Chandler Limited TG Microphone Cassette Channel Strip Reviews
Join Sweetwater and roll back the clock. The year is 1968, and EMI Studios London is in transition. Their classic, tube-driven REDD recording consoles are being replaced with the new, solid-state TG12345, soon to be used to forge the clean, punchy sound of the Beatles' Abbey Road album. What would you do for a channel strip from this legendary board? Chandler Limited, in close cooperation with Abbey Road Studios, brings you the TG Microphone Cassette, a full-featured channel strip that incorporates key elements of the historic desk. The Chandler Limited TG Microphone Cassette is comprised of three sections: Chandler's TG2 Pre-Amp, a Curve Bender EQ section (which includes Treble, Bass, and Presence controls), and the all-new TG1 Opto Limiter, which is independently patchable.
Earn $150 back in Bonus Bucks† OR pay $125/month with 24 month financing*
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As low as $125/month
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Highest Rated Reviews
Hifi sound
The compressor is great the saturation you can get from the preamp is fun sounds thick and almost too perfect sometimes if it's dialed in the eq section can be fun to mess with for a presence boost
Great Piece of Gear!!
I'm somewhat of an amateur still when it comes to outboard gear but after having two of these units for about 1 1/2 years I can say that they perform to expectations! As advertised, they do give a vintage like color and warmth to the mix. On top of using them for the obvious direct recording of mics and instruments, I also like to use them in my bus and sent tracts them, often in stereo to add further compression and or color. My band plays a lot of electronic instruments like synths, drum sequencers, dj mixers, etc., so we get some real interesting results by running those ofter in stereo through these units. It creates a unique sound, that's for sure
The build quality is amazing. You can tell this is definitely a hand crafted piece of equipment and that craft definitely adds to the overall vintage vibe in regards to the looks. My only complaints is that it requires a Chandler PSU-1 power supply to run it. This is an extra $320 and is not sold with this unit. The power supply is also kind of a pain because you can't put it in a rack space and its design makes it where it generally have to sit really close the there audio path of all you gear.
Finished Sound
This is an exceptionally great piece of gear. Everything you need to produce a world class vocal ( talent excluded )
I can't recommend it enough, if you can afford it don't hesitate for a second…
This is why people love analog gear...
I have two of these in my studio now and they work together like a dream! The compressor takes a little getting used to, since it works differently than most. But, once you get the hang of it, it becomes a very useful tool.
I like to record drums, then send out all of the drum channels to the Dangerous DBox summing input, out of that into two of these and back into ProTools. The results were everything I could've asked for. The Opto compressor is mostly affected by your gain staging into it but once you have it going the release knob pretty much acts as a "How much punch in the face to you want?" knob...and it's glorious.
The Curvebender EQ is so sweet it hurts. The low shelf makes bass huge, the high shelf makes things blissful and not harsh, and the presence knob takes out the dirt for me.
After I throw my drums through them, I throw the whole mix through them, after being summed, and the results are just as satisfying. It is just like having a TG Mastering Console at my control (I Imagine).
This channel strip has helped me define the sound of my studio and I couldn't be happier.
Thank you, Chandler!
I was interested in the Chandler Mic Cassette because I am a long time Beatles fan, completely fascinated by their recording process and equipment. However, this review won't be about how "Beatles-y" the unit is, as I haven't recorded the Beatles in my studio, nor any songs that sound like the Beatles. I'm just going to talk about the unit in general. I ordered two, and have spent just a little time with them. And what I can tell you so far is: I don't know if I've ever been so happy in my whole life.
For starters- the units look great. Beautiful. Thank god someone is making equipment that's fun to look at. And the build quality appears to be really good. Solid units.
The mic preamps sound really nice. I look forward to using a variety of mics with them, and playing around with the input/output gain. I've run entire mixes through the preamps, and they seem to add a really sweet, subtle color. Let's call it a "transparent color." Things coming out of them just sound better.
I was really pleased with the limiters, too. I'm still getting used to the available subtleties. Adding "a little" compression at first seems like you're adding nothing at all. But wait- it's there. And it's really lovely. And when you really put the pedal to the metal, it's quite astonishing. Yes, you definitely hear that you're squashing the heck out of things, but it's such a musical sound...you can really go overboard and it still sounds great- they're a real pleasure to work with.
And funny, I thought the EQ would be the most "boring" part of the unit. But no- I was really blown away. The EQ consists of a bass and treble control (both shelving) and a variable presence control. A great example of "less is more." Each control manages to add (or subtract) its frequencies without adding any harshness. More treble has rarely sounded so good.
I ran an entire mix through the pres's, limiting, an EQ with great results. I also like how the limiters can be used independently of the preamp and EQ (so you can use the preamp for one mic while limiting the signal for another). Nice flexibility.
The units are fairly quiet, too. When I used them on the main bus of my board, added noise was only discernible when I had the units wide open and the control room volume all the way up. One note that should be added to the user manual: the power supply needs to be kept away from the units. I had the supply on top of the rack that held the units at first and it DID add quite a bit of noise- but not after I moved it a few feet away.
As I said, I'm just getting started with this thing. I can't wait to use it some more, and some more Chandler units are definitely on my list as my next big purchases. I'm really interested in the REDD mic pre and the RS124 compressor. Oh, I will own you all, my pretties!
