Latest User Reviews

The Sony PCM-9000 was an incredible machine that would probably still stand up today from a sound quality point of view. They were dear as poison when they were released (around US$20K) and go for chicken feed today which is crazy in itself. The timing for the release of the PCM-9000 was right when hard drives were taking over, but still, it’s success as a master recorder for archiving would have sustained it for a while I am sure. Anyway, great machine from a great time in Sony’s professional audio products peak period.

The DBX 676 Tube Mic Channel Strip is a joy to use. Its warm valve and OverEasy compressed sound enhanced everything I put through it, making it sound bigger and better. The DBX 676 is an appealing option, especially if you are looking for something special and love the valve sound.

I was not sure where this fitted in with Yamaha’s line of reverbs, was it a top end model or a low end. One listen and I was surprised to find it must be near their top end as it sounded very good indeed. Not your typical Yamaha design styling but don’t let the looks put you off, it is a great reverb.

I bought this with great anticipation, only to be massively disappointed when I plugged it in. The unit sounds very dark and boring really. I sold it almost immediately after it arrived.

I’m still getting to know this unit. I recently changed the battery and capacitors. It’s remarkably clean sounding with good headroom. It has a handful of excellent presets but the rest are sort of snore boring. I was hoping this unit would have similarly cool and useful presets like its brother the V55 but unfortunately not even close. The V55 had stellar presets IMO but its quality doesn’t even compare to the V77. This is light years ahead sonically in every regard. Clearly I need to dig in and create presets I like but out of the ones I have taken a shine to I can say that they are splendid. There’s obviously a great deal of power inside this box and I can’t wait to unleash it all.

At first I didn’t like it. A few years later I started to like it a little bit. Now it’s pretty damn good. The presets are uninspired and bland so that you think it’s a poor product and not worth keeping. You need to edit up your own and then you see the light. Eventually you wander across the nonlinear algorithm and suddenly you’re Gollum with his ring, my precious! This particular algorithm is pretty much what everyone is seeking with all of fancy, expensive shoegazer focused products out there. If Roland didn’t hide it this box may have had an entirely different outlook in life. Plus in addition you can add chorus, phasor and compression to your patches and create some truly immersive and unusual sonic environments. This box is wedded to my DSI PolyEvolver most of the time. Not just because both are blue but because that synth and these far out nonlinear patches are like peanut butter and chocolate. Not a one trick pony however. The small rooms and ambiances are actually quite good and very useful for drums and bass guitar to give that hint of being somewhere in a room of some kind. For those type sound this box really shines and gets picked over ones much more expensive regularly. I took off points for useless presets. Editing the box isn’t as terrible as some reverb units. The menus don’t go very deep at all. What’s tedious is having to edit both blocks separately for stereo patches. Egads!

I have not had it long, but I can say this is a totally transparent sounding DA converter. Build quality like all SPL gear I have used, is excellent, the switches all feel great, and it looks a million dollars.

I bought this box to do a mix ‘in the box’ and had hopes it would add something to the mix, but it did not add anything significant that I could notice. It was a reasonably well made box and looked good in the rack, but it did not take long for one of the meters to no longer light up, which I believe is common for TL Audio. I also had a Symetrix summing box which I felt did just as little to be honest. I get more of the summing effect I want by using Harrison Mixbus to do my mixes if I am totally honest.

I’ve had this since it was new. This is a very deep machine and in all these years I feel I am only still scratching the surface. I probably won’t exhaust its possibilities in my lifetime. I took points off for not having a power switch and for the line lump PSU. Beyond that it’s hard to find fault.

To my ears it sounds awesome and has incredibly nice conversion. Sometimes I run other effects into it digitally just to use its converters. The algorithms are a mixed bag. Some sound as generic as your average VST effects, but others are absolutely outstanding.

With tweaking there’s much more than meets the eye. Even the tame sounding algorithms have extended parameters which can be used to wake them up and make them shine. The more extreme algorithms are cool AF. The unusual reverbs and delays can trip you out for endless hours. The overdrives and distortions are full and organic. The Quantize + Alias can be very carefully adjusted to emulate the different sounds of vintage samplers closely.

The frequency shifter and ringmod are the best examples I’ve ever heard. The compression algorithms are surprisingly good! I would use them on a mix bus without hesitation. When you dig deep into the extended parameters you inevitably find gold. Just make sure you have enough time because it’s like a bottomless pit. If they ever reissue this machine take my money, please.

It took awhile to find what this unit is good for and how to use it in a mix. It sounds incredible on analog synths. Almost like it is another extension of the synth itself it takes a patch and adds a new dimension to it – an artificial dimension slightly similar to an analog BBD based reverb but without the darkness. With sampled percussion loops it will add a dynamically shifting aura that can be mesmerizing or even terrifying at some settings. This is a sound design tool. Don’t go to it wanting to sound like you’re in a concert hall. Be prepared for lots of noise and grit. Maybe someone can coax convincing spaces from this box but that isn’t using it to its true nature. That nature is filth. A wonderous treasure trove of dirty textures and warped realities. There is no subtlety, it will gobble up your mix.

What this device does is rather subtle at times, well most of the times if I am honest. This is not a slap you in the face EQ, it is a sophisticated equalizer that can add a great deal od shimmer and clarity to a particular track you apply it to. Great for adding some sizzle to the overheads, make an acoustic guitar cut through the mix, or adding a bit of bite to a vocal, very cool in my view.

It’s a great delay with that vintage digital grit, also really great for various things like Flanging or driving it for distortion. I do think they’ve become way too expensive over the years. Extremely reliable considering they’ve been around for 40 years and mine still works and I’m not even the first owner.