Latest User Reviews

I had a white-face DRP-20 for many years, and even though I really loved its huge-sounding reverb ambiences (and I mean *huge*), I decided to part with it because its noise level was really annoying. There was a constant hiss, running reverb tails through an RSP Hush 2000 would help with shorter reverbs, long reverb tails would sooner or later start to flutter.

The build quality is quite good although I encountered problems with sticky keys and erratic enconcers — I am sure the Dynacord people would refurbish one for you if you are prepared to send it to them. Programming is easy and straightforward, combining various different types of delays and reverbs makes for some really rich sonic palette. Now if there weren’t that noise problem… the Cathedral algorithm run through a Dimension D was simply stunning, and I confess I really miss that.

I bought one a few years back. Sounded great for about 15 minutes then became intermittent and eventually died. Post mortem found faulty connections between the two PCBs. The connections were header pins going into IC sockets. Very bad design. Because of bad connection an IC died – it was too hot to touch. But ART removed all the labels on the ICs so no clue which IC it is. And the schematics are unobtanium. Besides that dodgy connection the thing is built like a tank. Can’t understand why they cheaped out on the PCB connection and will never understand the practice of removing labels from internal components. Shameful IMO. Yet I’m currently bidding on another one. It sounded that good. Very gritty but in a good way. Hopefully this one survives longer….

I owned the Avalon Design VT-747SP for about three years and loved it. (I have since sold most of my studio gear) The build quality on Avalon gear is just ridiculously good, and the design superb, nothing looks better in my view. The compressor is not really designed for hard core compression like a DBX 160 or the like, it is more of a subtle compressor in that regard.

The EQ section is what most people simply do not get their head around fully. The complaint you will hear over and over, is that the frequency bands are not marked to indicate the frequency each adjuster is affecting, but that is the whole point! It is a VERY musical EQ that is designed to be tweaked by ear (remember those things?) and to me at least gives excellent results.

If you are after older hardware that has some kind of magic mojo because it is not pure in the signal path, this is not for you. Sound coming out of the Avalon Design VT-747sp is almost as pristine as what goes in. It is a shame that after all these years Avalon have decided to stop producing it, I guess they got sick of trying to make people understand it’s design and purpose. If you can get one on the used market do so, it is a magic box in my eyes!

An equaliser should do nothing other than what is asked of it, and that is to alter the sonic qualities of the audio signal passing through it. It should not impart any character or alter the signal in any other way. The Avalon Design AD2055 does just that. Being a parametric equaliser, it is akin to a surgeons knife in it’s ability to fine tune a frequency to adjust. There is plenty of scope in the available controls to correct any signal you desire, and it will do so flawlessly and without altering the signal with any retro character or noise being added. Yes it is a damn expensive bit of kit but you truly do get what you pay for and the Avalon Design AD2055 is worth ever cent!

When I want delay, flange, even a short sample this is the machine I go for. It’s clean, a touch sweet sounding and has no nasty traits.

If you find one, get it.

Perfect for dub, rock, space and electronica.

For those of us that could not afford the classic Roland Chorus unit of the day, the Boss CE-300 was a much more affordable alternative. These things are pretty well build, sound good on guitar and keyboards. Given their current prices not a bad buy.

As I’ve stated in my other reviews on this site, I’m a bit of a reverb collector, so this was a natural acquisition to go for. I bought my M7 from a guy who spent £50k on his studio and went only for top end gear. So why did I go for the M7 when I have pretty much all the ‘classic’ units from the list, including Multiple big Lexicons, AMS, Eventide, Yamaha and Roland’s… Simply answer: intrigue! Every review of the Bricasti on YouTube shows many top engineers and producers getting wet mouth’s just talking about the M7 and they just go on about how impressed they really are with this unit. It’s coming up 10+ years since it was introduced, and here in the UK, an M7 will set you back £2.5-3.5k depending on luck. I was lucky…. very lucky! So, I bought the M7 a few months ago and here’s my breakdown….

Firstly, this thing is just So quiet, it’s ridiculous! Compared to vintage reverbs the M7 is top of the list! Its signal processing is also way better than the (‘classic’s”). Imagine a very soft mellow string sound from and analogue synth. It doesn’t take much input to clip the reverb and start to hopelessly distort. The M7 is far mor patient and that I love. The Quality of algorithms in V2.0 is as good as I think you’ll get. Some are scarily realistic, while others are ‘clever’, but I’m not sure where or how you’d use them. As a whole, the presets and plentiful and there ‘will be’ ones you can use.

My favourites are the plates. The presets are excellent, but I tend to find a little short in decay. Editing is fairly straight forward and the menu system is very easy to navigate. As for the quality (which is what we’re really interested in). I have to say, the M7 is amazing! The only presets I thought were a little poor, were the ‘non-linear’ stuff and I have to say, my RMX is still my favourite for those. Halls, Rooms, Wood Floors, Churches, Stages and a ton of others are very high quality and I can see why people rave about this as a studio “must have”. Build quality is ‘ Bentley/ Mercedes’ quality and the U/I is pretty easy to grasp.

My only gripe is the 4 quick access user locations (more would have been nicer). Absolutely love the display and boot up time is pretty quick too. Is it worth getting? I “hummed and aahh’d for quite some time before I finally went for one, but if prices come down to a level of your affordability, my advice is grab one!