What's the latest gear you've acquired?

boring, but I bought a couple 90 deg angle XLR cables (for use on rack toms w/ ATM230's).  Nice and compact and won't get in the way.  I got the Telefunken brand this time, but I also got a couple cheap 6" adapters  www.amazon.com/dp/B0CH2V5TCR (they seems to work fine in the studio but don't know that I'd trust them for any road work).  Also just ordered a couple ProCo (also angled female XLR) because I needed some shorter lengths (5' and 10') and Telefunken only has 5m or 10m and I don't need that long this time...

So I did look at Redco and prefer to build my own, but the Neutrik 90 deg female XLR's are not cheap (but just noticed they are a couple bucks less at Mouser) and in the end, buying these pre-made turned out to be better financially (although they don't appear to be Neutrik on the Tfunk).  And I only wanted the female 90 deg (the end that connects to the mic).  Everything else goes in straight. Oh yeah... and I had a Sweetwater gift card (from selling something on GX).     I do have a few 90 deg 1/4" TRS patch cables and I know what you mean...  but sometimes the 90 deg are better because I don't want them sticking out (which can also get in the way with my setup). 

Grabbed some km184s and I really have nothing but good things to say about them. Never had an easier time working with acoustic guitar and piano (mono or stereo recording). Really pretty terrible for amps or anything that would have vocal bleed but damn it's incredible for acoustic instruments. I'm excited to try it on more sources.

I think I posted awhile back that I picked up a Pearlman TM-1.  Just got to use it on a proper vocal session (as well as some more room mic duty in omni) and wow, the vocal sound was exactly what I was hoping for (chain was TM-1->Lin2A->AML 5003D->Apollo16). I put a little bit of HPF on it and done.  I have a few other "nice" mics (and at least one that was more expensive) and while they are great, they sound different. Of course, the singer was pretty good too.  The TM-1 is going to get a lot more use.

I made an offer on a Cranesong Flamingo pre. This one had a dead channel and looked like some water damage/rust on top so I lowballedit so if i couldnt get it fixed I would have a least one channel of a bucket list pre since forever. It was the first preamp I ever heard that made a difference back when i was just starting out many years ago.

So we reach an agreement, i bring it to my tech and he said he couldnt do anything without a schematic. I contact Cranesong and they said send it in and we will give you an estimate. Turned out to be very reasonable and they brought it all up to spec and I am a happy slut. Keep supporting these guys! RIP Dave.

Uh…no sluts allowed here lol

Yeah my cheese head brothers tend to be reasonable, great to see you here I was just thinking about you.

New Echorec due to speed control. Buzz DBC for the output of my Phoenix Theata.
Another Bluey just cos.
More Beesneez capsules. Moby xformers. Hundreds of tubes and capacitors.

Walrus Audio Meraki. It's killer, killer, killer, killer...

Whoa! Nice. I really like that pedal but I wouldn't use the stereo thing, but if I had the need, I would totally grab it. Kind of answers all the people who wanted the Boss DM101 to be true stereo. Congrats!

What ? You didn’t decide to spend your life savings on a special addition API 5500!

I got something new, for a short time at least—more later, feel like telling a story. 

I visited Vintage King Los Angeles with my friend tonight. My first time, while he’s bought a few things from them. It was their “Pre-NAMM” party, the place was packed—he was invited, but despite having online registration, there was no checking whatsoever, we just walked in. Chris Lord-Alge was hanging out. My friend had to work at getting someone to sell him something—he found out his usual guy no longer works there.

We checked out their Atmos room, then I spotted their mic iso booth. A lone guy was comparing the mics they had set up. He owned one of them, was checking against others. He left, I donned headphones (had the Neumann NDH-20) and stepped up to the mics. Obvious comb filtering on all, clearly something was wrong. The salesman came in to discuss what my friend was looking for, I asked him about the problem, and he said he’d have it checked, and left. But before the door had even closed, I saw that the monitor switcher had a suspicious LED lit, I pressed the button. Mystery of the comb filter solved, the monitor had two paths enabled.

OK, so I finally got to hear the Soyuz 017 Tube. Back in the dark COVID days, I was thinking about looking for a new mic, my friend (same) encouraged me to get a tube mic. I considered a Soyuz 017 Tube, going by listening to the available online audio test and comments. But people liked the FET version, and ultimately I went that way. Going through the mics they had set up, the Soyuz Tube sounded good, it’s obviously a dark mic compared to most there, but it sounded nice, smooth. I was going through them with a mellow vocal, checking for which caught my ear and which didn’t. Obviously, I couldn’t hear how they sit in a track, only whether I thought some aspect of my voice sounded good.

In no particular order…the U67 was possibly tops, but likely only because I’ve lusted to sing through one, I like the U67 sound but had never had access. The Manley Reference Cardioid seemed like a very usable choice, the Gold was that and whole ‘nother level of sparkles. One I liked ended up being the FLEA 47, I liked the UA Bock 167, as I already knew—my friend has one and he’d brought it over a few months back so I could compare it with my 017 FET. I might be leaving one or two out that I liked well enough. A couple of the mics had really low level so I couldn’t give them a fair shake.

OK, for the new gear: My friend wanted a Royer ribbon. I think it might have been the R-121 that he was after (they needed to order), but he also likes to go home with something, so ended up with an R-10 for now, to see if it would do the job (in his Silent Sister, guitar iso cabinet). It ends up he still wants me to try a tube mic, because he bought me a Lauten LA-320. (We’re way-old-time band mates, I manage his computer setups and upgrades, tech stuff, which he hates, he wanted to show his appreciation.) He was looking for a V2, but they only had a demo-return V1 on-hand, he said we could get the V2 later.

But it didn’t go so smoothly. He carried it to the car, and on the way says, hey check this out, it doesn’t seem to weigh enough. Yeah, the box was really light. So, we opened it, no power supply (no case either, I guess the hazards of demo gear). We went back and his guy found the supply (ironically, also very light—apparently a switcher), we were on our way.

It gets worse. We hooked it up, and it had a 60 Hz hum. Definitely from the PS-mic pair. I tossed it back in the box for him to return (he lives near VK, I don’t). And we set up his UA Bock 167 and I did some vocal takes for a tune he’s helping me polish.

Any comments on the LA-320 V2? In addition to the Soyuz (my main vocal mic, currently), I have a C414B-ULS, SM7B. Wondering if maybe the LA-320 will fit the bill for more intimate vocal tracks or something, as a complement to the Soyuz.