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Post by LesC on Mar 4, 2015 19:19:53 GMT -6
If the quality is even close to what you're saying, the value is amazing!
Maybe I've missed it, but would it be possible to see the back of the unit? Or at least a list of the inputs/outputs/types of connectors?
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Post by drbill on Mar 5, 2015 1:27:24 GMT -6
The proof is in the pudding as they say. Unfortunately, there are only a few people that have used it. When the time comes and it's readily available for auditioning, I think you'll find it offers extraordinary value though. Brad and I have spared no expense and are designing for our own gear obsessions..... :-)
We'll have rear panel pics when the production units hit.
As far as i/o goes :
Input and Outputs - both tracking and mix and mic inputs - on XLR, Inserts on TRS.
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Post by rickcarson on Mar 5, 2015 7:48:01 GMT -6
Brad and Bill. I have heard nothing but good things from Sam about this box and Im excited to check it out. I think it could be a great solution for a center piece for our smaller ITB spaces!
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Post by BradM on Mar 7, 2015 17:16:18 GMT -6
If the quality is even close to what you're saying, the value is amazing! Maybe I've missed it, but would it be possible to see the back of the unit? Or at least a list of the inputs/outputs/types of connectors? Does this work for you? From right to left: MIC IN R MIC IN L TRACK IN R TRACK IN L MIX IN R MIX IN L INSERT R INSERT L TRACK OUT R TRACK OUT L MIX OUT R MIX OUT L POWER SWITCH DC POWER IN As far as quality goes... Here's my personal philosophy, which by extension is the Louder Than Liftoff philosophy. If I wouldn't want it in my own studio, if I think it's "meh", or if I am just not that impressed to want to fork over my own hard earned money for it, then I can't in good conscious put it out and ask anyone to buy it. So, that said, the quality will be 110% top notch. Anything less is not worth anyone's time. Brad
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Post by BradM on Mar 7, 2015 17:19:08 GMT -6
Brad and Bill. I have heard nothing but good things from Sam about this box and Im excited to check it out. I think it could be a great solution for a center piece for our smaller ITB spaces! cool! What did Sam say? We, too, think it will be an excellent solution for a lot of people with a lot of different setups. There's a myriad of thoughtful details baked into the design that I think will allow it to cover a lot of workflows stupid or kludgey compromises. By the way...I'm perplexed by all the interest to see the back panel. Folks on GS have asked for pics of the rear panel more times than I can count. It's just a bunch of connectors. The sexy stuff is on the front. Brad
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Post by tonycamphd on Mar 7, 2015 17:46:44 GMT -6
Brad and Bill. I have heard nothing but good things from Sam about this box and Im excited to check it out. I think it could be a great solution for a center piece for our smaller ITB spaces! cool! What did Sam say? We, too, think it will be an excellent solution for a lot of people with a lot of different setups. There's a myriad of thoughtful details baked into the design that I think will allow it to cover a lot of workflows stupid or kludgey compromises. By the way...I'm perplexed by all the interest to see the back panel. Folks on GS have asked for pics of the rear panel more times than I can count. It's just a bunch of connectors. The sexy stuff is on the front. Brad connectivity bromee, a lot of guys need to see to believe 8) To be fair, you really can't tell by a quick look at the front all the stuff that thing does. Btw, i'm bustin out your MK47 mic tonight to get started on it, you should check out the "winecamp shootout" thread to hear the sample of JK's MKU47 i just finished.
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Post by BradM on Mar 7, 2015 17:51:10 GMT -6
I hear you. I was wondering what happened to my mic. Haha. Feel free to use it to make clips to add to the shootout. Hopefully it turns out good! Put the love in it Tony! thanks, Brad
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Post by LesC on Mar 7, 2015 23:50:33 GMT -6
If the quality is even close to what you're saying, the value is amazing! Maybe I've missed it, but would it be possible to see the back of the unit? Or at least a list of the inputs/outputs/types of connectors? Does this work for you? From right to left: MIC IN R MIC IN L TRACK IN R TRACK IN L MIX IN R MIX IN L INSERT R INSERT L TRACK OUT R TRACK OUT L MIX OUT R MIX OUT L POWER SWITCH DC POWER IN As far as quality goes... Here's my personal philosophy, which by extension is the Louder Than Liftoff philosophy. If I wouldn't want it in my own studio, if I think it's "meh", or if I am just not that impressed to want to fork over my own hard earned money for it, then I can't in good conscious put it out and ask anyone to buy it. So, that said, the quality will be 110% top notch. Anything less is not worth anyone's time. Brad Thank you Brad, that is useful! Yes, the sexy stuff is on the front. But I find that the back of a piece of equipment often tells me more than the front, or at least fills in some useful info. Plus I like to see what kind of cable ends are required, so I'll know if I need to buy any additional cables for installation. For that I would need to know which of these connections are TRS and which are XLR. I can take an educated guess, but I can't make that out from the diagram.
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Post by drbill on Mar 8, 2015 1:54:00 GMT -6
Les - Diagram shows it all actually :
Mic in L/R - XLR Mix In / Tracking In L/R - Combo Jacks - XLR or TRS Inserts L/R Send/Return - TRS Mix Out / Tracking Out - XLR
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Post by LesC on Mar 8, 2015 2:25:39 GMT -6
Les - Diagram shows it all actually : Mic in L/R - XLR Mix In / Tracking In L/R - Combo Jacks - XLR or TRS Inserts L/R Send/Return - TRS Mix Out / Tracking Out - XLR Thank you!
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Post by rickcarson on Mar 8, 2015 7:22:52 GMT -6
Brad and Bill. I have heard nothing but good things from Sam about this box and Im excited to check it out. I think it could be a great solution for a center piece for our smaller ITB spaces! cool! What did Sam say? We, too, think it will be an excellent solution for a lot of people with a lot of different setups. There's a myriad of thoughtful details baked into the design that I think will allow it to cover a lot of workflows stupid or kludgey compromises. By the way...I'm perplexed by all the interest to see the back panel. Folks on GS have asked for pics of the rear panel more times than I can count. It's just a bunch of connectors. The sexy stuff is on the front. Brad I talked to him about it when he first got it before he started mixing his latest project. He said he ran some stuff through it and that it sounded huge and that there were two different vibes in the box. I also remember him commenting about the meters. It has been a minute but it def put the bug in my ear!
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Post by indiehouse on Mar 25, 2015 15:05:42 GMT -6
So, this has 2 mic pre's? Neve or API flavor or a blend of both? In what ways is this different/better than running my 2-bus through my VP28's and EZ1290's? Or is it kinda similar?
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Post by drbill on Mar 25, 2015 23:29:32 GMT -6
It's a stereo box. Stereo in, stereo out. Basically. Actually, there's 4 in 4out, but the mojo signal path is stereo. So you can have stereo API pres, stereo Neve pre's, or a stereo combo of API/Neve as you cascade them.
As to why it's better (or different) than a vp28 or EZ1290's, I've talked about that quite a bit. I had vp28's (or sometimes missing links) and EZ1073's on my mix bus for years. Ergonomically, for me, they were not great - though they sounded awesome. I ended up never messing with them once I got them set. I can't drive and push into each other with the finesse and tweak ability that I can on the silver bullet.
The SB is ergonomically set up to do what vp28's and EZ's were never meant to do. i.e.: work on a mix bus. (In addition to tracking line level signals, cascading mojo stages, etc..) Of course the SB does the mic pre thing too, but that was not our initial reason for building it. Although it does it, I wouldn't personally categorize it as a mic pre.
Sonically?? It's a 6 to one, half a dozen to another scenario as they are very similar.
But for me, the result of what comes out the other end when I use one vs the other is pretty different - because the SB is designed specifically for using in a way that mic pre's aren't. The work flow is great and I can easily and ergonomically make it jump thru sonic hoops - driving it into the next stage, etc.. It's very different in how my work flow has changed vs using a passive box or a mic pre on the 2 bus. I know it sounds kind of like biased salesman hype, but my bread and butter is in mixing, and my mixes are better and for me - that's what counts. The old setup never really beaconed me to twist knobs and experiment. I basically found a sweet spot and left it. With the SB, I'm constantly trying new things, and the sweet spot can be quite different depending on how you're routed.
Hope that helps a bit...
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Post by kcatthedog on Mar 26, 2015 4:29:43 GMT -6
This does sound very interesting, guess I am being slow, it has 2 pairs of mono pre (api and neve) that gang and cascade to stereo but can be used as mono pres or no ? on board eq is that described somewhere 3 band 4 band ? is there in line stereo compression too good pricing but the tankgin cdn dollar is a friggin drag for us gear purchases plus 25-30 % all in landed costs
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Post by kcatthedog on Mar 26, 2015 6:18:06 GMT -6
Great thx; yes it certainly sounds ( excuse the pun) well designed: in terms of its elements and workflow !
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Post by tonycamphd on Mar 26, 2015 8:18:45 GMT -6
I played with this at AES also, it is a very well thought out, and very versatile piece of gear at any price, Brad is a no bs, no compromise kinda of designer. If u r ITB, this has to be a serious consideration, two killer pres, and a pro 2 buss finisher section in one. These will probably be tough to keep stocked when they come out IMO
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Post by drbill on Mar 26, 2015 12:59:15 GMT -6
A couple of clarifications, the pre's CAN be used as mono. Just use one side of the stereo input. The pre's CANNOT really be used as dual mono's though. Unless you're using two mics that want the same amount of gain, attenuation, 48v, polarity, etc.
Second, re: a compressor. In the land of compressors, there's so much personal preference involved. Plus, when Brad and I were brainstorming on this, we wanted to try not to make it extraordinarily expensive - so instead of an in-line compressor which would UNDOUBTABLY be seen as a compromise or mistake by a pretty significant percentage of users - we opted for the logical replacement. There's an insert so that you can use your fav comp.
Third, the HPF has been changed to 12B, and we're fine tuning the Bax freq.'s to be the best they can be....
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Post by drbill on Mar 26, 2015 13:03:38 GMT -6
I checked it out at AES and it looked great. Brad designed the KUSH Electra and the EQ in the Chop Shop gives me great hope the EQ in the Silver bullet is going to rock. super - the Bax EQ is a standout. A full on "Brad-ized" EQ that is very special. It's hard to make it sound bad - even at full boost.....
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Post by drbill on Mar 26, 2015 13:23:33 GMT -6
super - the inserts are post mojo blocks, pre EQ. And yes, I've used compression. Generally I use an SSL derivative here that I like - the Serpent SB 4001. But anything you normally use will work. Some guys might like their compression POST EQ, in which case, don't use the insert and just plug in the output of the SB into your fav comp. So it's easy to have it either way.
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Post by Johnkenn on May 12, 2015 10:48:16 GMT -6
Some more info I found from...ahem...somewhere else... MIC IN R MIC IN L TRACK IN R TRACK IN L MIX IN R MIX IN L INSERT R INSERT L TRACK OUT R TRACK OUT L MIX OUT R MIX OUT L POWER SWITCH DC POWER IN "Absolutely. The way I work is to either plug hardware synths in directly to the tracking inputs, OR, (more normally cause I'm using soft synths a lot) I have a second set of outputs on my DAW that are routed to and from the tracking inputs/outputs of the SB. I keep the SB on the "mix" bus until I have an element that I want to affect. At that point, I reroute the soft synth (bass, synth, drums or whatever) out a secondary output that's routed to the SB and then back into my DAW. Then it's simple. Just switch the front panel switch from Mix to Tracking, tweak the mojo blocks to how I want to hear things on the bass, synth, drums or , and re-record back into the DAW. Done. After recording, simply switch the SB front panel switch back to mix mode. I go back and forth all the time between affecting individual mix elements, and "mixing" with the SB on the two buss. Hope that makes sense. Brad and I spent a great deal of time on the work flow aspect of the box. It's seamless and not a single "re-patch" is needed. Really quite elegant. The end result is similar to what you intimated - a more solid and focused bass / bottom end, a wider more 3D soundstage, a sweeter top end if you use the air band of the EQ, and a fatter and more overall "analog-ish" type of sound. Also, the rounding of transients yields a better RMS loudness level against dBfs - even without compression on the inserts as Benny noted above."
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Post by tonycamphd on May 12, 2015 11:02:51 GMT -6
I talked to Brad the other day, he's been dialing this bad boy in, I bet they'll fly out the door faster than he'll be able to keep up!?!? It really is a hi end swiss army knife "tone idea" that suits most modern recording methods to a T. The price for what it is/does seems crazy to me as well, i'd love to give one a spin.
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Post by mdmitch2 on May 12, 2015 12:18:44 GMT -6
Dibs on the first unit.
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Post by BradM on May 12, 2015 14:13:26 GMT -6
Hi guys,
I've been meaning to chime in on this thread for the last month, but I swear I spend all my free time working on the Silver Bullet. Measure twice, cut once as they say.
There are a good number of folks that have been writing me and claiming first dibs on this box. Since I like you guys I'm going to say this. Sign up for the mailing list, watch the website and Facebook like a hawk, and the second you see that "coming soon" button turn into a "pre-order now" button be very fast on the trigger. I suspect the first run will go quickly. I'm ready to scale up manufacturing capability if the demand is there. So bring it!!
I should have a production version of the chassis in hand in a week or so. I'll be sure to take some pics of the rear panel so everyone can see what it will really look like.
Brad
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Post by wiz on May 12, 2015 19:24:57 GMT -6
Show us yer mixing skills thread
That thread has a tracking mix people seem to like, and if you were to set up a mix as suggested and pass it through the silver bullet show its options it might be handy.. as people can download the song and then set up the mix for themselves and compare... cheers Wiz or.. send me one to Oz and I will do it for you 8)
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Post by LesC on Jun 12, 2015 14:34:20 GMT -6
I'm also curious about the meter. I see that there is a nice looking meter there, but no switch to control it (unless I'm missing it). Is it metering input or output? It would be cool if it's switchable...or maybe it switches when you switch modes? I haven't quite figured out how to do multiple quotes in one reply so sorry for all the individual posts. The meter is really bitchin', I won't lie. It's always monitoring the output of the processed signal path. When in Bypass (Trk/Byp...hard relay bypass) the meter shows no signal. That visually indicates that you are in actually in bypass...which is kind of hard to miss. It's like when you bypass a compressor and the gain reduction meter stops showing movement. I was thinking of putting a jumper inside the unit to allow it to monitor input signal, but I'm not sure if that really makes any sense. Brad As I sit here patiently waiting to hit the "Buy now" button when it becomes available, I decided to re-read this thread and hit this quote from Brad. When in "MIX" mode, the meter shows the "mix" output. When in "TRK/BYP" mode, the meter shows no signal. So we can't meter the "track" output when tracking? I guess what is confusing to me is "It's always monitoring the output of the processed signal path". This seems to be true only if the processed signal is going through the "mix" output. I'm sure that makes sense to you guys, but I don't get it. It's certainly not a big deal, I'm just curious.
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