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I've been asked this question probably a thousand times over 40 years of commercial studio work — "Should I get a condenser or a dynamic?" And almost every time, the person asking already owns a condenser and is wondering why it isn't solving their problem. Here's what no one tells you: the co …

Recording live bands simultaneously in one room is one of the more challenging tracking scenarios in studio engineering. Bleed, phase issues, and isolation become real problems the moment you put organic instruments like piano and stand-up bass in the same room as a drum kit. The solution is not alw …

The single most common question I get at recording seminars is some version of the same thing: my mix sounds flat and closed in. How do I open it up? Nine times out of ten the answer is simple. Too much processing on too many channels. Compression on every track because someone said it should be the …

Buying a microphone based on a review is like buying a car based on a photograph. You are working from someone else's impression of something your ears need to decide. That is why we did this. Pure Wave Audio conducted one of the most comprehensive independent microphone shootouts in the pro audio i …

For years I did not understand why anyone would use a ribbon microphone. Old. Dated. Fragile. Why would you reach for one when you have a great condenser in the locker? Then I had a perspective shift. And the ribbon microphone became the holy grail for certain applications. I have not looked back si …

I want to share a story before I give you my recommendation on DAW computers. It will save you from making the same mistake I made. A few years ago I had a power surge that damaged the motherboard of my main studio computer — my primary income machine. I had a trusted tech come out and diagnos …