freezeetch's Reviews
151 reviews Back to freezeetch's Equipboard
1536
Slightly buggy, but excellent sound quality/conversion.
This is an amazing little interface, and I got it for a killer price used. It has crashed on me a few times, but the sound quality/conversion is outstanding, and I really like it's portability.
1536
Nice monitor!
I like ASUS stuff. Wish I could afford a 29" or 32", but unfortunately going over 27" with monitors makes the price jump substantially.
1536
Mid-range goodness!
A lot of earbuds (and headphones in general) try to place emphasis on bass response and often neglect the mid-range. I was looking for earbuds that really brought out the mid-range without sacrificing bass or high frequencies, and at an affordable price point. These hit the nail on the head in that regard. They do tend to slip out of my ears though, which is frustrating because they sound pretty great for the price! =\
1536
Mind-blowing reverb
Neunaber had something special in their hands when they released the Stereo Wet. They totally outdid themselves when the Immerse dropped. Rather than having to load all their reverbs one at a time as with the Wet, they threw all of their reverbs into one pedal (wet, hall, spring, plate, etc.), with extensive modulation and tone-shaping controls. Best reverb I have ever owned, and I owned both a Stereo Wet AND a Strymon BlueSky prior to this! My only complaint is that there is no blend knob, but the work-around I devised is to flip on the "kill dry" switch and use a splitter cable out of the original sound source (guitar, synth, etc.) and plug the two signals into a mixer and blend it that way. A little cumbersome, but it works!
41037
please tell me you are using a good quality DI box for at least your dry guitar signal...
1536
jimmarchi1 - Using a Tech 21 Para Driver DI for both bass, guitar and synth (not enough room in my studio for an amp). And my audio interface is a Focusrite Forte, which is very good!
41037
whew, a DI... I was like "holy impedance issues" when you said you were using a line mixer
1536
The exact way I have it set up right now is: Guitar/bass/synth -> volume pedal -> D.I. -> gain/distortion effects -> noise gate. Then the signal splits, with one output going to the mixer, and the other going into modulation/time effects before it hits the mixer. Then I go out of the mixer using balanced cables into the Focusrite interface. I am self-taught with this stuff, but from what I understand I have it set up correctly. Do you think there would be any reason to bump the D.I. up in the signal chain?
41037
the DI should technically be the LAST thing before the low Z mixer input for optimal impedance matching (the vast majority of guitar pedals already present anything plugged into them with a HUGE 1megohm load, but only some wills end a sufficiently low impedance and high voltage signal to ideally drive a line level input)... it literally serves no purpose between a volume pedal and dirt box. I can explain later if you are interested..
41037
I just read what I said and I gotta clarify and amend....
If it sounds good do it, just to be clear about that. Its RULE 1`of music and electronics takes a bak seat to music in my book, even if you are blowing up a vintage supro amp worth over a grand.
But yeah, from an electronics standpoint shits all fucked up in your signal chain... your DI is just acting as a line-driver where it is and the dirt box following it is getting a much lower impedance and more voltage peak to peakthan it was probably designed to get, additionally the transformer in the DI is balancing your unbalanced signal only for the dirt box to un-balance it again... and from there things get weirder viz-a-viz the impedances all of this different gear is designed to present and see to and from other gear. Little of it is working as intended and probably doesn't sound the way it was designed to in your application. But don't let that stop you. If it sounds good in your music to you, then its right. Or does the Tech21 have a 1/4" jacka s well as XLR? if so and you are using the 1/4" and not the the XLR then you are just using it as a dirt box, bypassing the passive DI section withits balancing transformer and the only thing you need to worry about is a DI at the mixer input (definitely for dry guitar, maybe for reverb, get your manuals for the reverb and the mixer and check the impedance out of the reverb and into the mixer. the reverb's out should be well lower than the 1/4" line input of your mixer channels.....)
I probably woulda set this up with all my effects up to the splitter like I am running into an amp, then I would reverb one side and DI each side, a stereo unit would work well
honestly the mixer adds a lot of unnescasarry circuitry when you could build a simple blend control into an altoids box with a handful of jacks and a potentiometer
I keep adding to this response, god, you probably want to get a book about studio electronics and an electronics for guitarists book and read both of them twice...
1536
I mainly got the D.I. as an amp simulator. I have been vaguely aware that electronically the arrangement doesn't make tons of sense, but the sound I get is still very good so it hasn't really been an issue. I may make some changes along the lines of what you just described.
Appreciate your thoughts, btw! =)
41037
sure... like I said, there's no right or wrong way with guitar sounds, but you may wish to configure your effects and DIs in a way that allows everything to work as designed just to hear the difference
1536
Legendary reverbs and effects, interface notwithstanding
Some people say the Lexicon plug-ins are not as good as the original 80s hardware, but hell if I could tell the difference, or if it even matters at all. This suite of plug-ins sounds amazing, is super versatile and lends a professional quality to your sound. I was mainly interested in the reverbs, but there are some really unique effects included too, like the resonators and stuff like that. VERY useful! Loses a star because I am not a huge fan of the interface.
1536
It'll do for now
Mine is the black version, not the white version. It's inexpensive, does not get in the way, long battery life, works. Sometimes I wonder whether my guitar is just hard to tune or this thing is slightly inaccurate. My gut says my guitar just sucks a little, lol. Maybe I'll shell out more cash for a better tuner someday when I can actually justify the cost, but I would sooner fix or replace my guitar than do that...
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1536
Fancy!
Got this as an accessory for my Moog Sub 37. Does the job nicely! Feels solid, looks handsome... no complaints.
1536
Moog ladder filter in a box
I don't use this in my guitar rig, but I have it around as a stand-alone filter. It's a little limited in that regard (it's just a single low-pass filter, and resonance is an on-off switch instead of a knob), but if you just want to plug a drum machine into it and do some filter sweeps and add some grit it's not a bad option by any means, especially for the price (and it's a classic Moog ladder filter, dammit!). Kinda wish it had stereo ins/outs, but not a huge deal.
1536
Thought about that, though it would be kind of annoying to have separate filter controls for each channel. Makes filter sweeping a bit fiddly, especially if I need one hand on the pedal and one hand on the drum machine or whatever is plugged into it. Would need three hands if I had a second pedal...
1536
Amazing comfort and sound on closed-back headphones
I was looking for a good all-around studio/mixing/casual listening headphone set without breaking the bank, and initially I was angling for the Audio Technica ATH-M50X or the Sennheiser HD-380, both which sound excellent, but after trying them on I noticed they clamped on pretty hard and I could tell that they would cause ear fatigue, which drives me crazy. These solve that problem and are possibly the most comfortable set I have ever owned (maybe tied with the KRK KNS 8400), and they sound just as good as the aforementioned sets, if not better. A little pricey, but arguably the best you can do without venturing into way more expensive open-back headphone territory. Note that they CAN be driven by a mobile device, though to be enjoyed to their fullest capacity a headphone amp is highly recommended. One weird thing: The pair I have are the 80 ohm model, though they say "DT 770 Studio 80 ohm" on the cans themselves rather than "DT 770 Pro 80 ohm". I cannot find the "studio" version on the Beyerdynamic website, so I am assuming it is just a re-branding.
1536
Decent for the price
Don't expect to be blown away by these, but they are loud, comfortable, lightweight, and have solid bass response. I use them mainly for gaming and I just leave them on my nightstand by my bed for casual use, but they are nice to have around for reference as well. They are $50 brand new, which isn't bad, but you can frequently find them for a lot less (got mine for $20 on sale!), so it's hard to go wrong. They definitely leak sound though, so I cannot recommend them for studio monitoring applications.
1536
Utterly amazing acoustic and electric bass emulation.
When it comes to real physical instruments, nothing will ever sound better than the real thing. But if you are looking for a pretty mind-blowing emulation of acoustic and electric basses, look no further. The subtlety and nuance Spectrasonics have managed to capture with this is jaw-dropping. There are some classic synth patches on here too, but bear in mind they are sample-based and not from a synth engine (like Omnisphere). They still sound pretty excellent though. You can also load Trilian patches in Omnisphere 2, so when you pair the two together you have a really versatile and professional-sounding set-up. Spectrasonics are the best!
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1536
Best Ableton controller, period.
Had a Push 1 for a second, but then the Push 2 came out and improved upon it in all the right ways, and I got a killer deal on the upgrade. The screen has been vastly improved, the device is much easier to navigate, and isn't a dust-magnet like the original. Easily the best Ableton controller out there (which isn't surprising, considering this was designed by Ableton in-house). Very pleased!
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1536
Voyager killer
This is a truly amazing analog synth. This is my first Moog, and while I wasn't really drooling over the previous Phattys and couldn't afford the Voyager or anything above that, I definitely got excited when this came out as it seemed to have tons of functionality and was priced reasonably. When the Mother-32 came out I nearly picked one of those up, but then the opportunity presented itself for me to get a great deal on a Sub 37 which I just couldn't pass up. Really happy I went for it, as I think this will last me a very long time. Amazing high quality sound and some seriously advanced routing options, especially when you expand it with the Sub editor software (very recommended!!!). In duo/paraphonic mode you can get some really interesting sounds and happy accidents. Plug this thing into a nice reverb or delay unit, and you will be in heaven. Also, it looks really sexy! My only complaint is the limited CV connectivity, but there are at least a few options there. The only reason to get a Voyager over this would be the additional oscillator it has, but honestly the extensive routing options on the Sub make it eclipse the Voyager in my mind (and I know I am not alone in this thinking!). Could not be happier with this thing.
1536
Perfect stand
This is easily the best keyboard stand I have ever owned. The biggest problem I encounter with most keyboard stands is that they almost never leave any room for your legs or for a pedal board or something underneath. This stand solves that problem with class. Looks amazing and distinctive, rock solid construction (no wobbling or keyboards sliding around AT ALL), folds up cleverly, even includes little velcro ties to keep your cables from getting messy. A little pricey, but worth every cent, and you can add all kinds of attachments to tailor it to your needs (I just have the 2nd tier "stacker", but you can also get a music stand, laptop holder, mic stand, etc.)
1536
Best reverb!!!
I had a Strymon BlueSky, and this made me sell it. More natural sounding, simpler, wide tone range. Amazing!!!
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1536
Amazing tone machine
It does subtle analog saturated warmth and drive, but also wild and crazy stereo flange/chorus/delay effects. And it's Strymon, so very high quality!
1536
Great DI for guitar, bass, synth, drum machines, etc.
Great amp-less studio recording solution for guitar, bass, synth, drum machines, etc, with EQ, drive, etc.
1536
Best reverb!!
Simple, wide range of tones, absolutely stunning reverb. I had a Strymon BlueSky, and this beats it. More natural, less digital. Beautiful.
1536
Awesome wavetable synth
I tend to prefer the Spectrasonics and Arturia stuff, but this is a pretty awesome and easy to use wavetable synth.
