The world of Shadow Hills Industries takes high quality discrete audio paths with versatile controls to meet the demands of modern recording and wraps them with striking antique military aesthetics. The vintage-inspired knobs and heavy-duty mechanical switches inspire users to explore all tonal options Shadow Hills units can offer. With rugged construction and superior components, they will serve for years to come. From GAMA mic preamps, Dual Vandergraph and Mono Optograph compressors, innovative summing/monitor controllers like the Equinox, and all the way up to the top of the line Mastering Compressor, Shadow Hills manufactures hardware that lets engineers really grab ahold of their recordings.
The Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor has extraordinary functionality, and also provides mastering grade compression and limiting for tracking and mixing. Essentially it is two compressors in series, per channel, that can act in stereo, or dual mono. First comes our mastering grade electro optical compressor, followed by our discrete Class-A compressor/limiter. Both feed our switchable custom output transformers, Nickel, Iron, and Steel. There is enough gain in each section to overdrive the hottest tape, or clip your converters, if you're into that sort of thing.
The input stage is transformer balanced, followed by our fully discrete optical compressor. This section utilizes the same T4B optical attenuator as the LA2A and LA3A, but is optimized for mastering. The second stage is our discrete Class-A VCA compressor. There are no electrolytic caps or IC chips in the audio path. There are six ratios: 1.2 to 1, 2 to 1, 3 to 1, 4 to 1, 6 to 1, and 10 to 1. There is six attack settings: .1, .5, 1, 5, 10, and 30 milliseconds. And there are six release times selectable: .1, .25, .5,8, 1.2, and Auto. There is an insertable filter in the side chain to limit pumping with bass heavy material. Lastly the signal goes through our new Shadow Hills custom transformer-switching network.
The first position is Nickel, which is our custom version of a famous L. A. custom console. Next is Iron. In this mode the signal goes through our op-amp and into a Class-A output stage then to our custom Iron transformers, the last transformer position is Steel. These selections allow you to choose between different output transformers that are in effect: clean, colored, and dirty, respectively.
The optical section has a hard-wired bypass that completely removes it from the signal path, and the Class-A VCA compressor is also hardwire bypassable, completely removing it from the chain. It is possible to independently bypass both compression sections and have your signal go through the input transformer and transformer selector only. There is also a hardwire bypass for the entire compressor, effectively a strait wire in and out of the box. So besides being a mastering grade, and highly functional buss compressor, it serves as an excellent tracking compressor.
For instance, you might call up the chain of the optical compressor, then to the Class-A output and Iron transformer, for vocals, or select just the Class-A VCA compressor with a 10:1 plus the Steel transformer for crushing some room mics, and on and on.
The metering can reflect, optical gain reduction, discrete gain reduction, or output level. The Magic eye tube follows the output meter to act as a peak meter.
All 17 of the rotary switches are detented. The front panel is engraved. The knobs are bake-lite.

Back in 1933, two researchers at Bell Labs, Harvey Fletcher and W.A. Munson, conducted one of the most significant experiments in psychoacoustics. Their experiment was based on a serious of tests taken by a group of listeners. Each test involved playing a test frequency followed by a reference tone of 1 kHz. The listener simply had to choose which of the two was louder. Successive tests involved either a different test frequency, or different levels. Essentially, what Fletcher and Munson tried to conclude is how louder or softer different frequencies had to be in order to be perceived as loud as 1 kHz. They compiled their results and charted a graph known as the Fletcher?Munson Curves. A chart based on the original Fletcher?Munson study is shown in Figure 2.1. I dare to present it upside-down, as it promotes similarity to the familiar frequency-response graphs like those we see on some equalizers. A similar experiment was conducted after two decades by Robinson and Dadson (resulting in the Robinson?Dadson Counters), and today we use the ISO 226 standard (which was last revised only a few years ago). The formal name for the outcome of these studies is termed equal-loudness counters. Each curve in Figure 2.1 is known as a phon curve, and is titled based on the level of the 1kHz reference. To give one example how this graph is read, we can follow the 20-phon curve to see that if 1 kHz is played at 20 dBSPL, 100 Hz would need to be played at 50 dBSPL in order to appear equally loud (a 30 dB difference, which is by no means marginal). The graph also teaches us that our frequency perception has a bump around 3.5 kHz ? a fact contributed to the resonance frequency of our ear canal. Some claim that it is not by chance that within this bump falls the center frequency of a baby?s cry.

Beginnings can be hard when discovering some new information ? most guitar players encountered some dissatisfaction before they could change harmonies rapidly enough or create a spotless sound. It is not amusing to chip away at a solitary verse for an entire day and still be troubled with the blend toward the end. As experience The MicroMain26 is a 4-way dynamic framework with 6 drive units housed in fixed fenced in areas spreading over 30Hz to 45kHz with vanishingly low twisting, stunning element run and ultra-quick transient reaction. The ring radiator tweeter is fantastically definite and creates wide scattering out to its most elevated frequencies.
The 2.5? aluminum cone midrange is housed in a cutting edge 3D printed waveguide enclosure. The 5.25? woofers feature a phalanx of advanced technology, yielding upper bass and lower midrange detail that rivals any driver on the planet. Barefoot has teamed up with the brilliant Bruno Putzeys of Hypex to develop the powerful and completely transparent amplifier stage used in every Barefoot monitor. Melding the system together is a groundbreaking new DSP crossover that took Thomas Barefoot more than 4 years to develop. With beautifully designed high end converters and cutting edge proprietary filtering techniques the MM26 sound stage is seamlessly coherent and deeply revealing.
MEME? Technology: Despite the advantages of high resolution monitors, Thomas Barefoot realizes that many engineers still use their NS10M?s ? and mix cubes as secondary references. These speakers have long traditions and people find them familiar and useful for focusing in on certain aspects of their mix. However, crowding one?s console with those extra boxes degrades the sound field of the primary reference monitors. Not to mention, they are no longer manufactured, they need amplifiers, cable runs, and they consume more studio space. The solution is to make the MM26 sound and translate like those speakers. With the turn of a knob one can switch from the MicroMain26?s brutally revealing ?Flat? response to the warmer and sweeter ?Hi-Fi? setting, generically emulating the sound of some high end consumer audio gear. More specifically the ?Old School? setting closely emulates the sound of the NS10M nearfield, while the ?Cube? setting emulates the mid-centric sound of classic mix cubes The idea is not to perfectly replicate every subtle quirk of these venerable old speakers. That would be impossible. But the MM26 can capture the essence of how they behave and translate, modeling their frequency, phase and transient responses, dynamic compression and even specific distortion components. If you know how to work on these speakers you will feel very comfortable working on the new MM26?s emulation settings.

Mixing analysis is great, but it is impractical to learn hundreds of mixes thoroughly, or carry them around just in case we want to refer to them. It is better to focus on a few selected mixes, learn them inside out, analyze them to the smallest detail of every mixing aspect and have them readily accessible when needed.Some mixing engineers carry a CD compilation with a few reference tracks (mostly their own past mixes) and upon the occasion refer to them. The novice might refer to his reference tracks on a more frequent basis. MP3 players are also used, often with the music stored in a lossless format. When mixing at home or in ones? studio, some have a specific folder on the hard drive with selected mixes.

Mixing on earphones is without a doubt advantageous, however you can never make sure if your blends will translate well to speakers. This top notch earphone amp and processor intends to address that issue.

Check the price: Black or Silver
SPL Phonitor 2 Headphone Amp / Preamp Black balanced/unbalanced headphones
Sound Performance Lab Phonitor Headphone Amplifier - Made In Germany

Perhaps, but would photographs of our Variable Mu ® Limiter Compressor or VOXBOX® have created their successes alone? You have to hear this gear. You have to use this gear. Put your hands on the knobs and crank 'em. Engineers who have already gotten hold of the MASSIVE PASSIVE have told us: "Why does it make everything sound so much better?", "It's organic and orgasmic.", "It's a f**king powerhouse.", "It's unlike any other EQ.", "This is IT. The sound I've always dreamt of but couldn't ever get until now." The MASSIVE PASSIVE is a two channel, four band equalizer, with additional high pass and low pass filters. "Passive" refers to the tone shaping part of this clever new EQ design not using any active circuitry. Only metal film resistors, film capacitors and hand-wound inductors sculpt the sound, kinda like a Pultec EQ on hyper-steroids. Super-beefy, hugely-high-headroom Manley all-tube make-up gain amplifiers deliver your tunes into the next realm. "Massive".... it's a fitting word for this beast. You'll need to experience this.

Levels and balance What is a good relative level balance is worth discussing. Some mixing engineers are experienced enough to create a mix where all the instruments sound as loud. But only a few, mostly sparse mixes might benefit from such an approach. All other mixes usually call for some variety of relative levels. In fact, trying to make everything as loud is often a self-defeating habit that novice engineers adopt ? it can be both impractical and terribly inappropriate. It is worth remembering that the relative level balance of a mastered mix is likely to be tighter ? raw mixes usually have greater relative levels variety. Setting relative balance between the various instruments is usually determined by their importance. For example, the kick in a dance track is more important than any pads. Vocals are usually the most important instrument in rock and pop music (a very common question is: ?is there anything louder than the vocals??). Maintaining sensible relative levels usually involves gain-rides. As our song progresses, the importance of various instruments might change; like in the case of a lead guitar which is made louder during the solo section.