shok's Reviews

Compact with Advanced abilities!

Thank you to Novation for gifting this to me.

I would never have bothered with this.

Just a week before lockdown, I came home one night to find a box by my door. This was the LaunchKey Mini which is designed for Ableton. While I tinker in Ableton, I typically work in FL Studio and Reaper when I can toss away Pro Tools and Logic.

I was fine with that controller for my home. At my recording studio, I have a full 88-Key controller which has been a trusty friend for a decade.

In June 2022, Novation came to my studio and along with a few other items, they gave me this.
It allows you to write in real-time, never stopping the sequencer and to move around the DAW flawlessly, never ever touching your computer qwerty keys and even the need to view a monitor screen.

It is quite impressive.

While I generally will not use it this way, it is quite convenient at home and I can see what is happening while I am scoring to picture and or whatnot.

I highly recommend this!!!

Fun for the road and more

My friends at Novation gifted this and a few other gems to me before a June / July 2022 tour. It took some time and a few youtube videos to get me started since there is lots of "shift+press" type functionality but I have found this to be a fun machine.

I flew to Ireland, then over to England and a few train rides between Leeds and London and never had to recharge the battery!

I will be creating sounds for the new libraries for this series of machine. You can sample directly into it or drag sounds from a computer, etc.

The internal sounds are weak to my tastes but once you add your own sounds, you will find a very capable and creativity inspiring groove box which is light weight for ultra portable action!

Great lo-fi pedal!

I picked this up some months ago before working on a record for an artist. I had previously acquired the guitar V-Amp models and the rack for nickels so I knew what to expect.

While I will always use my DI and PREs, this unit has some fine offerings to color your tone. You can come up with some wonderful options which may inspire your writing and or performance and at the end of the day it is all about the sound that travels to the ears for the ultimate experience.

I will not have this in my suitcase when I head to Nashville this autumn but it does have a happy home in my studio in Los Angeles.

Do you like Pink Floyd, Shoegaze or bliss?

If you answered yes, this pedal is for you!

I have a slew of reverbs already but this has a unique flavor!

Decent!

I got this microphone "used" however it seems it was not used even once. The quality is great and the design is unique. The microphone certainly is well suited for a reflection filter.

Solid

This works well. It is solid. I has been a wonderful member of the family and I never worry about issues.

I enjoyed it in the early 90s

It was a fun piece when I used it. These days, it has nothing special for me.

I got this for $69 on eBay! Works well for the price!

I got this on the budget for a documentary soundtrack to increase my sonic pallet. There are some excellent effects here. The EQ can sound a bit low budget but with creativity, you can achieve fantastic sounds!

Even for $200, this would be great with the amount of effects and options and the expression pedal!

Smooove

Just like you want it! (sometimes)

I got this for $60

MY FAVORITE

I have had this pedal for nearly 30 years and it works well with the right sound for me and it handles battery power incredibly well! Mine still looks brand new!

This is a great value for a fine vocal mic plus more.

While I tend to say screw Behringer, there is no doubt this is a great tool.

I have a load of microphones at my arm's reach. The B1 & B2 Pro are both similar to the TLM Neumann sound. This tends to be bright. Depending on placement and the subject you are recording, you will have fantastic results. We recorded some big names on horns with this series and it won when compared with microphones which cost many times more.

You can often scoop up a deal on these used.

My B1 was under $100 brand new and my B2 Pro was $120 "used" though no signs of use and in the original plastic bags within the case.

Great expression & sound!

A few years ago, (maybe 2016/17) I came across this puppy and purchased it for only $125! You can get a wide variety of sounds and the filters are great! The arpeggiation is fun and the bonus is that you get both an effects processor which can effect auxiliary inputs such as guitars, mics, etc. and also a full on audio interface. Mine seems to crash my computers when even attempting that but there has never been a real need. As a synth, this gives you a palate of fantastic sounds for a low price!

A huge impact from a small device!

I got this to solve the chaos or cacophony which arises on my live rig once the DRIVE pedal is engaged. I used to have another gate pedal but had never needed another until the last several shows so I picked up the NS-2 and holy hole in a donut, Batman, this has very minimal coloration on my tone and cuts the noise. It is one of those things you may not wish to acquire but is utilitarian so it is needed.

Life Changing

This keyboard was my first sampler! I was always a drummer and could play some bass and guitar (at the time) but this allowed me to experiment with a slew of sounds, not just being locked into the presets which came with a keyboard. On top of this, I kept finding new floppy disks with pre-recorded sounds and even made a bunch of my own though it was limited and the "sequencer", which was more of a recorder, was limited. It was a very physically heavy machine and would lead me to getting the Ensoniq EPS and then ASR-10.

I got this from a band who had asked me to record them.... They were one of the first bands I recorded who were not my friends and I was paid! They were looking to sell their sampler and I made a deal with them to get paid a bit less if I could simply have the sampler.... and so it began!!! :)

This was the very first affordable sampler as machines like the Fairlight were the cost of a very nice house at the time.... Ok.. History class dismissed!

Great inspiration from a tiny box!

The kind folks at dubreq, gifted this to me to be included on the Mandrill record I was producing. While it never fit the record, it has a fun experience and will wind up on a record one day. Maybe in the Pyrce album. If you are looking for a quirky and fun piece to inspire a line or solo or even maybe a pad or riff, this is a great option! The price tag, I believe, it quite friendly to the wallet and it runs on batteries! Bring it in the car and annoy everyone! For that matter, take it everywhere! :)

WORKS!

I got this guitar years ago for $25. I rarely used it until I worked on an album and it had the perfect sound for the material. I have since grown to love this!

MASSIVENESS

This is an EXTREMELY powerful machine / instrument!!! Recreate the sounds of Blade Runner ala Vangelis's CS80 to the deep growling techno bass of the rave days in the 90s to complex polyrhythms of chaos! This is an analog instrument that has unusual depth due to its wonderfully expansive control via the multitudes of expressive modulation options and voices!

This bass has been with me over three decades!

While not in my "go to" area, this bass provided many years of excellence! Due to the pickups, it could get noisey but overall, it is fantastic!

It works

While not the biggest fan of M-Audio these days... their audio interfaces and controllers last a long time!

Low Price, Big Sound

Whether ethical or not, Behringer recreates some amazing equipment and sometimes, more often these days, they get it right!!!

The Echo Machine is a direct "borrow" of the Line 6 Echo Park which is a regular sized footprint of the DL4 classic. I have the Echo Pro, the rack version however have the pedal ready for the go at any place, anytime, is a bonus... plus I may just dig pedals. If you like experimenting with delays, this could be your next favorite pedal!