Hello... I'm Marc... and I'm a gear junky...! I've been playing the guitar and gigging in various bands for many years and in 2012 I got myself a job at Absolute Music to feed my habit and share my passion and knowledge of the products that I know and love. I'm going to use my blog to write short reviews of some of my favourite products to hopefully help others in their quest for finding the right gear for their needs and budget.
Hello... I'm Marc... and I'm a gear junky...! I've been playing the guitar and gigging in various bands for many years and in 2012 I got myself a job at Absolute Music to feed my habit and share my passion and knowledge of the products that I know and love. I'm going to use my blog to write short reviews of some of my favourite products to hopefully help others in their quest for finding the right gear for their needs and budget.
In this review I'm going to be talking about the Orange Dual Terror valve amp head. Why? Because as with most of my reviews, I own it!
Hello... I'm Marc... and I'm a gear junky...! I've been playing the guitar and gigging in various bands for many years and in 2012 I got myself a job at Absolute Music to feed my habit and share my passion and knowledge of the products that I know and love. I'm going to use my blog to write short reviews of some of my favourite products to hopefully help others in their quest for finding the right gear for their needs and budget.
In this review I'm going to be talking about the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB audio interface, which happens to be my interface of choice in my own home studio...
With Absolute Music having recently added ESP guitars to its lineup, now would perhaps seem like a good time to write an article on this much revered Japanese brand. ESP are possibly best known to the Heavy Metal crowd as they are one of the most respected & lusted after brands within this genre. Following Fender's Jackson buyout, they are now one of the few remaining truly independent modern guitar brands & the loyalty of their fan base is fierce; however, their roots run deep & to get the full story we have to go back further than you would think...
In September 2011, Roland updated their now discontinued PM-01 Personal Drum Monitor with the release of PM-03; the first 2.1 channel monitor in the V-Drums series.
Personally, I have always found that amplifying electronic drums in a pleasing way can be a little tricky, mainly because most of the time, you're going to want it to sound as close to an acoustic kit as possible, with all those little details and nuances. However, there are naturally going to be differences - for one thing, all sounds from an electronic drum kit will be emanating from the same place, rather than from each individual drum as you hit it.
Back in November I wrote an article on the then new Mooer Micro Series line. Since then these diminutive little pedals have gone on to become very popular indeed & they now seem to be popping up all over the place! From newer players just beginning to dabble in the world of effects, through to the more seasoned on a tight budget (or with limited space), they've been a big hit for sure!
Anyway, with this (& a quickly expanding line) in mind, the guys in the store have asked me to do a follow up article...
Despite it still being a fairly new pedal in the scheme of things, you'd be forgiven if you were to already consider the Carbon Copy a 'classic' of sorts. It forms part of a strong lineage & has managed to successfully establish itself as the measuring stick for analogue delays right off the bat.
Back when Dunlop decided to reintroduce a delay pedal to the MXR line it was Jeorge Tripps of Way Huge fame that they decided to put at the helm. This was an inspired move as, with the Way Huge Aqua Puss & the Line 6 DL4 both to his name, Jeorge already had an impressive CV when it came to delay pedals. With this in mind, the Carbon Copy certainly had a lot to live up to when it was first released & I can happily say that it was 'mission accomplished' for Dunlop as they knocked it out of the park with this one!
Having reviewed the original Voicelive Touch and experienced what a great product it is both in terms of sounds and ease of use, I was extremely excited to get my hands on the next generation model, the VoiceLive Touch 2, which was announced at NAMM this year. I'm looking forward to seeing just how much improvement the VoiceLive Touch 2 offers over the original.
Electro-Harmonix is certainly a company that has earned a reputation for innovation over the years &, with their new 'Next Step' line of effects, they seem to be at it again!
Next Step is essentially a line of expression-based effects pedals that contain no moving parts & instead utilise the same technology as you would find in a smartphone to ascertain the position of the pedal as you rock it back & forth. The advantages of this are two-fold: firstly, the lack of any moving parts should mean zero maintenance, as well as increased reliability &, secondly, it allows for much smoother, friction-free operation.
I haven't reviewed a Focusrite preamp before but there are many people out there who shout about how good their ISA One preamp (introduced in 2008) is. The ISA One is undeniably a fantastic single preamp, designed to be very portable with its compact design and carrying handle. It has been some years coming but to cater for the people that really wanted two preamps to record in stereo for example, Focusrite announced the ISA Two dual-mono mic preamp at Musikmesse 2012. With the design of the ISA Two, Focusrite went for a rackmount unit, providing two independent channels with those classic mic preamps.
Hello... I'm Marc... and I'm a gear junky...! I've been playing the guitar and gigging in various bands for many years and in 2012 I got myself a job at Absolute Music to feed my habit and share my passion and knowledge of the products that I know and love. I'm going to use my blog to write short reviews of some of my favourite products to hopefully help others in their quest for finding the right gear for their needs and budget.
