Because I play all of the instruments myself, I like to leave things ready to record and have a few standard setups depending on the sounds I need to create. On a daily basis these are the units that get crushed, rocked, twisted and tilted to create music that squeezes out of boob tubes around the globe.

Devin's Favorite Gear

Neumann U67 for female singers, U47 for males singers, Manley Cardioid w/ a Calrad 500 crystal or Webster crystal attached to side for overloaded distortion vocals. KM54 for acoustics.

The above mics are either patched into, Mercury Redd 47 mic pre/ Mercury 66 Limiter, Chandler Germanium / Universal Audio La2a or Neve 1073/ Retro Sta - Level on fast attack setting. Lately I have been using a Steve Firlotte modded Magnecorder mic pre that is really warm and thick as well.

My Gretsch Maple kit lives in the next room and is always miked with Neve 1073's kick / D12 and snare Sm57, Fairchild 662 pre / Sennheiser 421 on toms, Neve 1073/ Royer 121’s on over heads. Additionally I have an Altec 1567a mixer with 57s’ on kick ,snare and a 609 on over head coming in on a mono track , this sound rules! (Beatles, Beach Boys) An Ampex MX10 with an AEA 44 clone about 5 feet in front of the Kick, and two Shure Levelocs for stereo room. These mic’s never move and the pres are never touched, I am ready to play drums anytime by opening up 12 tracks .

Guitars and bass parts are tracked either direct thru Neve 1272, a Mercury M72, Telefunken v72 or and Avalon 737, or a combination of direct and mic’s. I favor small watt amps Supro, Airline, Tophat, Marshall 20 watt, My all time favorite guitar amp is The Wizard modern classic 100 watt thru 25 watt Celestion speakers, but it’s load and my cat doesn’t like it as much as I do

When it comes time to mix I have several stereo limiters set up with Eq’s following them so I have many on the spot choices. These are all patched and ready to bring in as plug-ins inside my Pro Tools session.

The stereo bus usually has a Manley Vari-Mu into an Avalon 2055 (for ultra highs and lows) into a Massive Passive Mastering Version. This is my gentle chain and I barley touch these boxes and do not have them on all the time. When I want to make a statement I use a Shadow Hills mastering limiter into Mercury PQ-P tube EQ’s, this rig really can pump up the vibe quotient. My stuff goes straight to TV with out sweetening most times so I add whatever touches I think are needed, and I do the same for the Pop bands I work with so it sounds mastered when it leaves.

I send the Pro Tools tracks into a 32 channel Chandler EMI mixer and usually go back in on two tracks for the mix, for theme songs and pop songs I go DAT or CD burner.

Inside the tracks is where I have my magic dust limiters and eq’s, which is where I guess I should list my fave pieces, although I love everything above and am not sure how I could live without them.

Vacuvox CL2 Limiter2: for Vocals and Bass these things are just amazing!! Brauer turned me on to them. I have even use them on the Stereo bus, really thick

Presto 41 Limiter: for anything, these have a shimmer and thickness that is just wonderful!!

Retro Sta-Level: these are newer Sta-Levels that just rock your bass and kick drum sub and also make a weak vocal come forward really nice, Phil Moore and the folks at Retro Rock!

Mercury 66’s: when I want that Fairchild sound, especially on vocals and drums

Inward connections TSL3 Limiter: for back ground vocals and acoustic guitars, just fabulous. I even did some stereo bus with this unit.

EMI Chandler Zener limiter: Amazing for drums like nothing else, they also take your guitars and pushes them right thru your speakers in a very aggressive way

Federal Limiter: These old military units have a very cool mid that when blended with a track they can add great fullness and tightness, most people use them for bass, I also use a pair on kick and snare sometimes wow!!!!! I have 2 Wunder Audio 1073 clones paired with these, the low on the Wunder and the mid in the Federal are a natural match.

Dept of Commerce Limiter with Dale Kronquist Mod: These units are getting harder to find and they need some work, but the have a very aggressive focused sound that really works wonders on acoustic guitars an vocals. The mod turns them unto true vai mu units, I call them my Lo Fi Fairchild’s, but there is nothing Lo Fi About them except the price.

E.A.R limiters: Sometimes I put these in place of my Manley Vari Mu or the Shadow Hills in the bus or on a bass track, very, very tight sounding.

Universal Audio La3a’s: into a pair of Quad 8 333 eq’s I use this setup for guitars and keys it is a great sound and always works. Just a classic sound.

Universal Audio 1176 Limiters into a pair of Calrec PQ 15s eq’s: Also for guitars and keys, sometimes vocals. The Calrec also sometime end up on my bus they sound so rock, I leave them in line with my 1176’s and tunr the limiter section off so I get that cool tranny tone from both the Urei and the Calrec, The top end on the Calrec is luscious.

Neve 33609, Neve2254e, Alan Smart and Api 2250 each followed by API 550a eq,s I have 4 pair that have been modded with balanced in transformers by Avedis, makes them fuller and tougher sounding and boy, these get a lot of use. These combos just sound so amazing and as with all of the above they are patched in as plug-ins so I can play with combos very easily.

Quad 8 Limiters into Quad 8 310 eq pres: usually with the limiter out: this combo is amazing for thick forward vocals and with the limiter in these guys do amazing things to a kick and a snare, reminds me of that warm Queens of the Stone Age sound, Old shool and musical, the 10 k on the Q8 eq is just perfect and focused, so is the 140 hz.. very tough sounding, round and full, but no mush!!

Telefunken v74: I will put this in the bus right before my Mastering setups, Manley or Shadow Hills, Sometimes it add a warmth, other time it is not needed. When it works it is really magic. These are used sometime in mastering to bring the roundness back, the tubes in these the EF series have a great high end that make the Cymbals chime. Sometimes I run keyboard sample thru these, it add that 3 dimensional sound that the sample are missing

Lang PEQ2 stereo Pair: These eq’s have such a warm sound, just a touch can bring a vocal right into the track, anything sounds better thru them. The bass eq sound is agreat match with the midrange punch of the Federal,

Altec 436’s: I have 4 and use them when I want some grit, there is a mod that makes them thicker and you can hit them really hard without artifacts,

Altec 1567a’s: I run drums and vocals and bass back thru these in my rack to get a vintage sound, to blend in with the dry track, these are a really cool trick, especially for fans of Lo-Fi edgy music, plus the low eq is so big in these, I am surprised the Hip Hop guys aren’t buying these all up.

For Reverb I love my AMS 16, and have an old Fairchild mono verb that I send up the center thru the Stereo AMS for some old school spring chime. It reminds me of those old Donovan records, very organic, and the Fairchild/ AMS combo sounds unbelievable to me!

TC 2290 for Echo, I use two for different times. Is there anything better!!

Harmonizer vocal effect are either my AMS 1580 or a H 3000 Eventide, I love my AMS and The Eventide is not getting as much use anymore, but it has so many great patches that help with shading things that I keep it patched in and ready

ProAc Studio 100’s, NS10s and a Yamaha sub, that is barely on, help me find my way thru the sonic jungle. My cat leave the room when I get a 4/5k build up, as long as he is sleeping under my board I know I am safe, when he leaves the room I know it’s time for an ear break

I would not like to use just 10 items, and my favorites change depending on the music I am making. There is much more stuff in the racks, Innovonics 201’s, Distressors, RCA Ba6a, dbx 165’s, 160’s., Fairchild 666 which is the deal for some vocals, Telefunken 373’s for dull acoustics or nylon rock !#!~@#%$#~ Ok Mike just knocked me to the ground and is telling me to stop typing now, or I will have to hand over my Retro Level and Vacuvox CL2 limiters, my 1073.s my, U47, my Les Paul jr and my 20 watt Marshall or my Thunderbolt and that I just can not do, so………………. maybe that’s the answer.

Stick me on an island with those little treasures and my laptop, and I will start making music!!!!!!

To hear what I have done and am doing, check out:

http://www.devinpowers.com
http://myspace.com/powersmusic