Vintage King Audio is giving away a Neve 1073 Mic Pre/EQ. You have until April 14th to enter to win arguably the best preamp ever made. Not kidding. You could tie a string and can to this thing and you'll sound like Celine Dion...OK, not really selling it here. This amp normally goes of $3k+. Enter and details here

Happy Friday the 13th! If you plan on holing up in a bunker and watching reruns on Hulu, you may also want to check out Music 123's 13% Off Sale this weekend since you're on the Internet. All you have to do is type in FRIDAY13 at check out and you're good to go.

Since it can be pretty hard to find anything you want with that "qualifying items" page, we pulled a few that we found interesting:

• Olympus LS-10 Linear PCM Recorder - $348 after discount - This is a highly recommended portable recorder by sound pros as it sounds great and has it's own internal speaker.
• Musicians Gear Pop Filter - ~$12.99 after discount
• MXL 990 Condenser Microphone with Shockmount - $60.00 after discount
• Nady PCM-200 Classic Dynamic Mic - $62.60 after discount
• Technics SL-1200MK2 Turntable - $434.18 after discount

Here we go again with another Friday $5 Sale at Amazon. As you know the Friday $5 stuff lasts till about Tuesday of next week, where the The Who is a daily deal, so snap it up if you are tired of hearing the lame short version on CSI.

Friday $5 Albums

• Lady Gaga - The Fame | review
• David Crowder Band - Remedy | review
• Anne-Sophie Mutter - Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto Op.64; Piano Trio Op.49; Violin Sonata in F major
• Missy Higgins - On a Clear Night | review
• Dethklok - The Dethalbum | review

• The Who - Who Are You

We hit you with some pricey - but awesome - deals today, so we thought we'd give you something to relax to that's way under a $100.We like to post this continuous deal from Amazon every one in a while as new pieces are always being added. It seems they have expanded their 30% off discount to a quite a large selection. All these box sets have at least 3 discs. Buy and Browse 30% Off Box sets @ Amazon

While by no means are these the picks you'd make, we thought it would be neat to cherry pick our wish list:

• Johnny Cash - The Legend - $26.97
• Miles Davis - Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (August 1969-February 1970) - $24.97
• AC/DC - Bonfire - $39.97
• Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn - $25.97
• Hitsville USA, Vol. 1: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971 - $35.97
• The Temptations - Emperors of Soul - $49.97
• Elvis Presley - Elvis #1 Singles - $34.97

If you're making some serious cheddar and looking to upgrade your DJ rig, B&H Photo has the best deal on the Pioneer DJM700 4 channel DJ mixer for only $899 after the $300 mail in rebate. The next lowest price we found including the rebate was for $100 more. Buy @ B&H Photo

Quickie Specs:

• Number of Channels: 4
• I/O: XLR, 1/4" phone, MIDI, RCA, Coaxial
• Sampling Rate: 96 kHz
• A/D, D/A Converter: 24-bit
• Frequency Response: 20 Hz - 20 kHz
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 104 dB (Line)
• Head Room: 19 dB
• Power Requirements: AC 220-240V ( 50/60 Hz)
• Power Consumption: 33 W
• Dimensions (without package) (W x D x H): 320 x 378.4 x 107.9 mm

audioMIDI has the best price ($849.63) on this fantastic all purpose mic. I've seen them used on everything from guitars, drums, and vocals. High output, low self-noise and just plain tough. The large diaphragm can handle the SPLs (up to 158 db!!), but the fact it's a condenser means it can pick up some great detail. Other quality retailers are selling this mic for $999. Buy @ audioMIDI

Quickie specs:

• 1-inch large-diaphragm pressure gradient microphone
• Polar pattern: Omnidirectional, wide cardioid, cardioid, hypercardioid, figure eight
• Frequency range: 20 to 20,000 Hz (see frequency response traces)
• Sensitivity: 23 mV/Pa (-33 dBV) ± 0.5 dB
• Max. SPL: 200/400/800/1600 Pa = 140/146/152/158 dB SPL (0/-6/-12/-18 dB) (for 0.5% THD)
• Signal/noise ratio: 88 dB
• Preattenuation pad: -6 dB, -12 dB, -18 dB, switchable
• Bass cut filter slope: 12 dB/octave at 40 Hz and 80 Hz; 6 dB/octave at 160 H
• Supply voltage: 48 V phantom power to DIN/IEC
• Dynamic range: 134 dB minimum

Hey, if you're going to get blitzed and puke green on St. Patty's Day, at least dress like a rock star. Until March 17th, use coupon code STPAT at Wolfgang's Vault and get 17% off anything in their apparel store from sweet classic rock t-shirts, hats, and jackets, to onesies for your screaming offspring. Shop @ Wolfgang's Vault

David Coverdale, the other guy who came from the land of ice and snow, and his band Whitesnake used to be my favorite group in high school. This album actually had a good collection of classic rockers: Rudy Sarzo on bass, John Sykes on guitar, and Tommy Aldridge (who has had the same drum solo since 1975). Anyway, I still like "Still of the Night" (basically a rehash of Zep's "Black Dog") and watching "Here I Go Again". Something about a buxom redhead in a sheer whatever-she's-wearing rolling over Jaguars. Buy @ Amazon

You didn't think I'd mention Tawny Kitaen's appearance without posting a youtube video, did you? Lace up your leather pants! (or not).



Update: I'm watching this video and there's more tongue wagging, hair, and dry humping in this video than a dog show.

Looking to upgrade your MIDI studio with a bit? Sweetwater is offering a free MicroTrack II portable recorder when you buy select M-Audio reference monitors or 61 key and 88 Key controllers. This is a great opportunity to collect new samples with the MicroTrack II and get some upgraded sound and controlling options at the same time. Applicable items will have "Bundle Up and Get a - FREE MicroTrack II - a $299.97 Value!" at the top of the product page with a rebate form.

For those of you wanting to scrap your 4 track and get into the game of digital production, Icon Collective is having a contest to get a 6 month scholarship into their program ( a $10k value) plus a copy of Native Instruments Komplete 5. There are 2nd and 3rd place prices as well. Learn more and enter

Zippy, old school Country music with nothing more than an acoustic guitar, lap steel, drum kit and the occasional piano. Rolling Stone review | Buy @ Amazon

The video for "Fight" is kinda fun:

Musician's Friend is having a Spring Cleaning Sale where items are up to 75% off! A quick flip through the 10 pages of deals had these two items catch my eye:

Heil Sound Classic Pro Dynamic Cardioid Studio Microphone - $99, over $200 every where else.

Quickie specs:

• Generating element: Dynamic
• Frequency response: 50Hz to 18kHz
• Impedance: 600 ohms balanced
• Output level: -55dB @ 1,000 Hz.
• Polar pattern: Cardioid, uniform front to back discrimination
• Diaphragm: Large diameter low-mass aluminum
• Net weight: 6 lbs. on supplied cast-steel base

• Base: 0.4 Inches
• Boom Length: 0.7 / 1.1 Inches
• Height: 0.7 Inches
• Weight: 13.23 lbs
• Weight: 13.23 lbs
• Height: 0.7 Inches

Time to stock up on those expendables! Batteries.com is offering a 15% discount on their entire stock through March 16th when you use coupon code SPRING09. They carry everything from alkaline to proprietary batteries for Sony gear, iPod, and other portable devices. Shop @ Batteries.com

Front End Audio has a great deal on Select IK Media plugin bundles saving you up to 50% off!

Total Guitar & Bass Bundle: $299.99

Cutting Edge? Yes. Cutting Edge has been around for years in the SF Bay Area as a pro audio retailer. Unknown to some (OK, me), they have a webstore available now which gives me a new place to troll for deals for all of you.

Here's a good One: they are selling the Benchmark MPS-420 Four Channel Mic Preamp for a special price of $1199. This is a high-end preamp only does 1 thing: amplify your mics. This preamp was named one Mix Magazine's top of the line preamps. Buy @ Cutting Edge

I just listened to some of the samples from this album and holy hell: Chris Cornell was just produced by Timbaland? I ask that as if a school bus whizzed by that had an elephant stuffed inside mating with a ostrich. L.A. Times Review | Buy @ Amazon

Tired of the always positive gear magazine reviews? Think a piece of gear ruined your music career during a crotch thrusting, guitar wailing guitar solo and now you're stuck in a cubicle? Maybe you're finally ready to reveal your secret piece of gear and sign its praises? Now it's time to be heard!

Every time you fill out a review at Music123 between now and April 9th, you enter yourself for a weekly drawing for a $250 gift certificate. Wheee! Details @ Music 123

audioMIDI has some great rebate offers for SoftTube modeling plugins through March 31st:

• Effect Bundle $20
• Metal Amp Room $20
• Vintage Amp Room Native $25
• FET Compressor Native $25
• Vintage Amp Room TDM $30
• FET Compressor TDM $30

If you buy the Native Instruments GuitarRig Session by March 31st, 2009, you can get the full version of the GuitarRig software for free! The software normally goes for ~$300. Considering the price of the hardware is $199.97, this is a great deal. Buy @ Sweetwater

Quickie specs:

• Five guitar and bass amps
  
• 21 effects: stomp boxes, distortion and volume pedals and other popular units
  
• Essential tools: Integrated tuner, metronome and two tapedeck modules
  
• Portable USB 2.O bus-powered audio interface with aluminum casing
  
• 24-bit/192KHz Cirrus Logic AD/DA converters
  
• Two balanced inputs: 1 Mic/Line/hi-Z (phantom power supplied) and 1 Line/hi-Z; individual gain controls with activity and clip LEDs
  
• Software: Guitar Rig 3 XE, Steinberg Cubase Le 4, KORE Player and the KORE Soundpack "Pop Drums"
  
• Works with Stand-Alone or these plugin types: VST, Audio Units, RTAS under Pro Tools 7, ASIO, Core Audio, DirectSound

Trew Audio is offering a special deal on the Tram TR-50 lavalier mic for only $179 until April 1st. These mics are pretty much the industry standard for lav mics for interviews and production sound. This is for the MIC ONLY. Buy @ Trew Audio

If you have never bought anything from Trew Audio, you're missing out. Personalized service and a great staff who are audio pros and can answer any question you have. I know that sounded like they paid me to say that (trust me, I wish they were), but I have bought from them in the past and they went above and beyond for a deadline I had. The deadline? I needed the gear before March winds ended that I needed to record. They didn't laugh at me, they said "Oh no! We'll see what we can do!" They know what it's like to be a neurotic sound guy.

Quickie Specs:

• Phantom Power via 12-48V external power supply or 1.5V internal battery
• 40-16,000 Hz frequency response
• Size: 0.196" x 0.300" x 0.510"
• Omnidirectional electret condenser -1.3V operating voltage
• Output level -57dB
• Nominal impedance: 250 ohms
• Balanced XLR output
• Maximum SPL: 134d

Abe's of Maine has the KEYSTATION PRO 88 Master MIDI Controller for only $359. Full 88 keys and plenty of controls to control your favorite MIDI instrument program. Normally priced at $399 elsewhere. Buy @ Abe's of Maine

For the price conscious, Brass & Woodwind is selling the refurbished version for only $339.99. Buy @ Woodwind & Brasswind

Quickie Specs:

• 88-note hammer-action keyboard
• 59 MIDI-assignable controllers; 4 zones
• USB bus powered and class compliant
• multiple dynamic velocity curves
• MIDI I/O
• includes Ableton Live Lite music production software, so you can make music right away

What if you showed up at your favorite coffee roastery and they guy performing in the corner started singing dirty, adolescent songs about sex with a geeky vibe? For $.99 you can find out. Buy @ Amazon


Here's a sample.