There is no getting around the fact that Christmas is coming and with it, comes the annual dilemma of what to buy for the audio engineer for whom most people have no idea what to get us, or the thing that we really want costs well over three grand (or probably more). To help with this dilemma, we have drawn up a list of Christmas gifts that most audio people will appreciate.

Pop Shield / Filter

You can have the most expensive or rare vintage mic but any vocal or voice recording can be ruined by plosives. Hence we all use a pop screen, shield or filter. The Studiospares RED230 High-Quality Tri-Screen Pop Shield / Filter is available from the UK reselling legends Studio Spares for just £14.99 UK pounds. Make that £3000 super mic sound as is was supposed to.

Clip-On Tuner

The Peterson StroboClip HD is about as good as it gets when it comes to professional clip-on tuners. StroboClip HD features the same tenth-of-a-cent accuracy as all Peterson Strobe Tuners and comes fully loaded with a bright high-definition screen, over 50 Sweetened tunings and alternate temperaments to cover a vast array of string and wind instruments. The soft rubber-lined jaws protect the instrument's finish while offering a firm grip for maximum signal tracking.

The Peterson StroboClip is available online for around $69.

A High-Quality Instrument Cable

Let’s not head down the rabbit hole of which cable sounds best just yet but hopefully we can all agree that the quality of your instrument cables really does matter and using something that came free in packets of breakfast cereal is really not very studio friendly. The Monster Cable ROCK 21A is a 6.4m guitar or instrument cable featuring gold-plated 1/4 inch jacks (right angle or straight) with a three-wire structure and copper-braided shield. Give you big guitar sound a chance with a quality cable. Monster Cables are available online from around £47.

Portable Hard Drive

“I have too many hard-drives,” said no-one ever. The OWC Express drive is small, highly portable and available in USB 2.0 and 3.0 variations. For more info on the OWC Express drives check out the OWC shopping pages. Features include:

• Pocket-sized USB bus powered ventilated enclosure

• Perfect for 2.5" SATA drives up to 9.5mm tall

• Available with USB 3.1 Gen 1 or USB 2.0 interface in Silver, Black, or White

• Up to 2 Year OWC Limited Warranty1

Closed-Back Headphones

We have said it many times but a great headphone mix can make a session for an artist and a poor mix can destroy any chance you as an engineer have of capturing that perfect take. It all starts with the headphones. The Audio Technica ATH M20X closed-back studio headphones are far from the most expensive on the market but they are comfortable, can take very high volume levels and they sound great. James has had 5 pairs of ATH M20 headphones in his studio for over 5 years and they are all “Trumpet player” proof.

The Audio Technica ATH M20X are available from Studio Spares for £42 UK pounds including taxes.

Audio Lead Tester

All cables work until they don’t. When they start to cause issues they can cause problems which can take far longer to track down than they have to. A quality cable tester can help you find that dodgy lead in record time.

Soundlab G027EB Universal Cable Tester 12 Type

• Soundlab Universal Cable Tester (12 Type)Versatile lead tester for use most audio leads.

• The product can test the following leads 8 pole Speakon, 4 Pole Speakon, Banana, 3.5 mm jack (mono and stereo), 6.35 mm (mono and stereo), phono, XLR (3 pin and 5 pin), DIN (3, 5,7 and 8 pin) and 4 pin mini DIN.

• Ideal for Professional Audio Use

• Electromarket Cable Tie Included

Fender Telecaster Chopping Board

Complete your kitchen collection with this Fender Telecaster Cutting Board, inspired by Fender’s timeless guitar designs. Each one is crafted from 100% bamboo, sporting natural knots and colour variations for unique aesthetic appeal. Perfect for any Fender fan to get their chops together.

• Authentic Fender collectable

• Crafted from 100% bamboo

• Treat with 100% mineral oil before use

Reflection Filters

There is a huge variety of Reflection Filters, but there are two brands that we recommend, the original range of Reflexion Filters designed as produced by sE Electronics and the more recent Halo from Aston Microphones.

sE Electronics SEE-RF-SPACE Reflection Filter (Specialized Portable Acoustic Control Environment) comes with a larger surface area, enhancement of sE's patented multi-layer technology, deeper air gaps, and more efficient materials, the SPACE offers great full-bandwidth absorption, isolation, and diffusion to help you gain control over your acoustic environment. Larger than their RF Pro and entry-level RF-X, the added size also makes the SPACE filter perfectly suited for larger microphones. New specialised mounting hardware allows the SPACE to be easily mounted on any microphone stand or drum hardware, with a full range of motion - adjustable and lockable horizontally, vertically and tilted at any angle.

Production Expert took a look at the Aston Halo portable vocal booth from Aston Microphones. They are hitting well above their weight with some amazing new products and the Halo, which was first shown at NAMM 2016 is just one of them. There are many of these so-called reflection filters out there in the marketplace but for James this one ticks all the audio boxes. So much so that he awarded it Editors Choice.  Watch and read to see why James gave the Halo the Expert sites highest award. 

So there you have it, a collection of gift ideas from inexpensive to moderately expensive. You could just go all in and locate a vintage Pultec as a gift but whoever you’re buying for would have to have been very good indeed this year.

Share your ideas for ideal studio gifts in the comments.