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Brandon is a producer, audio engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and senior writer at Higher Hz, where he covers microphones, studio monitors, audio interfaces, and recording techniques.
Coming from humble beginnings, Schock began recording psychedelic bedroom pop with nothing except for GarageBand and the built-in microphone on his laptop as a teenager.
While he's since upgraded his recording setup, Brandon still has a proclivity to work through the confines of limitation.
His music is spasmodic, distorted, and restless, often taking inspiration from artists such as Cornelius and The Beach Boys.
Over the years, he's gained a vast amount of experience recording, writing, and performing with local groups and fellow artists such as Petty Walker, and Windy 500.
When it comes to gear, Brandon has a particular fondness for several models and series of studio gear. He usually records through his Focusrite Clarett 8Pre, aided by his Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro for tracking.
For microphones, the Electro-Voice RE20, Neumann KM 184, the AKG SE300 B (particularly when using the CK91 capsule), and Coles 4038 are worked to their limits in his studio.
He also has a soft spot for Adam Audio studio monitors, which he has been using for years.
In terms of preamps, Brandon has two favorites: the clean and transparent Focusrite ISA One and the warm and colorful Universal Audio Solo/610.
However, even though he has his mainstays in his arsenal, he's incessantly researching and trying to find hidden gems.
Still forever passionate about music, Brandon has recently dedicated himself to writing about the latest innovations in audio technology, while keeping busy with his own projects and passions.
Back in the 1980s, Yamaha came out with the NS-10. These monitors sounded absolutely horrible, but it was that exact reason that Yamaha found great success through their release. The short of it all was that they were harsh, brittle, but extremely accurate at showing sore spots and weaknesses in any mix.
Yamaha’s newer line of monitors, the HS5, are often compared to the NS-10, and for the most part, that comparison is fairly accurate.
Roswell is a boutique microphone company, which has made a reputation of creating extremely well performing products for competitive prices. I expect that the Mini K47 and K87 are no exception here, but let’s take a closer look.
As far as entry-level audio interfaces go, the Tascam US-1x2HR seems to offer the same level of performance. Let’s go through everything it has to offer.
If you’re looking for a cheap pair of studio monitors, one possible solution you may have come across is, of course, the Eris 3.5 from PreSonus. For just around $100, it definitely holds an argument for your consideration, but I’m not the biggest fan of it.
In this review, I’ll be taking a look at the Motu M2 audio interface. It’s one of the better options in terms of entry-level units, so let’s take a closer look.
What is there to say about the Shure SM57 that hasn’t been said before? For starters, it’s a legendary microphone that sounds great on just about anything.
It’s incredibly cheap, extremely durable, and most professionals have at least a handful of them lying around somewhere in their studio.