Popular Gear So Far 2010

Most Popular Rental Items So Far 2010

PA/Live Sound 

 

Yorkville E10P:  DJs and bands alike love this compact powerhouse.  Amazing lows from a 10" speaker and clear highs.  For bigger gigs add a sub or 2 and you're set.

Yorkville LS2100P: A 21" Sub! w/ 2100 watt power amp.  It will shake the bottles off the shelves.

                          Instruments

Korg SV1:  Great Feel.  Great Sounds. Great Layout.  Sounds and feel on par with the Nord Electro, but its the layout that sets it apart.  You feel like you are in the cockpit as you turn the knobs and hit the buttons.  (And it has a tube.)

Amplifiers

Ampeg BA300/115: Thanks to Jaylinn from the Boxing Lesson for telling us to get these.  We can't keep them in stock.

Motion Sound PRO145:  Thanks Ken Tondre from the Compound for hipping us to this Rotory Speaker with regular 1/4" input.

VOX Night Train:  All tube 15watt head with Triod mode (7.5 watts.)  Couple with the 12" Celestian Greenback and you're set.

 

   Film / ENG / RTF

Zoom H4N: With great stereo mics and an additional 2 XLR ins, this recorder has been the in demand field recorder for video and bands.

TASCAM DR-680:  Tascam is making Pro gear again!  For serious field recording.

Canon7D: DSLR camera that has become popular for its HD video.

                    Recording Gear

Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5012: Everyone who uses this Pre amp with the Silk engaged comes back for more.

Apogee Duet: Apogee conversion in a compact interface.  Perfect for home project studios (if you are using a Mac.)

 

Microphones  

 Peluso 2247LE: It sounds like a vintage U47! w/ NOS Telefunkin tube.  

Shure KSM313: Shure bought Crowley and Tripp for their Roswellite ribbon technology.  High SPL and open ribbon sound.

Portico II vs. The Other Guy

I knew going into it, that having the opportunity to try out the Portico II for my home recording project would leave me regretful I could only use it for a few days, on a few instruments...

I own a far less-expensive Mic Pre at home that I decided to compare the Portico II against while recording bass guitar with similar knob settings on each unit to get an idea of what the difference  in quality would be.  First of all, if you're recording bass guitar, you might find the Portico II to be the ideal choice, because of it's additional EQ and Compressor Settings, which in my opinion sounded amazing direct input or from the mic'd bass amp.  Compared to my own Mic Pre Amp, which did not have these additional features, the initial sounds I got from the Portico II were simply wider and more well-rounded before I even hit the 'Silk' Button, which added a little extra uniqueness to it.  All in all, the Portico II is a great '3-in-1' component that would most like satisfy any home or studio recording set-up on a variety of instruments.  If you can afford to spend the extra money to rent one of these, it'd definitely kick your recording up a few notches.

-Reviewed by Jared Paul Boulanger

F.M.R. A.R.C. ; Articulation, Resonance and Clarity

FMR ARC

This is a great unit for getting clean sustain at high volumes. I used it last night at the Broken Spoke here in Austin TX. The rig is a 69' Telecaster through an early 70's Vibrolux. The fidelity was great for a live show. Don't know how it would be for recording but FMR makes great studio gear already, the R.N.C and R.N.P to name a few. The A.R.C. is FMR's first foray into the world of stomp boxes and it rules. You can get the sustain without the crunching that happens with other stomp box compressors. Easy to adjust on the fly because of the big knobs. This is really cool if you're playing through a loud, powerful amp in a small venue. Great stuff. 

-Reviewed by Gary Newcomb
after playing at the Spoke w/ Dickie Lee Erwin 07/13/2010

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!