Best Analog/Vintage Effects

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Bigsnake00

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What are some of the best compressors, reverbs, delay, eq's etc. for reel to reel recording?
 
Bigsnake00 said:
What are some of the best compressors, reverbs, delay, eq's etc. for reel to reel recording?
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Define etc.
(this may sort of help to focus on "something" :))
**********
now, seriously, (imho!) this forum isn't a good place for such question ;) You may want to try posting in "the rack forum" or "other equipment and reviews" , even "microphones forum" may do better... guys there love to list their "Best Of" and "The Best" brand/models. :)
It goes like this:
-My favorite is ...blah
-I think one of the best is blah,
-I was never happy with blah, but I am second to blah as one of the best
-Wow! Great stuff guys, I also love the Blah... I have mine for 10 years now. It's a monster! It's a king of Blahs.
-Hey, guys, thanks for your input. Any more Blahs I should look into?
-Sure, Blah is great!, but Blah is way much better and it's about 100 buck less.
-I'd say get yourself a pair of Blahs and forget about the rest of Blahs. You'll be glad you did.
**********
I know, even though I may sound like an a$$ with such reply, which of course I do... because I am... I guess, BUT! I actually am trying to make a serious point here.... if you know what I mean... ;)
O.K. ... and, as for the question about "what are the best ones?"... HERE Ya'GO!
:D :D :D
 
I guess i could have been a bit more specific. I'm not a big fan of those other forums due to the high volume of "best of" questions, and here I am asking one. I wanted opinions of people who record on tape only. I don't really want to compare prices or any of that B.S. I just was curious as to what some of you guys use, and what some of the "classic" effects out there are/were.

I am really interested in Compressors and Reverb Units.

Thanks
 
Lexicon LXP-1 digital reverb (convincing)
Rockman analog Stereo Chorus (heavenly)
Rockman analog Stereo Echo (spiritual)
FMR RNC compressor (really nice)

:)
 
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The best? Let's see:

For reverb, the EMT 140 plate reverb is the one-and-only. Unfortunately it is about 5ft tall, 12ft long, 1ft wide and hellishly expensive. Most digital reverbs try to emulate this machine.
More practically, you would either want some kind of spring reverb, or a digital processor. I'm using a Zoom RFX2000 which does a reasonable job, though I might try to get a spring reverb. I can't manage an EMT unfortunately.

For tape echo, the best units are believed to be the Binson Echorec, or the Roland Space Echos. Again, these are expensive. The Watkins copicat (marketed in the US as 'Guild' or something) is a reasonable substitute. If you can get one with a run/stop switch (or add one) you can do some very weird things which a digital delay can't do. Most copicats don't have varispeed, however.
Alternatively, if you have a 3-head tape deck, these can be bodged into acting as a simple 1-tap delay. The Revox B77, for example, can do this out-of-the-box.. the manual gives instructions.
I'm using a Copicat Mk4 or the Zoom digital delay (there are advantages to both).

Classic compressors include the Fairchild 670, which has a street price of around 30'000 pounds, the UA 1176 or the Teletronix LA2A. For the latter two, the originals are expensive but people have been reissuing those, and there are also some DIY kits.
I use a TLA Fat-1 stereo valve compressor, which is a sort of entry-level valve compressor. It does a pretty reasonable job.
 
Beck said:
FMR RNC compressor (really nice)

:)
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wha-ha-ha !!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D
This IS classic, (classic of " best of "-posts) :) :p :)

It's funny, last night I was trying to post...then something went wrong...got "error"...was too lazy to re-type... but I was basically "recommending" Joemeek C2- green box - just because it IS classic ...LOL, and then I wanted to say, that for "us" (the guys, who record stuff to reel-to-reel machines at home studios nowdays) the "classic"(s) are things like: dbx 166/266, all-mighty-trash-me-but-I'm-just-getting-bigger :) alesis 3630, The "real nice one" (but of course! :)) , ComposerPro of a brand I'd rather not to mention here in order to avoid catching a few extra spits from some shadow "warrior" who takes no prisoners in the war against Low-Fi and cheap cables :D ...., and as for "classic effects" we all use 1-U rack multi-functional boxes from lexicon, alesis and digitech for all our reverb, delay and what have you needs.
Or am I making things up here ??? ;)
 
Whatever I can get my hands on really is the best.
I milk what I have, can borrow or acquire for what it can offer.
Some lousy pieces of equipment have at east one effect, setting or range that is usable.
If you really want to know what's creating orgasms search the forum by equipment item.
If you're making a shopping list with no bottom line issues that'll get you there.
What makes YOU happy in the gear you've used?
Cheers
rayC
 
Dr ZEE said:
...and as for "classic effects" we all use 1-U rack multi-functional boxes from lexicon, alesis and digitech for all our reverb, delay and what have you needs. Or am I making things up here ??? ;)
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Doc, sometimes you say things I didn't even know I was thinking. :D
 
Beck said:
Doc, sometimes you say things I didn't even know I was thinking. :D
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huh! There's a "method": "Say first, think later" .... this way you may find out about things you did not know your were thinking about :)

here's example:
say: "Effects are no longer wonders - they are appliances"...
now, let the thinking goin'...
...funny sh*t

btw, one of the 'official' definitions of the word "appliance":" 2. appliance - durable goods for home or office use " :D
 
iREVERB!

snake, just my 2 cts, i too was on this epic search for the best classic reverb when i first decided i was gonna go all analog...

first i figured that if they could make awsome recordings with the technology they had then, then duh it must be just as easy now if not way easier because of the tech advances right? wrong...

unfortuanatly the reverb they used back in the day (which was a wednsday, if you guys didnt know that when people say "back in the day" it was a wendsday) was most of the time natural i.e. reverb chambers... or as jp said gigantic plates...

so the resolution is just use some super wierd mic techniques, lately i have been recording with 2 mics hooked up, one dynamic in the bottom and pointed at the bottom of a metal trash can; this will be my "wet" track, sing into the trash can with another dynamic mic capturing the "dry"...this is what i like to call my trash reverb...(catchy huh)lol...

any way im trying out more, like running speakers and mics into the bathroom to capture the wet side....

bottom line on the reverb, if you want to not go digi or spend a lot A LOT A LOT then just find a way to get some natural reverb...
 
Good meaty analog delay, snag an Ibanez AD 202. A couple hundred bucks on eBay...

You can thanks me later!

G :eek:
 
Ibanez AD-9 Delay. 140 bucks. Sounds awesome on guitar. I wonder if it could be used one effects send. Might be worth a shot...
 
jpmorris said:
Just found this:

http://www.platesonics.com

They aren't as big or as heavy as the EMT units, but they are still quite substantial.
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wow, COOL :cool: ..somebody makes them ... only about $1K.
Did you check mp3 samples HERE! (MODEL#3600-Cathedral, CATHEDRAL !?!!!????? ;))... sounds like Esteban in the shower, and the last sample is pretty damn ghosty :D , it's cool, I think...
 
e unum pluribus said:
iREVERB!
... 2 mics hooked up, one dynamic in the bottom and pointed at the bottom of a metal trash can...
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Aaaggghhh!! Dumpster diving reverb!!

=========================== :eek:

Nah,... hold the presses!!

The homer's "vintage" analog efx are the Fostex 3180 stereo spring reverb and the Fostex 3070 stereo compressor.

Then, there's the Tascam RS-20/RS-20B stereo reverb, PE-40 4-band/4-channel fully parametric EQ, & the GE-20/GE-20B stereo graphic EQ.
 
Bigsnake00 said:
What are some of the best compressors, reverbs, delay, eq's etc. for reel to reel recording?
Click to expand...

sticking your thumb against a [reel]flange and getting the "real thing".

Best sounding [mild] flange sound on the planet.
 
RE201 Space Echo, electric mistress flanger, mxr phase 90, mxr envelope filter, early roland guitar synth gr300 ..... all nice....imho :)

not really studio reverbs and stuff but still quite useful from time to time...
 
Shit how bout that these people are just a few miles from where i live.
Never heard of them before. Ronoke is not a big town at all
 
Herm said:
Shit how bout that these people are just a few miles from where i live.
Never heard of them before. Ronoke is not a big town at all
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...need to go out more often ??? have a beer and chat wid'neighbors :p :D :D :D
Few years ago, when I used to live in Highland near New Paltz, and used to hang around that small lonely town, which I used to always think of as it's a one dusty road running through SUNY of NP ...and couple of Student diners and Pizza Places on each side of that road..and that's about it, that's all .... then one day I've discovered that Anthony's Dobermans were my neighbors... Yeah, and so what? I still could not have their preamp nor comp, but I could spit on the same sidewalks :D
we do know what's going on in Antarctica while having no idea what's behind the hill :) ...funny stuff

/respects
 
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