2018 Gear in Review: Our Top Picks

Date:2020/2/22 18:02:39 Hits:

We looked back over some of the great gear that was released in 2018 and picked a few of our favorites. Here’s our list of top picks.

Value-packed V-Drums Kit

Roland V-Drums TD-17KVX Electronic Drum Set

Discover a new level of professional features and sonic realism with the TD-17KVX kit. Packed with sounds, pads, and features curated from the best of Roland’s V-Drums collection, the TD-17KVX kit is powered by the TD-17 module, which includes 50 preset drum kits and 310 drum/percussion sounds inspired by Roland’s flagship TD-50. Import new samples to build your sound libraries. Practice and jam along to your favorite tracks via wireless Bluetooth. With the TD-17KVX set, you get Roland’s 12″ dual-trigger PDX-12 snare pad with 2-ply tunable mesh head, the floating VH-10 stand-mount hi-hat, and the KD-10 dynamic kick tower. Three mesh-head 8″ toms, two 12″ crashes, and Roland’s 3-zone 13″ CY-13R ride cymbal complete this value-packed kit.

Ultimate Moog
Moog One Analog Synthesizer

So advanced that it ushers in a new era of analog synthesis, Moog One is the first polyphonic Moog synth in over three decades. Available in 8-voice and 16-voice versions, Moog One is a programmable, tri-timbral analog synth with an intuitive tactile interface that streamlines the creative process, transcending the boundary between musician and instrument. Naturally, Moog One delivers the legendary Moog sound. Moog analog circuits are renowned for their unrivaled punch and rich harmonics, and Moog One represents the definitive evolution of these classic circuits. Years of research went into this analog dream synth; you hear it and feel it in your every interaction with the beautifully balanced premium Fatar keybed and the scores of knobs and buttons; the status of each (as well as countless on-screen parameters) is stored in memory for quick recall from a massive bank of presets. Under your fingers, Moog One will inspire your musical creativity in a way no other synth can. An unbounded sonic universe awaits…

Guitar of the Year
Fender Custom Shop GT11 Stratocaster Heavy Relic Sweetwater Exclusive

Among the iconic instruments created by the Fender Custom Shop since its launch in 1987 — including thousands of Stratocaster variations — none is like the GT11. Fender’s elite luthiers started with a lightweight, roasted alder body and thermally aged AAA flame-maple neck for open, balanced tone. They spec’d an all-new, Sweetwater-exclusive 11″-radius fingerboard for increased fretting precision and speed. They added three custom hand-wound Sweet ’64 pickups voiced by the Custom Shop’s Mike Lewis, with Half Blender switching and Fat ’50s wiring for a massive arsenal of premium tone, an updated RSD Custom Shop Floating Tremolo with improved string spacing, and vintage staggered tuning machines that optimize vibrato action by eliminating the need for a string tree. Topped off with a Custom Shop Heavy Relic treatment and Closet Classic hardware for a tour-tough vintage look and feel, the GT11 is, in our opinion, the ultimate Strat.

Real-time Music Production Powerhouse
Ableton Live 10 Suite

Every DAW has its forte: some are more suited to recording and editing; others lean heavily toward production — but no DAW facilitates real-time music creation like Ableton Live. With Live 10 Suite, your options are virtually unlimited. Whether you’re triggering loops with hardware and software instruments or looping riffs and backing tracks with your band, Live 10 Suite has you covered. Live 10 has 70GB of content and an extensive armory of excellent virtual instruments and effects onboard to fuel your creativity; and with Max for Live built in, anything you can’t achieve with the included content or your go-to plug-ins is still within easy reach. To ensure a steady flow of creative inspiration, Live 10 includes new packs and effects such as Drum Booth, Electric Keyboards, Synth Essentials, Build and Drop, Glitch and Wash, Drive and Glow, Punch and Tilt, Skitter and Step, Chop and Swing, Echo, Drum Buss, and more.

Compact Wireless Quad-color LED Wash

Chauvet DJ SlimPAR Q12 BT

Custom lighting is as easy as pie with the Chauvet DJ SlimPAR Q12 BT. This compact wash light is controlled by Bluetooth 4.2 via the free Chauvet BTAir app, giving you wireless access to custom colors and on-the-fly dynamic lighting changes from up to 150 feet away. The SlimPAR Q12 BT’s 12 quad-color (RGBA) LEDs generate a broad spectrum of color with natural-looking temperatures to enhance your stage shows and events. And its small footprint lets it fit inside trusses for maximum portability and convenience. It comes with a hanging bracket and mounting hardware.

Board-friendly Stomp with the HX Pedigree
Line 6 HX Stomp Guitar Multi-effects Floor Processor

Powered by one of the same powerful SHARC processors that drives Line 6’s award-winning Helix family of multi-effects pedals, the HX Stomp makes an ideal compact standalone gig rig. A fully loaded modeling and FX engine for front-loading an amp and also a capable multichannel USB audio interface with re-amping capabilities, the HX Stomp lets you choose up to six blocks (amps, cabs, and stomps) per preset and assign switches to suit your specific needs. The HX Stomp is equipped for real-world gigging with 126 user presets for guitars, bass, and keys; plus generous I/O that includes TRS balanced outs, traditional MIDI switching, an FX return for 4-cable amp integration, and a 2-channel expansion jack for expression pedals or additional external switches. Other cool features include a bright 2.4″ full-color display, true-bypass switching, and third-party cab IR support.

UA’s Third-generation Apollos
Universal Audio Apollo X

There are many reasons why Universal Audio Apollo systems are at the core of countless professional studios — turbocharged productivity and rock-solid professional reliability being two of them. At the core of your studio, UA’s third-generation Apollos (Apollo x6, x8, x16, and x8p) feature upgraded DSP capabilities with the latest 6-chip HEXA Core processors delivering 50% more processing power for tracking and mixing than previous Apollos, while upgraded elite-class AD/DA converters deliver world-class sound quality. Pro power users will appreciate 5.1 surround monitoring support, selectable +24dBu operation, built-in talkback, and more. UA’s Dual Unison preamps let you track through legendary hardware-modeled plug-ins with sub-2ms latency. Providing generous expandability courtesy of ultra-fast Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, the new Apollo X interfaces are available in a variety of I/O and preamp configurations with bundled software to suit any application, from project studios to console-based control rooms.

Powerful, Portable, and Versatile
QSC CP Series Speakers

QSC’s CP8 and CP12 are great-sounding PA speakers that don’t take up a lot of space. They deliver top-quality sound, courtesy of their robust drivers and state-of-the-art DSP. Lightweight Class D onboard amplification supplies 1,000 watts of peak power for a wide range of applications, while easy-to-use preset contours make setups a breeze. Both feature rugged enclosures with a 35mm socket for pole mounting and a built-in 3-channel mixer for streamlined single-box PA operation. They also double as high-performance floor monitors or instrument amplifiers. As you might infer from their names, the CP8 has an 8″ woofer; the CP12, a 12″. Both feature QSC’s excellent 1.4″ HF compression driver.

Amazing Battery-powered All-in-one PA

Bose S1 Pro Multi-position PA System

Feature-packed and weighing in at just 15 pounds, the Bose S1 Pro is the ultimate all-in-one PA for smaller events, solo performances, and presentations. Whether you set it, tilt it, or pole-mount it, the S1 Pro delivers rich, even coverage to an entire room, with Auto EQ to eliminate hot spots. Two channels with independent EQ, reverb, and ToneMatch technology deliver flattering reproduction of voices and instruments, while a dedicated third channel with an 1/8″ aux input and one-touch Bluetooth pairing and streaming handles external program playback. A convenient carry handle facilitates quick load-ins and setups, while a built-in lithium-ion battery gives you up to 11 hours of play time for unrivaled portability.

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