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In contrast to my $5 Sennheiser mic, I dropped $2000 on a fabulous piece of gear awhile ago!

It's an Empirical Labs FATSO Jr. I was thinking about buying a 1/2" 2-track to mix digital music to, but the upkeep of a reel-to-reel made me think twice! The FATSO is an analog rackmount which simulates tape saturation, a Neve board, all kinds of classic gear that warms up and slightly compresses digital recordings to make them sound (almost) analog. It really is a marvelous, albeit pricey, unit. Highly recommended!

I've heard that engineers also really like the Empirical Labs Distressor (I think that's what it's called). Similar, but different from the FATSO.

Ern

By reputation the Distressor with "British Mode" is a 'Swiss Army' compressor; it'll get the sound of just about any of the classic vintage models that are so coveted by engineers, but it helps a lot to know the recipes for those sounds. Check out the UBK Fatso mod; it's even easier to use than the original.

The school where my bro-in-law teaches film at just cleaned out its basement and gave away a bunch of those old two track, 1/2" recorders. I have worked in studios with Neve boards and all the tape stuff, tuning the machines first thing in the morning, every stinking morning and sometimes before the night is through. Chasing electron noise gremlins through the Neve consoles, endless soldering of 32 track cord connectors. Broken automated sliders.

Has everyone forgotten about noise floors? Tape saturation? Track bleed? Splicing? GAH ...run screaming for the door.

Give me a nice quad core Mac Pro, Cubase, and a bunch of plugins. The last BIG multitrack unit I worked on was $350,000 in 1980. The most recent (as mentioned above) $3500 (without plugins).

I hear that scratchy vinyl records and miniature record players are making a comeback. I have a complete 1950's Edison recorder and playback unit for sale...if anyone is interested. Just needs some blank wax tubes.