Music Gear Year 2021 in Review

My wife has been uber supportive of me getting back into playing music. So much so, she encouraged me to try Cello. Oh man, I’m totally addicted. I’ve been playing electric bass and electric violin, so it did make sense. I said “Does that mean I can has Cello?”. Sweetie said YES!

For a year and a half, I’ve mostly played through my beloved Fender Mustang modeling amp and used various microphones in stereo to record into Cubase on my laptop.

There were some technical errors I’ve made, so on one hand, I needed some change. (I read a couple great audio engineering books). Then, coincidentally, my wife asked if I could record using headphones – due to my studio sharing a wall with her home office. To do this, I had to do way more research than I expected.

Runner up products on my list of best are the NS Designs WAV5 5 string Violin, SSL2 Audio Interface and Motu M2 Audio Interface.

Just for yucks, here is a song I’m writing through the ultra cool Universal Audio 276:

Now another song idea through the SSL2:

Lastly, the MOTU M2:

The SSL is “brighter” and the UA is a bit fuller I suppose. I like both sounds equally. Ergonomically speaking, the Volt 276 is best, then the Motu M2, then the SSL2.

The UA and SSL have features that enhance the sound. The MOTU does not, so in some ways, the MOTU is a reference or a big step up to the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. All three are keepers.

OK. Now back to playing music and trying to write new song ideas!