ericn
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Post by ericn on Oct 27, 2023 13:34:56 GMT -6
The Idea for the kick plate drawer idea came about many years ago when a guy I had built a bunch of 24u racks for had 3u shelves at the bottom of each rack and ran out of rack space. Rather than go the route of building all new racks I built 4 4 u racks that were an inch less in depth and we bolted them to the bottom of his 4 racks. We moved the 3 u drawers and his Tripplet rack mount outlet strips to the bottom racks plus a cable tie bar to the back to support the power cords. it took him 3 years to fill those extra 16 spaces. The funny thing is I was in the hospital when he decided he needed 2 more racks, he waited 6 months before he asked a cabinet builder to copy them. When I was out of the coma and just starting to talk he came to visit and felt guilty for having someone else copy the design. I had to tell him it wasn’t a problem, I needed to learn to walk and use a fork again long before using a table saw again. 18 months later I built him 6 new 32 space with our base design with one major change rather than building “boxes” we used an open side frame with removable side panels. The open area of the frames were designed so a Penn Elcom lacing strip would fit for cable ties.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Oct 27, 2023 13:13:15 GMT -6
According to Hairball: "If you've ever used an original URIE FET compressor, you might notice that the input pot on our version is a little hotter. The reason is that the original Allen Bradley pots had a very unique logarithmic curve that is hard to replicate with modern components. Modern parts that can, are VERY expensive and we find they end up scratchy in less than one year." So this could be an issue for several 1176 clones? Makes sense. Why not just use a linear pot? Is it too far removed from the original circuit? I mean, a tiny button-sized knob has only so much play... An algorithmic pot is far closer to the taper of the original a linear would just feel completely different. I’m not sure but the AB might be the attenuator that’s forced Andrew at Purple to scrap the MC76 and design the MC77.
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Post by ericn on Oct 27, 2023 13:04:41 GMT -6
REDCO or Markertek depending on the specific connector. I’d add Have, Inc. to that. Full Compass use to be great too, but it’s been way to many years me looking at them to know nowadays. Have Inc looks interesting, thanks for that one. Their Prices on a couple of Neutrik on a quick comparison is slightly higher than Markertek on Neutrik, but their by the foot on L4 e66s is 5 cents cheaper. As for my old employer, I consider it a conflict for me to recommend them😁 pricing will always depend on your relationship with your sales person of course. The other reason why Markertek and Redco are pretty much the go to suppliers is their stocking levels, every connector manufacturer has a build schedule that only they understand and both Canare and Mogami can take forever to ship. Add in the fact that almost every connector manufacturer have pretty much cut off all dealers who are not Master Distributors I am hesitant to deal with anyone I don’t know will have it in stock, but I might have to give Have Inc a shot.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Oct 27, 2023 5:40:32 GMT -6
Does anybody know who has the best prices for Neutrik/Amphenol/Switchcraft connectors? REDCO or Markertek depending on the specific connector.
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Post by ericn on Oct 26, 2023 20:54:10 GMT -6
This is interesting, they did a reissue about 20 years ago, I think more people know it from the plugin.
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Post by ericn on Oct 26, 2023 20:52:07 GMT -6
My new Type L turned up yesterday thanks spock Adam. Looking forward for a test run! Congratulations Paul can’t wait to hear what you think.
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Post by ericn on Oct 26, 2023 20:49:49 GMT -6
Since I spent my day dealing with someone else’s tangle of black spaghetti in a wooden enclosure trying to track a pretty simple issue I’m going to say one thing. Learn to make your own cables!!! It’s not about some self sufficient Walden thing, or you should have these skills or the cost savings, it’s about organization, speed of troubleshooting. Go take a look at that picture Trace Audio posted and think for just a second your racks could look like that. Now we will introduce the cost component send Trace a note and ask what it costs to have someone else do it. Oh and the cables in my rack have nice heat shrink lables saying where they come from and where they go at each end, really speeds up troubleshooting. Oh for sure. I can make mic and instrument cables, and have done ELCOs in the past. Never done a full patchbay and racks however. I’ll probably take it on myself. Do it ! If you need guidance or just someone to bounce ideas off of you know where you can find me.
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Post by ericn on Oct 26, 2023 17:52:29 GMT -6
I wasn’t sure I was allowed to share that detail but it really makes a difference compared to weaker CK12’s that need pop shields as a matter of course. They don’t take plosives like Ben’s design. They sound better to me, I was gonna use OG AKG’s for a couple of builds but Ben’s have the smooth top end and decay that make them a better choice. I’m a big fan of his 47 caps too. They opened up my Fleas and gave them a new life. I have some 67’s I haven’t used yet but I might put them into Brauner VM1’s if the brass ones don’t match. Hi Paul, do you think bens c12a tube microphone could take the place of a c12 or even, dare I say, a 251 for vocals. I know Ben also has a 251 (tribute 2). Seriously considering beeznees to fit this role for me. Not Paul, but if your looking at how close you can get to a 251 without the expense Talk to Ben, he is very straightforward about this kind of stuff and might have a solution that most of us wouldn’t even consider.
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Post by ericn on Oct 26, 2023 17:48:44 GMT -6
Since I spent my day dealing with someone else’s tangle of black spaghetti in a wooden enclosure trying to track a pretty simple issue I’m going to say one thing.
Learn to make your own cables!!! It’s not about some self sufficient Walden thing, or you should have these skills or the cost savings, it’s about organization, speed of troubleshooting. Go take a look at that picture Trace Audio posted and think for just a second your racks could look like that. Now we will introduce the cost component send Trace a note and ask what it costs to have someone else do it. Oh and the cables in my rack have nice heat shrink lables saying where they come from and where they go at each end, really speeds up troubleshooting.
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Post by ericn on Oct 26, 2023 12:46:19 GMT -6
Thanks I was picturing the DA in my mind for some reason. Just to be clear, do you think that the DA8HR sounds better than the MLA8 preamps? Yes, the AD8HR is a digitally controlled version of the PM5K preamp, probably Yamaha’s finest pre amp. Yamaha’s live boards dominated the world because of their price, when Midas brought out the Xl200 they lost sales because the XL was such a step up sonically so they went back to the drawing board and the 5K was the result. The AD8HR is just a step below the Grace and Aphex, just look at some of the Classical guys who have used them. I was going to buy in for the live rig, but the expense to add Cobranet was to high and I found 32 ch of Whirlwind at a stupid low price. If I was doing more critical work I would have a rack of full of AD8HR, but my current clients don’t care. The ML inst bad, I think it’s a quieter version of the pre’s in my DM1000. If you are patient you will find AD8HR’s for less than $200 or even less than $100 hard to argue with a pre that ‘s been used on world class opera and classical projects.
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Post by ericn on Oct 26, 2023 12:29:14 GMT -6
For Mic cable Canare L4-e6s all the way, Nothing is as flexible or has a better Shield from RF or EMI. By the foot Markertek has the best price.
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Post by ericn on Oct 26, 2023 12:22:37 GMT -6
Having used all 3 and having owned 2, the RAMSA is something special Which model RAMSA? Well technically they were not RAMSA, they were actually Panasonic Security l, but WZ- AD96M had 3 plus a WZAD96 and 4 WZ DA96 one of the DA’s was an early prototype serial 00008! It had a slightly different PCB layout and different colored PCB.
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Post by ericn on Oct 26, 2023 12:17:48 GMT -6
ML8 isn’t quite in the same league as the AD8HR and is 2 rack U. No, it's not 2U. You might be confusing it with another unit. Thanks I was picturing the DA in my mind for some reason.
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Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2023 19:09:16 GMT -6
I’m going to assume you mean the Yamaha AD8HR, and yeah for the $ you won’t beat it. If you really want to spend $$ the Aphex 1788, but do a search and you will see that the Yamaha lives in well respected venues and remote rigs around the world. Yeah or the MLA-8. If you look hard you can get that for 100 bucks a unit or you can also find the Ramza pres but they go for more than Yamaha. Having used all 3 and having owned 2, the RAMSA is something special but no remote control, and it’s going to be ADAT only, well there are AES cards but I have only ever seen one. ML8 isn’t quite in the same league as the AD8HR and is 2 rack U. The AD8HR also has the Advantage of being able to add a Cobranet card in place of the AES out so you can send 64 ch via Ethernet and control direct from a DM series digital mixer. AD8HR’s can be had for as little as $100 used. If you don’t want to add the Cobranet there is also a box that you can connect 24ch to and the control connector to come connect the control to Cobranet, on the used Market the box is about the same price as one of the cards. The disadvantage of the AD8HR is it reall needs 1/3 rack space above and below for ventilation.
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Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2023 17:29:27 GMT -6
Not that SSL has never been known (or respected) for their preamps they're not bad. Or at least I'm trying to get over my 'fear' of 'em... Couple years ago found out a couple years ago from an LA buddy who's worked with Brendan O'Brien that he/they used SSL preamps for drums on all those 90s rock albums. STP, Rage, all that stuff. Usual formula was SSL 4k console pres on drums, Neve 10xx for guitars, API usually for vocals, piano & whatever was left. I can totally hear it now. Few years ago I nabbed a pair of the Black Lion auteur quad pres for 8 channels. Pretty much love 'em. That's my "console" front end. Best thing I could compare 'em to would be the old Sytek quads. Not that expensive either! Yeah the 4K pres were used all over the place as utility pres in the 80’s and 90’s before everyone had a rack full of outboard pre’s. At the time a world class room probably had a pair Neve 10 serie, a 4 space lunchbox with a pair of 512’s and 550’s and a couple of some other favorite. As one A list AE put it to me “ the pre’s in the 4K are a step up from your DDA, but nothing special but damn we have 56 of them, of course we are going to use them.m
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Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2023 16:35:30 GMT -6
Frankly, the only CL1B shootout I would trust as accurate and honest would be one by seawell . You guys are way too kind to me here ☺️ I will say this in regards to all the shootouts in this thread. I appreciate what they are doing and I know it is very time consuming...but...to do it right in my opinion it is even more time consuming than what was put into these examples. Matching settings by ear certainly has some value but at a minimum I think you have to use test tones and a metering plug in like Klanghelm VUMT to see what amount of gain reduction is actually happening(plug in and even analog meters are not always the most accurate). In other words if I'm hitting around 5-7db of compression on the Tube-Tech VU meter and 5-7db on the Warm or Heritage, they in reality may be compressing wildly different amounts. I could hear that quite a bit in these shoots. Not the fault of the guys that put the effort into this, but I think they just need to go a little further for it to be more accurate. Now if you want to go even further with it, you probably need to involve Plug-In Doctor and try and exactly match the attack and release times as well but that may be getting a little too crazy for most haha. Plus, if you've "accurately recreated" something then why can't I just set the attack, release and threshold the same & get the same sound? 🤣 I think some companies have a looser definition of "accurate" than me. And then you find the opto’s react differently and find you’re compensating with attack and release….
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Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2023 16:30:22 GMT -6
Intentionally distorted disasters in waiting atop prosumer circuitry. The standards for digitally controlled pres are Grace and Millenia. The worse sounding RME Octamic and Micstasy are a little cheaper. Why not just get a Grace M108 for ADAT or of the digitally controllable Millenia pres if you have a Dante card? Analog and not great sounding, why not a used Yamaha 8 channel pre for 100 bucks? I’m going to assume you mean the Yamaha AD8HR, and yeah for the $ you won’t beat it. If you really want to spend $$ the Aphex 1788, but do a search and you will see that the Yamaha lives in well respected venues and remote rigs around the world.
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Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2023 16:10:28 GMT -6
Oh boy, if I was going to expand on what you have the Beesneez, if I were thinking LDC FET Ben’s 87 clone, but if it were me I would turn in one of 2 directions first I would consider some SDC’s your budget isn’t going to swing B&K Schoeps or KM84, but you could swing Beyer, used Earthworks, MBHO or probably Sony C535/6’s. Sennheiser MKH if you take your time looking but jump Quik when you see something. Since I have a bunch of Sony’s if I were in your position and had the itch let’s go Medium Diaphragm and find a pair of Beyer MCE834 or 740’s, maybe the Neumann medium Diaphragms if your really patient. New I also look at Sony C100 and C80. Also I am also always clicking on that Teagler AD and thinking those Medium Diaphragms could be fun, on the Cheap I’d import a pair of Line Audio SDC’s.
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Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2023 16:07:37 GMT -6
Oh boy, if I was going to expand on what you have the Beesneez, if I were thinking LDC FET Ben’s 87 clone, but if it were me I would turn in one of 2 directions first I would consider some SDC’s your budget isn’t going to swing B&K Schoeps or KM84, but you could swing Beyer, used Earthworks, MBHO or probably Sony C535/6’s. Sennheiser MKH if you take your time looking but jump Quik when you see something. Since I have a bunch of Sony’s if I were in your position and had the itch let’s go Medium Diaphragm and find a pair of Beyer MCE834 or 740’s, maybe the Neumann medium Diaphragms if your really patient. New I also look at Sony C100 and C80.
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Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2023 13:41:21 GMT -6
Heritage added to the mix... Am I the only one who desire an original after all these WA videos? Hehehe I have often wondered if clones help sales of originals.
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Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2023 13:39:21 GMT -6
Since we've veered far from the OP's inquiry, I'll mention the DeadFX GB-1. Based on the Gain Brain FET modules and sounds nice and smashy but capable of doing less as well. I always loved the FCS Pico as well. Such a solid sounding one knob deal. Otherwise, I've never been too into most 500 series comps for whatever reason. The Mpressor is cool but pales next to the real 19" box, which is one of the deepest, most versatile compressors ever made. I always wanted to try the Pendulum one, but never got a chance. As an old Valley People fan thanks for bringing the GB 1 to our attention $450 for a built clone seams very reasonable and tempting.
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Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2023 13:34:45 GMT -6
If you go slant a trick I learned long ago and I believe Ward believes is my moment of genius, put a drawer in the otherwise wasted space at the bottom instead of a kick plate. You're not wrong!! Does any one in the class require photographic evidence of my copying this? Require, no but we always appreciate a picture of your addiction. Now if I ever get this amp rack done I shall post a pics to show the magic of rear rails and cable organization . I just keep revising the rear panel layout🤪
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Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2023 8:26:09 GMT -6
And besides, the circuit was always simple to clone. It's been the capsule that's been hard to clone and the off-axis sound that makes the KM84 stand out is impossible to replicate without the capsule. It’s always the capsule!
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Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2023 7:45:57 GMT -6
That's a hard pass from me There are so many reasonable priced undiscovered used SDC’s out there that chasing a budget Chinese 84 just doesn’t make sense.
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Post by ericn on Oct 24, 2023 20:46:29 GMT -6
It’s always the guy running 3in KRKs who comments about the “Monster Low end”😁 Ah... ported monitors... My Questeds and subs resemble that remark.
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