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Re-rendered version with higher quality video and audio. The audio is also synced with the video now.

A series of old clips I discovered while making spa…

Occasionally I encounter some equipment that I think provides a lot of bang for the buck. The following list contains a few things that I think is a hidden gems for both the home recording artist and the club musician. Consider bookmarking this page as I’m always finding new stuff.

The Best Outboard Compressor
The FMR Audio RNC-1773. Called the “really nice compressor”, this unit rocks! This is a great compressor for front-end use while laying down tracks or as a mix-bus compressor.The RNC can do everything from gentle compression to heavy squashing.The manufacturer provides setting examples that will get you started without ruining your tracks. Now how much do you think this compressor costs? Only $200! Believe it’s difficult to find another compressor that delivers the same quality for under $2000, let alone $1000.

Some Fantastic Mics:
You can’t go wrong with the Shure SM-57. You can find one for 80 dollars. It’s not sexy but if I had to make do with only one microphone, this would it. One thing about this mic is that you do need a a good preamplifier. This can easily offset any cost savings over some other more pricier mics, but I still think everyone should own at least one.If you’re looking for a condenser microphone there are several that The Shure SM-57 is a good deal and you can find one for about $75 if you look reasonably hard. It does need a good preamp if you want to get the maximum oomph out of it, so overall it’s not exactly a bargain deal. But every semi-serious musician should have at least one.

Other Super Microphones
One of my favorites is the Rode NTK. This is a big diaphragm tube (valve) condenser microphone. Any sound source you pick, it will sound tremendous. On many tracks, such as a male baritone vocal, hand drums (and I record a lot of them), and percussion instruments (I record a lot of them too), this microphone sounds out of this world. Pricing is about $500 for the microphone and a shock mount it’s a bargain.I find that I use it more often than some mics that cost a thousand dollars or more.Sometimes it’s a little bright for some applications, however overall this microphone delivers the goods.

Some more great diaphragm condenser microphones: Studio Projects C1 and C3. The C1 has a cardioid pattern only while the C3 has cardioid, figure eight and omni. Both of these mics sound very nice – low noise and clear, pleasing tones. They are not as good as the NTK nevertheless at their prices (about $229 for the C1 and $349 for the C3) they are great deal for amateur.But you can’t beat the sound you get from these microphones at these price points.The T3 condenser mic by Studio project is supposed to be very good.

Preamplifiers
If you’re in the market for a top quality tube preamplifier at a good price I’d recommend the Peavey VMP-2 (yeah, that Peavey, but it does sound good). This is the only all-tube preamp that you’ll find for under a one thousand (street price around $700). It’s a tiny bit noisier (very little) than most of the pricier all-tube preamp, but at less than half the cost you won’t be disappointed. Tip: to get the most out of this preamplifier don’t record all your tracks through it. Use it on percussion, bass, or vocals and use a solid-state preamplifier for the remainder of the tracks. Using it on every track will add some mud to your mix.
Thinking about making do with a transistor amplifier? For about $400 you can get a 1202 VLZ that has four channels- that’s $100 a channel, plus you get a mixer to boot. Some people say that they make the tones brittle.This occurs when if you crank them too much. But keep the trim pads below the 1 o’clock position and you’ll be rewarded with some nice, clean sounds.

If you can spend some more bucks on a preamplifier and you don’t want a many channels try the Grace 101. For about $600 for one channel you get a no frills, clean and open preamplifier. This preamplifierhas a very musical sound and I love it on percussion (shakers and stuff) and instruments like acoustic guitar. One thing however: If you want “warm” this preamplifier won’t give it to you. The Grace 101 will duplicate the sound source exactly like the original. You must get your mics positioned just perfectly. Once you get the hang of placing your mics and finding the good source sound, you’ll be amazed at the ability of this preamp to capture a performance
The Vintech 1272 can give you Neve sound without the $3000 price tag. For half price, you get two channels that will let you play classic Neve.

By logging onto a computer, you can surf the internet for many offers by sellers who sell brand name hearing devices rather than directly from the manufacturers. Often you can save money as these sellers are selling the hearing aids which you want but at an affordable lower cost. As the prices are more competitive you can look to buy a hearing aid that is more advanced technologically and more stylish than you thought possible. You don’t have to miss out.

With Low Cost Hearing Aids you can hear voices much more clearly again with no distraction of background noise. With the technology of data learning functions, they can be adapted for your particular style of listening. This is the advantage of being able to buy at low cost so that you can afford these extra features.

If your hearing aids comes with directional microphones, you should be able to hear what is facing you quite clearly. You don’t have to worry about any noise that is behind you, as long as the sound that you are trying to hear is in front of you. Some models come with a switch so that if want to hear everything that is around you, the directionality can be turned off.

If you have problems hearing certain frequencies, such as children’s voices some of which are high pitched, there are some Low Cost Hearing Aids which are available with several channels. This allows your hearing aids to be adjusted according to your hearing needs with the many channels or frequency bands which can be set to your range. This will be done by your audiologist. As your hearing changes so these settings can be changed again.

There are people who suffer from a condition called recruitment, where sound can be too quiet one moment and then suddenly sound too loud. There are some Low Cost Hearing Aids which come equipped with a feature to cut down on the problem and also has control over feedback.

There are many hearing aids that come with memory presets. If you have one that is identical to one that a manufacturer has at a higher price, it might have several memories which can cope with the different listening environments.

We all rely on being able to use the telephone on a daily basis, so it is disabling if you’re not able to use it. There are devices available on many of the Low Cost Hearing Aids which allow a person to listen to the telephone better. Some can actually work with cell phones which is good if you are out and about.