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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.
The UA 176 is perhaps one of, if not the most highly sought-after compressors of all time. Simply finding one is an extremely difficult task on its own, and even then, trying to buy one for any less than $20,000 is just about next to impossible.
Enter the Retro Instruments 176, which is an attempt to not only bring this coveted tech to the masses, but to expound upon and heighten its capabilities.
In this review, I’ll be having a look at the ATH-M20x, the budget option in Audio-Technica’s most popular line of headphones. Besides seeing if they’re worth the expense, I’ll also be comparing them to a few competitors.
There are plenty of budget monitors out there to pick from, although most of them come with serious drawbacks. The Rokits are too bass-heavy, the Yamahas are too piercing, the list goes on.
The Adam Audio T5V? Well, they have some drawbacks too, but on a purely objective level, these monitors perform far better than a handful of their other budget counterparts.
In this review, I’ll be looking at the Neumann U 87 Ai condenser microphone. This is the updated version of the original U 87, which had its debut in 1967.
In this review, I’ll be taking a look at the Lewitt LCT 240 Pro condenser microphone. Lewitt is a great company, and I’ve come to expect some truly fantastic products from them over the years. Without further ado, let’s get started.
In this article, I’ll be reviewing the AKG C451 B small-diaphragm condenser microphone.
This is a revamping of the original model, the C451, and AKG has made some modest changes to the overall design and performance.