Sometimes you can speak volumes with few words.

Such is the case with this recent Tech Tip from Sweetwater. There is absolute GOLD in these two paragraphs. Read them carefully. Then read them again.

For a double value, print them out and tape them over your lava lamp. Tada! Great mixing advice and protection from the looming lava lamp conspiracy!

Want to do a final check of the relative balances between tracks in your mix? Turn the volume way down to where you can barely hear it. Now, listen. Can you still hear all the tracks? Is the vocal clearly audible? Is anything jumping out? Anything you can’t hear?

Assuming your monitors are neutral and that your room is reasonably acoustically neutral (and you know both well), this low-level listening test will tell you volumes (no pun intended) about how your mix will hold up at normal listening levels and at high levels.

Go forth and mix!

Turn Down Your Mix For Validation is a post from: Home Recording Studio Guru

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1. Balancing Your Mix Properly
2. A “Safe” Lava Lamp Alternative
3. And Another Peaceful Member Comes Into The Mac Fold

Once again, Sweetwater fails to disappoint.

( Just in case you’re wondering, I swear this is not a commercial for Sweetwater. I have no financial or compensation deal of any kind with them, although I wish I did. I would LOVE to get paid for promoting them by simply relating great stories like this.)

I took the busted piece of gear to my local shipping center, slapped on the prepaid label and sent it off, taking note of the tracking number.

I came home and e-mailed the tracking number to the service department at Sweetwater. 30 minutes later, I had confirmation that a brand-new unit was shipping out that same day.

So, the whole game has now been reset and I’m waiting for my new P-Solo microphone pre to arrive! I’m hoping it’s able to make its way to me before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thank you for all your kind messages, and of course, jokes at my expense. I love you all!

Since this was just a short update post, I also wanted to include a very cool quote from a master keyboard musician I ran across today.

Enjoy!

“I always aim to multiply the sound possibilities of each keyboard at least ten times. Once you get to know each instrument, there is really no limit to the possibilities. The first step is to learn the range and capabilities of all the instruments used in a symphony orchestra. Once you’ve mastered that, you can start to do things with the keyboards. The only real problem is that you’ve only got two hands.” — Vangelis

UPDATE: Saga Of The Busted Pre Part III – The Legend of Curly’s Gold is a post from: Home Recording Studio Guru

Related posts:

1. UPDATE: Saga Of The Busted Pre – Part II
2. True Systems P-Solo Microphone Pre Shoot Out Part II

As you may (or may not) know Sweetwater Sound ran a Twitter contest and I won! Yay me! I’ve never won anything in my life, so this is a great first for me.

The prize? A True Systems P-Solo Ribbon mic pre, retail value $535.00! I about soiled myself when I won.

I had just seen Ronan Murphy review this unit in a shootout he did over on Ronan’s Recording Show.

Against a Black Lion Autere and a FMP RNP, the P-Solo stomped them according to Ronan. He also compared it to a few of his very high end mic pres and it fared very nicely. After I saw that I said to myself, “Self, I think you’re going to have to get one of those some day soon!” Little did I know.

The Sweetwater engineer handling this contest is John Grabowski, Director of Purchasing. After I won he contacted me right away and had the unit shipped out the very same day. Yeah, go John!

So, as I eagerly waited for the FedEx truck I tracked the progress across the US from Sweetwater’s location in Fort Wayne, Indiana using the tracking area of their web site.

Today the big day came and I took delivery of my prize. Time for a small victory dance!

I took it out of the box. Looks good…real good. Nice all metal case; feels solid. I can’t wait to try it out with my Shure SM7.

Next, I clean off a space on the top of my rack for it and get it all set into it’s new home. I pulled all the cords from my current pre and wired up the P-Solo. Cool, all ready to give it the first test.

I hit the power switch . . . NOTHIN’!

Check the voltage switch on the back, it looks good. I try the switch a couple of more times . . . still NOTHIN’! DOH!

Ah! Maybe there’s an outlet problem. I try it in an outlet across the room. Nothin’. Different circuit maybe? I try an outlet in the hallway…the kitchen…the living room…ARGHHHHHH!

Oh! Wouldn’t it be funny if this was just a case of a bad power cord? Of course, it’s always the simple things. I plug in a fresh cord…GAHHH!

Oh, the manual says it has fuses, that must be it! They probably got all wonkers in shipping and just need to be reseated. I pull out the fuse tray, reseat the fuses, push the tray back in, plugin it in. Nope. I must’ve missed something so I do it again. And again. And again.

DOUBLE DOH!

It’s time to face the music (or the lack of it) . . . it’s DOA, Dead On Arrival. Well, at least it looks good, as you can see by the picture below.

The True Systems P-Solo Ribbon Mic Pre

And now it’s the weekend and Sweetwater won’t be open again until Monday. By the time all is said and done it’s going to another week or two until I get a working unit. Blerg. I sent out an e-mail to John explaining what happened. This way he’ll get it first thing Monday morning

But, I was about to get a surprise. John e-mailed me back, on a Saturday! Here’s a little of what he said after issuing instructions to the service department on my behalf:

“Allen, looks like you’ll get to experience our tech support / service department firsthand. We’ll get you taken care of right away.”

Short and sweet and just what I needed to hear. Sweetwater has never let me down in the customer service department and it looks like that tradition continues.

Oh well, I’ll just sit here and stare at it and imagine what it might sound like.

I’ll keep you posted as the Saga Of The Busted Pre continues to unfold.

Meanwhile, here’s the episode of Ronan’s Recording Show featuring a working P-Solo:

The True Systems P-Solo Ribbon Mic Pre Is In The House . . . Oh Wait . . . is a post from: Home Recording Studio Guru

Related posts:

1. The True Systems P-Solo Ribbon Mic Pre Review
2. True Systems P-Solo Microphone Pre Shoot Out Part II
3. Three Mic Pres Under $500: Black Lion Audio, True Systems and FMR Audio