The Magazine

This modeling guitar has the heart of a real Strat and the digital brain of twenty other instruments.


Home studios are appearing everywhere thanks to the great recording gear we have available today. And among the recording musicians reading Recording, the guitar is the most popular instrument to record. Put those two items together and add in my own fanaticism over guitars and guitar tone, and it’s great for me to share with you my enthusiasm when discovering a new and very useful guitar recording product.

Roland has been pursuing the unique madness of electronic guitars, whether controlling synthesizers or using modeling to create hitherto impossible tones, since the original GR-500 in 1977. Since 2007, in collaboration with Fender, Roland has focused its efforts on the integration of advanced digital technology with the time-proven quality of the legendary Stratocaster design. And now we have the G-5, an authentic Fender Stratocaster guitar infused with Roland’s COSM modeling technology. What does that mean? A guitar that plays like a Strat but can sound like many other instruments, or instantly change to an alternate tuning, just by clicking a knob or two!...

Read more in the July 2014 issue of RECORDING!

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World-class conversion is backed up by impeccable preamps in this exceptional audio interface.


Prism Sound is a UK-based company building digital audio converters that stand toe to toe with the best of the best. A few years ago Prism Sound released the 8-channel, FireWire-based Orpheus converter, complete with four channels of built-in high-quality microphone preamps.

Last year, Prism Sound responded to the fading of FireWire from the audio computer scene by reimagining the Orpheus as a USB 2.0 device. New features were also added, such as -18 dB pads on the preamp channels and a Multichannel Digital I/O (MDIO) expansion slot for direct Pro Tools connectivity. The resulting interface, the Titan, has been living in my studio for several months now, and what an experience it’s been!...

Read more in the July 2014 issue of RECORDING!

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A bright-red chunk of recording history in your 500 Series rack.


This year Focusrite turns 25. With a product line ranging from computer interfaces to digital converters, audio networking, processor modeling, plug-ins and recording channels, it’s easy to forget that this pioneering British firm started life way back when as a console company!
Once upon a time Sir George Martin (yes, that George Martin) commissioned Rupert Neve (yes, that Rupert Neve) to design and build a series of expansion modules for one of his Neve consoles at his Montserrat-based AIR studios.
That original mic preamp and EQ design, dubbed the ISA 110 (short for Input Signal Amplifier), eventually grew into a full-blown console known as the Forte. Only two were built before Mr. Neve sold the company to Phil Dudderidge, formerly of Soundcraft, in 1989. And thus Focusrite Engineering Ltd was born...

Simultaneous to the the Studio Console, Focusrite continued to manufacture modular versions of the ISA components, and by 1993 the popular and longstanding Red Range was launched. Keep in mind, in 1993 you couldn’t run down to your local music store and have a choice of 50 different flavors of preamps, EQs and channel strips! The Red Range offered some of the first standalone mic preamps, compressors and EQs on the market in a standard 19" rack format.
The Red Range used the same circuitry found in the ISA modules and had one of the most distinct looks and designs to ever grace the audio world. Each unit was built with a vibrant red milled aluminum front panel with bright glowing VU meters and large white circular scribble strips.
Over the years the line would include 2-, 4-, and 8-channel mic preamp configurations, EQ and channel strip variations, and a very special compressor known as the Red 3 that is coveted and hoarded by recording and mastering engineers to this day. Sadly, like the Forte and Studio Console before it, eventually the Red Range ceased production.
The big news of this review is the Red Range lives again, now in the API 500 Series modular format...

Read more in the July 2014 issue of RECORDING!

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Loud and proud, this desktop audio system marries satellite speakers with a remote-controllable sub.


Cerwin-Vega! calls itself "The LOUD Speaker Company." For years, C-V bass bins have been pumping up audiences in venues all over the world. The firm is now part of the Gibson Pro Audio family, and with the XD Series it has expanded into the realm of "serious desktop audio" -- affordable desktop-system speakers that are intended to provide usable sound for music production.

In April 2012, we got our first taste of the XD sound when we reviewed the tiny but mighty XD3 speakers. In this review, we follow up with the larger XD5 speakers and the XD8s powered sub, which integrate into a very effective satellite/sub listening environment...

Read more in the July 2014 issue of RECORDING!

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It's affordable, wireless, easy to set up, easy to use, and opens a world of new sounds to the recording guitarist.


Guitar synthesizers have been around for a long time. From the ARP Avatar to the Synthaxe, the Yamaha GC10 to the Stepp DG-1, and from the original GR-500 to a whole family of successful Roland MIDI guitar products, there's been a never-ending quest for a way to let guitarists control electronic sounds without having to learn to play keyboards.

Fishman, well-known for pickups, acoustic guitar preamp systems, and more, has leaped into the fray with a guitar pickup system called the TriplePlay. It combines a guitar-mounted hexaphonic pickup (one pickup per string so each string's vibrations can be read separately, letting the guitarist play chords), a wireless communication system that attaches to the guitar and to any computer, and dedicated software to make the system transparent and easy to use. It doesn't require a special guitar, installs on many guitars without any need for alteration, works with any software, and is stunningly affordable... well worth a hard look, don’t you think?...

Read more in the July 2014 issue of RECORDING!

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These processors combine transient control and musical EQ in rack or 500 Series format.


elysia is a German company known for some of the highest quality, zero compromise and most expensive audio devices on the market. Their original hardware alpha Compressor sold for $10,500, the museq equalizer is $5300, and the mpressor compressor is $4600. These are some of the most boutique of the boutique!

Those of us with more modest budgets who still crave the elysia experience have two options. Option one: Plug-ins! Many of the company's big beasts are available in plug-in form thanks to the folks at the Plug-In Alliance. I had the pleasure of looking at the plug-in version of the alpha Compressor back in our May 2011 issue, and hope to look at more of them in upcoming editions of our Plug-In Outlet column.

Option Two: elysia have a new line of significantly more affordable hardware devices available in both single-space 19" rack mount and 500 Series variations. There are currently three devices in this line up: the xpressor compressor, xfilter EQ, and nvelope impulse shaper. Today we will be looking the 19" versions of the nvelope and xfilter....

Read more in the July 2014 issue of RECORDING!

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Apogee JAM 96k; Fender SLIDE; AirTurn BT-105 Bluetooth Footswitch Controller; Hotone Skyline Series Guitar Effects; Maxon Fuzz Elements Pedals.


Apogee, maker of high-end A/D and D/A converters and comprehensive, world-class interface solutions like the Symphony I/O (reviewed October 2013), has leveraged its expertise into smaller and more affordable interface products. The smallest and simplest are Apogee's entry-level input devices for iOS and Mac: the MiC microphone and JAM guitar input, both of which have recently been re-introduced in 24/96 capable forms.

I reviewed the MiC 96k in May 2014, and now it's time for a quick look at the new JAM 96k. And I do mean quick; this will be one of the shortest reviews I'll ever write, because I'm dealing with a box that does only one thing and does it really well....

Read more in the July 2014 issue of RECORDING!

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Seven guitarists compare the real amplifier to the plug-in, and the results may surprise you.


The new plug-in under review here is a 3-way collaborative effort. The GAV19T is a boutique guitar amplifier created by Chandler Limited, which has been modeled by the folks at Brainworx (brainworx-music.de), exclusively for use with Universal Audio’s UAD-2 and Apollo platforms. Previous UA/Brainworx collaborations include the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor (reviewed March 2013) and the Millennia Media NSEQ-2 (November 2013) to name a few.

Based in Shell Rock, IA, Chandler Limited is best known for high-end microphone preamps, equalizers, and compressors. There's the Neve-inspired LTD series, the vintage-flavored Germanium line, the Little Devil 500 Series... and Chandler is the only company on the planet fully licensed to build spot-on recreations of vintage EMI (Abbey Road) gear in all its forms.

In addition to being a vintage gear nut, Chandler's chief designer and owner Wade Goeke is also a guitar nut. A few years back he introduced a series of guitar pedals to his line that were directly inspired by his studio hardware. These were the Germanium Driver and Little Devil Colored Boost pedals, reviewed in July 2012, and the GAV19T guitar amp soon followed....

Read more in the July 2014 issue of RECORDING!

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