Category: Gear Talk

Welcome back everyone! After a couple crazy weeks I’m finally back into a rhythm of writing. In late July my third son was born and I decided to just take a break, do that survey (link here if you missed it), and just enjoy time with family. But now I’m all rested (sort of) and ready to get back at it. I have been trying to do this series for awhile and finally feel like I finally have enough content to pull it off. I’ve put a list together of a bunch of the premium pieces of equipment and their more reasonably priced alternatives that I have found and typically use when budgets are a bit tighter. Should you always use these alternatives just because they are cheaper? No, the alternates while performing the same typically have some missing conveniences or features. But when budgets are tight, it’s almost always best to put your money where you’ll see the best return and these alternatives offer options to save money in ways that aren’t as critical. 

The first gear alternative I wanted to offer is with direct boxes. Radial offers some of the best audio conversion boxes that are readily available. They are well built, offer lots of options that help with every situation and even offer an option to merge a stereo source like a keyboard down to a mono source so information isn’t lost if you don’t have the extra inputs (one of my favorite features). But they are a bit pricey. The models equipped with a Jensen transformer (active – Radial J48, passive – Radial JDI) from radial are $199 each. Their little brother that doesn’t have the premium transformer and is passive only is the Radial ProDI and still runs you $99. There is even a cheaper version of that, the Radial SB2, which I think was brought about to compete with the lower market is $69. These are all really nice DI boxes. They are built from full-metal and very durable enclosures and will work for decades. We have quite a few for use in our main auditorium that we have acquired either new or from equipment auctions. I love them. From a user experience standpoint they feel very sturdy. They are also the cleanest DIs I’ve every used. In almost 10 years of using them, these DIs have never been the source of the buzz or hum. I can’t say that about other options I’ve used. Just like with the differences in premium verses generic pre-amps, you’ll hear the same differences in premium vs. generic direct boxes. If you’re stepping up your gear game in other areas, it might be time to step up your game here as well. So, maybe the next time you are getting some new direct boxes, pick one up or get a demo from a vendor and try it out. I love to use these nicer DIs with perennial inputs like our worship leader’s acoustic guitar and our keyboard inputs. It’s easy to justify spending a bit more on something if you’ll be using it every week and you’ll definitely hear the difference.

But, there are situations where you just need something cheaper, the rest of gear in the ecosystem isn’t of the best quality, or you just don’t have the money. I’ve used quite a few DIs over the years from Whirlwind’s Director DI (which is $62.50)  to some very sketchy back room DIs that work most of the time. However, there was one really reasonably priced alternative that rose to the top. The Whirlwind IMP DI. I have seen some of these get run over, accidentally (and purposefully) thrown, and just abused and they just keep working (I liken the IMP to the sm58 as it just always works). I attribute that to the fact that Whirlwind decided to rivet the electronics in place rather than glue them like so many of the low end DIs on the markets. At ~$52 they are a killer deal. Very simple design which a ¼’ input and XLR output along with a ground lift switch (the feature that needs to be on every direct box. However the thing that you’ll be missing here is an input pad which while not required is helpful when using line level inputs from keyboards and computer audio devices. If you’re looking for a full featured DI for even cheaper, the only one I’d recommend is the Behringer UltraDI. This is basically a Director clone with some likely durability differences but still quite functional and full featured. I’ve used these before and while they feel cheap they work just fine. Just be ready to handle them carefully if you want to get a long life out of them. 

Well that’s it for Week 1. Next week I’ll be talking about another lower cost option for you to consider. Hopefully this week either introduced you to a cheaper option or a maybe a new premium piece of gear to start stepping up your game with. Please let me know in the comments below or on Facebook if you have any questions, I love connecting with you guys and helping any way that I can. Also, be sure to subscribe to my blog and you’ll get an email whenever a new post goes live so you don’t ever miss a thing! See you all next week

Welcome back to Studio.Stage.Live! Last week we talked about the leatherman/flashlight combo that I wear everyday and the benefits of that. If you missed it, check it out here at this link. For this last week of the series, the tool I want to talk about is the DAW of your choice. Yep, that’s right, I’m not going to recommend one specific one. They all do different things really well, they all have their little quirks that a lot of people don’t like. But what I am going to do is talk about 3 of them that have risen to the top of my attention. In this season of non-live production, what you’re doing and how you’re editing in, can make a big difference to your sound or your workflow. Those three are Logic Pro X, Reaper, and Pro Tools. Now, there a lot of other ones that are good as well such as Cubase or Ableton (and many others), but for what I’m doing right now, the three I’ve listed seem to be what works best for what I’m doing. 

Now I think about software programs in terms of three categories: price, user interface/compatibility, and reliability. Let’s be honest, money always matters. Whether it’s a subscription, a one-time fee, or no fee at all, what things cost makes a difference. If you’re a pro it’s an extra cost to your bottom line that you have to think about (and probably bill for and if you’re not a pro you are like me, you are doing contracting gigs or working for a non-profit where cost matters even more. Pro Tools comes with a yearly subscription whereas Logic and Reaper are one time fees incurred on large version changes (worth noting that Apple hasn’t charged for recent big updates to Logic Pro X). Next thing to consider is the user interface you like the best. All three of these offer a demo in some form and all of them definitely have so many Youtube videos dedicated to people using the software. If you’re going to buy, be sure to watch a few of these and see which one you can identify with the most. Secondarily, all three DAWs are available on OSX but only Reaper and Pro Tools can be used on a PC. If you have a great computer to use already don’t feel like you have to buy a Mac or buy a Windows machine. All three of these DAWs are used in the professional sphere to some extent. Reaper is very new to the space but it has been picked up by Waves as their DAW of choice. Logic Pro and Pro Tools both are basically the industry standard. The last thing to consider is the reliability of the workspace in your environment. This has a lot of caveats to it. Is the manufacturer fixing issues and updating it? Does it work with your plugin provider of choice? Can you use it with an external processing server? When under load does it handle latency well? These three factors are the things that impact my workflow the most. What ways do you use to compare DAWs?

In order to make this comparison a bit more efficient, I decided a table would be best in order to do that. Now, this is not an exhaustive list, these are just the points of comparison I thought would highlight their differences. If you don’t see it here, it’s likely that all three have or don’t have that trait. Here we go:

What the chart isn’t telling you is what’s left. First, Pro Tools is basically the industry standard DAW. Pro Tools is the DAW of choice for educational institutions across the country as well. Logic however is the creators choice. Because of the prevalence of OSX amongst the artistic community and it’s incredibly reasonable price, Logic Pro has positioned itself as the DAW of choice for songwriters and indie artists across the country. Reaper is the dark horse here. Up and coming and acting as the DAW that Pro Tools users flock to when they are fed up with the proprietary ecosystem that is Pro Tools. Reaper being the wide open west of DAWs continues to pick up steam. Just a little while ago Waves.com stopped supporting Tracks Live and chose to use Reaper as their primary host instead. But really, features aside, your opinion and how each works within your workflow is what matters most. Secondarily to that is what the people you’re working with and doing work for use. I would highly encourage you to demo each of these and talk with your colleagues as in the end, they all do the same thing in different ways.

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So why write this post at all if the heart of the matter is your opinion. Because you might be looking for someone else’s. Here’s mine, in the atmosphere I’m working in, a subscription model is a tough pill to swallow if it can be avoided. So that eliminates Pro Tools. I actually currently use Reaper to do live tracking simply because of its efficiency and price. But we’ve tried it as a fulltime DAW and well, the UI falls short in a few places. The workflow can be quite a bit different than many others so unless you are ready for that, you’ll struggle a bit. When a mac suitable for running Logic came around, we paired with an external processing server and were off to the races. If you add to that the fact that all (or at least most) of the content creators in my immediate circle also use Logic, which makes it a great fit. Because of everything that’s going on I’ve gotten to really put it through its paces and things have gone quite well. As would be true with any of these options, each have their strengths and weaknesses. If you have any questions I can answer just let me know in the comments below and I’d love to follow up with you. So here is my recommendation, if budget is no issue and you are looking for the best integration with industry professionals, use Pro Tools. If you already have a mac and are looking for a that pro experience without the subscription fees, use Logic Pro X. If money is a bit tight but you need a robust workspace, check out Reaper!

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed the series and that you’ve learned something from the series as a whole. As always my goal here isn’t to tell you that you have to have something but just expose the tools that I use with the hope that maybe one of them will become applicable to you. If you want to be updated when a new post is live, just fill out the form at this link, and you’ll receive an email when one is hot off the presses. As always, hit me up at daniel@studiostagelive.com and I can answer any questions you have or use the comment section either here or on facebook with any questions you have. Next week I’ll be starting a series on the process I’ve developed to create good quality content each week for my day job at Christ Community Church. I’ll be highlighting the gear I use, my process, and how I deliver the mix each week. See you next week!

Welcome back to week 2 of my “Tools of the Trade” series. Last week I spent a little time talking about the Dante AVIO device which primarily allows for individual or double analog ins/outs but also has a few other things that it can translate to and from Dante. While having that particular tool in my arsenal has saved a lot of time, this week my featured tool saves me a lot of effort as well. That tool is my leatherman/flashlight combo I carry on my belt. 

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Quite awhile ago I decided to start carrying a leatherman. I had received a stock one for being in my sister’s wedding as a gift from my brother-in-law. He gifted it with a leather sheath which allowed me to put on my belt. From that point on I never looked back. It started just as a cool thing to carry around but quickly became a regular throughout my day. From opening boxes, to tightening that random screw, to using the pliers to pry something open, it has more than earned its place at my side. There have been a few times where people around me have even asked to borrow it because they know that I have it (namely my wife). Not so long ago I upgraded to a new black oxide Leatherman Wave and got a sheath for it that had room on the side for a mini flashlight. At first I wasn’t sold but I eventually cracked and got one. Thus the combo was born. I wasn’t sure if carrying the flashlight was worth it personally but as I’ll discuss here in a minute it comes quite in handy to keep the cell phone usage down.  

As a technician for the vast majority of my life, I’ve climbed into tight spots, shimmied into small places, and just needed a tool that I didn’t have. Which forced me to get back out of that spot, go get the tool, and find my way back down in the hidey hole. Then one day, as I mentioned earlier, I committed to carrying my multitool (in my case a leatherman), and it immediately became game changing. Initially I carried it in my pocket but soon I switched to using a sheath so that it can attach to my belt and be a bit more comfortable and protect my phone from getting scratched up. Before too long, on the days when I didn’t wear it, I needed it for something. Just having a screwdriver, knife, and a few other tools at easy access has saved me so much time. Then as the prevalence of small flashlights, powered by AAA batteries, came around it just made sense to pick one up. While it sounds like a lot to carry, I don’t really feel it anymore. But my life, and my cell phone battery, are both better off for adding that. Just carrying a flashlight around, even if it’s all you carry, is awesome in the tech industry. How many times do you get out your phone to turn on a light? How many times can you just not see that little thing in the dark backstage? Doesn’t have to be expensive but I’d recommend getting one powered by a AAA battery as they lost a bit longer and in our world, AAA batteries are easy to get. Here is the link ($20) to the one I carry. It has two modes, a regular mode that isn’t super bright and great for the quick usage and the second mode that is more than powerful enough for most situations. As I mentioned, I carry a Leatherman Wave which has a regular knife, serated knife, and a drywall knife (this one has been really helpful in random places) along with a lot of quite helpful tools like screwdrivers and such which hold more use to me than the knives. Here is a link to the sheath that I use as well. 

Hopefully that provides a helpful rundown of why I carry a leatherman. Since I started carrying it, I know of more than one tech I know that has started doing the same. We all seem to find regular uses for them. Next week I have a software solution to a problem that kept cropping up for me, needing more than one computer but not having room for more than one keyboard and mouse. If you want to be notified when that post goes live, subscribe at this link. See you all on the flipside!