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Post by Randge on Mar 30, 2015 14:54:36 GMT -6
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Post by Randge on Mar 30, 2015 14:58:00 GMT -6
That thing is an amazing comp for vocals and strings.
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Post by wiz on Mar 30, 2015 18:05:26 GMT -6
Looks cool... Randgenever heard of one before... cheers Wiz |
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Post by Johnkenn on Mar 30, 2015 19:49:13 GMT -6
Wasn't there something like this on eBay a while back? Kind've pre dated the sta-level?
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Post by Randge on Mar 30, 2015 22:10:08 GMT -6
These guys left RCA's engineering dept in the 1960's and started their own company, CCA. They made AM and FM receivers and the like, but built these for a while. They kill. It performs as well or better than the best Sta you have ever heard.
R
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Post by sll on Mar 31, 2015 6:57:36 GMT -6
That is cool Randy. I was not aware of those. Is that yours?
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Post by Randge on Mar 31, 2015 7:29:30 GMT -6
 No, Jim Gilmore owns it. He is bringing all of his great vintage gear back online and gonna be renting them out. He is having me use them and find any issues,so he can fix them before rental. He has a lot of nice pieces. He is one, if not the most skilled tech in Nashville regarding tube gear and has started on restoring my RCA console. He worked for Gates and trained with W.J.K. who designed and developed all of the Gates comps and limiters. I learn something from him every time I am around him and am so thankful that there are guys like him around Nashville. I have been playing with this Collins for a bit as well. After hearing these in perfect working order, I have to say that most of the modern designs being sold in the current pro-gear market place pale in comparison. These put me on a mission now. R |
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Post by sll on Mar 31, 2015 8:02:24 GMT -6
Jim sounds like a guy I would like to meet. I'm glad there are guys like him around too.
I agree with you on the vintage tube gear sound. The modern recreations are nice, but not the same. They just don't make tubes and transformers like they used to. The toxic metals and processes are now illegal, and too expensive.
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Post by Randge on Mar 31, 2015 10:54:57 GMT -6
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,967 
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Post by ericn on Mar 31, 2015 12:40:47 GMT -6
Jim sounds like a guy I would like to meet. I'm glad there are guys like him around too. I agree with you on the vintage tube gear sound. The modern recreations are nice, but not the same. They just don't make tubes and transformers like they used to. The toxic metals and processes are now illegal, and too expensive. Scott this also kind of goes to what all the old radio guys have told me and touches on even the old 2520s What you have to realize is back in the day there was no way they could achieve realism, and with radio and small cheap phonographs as the top way music was consumed, They figured makeing it musical was a reasonable and achievable goal and made a lot of crap listenable ! Now days its all about those numbers on the AudioPercision ! |
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Post by harris9001 on Apr 1, 2015 15:29:21 GMT -6
Randge, all
Gee thanks for the good words. I recently retired after 32 years from MTV Networks and have now found time to pursue my real passion. Randy is a great resource; He's a fine musician, mixer and tracking engineer and appreciates audio. He is very picky and obsessive; exactly the right person to test drive.
I'm really happy that there remains an interest in these vintage pieces; I know that there are many really good software emulations out there, but I still prefer the real thing when it's practical. The problem with the older gear is that it takes a lot of maintenance, and requires routine measurements with good gear such as Audio Precision, Tektronix, etc. I like to keep printed records with each piece so that it's easy to see a trend developing; it also gives the user assurance that the device is working properly.
J
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Post by sll on Apr 1, 2015 16:08:46 GMT -6
Jim sounds like a guy I would like to meet. I'm glad there are guys like him around too. I agree with you on the vintage tube gear sound. The modern recreations are nice, but not the same. They just don't make tubes and transformers like they used to. The toxic metals and processes are now illegal, and too expensive. Scott this also kind of goes to what all the old radio guys have told me and touches on even the old 2520s What you have to realize is back in the day there was no way they could achieve realism, and with radio and small cheap phonographs as the top way music was consumed, They figured makeing it musical was a reasonable and achievable goal and made a lot of crap listenable ! Now days its all about those numbers on the AudioPercision ! Not only the numbers from an AP, but bean counters as well. I am amazed that pretty much everything good about audio gear was figured out in the 1920s and 30s. Ma Bell, Western Electric, the phone companies laid so much ground work for professional audio. They even had digital recording figured out on paper back then. |
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Post by Randge on Apr 1, 2015 18:04:57 GMT -6
Randge, all Gee thanks for the good words. I recently retired after 32 years from MTV Networks and have now found time to pursue my real passion. Randy is a great resource; He's a fine musician, mixer and tracking engineer and appreciates audio. He is very picky and obsessive; exactly the right person to test drive. I'm really happy that there remains an interest in these vintage pieces; I know that there are many really good software emulations out there, but I still prefer the real thing when it's practical. The problem with the older gear is that it takes a lot of maintenance, and requires routine measurements with good gear such as Audio Precision, Tektronix, etc. I like to keep printed records with each piece so that it's easy to see a trend developing; it also gives the user assurance that the device is working properly. J Welcome to the board, Jim! R |
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Post by Ward on Apr 2, 2015 9:09:06 GMT -6
Man, I would hate to have your 'lectric bill!! Holy carps, I think you run more tubes than the USS Missouri did.
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Post by jeromemason on Apr 2, 2015 21:19:44 GMT -6
That compressor rocks... Randy was throwing the kitchen sink at it other day and everything that went through just came out sound so much bigger and real. Sorry bout the drool Rand.
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Post by Randge on Apr 2, 2015 23:08:21 GMT -6
I have a lot of fet preamps with and without transformers to mate with all the vintage tube gear also. I love to find unique sounding combinations that really work for me. I feel like with much of the gear I have, few people know about them or care to know about them and many engineers stick with what is in every studio in town. I get it, its comfortable. I tried right from the start to do something different and stay away from the norm. Now there are pieces that I use every day like the CL-1B, that are staples everywhere, but its nice using a full combination of 1940's RCA for certain things and that sets me apart. A handful of Nashville studios own that type of gear much less a full 1940's channel strip in good working order. With guys like harris9001 around, I am into it now more than ever. He has re-lit the fire for me. R |
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Post by EmRR on Apr 25, 2015 22:08:08 GMT -6
View Attachment. He worked for Gates and trained with W.J.K. who designed and developed all of the Gates comps and limiters. Do tell us more. I'm drawing a blank ATM on any WJK. Gates claimed to have developed the SA-39 in conjunction with the BBC. At any rate, Gates developed gain reduction units for close to 35 years, an awfully long run for any one designer. I restored a CCA AGC a few years back and combined the LA timings with the AGC timing on one switch. It can be found over at GroupDIY, along with my RCA console restorations. The CCA was cool. I'd say it sounded more RCA BA-20 series in tone than Colllins, for comparison. Could be the UTC input versus the ADC. |
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Post by Randge on Apr 25, 2015 22:17:54 GMT -6
harris9001 can tell you a lot more about it since he has restored it. To my ears, it sounds like a beefier LA-2a and has a similar fat character as his Collins 26-JI. With the recovery time going from .2 sec to 20 seconds, it can be more invisible that just about any onto I have ever heard.
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Post by EmRR on Apr 25, 2015 23:06:45 GMT -6
Cool. The CCA AGC-1D is a cool variant, and reacts differently than any of the LA settings. I ditched the slowest LA settings for the AGC, it seemed more useful in the mix. groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=14666.msg522069#msg522069I remember the 26J's sounding like smushier Stalevels in a way. They and GE Unilevels are the same basic circuit. Stalevels have the extra interstage tube to drive the output stage with an unvarying impedance, the Collins and GE are a vari-mu stage driving an output amp directly, I think this accounts for the extra smush in the sound. 26j is the same in/out iron as the 26u, which also sounds more solid, even when modified to have ratios and timings that match the 26j. All these pieces are good fun to the ears. I was never impressed with the sound of something like a Manley vari-mu after getting used to these old 'big iron' pieces. |
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Post by yotonic on Apr 25, 2015 23:46:39 GMT -6
I would love to rent something like that. Awesome.
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Post by jimwilliams on Apr 27, 2015 20:40:55 GMT -6
Jim sounds like a guy I would like to meet. I'm glad there are guys like him around too. I agree with you on the vintage tube gear sound. The modern recreations are nice, but not the same. They just don't make tubes and transformers like they used to. The toxic metals and processes are now illegal, and too expensive. Scott this also kind of goes to what all the old radio guys have told me and touches on even the old 2520s What you have to realize is back in the day there was no way they could achieve realism, and with radio and small cheap phonographs as the top way music was consumed, They figured makeing it musical was a reasonable and achievable goal and made a lot of crap listenable ! Now days its all about those numbers on the AudioPercision ! Specs are as rare as an honest polititian these days. Those old pieces had specs and the designers did not intentionally design this stuff with 'color'. They did the best they could with what they had at the time. They strived to get good specs. Specs became uncool when the musicians with home computer studios became popular and the old pro's either quit or retired. If complete, honest specs were universally supplied with new gear, at least you would have something to reference and compare too, like noise. |
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Post by yotonic on Apr 27, 2015 20:46:14 GMT -6
That's the magic of that old gear.
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