Reviews

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The Best Mic Stands for Every Budget in 2023

Updated: Reviews
best microphone stands

The best microphone stands are different for every application. You'll need to think about why it is you're on the hunt in the first place and where you'll be using your stand. You might even give thought to how you'll store it, if it will be transported around, and much more. We cover all of the considerations and show you the top options for each […]

The Best Acoustic Electric Guitars in 2023: Loud & Refined

Updated: Reviews
best acoustic electric guitars

The best acoustic electric guitars solve the inconveniences of playing a traditional acoustic in a very nice way. We don't have to play a guitar size and shape we don't enjoy in order to project more volume. We don't have to strum and pick harder. We don't need a mic to be heard through the loud speakers. Today we look at how this is achieved […]

The Best Studio Headphone Amplifiers for Distribution & Sub-Mixes in 2023

Updated: Reviews
best headphone amplifiers

The best studio headphone amplifiers are not the overly expensive audiophile amps with exposed tubes and a dash of pixie dust. Those are for personal use designed to look magical enough to fool consumers into spending far more than remotely necessary. As us professionals know, the way a piece of studio gear looks has nothing to do with the audio quality it can produce… Besides, […]

The Best Envelope Filter Pedals to Auto-Wah Your Way Into Funk Nirvana

Updated: Reviews
envelope filter pedals

The best envelope filter pedal will turn you into a funk machine by adding the power of the wah-wah effect to your guitar and apply it automatically based on your picking style. This next-level effect is a must-have for the multi-genre guitarist, whether for your own material or in a cover band. It opens up a whole new world of stylistic choices for the skilled […]

The Best Pitch Shifter Pedals in 2023

Updated: Reviews
pitch shifter pedals

If any instrumentalist can get a lot of use out of the pitch shift effect, it's a guitarist. The uses are endless, from harmonizing one's own lead to filling in for a bassist. Combine it with other pedals like a looper and an entire musical universe opens up before you. And how fortunate we are, because in the old days we had to record to […]

The Best Audio Interfaces for Home & Studio Recording

Updated: Reviews
best audio interface

The best audio interface can be your best friend. The worst can be an absolute nightmare. How do we know what we need or which to choose if we don't have any prior experience? We'll start by walking you through the selection thought process with a summary of the various features and benefits you'll encounter… Recording technology has come a long way in the past […]

The Best Acoustic Guitar for Gentle Weeps & Blazing Solos in 2023

Updated: Reviews
best acoustic guitar reviews

The best acoustic guitar for you is not necessarily the best one for me. We all are working with different preferences, diverse hand sizes, and most importantly varying budgets. What we can do, though, is point out the most important variables to understand so you can make the right choice, and then we can narrow the options to the top choices of each category. And […]

The Best Looper Pedals to Overdub Your Way Into a One-Man Jam in 2023

Updated: Reviews
looper pedals

The best looper pedal is more than an effects pedal. It's more like a recording studio in a box that can have your back whether you're on stage creating an entire ten track composition on the fly or sitting at home building backing tracks to practice your improvised solos over. The options are only limited by your imagination, and if yours stretches past the limits […]

The Best Boost Pedals for Distortion-Free, Clean Gain & Fatter Tone

Updated: Reviews
boost pedals

The best boost pedals do one thing but they do it perfectly, which is to provide your signal with clean, distortion free gain. People joke about turning the knob up to 11, and with the boost effect you can do just that in a linear, noiseless fashion. Whether you want more volume or to drive an amp harder, a solid boost pedal will get the […]

The Best Octave Pedals to Thicken Your Tone & Enhance Your Effects

Updated: Reviews
octave pedals

The best octave pedal puts some power in your playing. By doubling your signal and pitch shifting it up or down an octave, you can boast the thickest tone in town. Heck, try tripling it or even replacing your original signal. The options are endless and the choice is yours… The octave effect is exactly what it sounds like it is. You can pitch shift […]

The Best Music Stands - Folding, Portable, Collapsible, & Accessories

Updated: Reviews
best sheet music stands

Every single musician, or should I say instrumentalist, will end up buying more than one music stand. We all know how it goes… at first, we don't look to find the best music stand, just the cheapest one we can get away with. Then we learn our lesson… The following review may contain affiliate links which may earn us a small commission when you click […]

The Best Overdrive Pedals to Push Your Gain Into Warm Tube Paradise

Updated: Reviews
overdrive pedals

The best overdrive pedal can turn your dry, boring tone into a warm, distorted timbre full of the subtle harmonics you get from pushing the gain on a tube. It's the difference between a clean, handsome tone that nobody cares about and a relatable one with enough bite and character to keep the crowd's ears listening and excitable… The following review may contain affiliate links […]

The Best Patchbay for Studio & Live Audio

Updated: Reviews
best patchbays

The following review may contain affiliate links which may earn us a small commission when you click on them, at no extra cost for you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. There's two types of people on this planet when it comes to patchbays: Both types are crazy to me (no offense to the people with the DIY skills). There are quite […]

The Best Equalizers - The Top Hardware EQ's for Mixing & Mastering

Updated: Reviews
best analog eq

With all of the digital EQ's out there that come pre-installed as plugins in our recording software, attention has dropped away from the superior sound of a warm analog equalizer snuggled in your rack between your compressor and preamp. It's understandable. Why buy a hardware EQ when you have a free software option already? Well, there are plenty of reasons… The following review may contain […]

The Best Monitor Isolation Pads for Pristine Audio Quality in 2023

Updated: Reviews
monitor isolation pads small featured image

After all this time, you finally got the studio monitors of your dreams. Now you want to make sure they're set up to sound as good as possible. The first step towards unleashing their potential is to accompany them with the best monitor isolation pads you can. Today we discuss the various types of pads, stands, and cones, and why you may prefer one type […]

The Best Cheap Microphones for Home Studio Recording in 2023

Updated: Reviews
best cheap mics for home recording

The best cheap microphone is often all we need. We don't want the bottom rung of mics but we also don't need to break the bank over recording in our home studio. There are too many other items we need our budget to cover. The reality is that "cheap" mics are only inexpensive in comparison to the high-end options. While you may frown at the […]

The Best Studio Headphones for Mixing & Recording

Updated: Reviews
best mixing headphones

The best studio headphones are the best for every task from mixing and recording to tracking and critical listening. While you may be on the hunt for a set of cans for a specific purpose, you'll undoubtedly use them across the board. That's why we're going to have a quick look at some things you should consider and then we'll jump straight into the reviews […]

The Best Vocal Compressors for Studio-Quality Audio

Updated: Reviews
best compressor reviews

The best vocal compressor for voice, bass, drums, and any other audio signal is the topmost studio-quality one you can afford. I'll say it very plainly: You cannot achieve a recording or a mix that matches what you hear on professional releases without a compressor. If up till now you've only had access to software compressor plugins, snagging a hardware compressor is going to change […]

The Best Vocal Microphones For Studio Quality Recording

Updated: Reviews
best microphone for vocals

The best vocal microphones come in various shapes, sizes, and types. Compound that with the unbelievable amount of bad info out there and it's no wonder people aren't sure what they should be looking for. There is a truth to the matter and we're going to break it down for you simply and clearly. Then we'll offer some recommendations of both main types of mics […]

The Best Electric Guitar to Keep Beginners Learning & Excited

Updated: Reviews
best electric guitars

Lots of people tend to research for months about which is the best electric guitar when what they really need is to get started playing and practicing. Becoming an elite player requires time behind a solid axe picking and strumming. What a beginner needs is an electric that is generally great so they can learn over time what specific nuances they care about, and that's […]