Great Sounding 19" Studio Outboard Gear You Can Buy Today For Under $3,000 - What's Your Next Purchase?
As good as plug-ins have become over the last decade, for some, they still can’t really hold a candle to real studio outboard gear. However, outboard gear isn’t generally very cost effective nor can it be strapped across every single track in a mix like plug-ins can but it does provide an interactive hands on workflow that plug-ins just cannot provide. Check out our article Many Of Your Beloved New Plug-in Versions Of Vintage Studio Hardware Miss One Vital Real World Feature for more on this.
If you are in the market for a new studio outboard processor then you are starting your search in the right place. At Production Expert we have been fortunate enough to test a wide variety of outboard gear. In this article, you check out reviews and verdicts on a great many studio outboard units you can buy today for your recording studios for under £3,000. We’ve sorted these into four main categories to help you find the best unit for your needs.
Microphone Preamps & Channel Strips
Outboard recording mic preamps and channel strips are often the easiest way for audio engineers to dial in a "tone" or specific "sound" for instrument and vocal tracks at source before recording to “tape”. Considered as front-ends, channel strips enable us to get production ready sounds right from the get go. Many channel strips feature tubes, high pass filters, EQ, saturation and compression. A blend of all those stages can be "committed" to the recording of instruments and vocals, which is why many producers who swear by channel strips, find that their mixes sound better and more complete much earlier on in their productions.
If you have yet to experience the benefits of recording through a mic preamp in your studio then read our article 6 Reasons Why Having An Outboard Channel Strip In Your Studio Could Help You To Improve Your Recordings to find out how you could be missing out on a very popular approach to tracking.
Below are several great options to consider for budgets up to $3,000:
On A Budget?
If you only have a modest budget and are currently in the market for a mic preamp do check our article 5 Recording Channels Strips You Can Buy For Your Studio For Under $1,000, which suggests several very good starter solutions.
Outboard Studio Compressors
Outboard compressors are one of the most popular forms of studio outboard gear. How do we know this? In a recent poll we asked If You Only Had One Type Of Studio Outboard Processor To Mix With What Would It Be? EQ, Compressor Or Something More Exotic? 43% of those who voted stated they would rather have some form of dynamics processor in their racks over any other style of outboard unit. Below are several options that cover single channel and stereo units to consider if you are looking at buying a new compressor for your studio:
Outboard EQ
EQ is an essential tool in an audio engineer’s toolbox. Plug-ins are great but there’s nothing quite like routing a dedicated outboard EQs when a track or mix needs of some TLC, which in this context stands for Tone Loving Care. If you are in the market for a new EQ unit check out the following which can be yours for under $3,000:
Outboard Effects & Auxiliary Units
What if you are after a new studio outboard unit but you already own some dynamic and EQ processors? These days when audio engineers want to apply effects such as reverb, they typically reach for plug-ins as software is very convenient, but as we all know that’s not how it was done in the analog days. Even though plug-ins are the obvious go to for effects there are still one or two options available if you would rather go the outboard route for effects. Even if effects in an outboard unit isn’t your thing then consider a unit that can patch everything together digitally. Below are two units that don’t fall into any of the categories we’ve mentioned in this article but are well worth checking out if you have an outboard itch that needs scratching:
How To Integrate Studio Outboard In Modern Hybrid Recording Studios
Many of us use what is widely referred to as hybrid recording studio setups. We like to work "In The Box" in the digital audio domain but we also love using analog outboard gear. Hybrid studios enable us to harness the power, convenience and pristine sound quality of modern digital audio workstations while also being able to integrate characterful analog outboard gear such as tube EQs, multi-effects units and dynamic processors. Working in a hybrid setup does sacrifice some time-saving conveniences that digital audio workflows offer, however, there are some Pro Audio brands that have taken note of the modern hybrid studio trend and have developed some products that either cater specifically to this market or solutions that help hybrid studio users in their day to day workflows.
In our article Hybrid Recording Studio Setups - 4 Products That Help You Work With Analog Outboard Hardware In Digital Audio Software Workflows we list a handful of products and solutions available today that help audio engineers who run hybrid studios bridge the gap between their DAWs and analog studio outboard gear.
How To Connect An Outboard Unit To Use With Your DAW
If you haven’t setup an outboard unit with a DAW then fear not, it’s easy to do. In this Production Expert Premium Tutorial we show how to route a hardware outboard unit for use as a hardware insert in DAW. Though this video shows you how to achieve this in Pro Tools the hardware routing we demonstrate is transferable to any DAW and interface.