Universal Audio 1176LN Leveling Amplifier

In a recent mixing session I had a vocal track recorded through a Shure green bullet mic live. Inherently, the mic had a great over-driven sound but also picked up a lot of ambient drums and guitar. I used UA's 1176LN to compress the track. I used a 12:1 ratio and right away could hear the vocals more in the foreground of the track and substantially decreased the ambient noise. Just what I wanted. The compression was very smooth and didn't really suck the tone out. I highly recommend this unit for bringing up weak or over-driven signals to tape or in the mix.

reviewed by Matt Puryear.

Unit available for Rent or Sale at Rock n Roll Rentals

VOX Night Train

The Vox Night Train is a 15 watt tube "Microstackish" guitar amp. It has two switchable amp modes which deliver all 15 watts or can be cut to roughly 7 watts. I took this amp to a backyard jam with a few buddies. It simply rocks. It has a light but solid construction (Easy to carry via included head tote). Pretty bare bones, no reverb, single channel. Its kind of a screamer and on the pentode(15watt) setting, it had no problem keeping with a neighboring 80watt traynor. Quick attack. A lot of presence and very guttural. It had a very classic but unique tone. The gain and master controls are quite responsive giving you the ability to shape the drive as needed. I used the triode (7watt) setting when I was recording a tune. In this mode the tube power is "relaxed" but lets you crank the amp while maintaining clarity. Perfect for indoor low volume settings. The Night Train has a lot to offer aside from just its portability. Its truly a great jam amp very capable of achieving recording quality sounds. Rent one. Now.
Reviewed by Rene

MA-101fet Condenser Mics

The MA-101Fet from Mojave Audio is a small diaphragm, solid state condenser mic that comes with interchangeable omni and dynamic capsules. They were designed by David Royer, renowned for his Royer Ribbon mics.  I got to try out a pair of these one weekend to road test them. Now I have only a modest set up consisting of a Tascam 8ch. USB interface, a Dell, and a couple of run of the mill mics. I used the 101's on everything I did as I was writing a song but only with the dynamic capsules (my room is a perfect square). On electric guitar, I set one about three feet back from the grill and off axis from the cone. The mic delivered a smooth response that was very easy on the ears as it is designed for use in high SPL sources. Acoustic was no exception. One on the bridge and one on the octave gave me a nice accurate blend with good color. Surprisingly sweet low end. For kicks I used one for vocals as I was scratching out ideas and I did not want to put it down. It was amazing how smoothly the mic captured my otherwise kinda harsh vocal timbre. Smoked my NT-1 (unfair comparison). I did not get to use them on my drum kit though that would've been an ideal testing ground. That's where you come in, so come rent them. :)
reviewed by Rene

Korg's Kaossilator Pro

The Kaosilator Pro by Korg is the grand daddy to the Mini Kaosillator.  This synth is a good resource for sound effects to fill out a song or make it more interesting.  The Kaossilator is a good option for someone who needs synthesizer sounds but does not necessarily want to lug around a full blown keyboard setup or hire a keyboard player.  Although the Kaossilator Pro does not have as many controls as most synthesizers, it utilizes a touch pad with an x and y axis that is manipulated with with your finger.  The sound generated will depend on your hand's placement within the x and y axis.  The Kaossilator Pro also offers a little of the more popular effects and vocoding that are available in the Kaoss Pad 3, but if you're mainly after effects, I would recommend getting the Kaoss Pad 3, because you will feel dissapointed if you were mainly after vocoding and effects when getting the Kaossilator, the Kaossilator is prodominately a synth.  Besides these functions, the Kaossilator Pro also features a 4 track loop sequencer.  The sequencer is easy to use, and once you know where the buttons are, is so easy that you don't even need to look at the module. There is a tap tempo which can slow down or speed up a synth part once it has been recorded. The Kaossilator Pro is a good place to go to when you've finished a song and need a couple extra sound effects to spice things up, or even as a good starting place for writing a song.

(reviewed by Dylan) 


Available at rock n roll rentals for rental or sale!

Adam A7 studio monitor customer Review

Adrian Benavides was the first to rent our new Adam studio monitors.  Here is what he thought ...

 

"The A7s sound great! I'm using them as a second set next to my JBL LSR 2325Ps and KRK10s sub. They fill in the blanks and compliment the JBLs nicely in my room. Very upfront and great for hearing what low mids and mids are doing since my JBLs seem to scoop these just a bit being 5" speakers. The A7s are a good test for vocal placement and checking if the kick thumps enough without a sub : )"

 

We got blogged! Rental Pros!

Last week, Jason Bliley from DirectProAudio.com stopped in to exchange ideas and see how we do rentals in Austin Texas. He wrote a blog entry on his visit, read it here.

Direct Pro Audio is a nation-wide leader in internet music retail, and after meeting Jason, I can see why. They approach their business in an open-minded and fresh way. If you don't live in Texas, I would recommend buying on line from these guys.

He offered to give us any advice on installs as they are well established in that field as well. We wish their rental division, Omaha Audio Rentals, the best of luck in expanding their rental program.

Rock n Roll Rentals started our rental program modeled after the great Jack Long's rental program used at the Long & McQuade music stores in Canada. The basic idea is to make it so affordable that it makes sense to rent it, especially on monthly rentals. We use Yorkville equipment (Jack Long's company) as the backbone of our rental inventory. Their 2 year "even if you break it" warranty is the best in the business. They also manufacture great instrument amps (keyboard, guitar and bass) under the name Traynor amps (named after Pete Traynor who designed amps for Jack.) In Rock n Roll Rentals' formative years, Yorkville provided great support to Jim Norman as he expanded Rock n Roll Rentals in the recession of the early '80's. There are not many other businesses in the USA that rents music or AV equipment as affordable. One notable exception is the Doo Wop Shop in Kentucky, so if you are ever in Kentucky, look them up.

Api 500 series

I brought one of these home a few weeks back. Hearing for years about how great the eq and pre's were, I was exited to hear what everyone was talking about. Part of me wanted to think it was over priced hype. Within minutes, I was trying to imagine how I could buy one. You know, like what could I sell and do I really need a car or a kidney..etc.
Even at full gain the mic pre's were super quiet and sounded great. I'm kind of a compression junkie and I got a great fix. Its the most transparent sounding compressor I've heard. Not at all "effecty" - even at full squish.
Api eq is legendary. Its easy to see why. I found myself reamping older tracks like kick drums and vocals just to get some of that sugar. Really amazing stuff, so musical.
In the end, its so inexpensive to rent that its really ideal for any recording project. Its so portable too. I'm sold. Anybody need a third kidney?
Gary

available for rental @ Rock n Roll Rentals (only in Austin, TX!)