Top 20 Studio Gear Hits of the Noughties
Top 20 Gear Hits of the Noughties
MixBlog 12/3/09 10:55 AM Kevin Becka TechTicker
The years between 2000 and 2009 saw a mind boggling expansion of audio technology. Releases included impressive new gear and upgrades of existing products for recording, processing, editing and mixing audio. Here are my top 20 picks with links to reviews and videos. Feel free to write in your own picks in the comments section and add to the list.
Pro Tools HD – Digidesign’s 2002 hardware upgrade brought high resolution audio to the industry’s top DAW
Neumann Solution-D Digital Microphones – Neumann’s legacy of quality was advanced with the release of these amazing sounding transducers with onboard converters
Apple Logic Pro – After the purchase of Emagic, Apple puts its stamp on this popular music production tool making it a contender for top affordable native DAW
Celemony Melodyne – Auto Tune was first in the 90s, but Melodyne brought a fresh new way to correct pitch in the noughties
Blue Bottle Microphone – This retro mic set the quality and design standard for Blue which later released the innovative Mouse, Dragonfly and Blue Ball.
Focal CMS 65 monitors – Focal’s affordable CMS line benefits from the technology used in the company’s audiophile speakers which can go for well over $100k a pair
SSL Duality – SSL got a new owner and steered through troubled waters with this large format console at the helm
JBL LSR6328P monitors – Once the studio monitoring champ, JBL made a solid bid for the title again with these great sounding speakers
Digico SD7 – Used recently on tour with U2, the SD7 debuted in 2007 with state-of-the-art FPGA technology making it a top contender for live sound applications
Royer SF24 – Royer provided an easy way to record with ribbon mics in stereo without having the gain and impedance issues of a passive ribbon
Genelec 8050A Series Monitors – Genelec replaced their 1029/30/31As with the 80 series, improving on the pioneering brand that set the pace for self-powered monitors
Roland V-Mixer – RSS was an unlikely entrant into the live sound market when they launced their forward looking, affordable and feature packed small format console with a digital snake
Plugins – Many companies defined this category in the noughties including Waves, Sonnox, Focusrite, McDSP, Bomb Factory, TL Audio, SoundToys, PSP, URS, IK Multimedia, brainworx, Universal Audio, iZotope and more
Digidesign VENUE and ICON – Digidesign went from 0 to 60 in record time with their live sound and studio consoles
Converters – Companies that brought their best to the noughties include: Mytek, Lynx, Prism, Apogee, Weiss, db Technologies (now Lavry Engineering), Benchmark, Millennia Media, dCS and DAD
Radial Workhorse 5000 – Radial’s penchant for building sturdy, versatile and affordable products was carried on with this innovative take on the simple 500-series rack
ADAM A5 Monitors – In the quality vs. price race ($800 a pair), no one came closer to winning the “bang-for-the-buck” trophy
DPA 3532-T Mic Kit – DPA dominated the high-voltage mic niche with this all-in-one toolkit
Upstate Audio Sonic Lens Preamp – This preamp set the bar high for the competition with its pristine, audiophile signal path between mic and recorder.
Fairlight Xynergi – Fairlight’s slick video-keyed controller for their Crystal Core engine offered fantastic value, user experience and the best feature set in its price range
Top 20 Gear Hits of the Noughties
MixBlog 12/3/09 10:55 AM Kevin Becka TechTicker
The years between 2000 and 2009 saw a mind boggling expansion of audio technology. Releases included impressive new gear and upgrades of existing products for recording, processing, editing and mixing audio. Here are my top 20 picks with links to reviews and videos. Feel free to write in your own picks in the comments section and add to the list.
Pro Tools HD – Digidesign’s 2002 hardware upgrade brought high resolution audio to the industry’s top DAW
Neumann Solution-D Digital Microphones – Neumann’s legacy of quality was advanced with the release of these amazing sounding transducers with onboard converters
Apple Logic Pro – After the purchase of Emagic, Apple puts its stamp on this popular music production tool making it a contender for top affordable native DAW
Celemony Melodyne – Auto Tune was first in the 90s, but Melodyne brought a fresh new way to correct pitch in the noughties
Blue Bottle Microphone – This retro mic set the quality and design standard for Blue which later released the innovative Mouse, Dragonfly and Blue Ball.
Focal CMS 65 monitors – Focal’s affordable CMS line benefits from the technology used in the company’s audiophile speakers which can go for well over $100k a pair
SSL Duality – SSL got a new owner and steered through troubled waters with this large format console at the helm
JBL LSR6328P monitors – Once the studio monitoring champ, JBL made a solid bid for the title again with these great sounding speakers
Digico SD7 – Used recently on tour with U2, the SD7 debuted in 2007 with state-of-the-art FPGA technology making it a top contender for live sound applications
Royer SF24 – Royer provided an easy way to record with ribbon mics in stereo without having the gain and impedance issues of a passive ribbon
Genelec 8050A Series Monitors – Genelec replaced their 1029/30/31As with the 80 series, improving on the pioneering brand that set the pace for self-powered monitors
Roland V-Mixer – RSS was an unlikely entrant into the live sound market when they launced their forward looking, affordable and feature packed small format console with a digital snake
Plugins – Many companies defined this category in the noughties including Waves, Sonnox, Focusrite, McDSP, Bomb Factory, TL Audio, SoundToys, PSP, URS, IK Multimedia, brainworx, Universal Audio, iZotope and more
Digidesign VENUE and ICON – Digidesign went from 0 to 60 in record time with their live sound and studio consoles
Converters – Companies that brought their best to the noughties include: Mytek, Lynx, Prism, Apogee, Weiss, db Technologies (now Lavry Engineering), Benchmark, Millennia Media, dCS and DAD
Radial Workhorse 5000 – Radial’s penchant for building sturdy, versatile and affordable products was carried on with this innovative take on the simple 500-series rack
ADAM A5 Monitors – In the quality vs. price race ($800 a pair), no one came closer to winning the “bang-for-the-buck” trophy
DPA 3532-T Mic Kit – DPA dominated the high-voltage mic niche with this all-in-one toolkit
Upstate Audio Sonic Lens Preamp – This preamp set the bar high for the competition with its pristine, audiophile signal path between mic and recorder.
Fairlight Xynergi – Fairlight’s slick video-keyed controller for their Crystal Core engine offered fantastic value, user experience and the best feature set in its price range
This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 8:36 pm. It is filed under Music Production and tagged with Audio engineering, audio technology, Loudspeakers, music production tool, pro tools, Sound technology, Studio monitor, Technology/Internet.
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