AGD Friends -

We're taking a week off and coming back like (another) Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss farewell tour combined the following Monday. There will be some futile attempts to post while in Colorado, but let's be honest: we don't like blogs that don't tell you when they aren't going to post for a week, month, or more. It's not fair to put all (two) of you loyal viewers (thanks, mom!) through that.

Take care, be good, and don't play ball in the house,

The AGD Team

Once again, DJ Deals has undercut the big retailers with a great price on the Mackie SRM-350 loudspeaker with Free shipping. Other places are offering this deal for a final price of $699 AFTER a rebate, but the average price is ~$599. I couldn't find a rebate on this on the impossible to navigate and slow DJ Deals site (and I'll keep complaining about it until they fix it). However, it is the best deal you'll find. Buy @ DJ Deals

Quickie Specs:

• 2-way bi-amplified, optimized Active loudspeaker system
• High-output, titanium dome compression driver
• 10-inch Neodymium long-throw low frequency transducer
• 165-Watt class-D, Fast Recovery Low Frequency amp; 30-Watt High Frequency amp
• Ultra-wide, smooth dispersion via HF waveguide
• Built-in phase accurate 24dB Linkwitz-Riley electronic crossover
• Electronic time correction, phase alignment and EQ for studio quality sound
• Mic/line input and pass-thru connector
• Lightweight for ultimate portability (26 lbs)
• Flyable, Pole mountable, Floor wedge-able

This sampler normally goes for $1995 everywhere else, but the good news is that Roland is honoring the $300 rebate for this b-stock item, which knocks the final price down to $1499.95. You save $500! Buy @ American Musical Supply

Quickie specs:

• Audio Data Format: 16-bit linear
• Sampling Frequency: 44.1 kHz (fixed)
• Maximum: Polyphony 64 voices
• Parts: 16 (Instruments) + 9 (Audio Tracks) + 1 (Audio Phrases)
• Wave Memory (RAM): DIMM: 1 slot (168 pins, PC100 CL = 2 or PC133 CL = 3, 3.3 V, 128 M bytes, 256 M bytes, 512 M bytes); 128 M bytes (standard), Expandable up to 512 M bytes (replacement to 512 M bytes DIMM is required.)
• Frequency Response MIC/Line Inputs: 20 Hz to 20 kHz (+0/-2 dB)
• Residual Noise Level: -86 dBu or less (SENS: LINE, Phono Input Jacks: short-circuited, IHF-A Typ.)
• Hard Disk: Drive 2.5 inches, 40 G bytes
• CD-R/RW Drive: Built-in type CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW

Long time readers of AGD knows that we're pretty careful about posting blemished and b-stock items as they must have at least: a return policy and a manufacturer warranty. Most items do come with a manufacturer warranty to boot.

Music 123 has a a solid 45 day return policy on their blems and refurbs which is pretty good if your "scratch and dent" is more "cleave and crush". To get the discount, just enter the coupon code BLEMSALE at check out. Good through this weekend only. Full details at Music123

Here's your Friday $5 Albums for Feb 27th. Remember, the Friday 5 are on $5 until the following Tuesday so you have all weekend to think about it.

• Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion - This has been beating out Andrew Bird's Noble Beats on the College charts for the past couple of weeks. Spin Review
• Trace Adkin's Trace Adkins X - I can never comment on new Country cuz it always sounds the same to me: baritone male vocals, slide guitar, and more compression than your aunt in a girdle. Rolling Stone Review
• the Bravery's The Sun and the Moon - 60's mod guitar rock with some garage influences. Pitchfork review
• Sepultura's A-lex - RAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGG! Metal Martyr review
• Flex's La Evolucion Romantic Style - Funky Urban pop Latino style. Get your Corona on the dance floor.

DJ Deals a offering the Mackie MR-5 near field monitors for the sweet price of $316 plus free shipping. They are being sold individually for $158 each, so be sure to add two to your cart for the pair. The one thing you do have to suffer through for this great price is DJ Deals' incredibly slow and annoying website and interstitial laden checkout process, but it is legit. Who said you didn't have to work for a great deal? Buy @ DJ Deals

• Precision Class A/B amplifiers with Active protection circuits: 55W for LF / 30W for HF
• HF and LF acoustic controls for room correction
• Balanced XLR, TRS and unbalanced RCA inputs
• 5.25-inch steel frame LF transducer
• 1-inch high-resolution HF transducer
• Minimum-diffraction design for wide sweet zone (aka more than one person can hear the mix)
• Magnetically shielded for safe placement near computer/video monitors
• Works precisely with other MR units (e.g., great idea for 5.1 set ups)

Want to inspire an impassioned conversation? You can add preferred hard drives to the list for many computer and audio folks. I've been using WD's SE16's for years and have never had one die (yet). The Caviar SE16 is known for its super silent operation reducing noise. This deal is only for the 7200 RPM version, but that's fine for most home studio use and more affordable than the 10k RPM models.

Using coupon code EMCLNNT38 knocks the price down $5 to 65.99 plus free shipping. Buy @ Newegg

Swedish prog-metal band with a killer drummer (what prog metal band doesn't, right? Don't answer that.) and uber-metal growly vocals. Buy @ Amazon

A video? Sure why not. I'm out of coffee anyway:

We did the research and this is the best deal for 6 boom mic stands from a reputable seller and manufacturer. The clincher again was free shipping on Vintage King Audio's part. In fact, they have no minimum purchase for free shipping in the continental US. Neato.

Now you'll never run out of boom stands when the drummer wants to mic the cow bell and that third microphone on the kick for "more air". OK, I've done that, too. Sigh. Buy @ Vintage King Audio

It's looking to be the day of Amazon today as they are striking pretty big with the deals. Take the Create Acoustic CA1o Guitar Amp for example. Others sellers are offering the same price and rebate (expires April 15, 2009) for a solid $79.99 final price, but without free shipping. Again, since it's sold by Amazon, returns are not a hassle if you think this thing makes your Violent Fems cover sound like Joan Baez. Buy @ Amazon

Quickie specs:

• Crate 8" high fidelity speaker
• 10 watts RMS
• 3-band EQ
• Switchable Chorus with rate control and on/off switch
• Headphone jack

If ypu have a portable recorder for interviews where the cable may get severed by a giant steel plate or are looking to drop a mcirophone into violent whirring machine for sound design (I've done both) you may want to get something a bit more affordable. The Olympus ME-15 is a perfect affordable lavalier backup with a 3.5 mm mono connector for most portable recorders or video cameras. Buy @ Amazon

30 second sample review: Chilled out, female centric alt rock similar to a light version of Mates of State, but more airy and less Pop-py. Buy @ Amazon

If you have a project studio, chances are you either have "treatment" taped, nailed, glued, and hung all over your studio trying to make it sound better. The AGD studio is basically a converted garage with specific fiberglass and burlap panels hung about (it looks - odd- but works really well).

The point was that killing standing waves and reflective surfaces is only part of the issue to tune your room which can take what seems like years. The good news is that JBL and Sweetwater have made a deal where you purchase a pair of JBL LSR4326P's and you get the tuning mic and remote free. Basically, you stand in the middle of the room with the mic and installed software and the speakers auto-tune themselves to your acoustics. Pretty cool and a real time saver for mix translation. Buy @ Sweetwater.

Quickie specs:

• Bi-amplified monitor with JBL DSP-enabled RMC Room Mode Correction system.
  
• 6" polymer-coated fiber low-frequency transducer with self-shielded neodymium magnet structure
  
• 1" soft-dome tweeter with self-shielded neodymium magnet structure and ferro fluid cooling
  
• 150 watts amplification for LF
  
• 70 watts amplification for HF
  
• XLR and 1/4" balanced analog inputs
  
• AES/EBU and S/PDIF digital inputs
  
• Integrated processing provides Automated Room Mode Correction, and compensation for speaker-to-speaker placement variations
  
• Front panel includes output level meter and user controls
  
• Harman HiQnet network and USB computer interface provide centralized control of entire system from any speaker
  
• Network cable included

Is that pesky trust fund or lottery winnings burning a hole in your pocket in these troubled financial times? Well Michael Woods, owner of MZW Proudctions, is selling his sweet homestead that includes a studio in Washington for $900k. While we just have a pic of the studio (my studio just shed a tear - oops that was the leaky floor), the whole house is pretty amazing.

I know many of AGD's fellow cheap skates can barely afford a digital recorder much less a whole flippin' house (studio or not). However, I wanted to post this for those of you who are trying to live the dream and encourage you to keep at it. Sure it sucks that he's selling his joint, but for all we know he just bought The Paramount Theater in Seattle for his own personal vocal booth. And no, the gear isn't included. Property Sale Site with more picts.

Quickie specs:

Home

• Size: 2800 Sq Ft +/-
• Bed rooms: 2 Master Suites, 1 other Bedroom
• Bathrooms: 2 full 1-3/4
• Fireplaces: 1 Wood, 1 Gas

• Warehouse Size: 3300 Sq Ft +-
• Control Room: 24’x23’x14’
• Tracking Room: 12’x24’x14’
• Office # 1: 16’x16’x9’
• Office # 2 & 3: 12’x 12’x 8’ea.
• Bathrooms: 3/4 w/ laundry
• Wood shop: 40’x 16’x 10’
• Extra Storage: 40’x10’ container

Some days gaffer's tape just isn't enough - and that's when the old trusty silver roll is broken out to mend your woes, gear, and maybe something like a wallet on the snare. But what do you do for a monster drummer or a quick fix inside a tube cabinet (not on the tubes themselves of course)?

Nuclear grade duct tape.

Yuppers. To make us all feel safer about nuclear energy, it's nice to know nuclear physicists can now solve their problems just like everybody else. (Insert Chernobyl and 3 Mile Island jokes here).

Anyway, whats' great about this stuff is that it's easier to write on, can take up to 200 degrees of heat, and is pretty water tight - which makes it a flexible problem solver for your fusion powered Hafler amp or sealing a cracked mic or Pelican case in the middle of nowhere. Plus, you get bragging rights just having it in your kit and all the stupid "nuclear option" jokes the crew and band can handle.

Lastly, I encourage you to read the Amazon reviews on this. None of them are real, but all of them are hilarious - especially the bizarre customer image of what looks like a radioactive poo monster (?). Buy @ Amazon

[via ToolMonger]

Get an affordable drum mic kit for only $75 at Abe's of Maine. CAD is more known for their massive large diapragm mics (which I have used with great results), but haven't tried their smaller mics. Regardless, you're getting a great deal on four mics for your kits from a reputable manufacturer. You can either wait for Km187's and Sennheiser 422's to go on sale (they rarely do - if ever) or you can start recording. Set includes mics for two toms, a snare, and a kick. Buy @ Abe's of Maine

Glen Trew, founder of Trew Audio, has a great article on using EQ when on the set. In the music industry it's usually considered a bit risky to "EQ to tape" in most instances, and that logic usually carries over in the movie industry for production sound because we all know the mantra "Fix it in the mix", right?

Glen is breaking down some of those myths about this sometimes feared process and gives real world examples of why this is philosophy is an out-moded way of thinking. Full Article

If you are on the dark side of the loudness war, love acoustic guitars that sound like machines, huge amounts of compression, and Britney Spears' singing style, then pick up Anya Marina's "Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II" for only $3.99. Buy @ Amazon