i use my C2!

Honestly, I've never used one. But everyone I have ever heard talk about it said it was the worst sounding piece of gear they'd ever encountered.


I submit the MXR Dual Limiter. They are found used between $100 to $200 and sound wonderful. Magical i.m.o.

[phelbin]

What would the Yamaha GC2020B be used for?

And what would the MXR Dual Limiter be used for?

In other words, what do those two pieces do well. Kind of like the 160X gives snares the "fish slapped on plywood" sound.

[Whitehouse]

I've got a (Sorry to use the "P" word) Peavey Tube Sweetener here in the rack that is so freaking cool for overdriving room mics for drums! Normally I would never even think of using the "P" word in here but it works great. Only like $100.00 too!

I just make sure it's properly covered when the slutty clients come in! They like the higher dollar names better!thumbsup

later
M

[jgrif08]

my roland s760 sampler , $200 on ebay thumbsup

[1979]

Those circular silver golf ball type mics made by grundig that you always see on ebay. The ones which supposedly used sennhesier 409 capsules- they sound close to pretty close to 409s. All the hype aside I picked up a pair for $50 and they are killer guitar cab mics.

Cheers.

[Ricey]

Originally Posted by Sounds Great

Honestly, I've never used one. But everyone I have ever heard talk about it said it was the worst sounding piece of gear they'd ever encountered.

it's got this 'toy' thing that i really like on drums and percussion. very obvious. the 'B' series have balanced XLR I/O as opposed to the GC2020

[Pohaku]

Originally Posted by Whitehouse

I've got a (Sorry to use the "P" word) Peavey Tube Sweetener here in the rack that is so freaking cool for overdriving room mics for drums! Normally I would never even think of using the "P" word in here but it works great. Only like $100.00 too!

I just make sure it's properly covered when the slutty clients come in! They like the higher dollar names better!thumbsup

later
M

+1 on the Tube Sweetener! Actually, it's an AMR piece like the VMP-2 preamp and the VC/L-2 compressor. I've got all three of them

[numrologst]

160x
aphex 661 is also a killer piece
modded dolby 361