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Post by jayson on Mar 23, 2016 6:15:58 GMT -6
I think that's also maybe an unintended result of digital effects processing. For a while I think the ideal became to acoustically isolate sound sources with the intention of creating the acoustic environment electronically. An idea that I think has more negatives than positives as I get older. These days I really consider placement to be context dependent. I don't think the "Vocal Booth" approach is going anywhere, but by all means if you have a great sounding space you shouldn't be afraid to use it. Remember all those images of Sinatra at Capitol - that's gotta be 3 or 4 feet - you know a lot of the sound of the room is getting into that mic - that's the whole point. But then again you probably wouldn't want to mic somebody rapping or doing a funk tune that way.
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Post by jayson on Mar 19, 2016 13:33:56 GMT -6
Absolutely horrible news. I've always been a big fan of his posts; he'll definitely be missed.
Too many losses; it's been been a very harsh year and it's only March.
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Post by jayson on Mar 5, 2016 9:34:45 GMT -6
I think it's pretty important to select a first build that you can successfully complete fairly fast so you can keep your enthusiasm primed.
My first build was a CAPI VP28; a choice I definitely don't regret. I suppose if I could do it again I think I might have started wit a somewhat simpler project like a 312 though; just to get acquainted with the work flow and practice my soldering technique, but that's not any kind of a regret.
For me it was just the right amount of challenge-vs-simplicity. Jeff's docs are real concise; you can start out approaching it as a "paint-by-numbers" activity and with each build you learn more and more about WHY you're making the connections that you're making. With no calibration to deal with I was amazed I pulled it off when it worked on the first try!
It's fast, easy and and sounds great. It's the kind of project that, even if you go slowly and carefully, you can still complete in a weekend and start using right away. An excellent confidence builder. After a couple of those it might more sense to ramp up to something more ambitious like a compressor or EQ that might require a bit more time on the workbench and calibration.
Best nuggets of advice I think I could offer anybody deciding on their first build is to check out the assembly documents first - if you can follow along with them just by reading the steps and studying the pics & illustrations, you should do OK. Keep the multi-tester handy as you build and actually test each component to confirm it's value before you commit the solder. Most important part of the process is to ENJOY it; any hint of frustration means it's break time.
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Post by jayson on Feb 20, 2016 9:34:06 GMT -6
There are so many ways to get that job done these days I have a pretty hard time even entertaining the notion of a "holy grail" amp. If you'd asked me that question in, say 1985, I'm sure I'd have lots of familiar names on that list like Matchless, Fender, Marshall, Boogie... But these days it seems if you're a decent player it's not too hard to get really great sounds from so many different approaches that it's a fair question to ask if you really need an amp at all.
I picked up a production Blackstar amp a couple of years ago and I definitely enjoy what it can do through a 4x12 cab. It's not one of their boutique amps, but it sounds great in lots of different styles and situations. If I were trying to travel light I could even see using a Vox Tonelab SE processor and a pair of small line arrays. It's definitely not old school, but if it sounds good - especially in the mix - is it some kind of crime? From where I sit even guitar amp plug-ins can be pretty useful. Don't get me wrong, I definitely don't have anything against a beautiful, hand wired, point to point amp; but I just don't view that as the only or even the necessarily best solution for getting sounds anymore.
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Post by jayson on Jan 20, 2016 6:16:30 GMT -6
I can never single individuals out on lists like this without forgetting a lot more people than I site; it's always going to depend on musical context for me. I think I'd start off giving the nod to Carol Kaye, Tony Levin, Phil Lesh, Jack Casady, John Paul Jones, Ken Gradney, Bill MacCormick, John Entwistle, Billy Sheehan, Stanley Clarke, Charles Mingus...kind of an endless list in one way or another.
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Post by jayson on Jan 5, 2016 7:23:51 GMT -6
Strange. It almost looks as if the response plot creates a sine wave shape between 60 and 250 Hz (looks almost like there's a little harmonic bump from it centered around 1.5kHz). I don't really know squat about acoustics, but I could see that creating some summing and cancellation problems depending on your position in the room. I wonder what performing additional tests around the room would reveal? I wonder, if you do more measurements around the room, if you might be able to infer where you need to place some bass traps just by watching the amplitude changes in that "sine wave"? If I were looking at this in my room, I think my first (and probably incorrect) notion would be to try to tame that initial 120 Hz resonance...like I said; I don't really know squat about acoustics.
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Post by jayson on Dec 23, 2015 16:36:18 GMT -6
I tried the install on a cloned copy of my OS drive rather than commit to it right off the bat on my Mac Pro.
It appeared to have a severe dislike for the composite audio device I had created in Audio Midi - I use an RME Multiface II and a Fireface 800 as a single composite device. Both devices seemed to function ok, but the composite device I had created was pretty much scrambled. I'm sure I probably could've just created a new one, but the idea of remapping and relabeling all the i/o was a little more than I wanted to contend with so I just bagged it and went back to my original drive.
From where I sit it doesn't seem as if the Captain really offers any "gotta have it" capabilities so, for the time being, I don't feel all that distraught about staying with Yosemite.
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Post by jayson on Dec 22, 2015 6:03:59 GMT -6
Sylvia Massy is apparently a fan: this was on her Facebook feed this past weekend.
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Post by jayson on Nov 4, 2015 7:18:40 GMT -6
Reading through this thread I have to admit I'm glad I resisted jumping into the PT platform all these years - bear with me if it seems like I'm speaking from ignorance here...I confess that I am. From where I've been sitting the only sticking point that might have influenced me to purchase PT is portability of your sessions. But how relevant is the issue of session portability these days? Is it reasonable to assume that any decent recording facility worth it's salt WOULDN'T support Logic or Steinberg products these days? That seems kind of unlikely; especially if you consider that the paltry pricetag of $200 will purchase a full, non-casterated version of Logic and the patches and point-upgrades are always gratis. That's an expense that could easily be recouped in 1 or 2 hours max. Session files are now packaged into a single files that I've moved from studio to studio on a thumb-drive with no comaptibility issues whatsoever.
Considering that Avid/DD have always had the need for expen$ive proprietary hardware to take full advantage of the system- a fact that's kind of absurd in the era of thunderbolt- I often wonder what the attraction is. The quagmire of a $10k dongle was something I swore I'd never get into again after my experience with Sonic Solutions.
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Post by jayson on Nov 4, 2015 6:10:11 GMT -6
Dang. You HAD to post that; now I'm gonna need a pair of 'em!
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Post by jayson on Oct 8, 2015 6:12:55 GMT -6
I could see jumping to something like this at some point, but from where I sit 27" at 1080 just ain't enough desktop real estate. If they could up the resolution to a 2560x1440 it would be a no-brainer in my world, but after the last few years at 2560 and a 32" screen there's no way the tactile aspect would be enough to lure me away- I NEED that extra space. Seems to me that you don't lose much by waiting; these systems will get increasingly better from a feature standpoint and less expensive as time goes on. I don't really see buying into now just so I can ride the upgrade train later...although I have to admit the instant gratification siren song is pretty potent with this thing.
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Post by jayson on Sept 25, 2015 5:21:24 GMT -6
We gotta get a thread going with some sound samples. I could definitely see a D864 or two in my future if they sound as nice as they look. Cosmetically I like what I see; there's certainly a few really tasteful nods to Fairchild, if the audio quality follows the same trajectory I'd be a pretty happy guy!
The price point is also amazing if the sound delivers, it tends to make me curious as to what the possibilities are for hot-rodding them - although I think it's a very safe bet they sound great as they are...ya know...better, if possible, is BETTER!
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Post by jayson on Sept 21, 2015 9:44:00 GMT -6
Thanks for the feedback, everybody! Nothing better than re-purposing! Th PS is rated at 5.25 amps at 17 Volts, I think it's probably going to be able supply enough juice. I'm more concerned with it being too much! If I'm going to put in the diodes on the + and - connections, would I put the cathode facing up stream, toward the power supply on the negative lead and and the opposite on the positive? Is there a specific make/model diode that I should look for?
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Post by jayson on Sept 20, 2015 9:38:00 GMT -6
So I'm running out of 500 real estate and I'm thinking I'll grab an 11 Space rack from CAPI and use a spare soundcraft cps275 I have laying around as a power supply. Is there any hole in that logic that sticks out to you guys? Would I be better off using one of Jeff's PS kits? The only thing that makes me a little intimidated at the prospect of doing this is the Soundcraft is spec'd at +/- 17 Volt and the API standard supposedly wants to see +/- 16. I can't see that as being that much of an issue but perhaps I'm mistaken? It would seem to me that I could just leave the 5 Volt circuit out of the equation entirely, and just jump the appropriate pins on the current console umbilical connector to an additional - as yet uninstalled - 5 pin XLR connector on the Soundcraft PS. I understand how, to some, this would seem like an unholy alliance by definition, but am I asking for trouble if I do this? Here's a snapshot of the Soundcraft rear panel; whaddya think? Attachments:
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Post by jayson on Sept 20, 2015 7:55:50 GMT -6
Sounds like you might be looking for something more like a Pelican 1600 or even a 1650 if you're wanting to include all the fixin's like cables, shock mounts and power supplies, etc. Check eBay; There's always people blowing them out, I've seen them go for like $60 to $100. My boss buy 'em by the gross! I think Tundra makes some pretty decent equivalents. The caveat of buying used is that you might have to clean the exterior and-or re-foam the interior. Depending on who had the case last, that can be a formidable task sometimes. I've discovered just how cool products like WD-40 and 90% isopropyl alcohol can be in cutting down that pass-time. Foam should be pretty cheap right now since it's tied to the price of crude-oil. I've had great luck with this place if you want to pick up foam: www.thefoamfactory.com/acousticfoam/acousticfoam.htmlLots of selection and even a fair amount of some presentable acoustic solutions (hence THAT link!) Happy Hunting!
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Post by jayson on Sept 17, 2015 6:15:23 GMT -6
Right now I've got a Vintech 609CA into a Great River EQ-2NV across the 2-bus. Pretty much there for flavor though; neither are doing any particularly heavy lifting.
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Post by jayson on Sept 12, 2015 6:46:39 GMT -6
Svart - Thanks for the response on this. What you're suggesting is exactly what I found in researching this on my own. Unfortunately I think for our purposes it's a solution that won't fly; we're doing a lot of broadcast out of a lot of hospitals that, if they have fiber infrastructure at all, we can't count on it being well developed enough to gamble on a passive conversion. It's a lot safer in our workflow to run analog line level and embed those audio channels into HDSDI, convert and shoot it down the fiber and de-embed on the other end. Unfortunately it's a lot more labor intensive to do it that way - a lot of patching.
I'm guessing it's not worth bothering right now - I think Dante will make it moot point before too long.
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Post by jayson on Sept 10, 2015 6:18:24 GMT -6
This could be a suggestion or request for help: I've had the need convert TOSLINK to single mode fiber optic and back again recently. After a pretty good look around it appears I'm SOL. Extremely niche market converter idea, but apparently nobody makes one.
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Post by jayson on Sept 4, 2015 19:05:19 GMT -6
Wow! I definitely like what that's doing. Slamming at the 12:1 the grit is still pretty subtle and the breathing seems like it could be a useful tool without calling too much attention to itself in the mix or nice wool if you want it to stick out.
I'm sold! ...now if Jeff would just open the store!
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Post by jayson on Sept 3, 2015 19:56:05 GMT -6
Awesome, Thanks! By all means take your pick, I'll take whatever you got!
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Post by jayson on Sept 3, 2015 5:51:36 GMT -6
I've been wondering the opposite; how dirty do they get? Is this a good unit for doing some downright abusive, deliberately audible compression? Can they be aggressive and low-fi if that's where you want to drive them? I'm sure it's inevitable that I'm going to build a bunch of these, but so far I have to confess I haven't heard enough scuttlebutt on what they actually sound like to know what to expect. So far my experience with the CAPI gear leads me to think that clean and pristine isn't likely to be too much of a problem; Jeff seems to place a pretty high priority on sonic transparency in the design phase. Figuratively speaking, I'm guessing it's like an 1176 with a college degree?
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Post by jayson on Aug 28, 2015 6:26:26 GMT -6
To get that chaotic telephone sound I like to smash the heck out of the signal with high and low pass filters that keep the frequency response of the vocal constrained between 600Hz and 4k (if I remember correctly that's the actual bandwidth of audio through the phone system), then suck all the dynamic range out of it with a compressor w' high ratio, pretty low threshold, fast attack, really slow release followed with enough makeup gain to give you some nice fuzz.
ITB bit crusher plugins can be really cool for that effect as well.
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Post by jayson on Aug 15, 2015 7:42:11 GMT -6
Geez Tony, I hope I didn't give you the impression I'm offended - from where I sit it's just an interesting conversation.
To some extent I think improvised music gets a bad rap. It's really as old as music itself; I'd be willing to bet that the most iconic pieces of music ever written started life as something that was blurted out while improvising. How many blues tunes started out as something that was made up on the fly? Certainly became the core of what guys like Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Miles Davis did. I can understand folks who might have cultural issues with that scene. Back in the early 80s I went through my Dead-head phase and spent a few summers touring, making money selling shirts, bagles and beer and, of course, meeting girls - heluva lot of fun. Eventually I couldn't stomach the people who adopted "Dead-headism" as some sort of religion. It was impossible to have any form of intelligent conversation with them; every third sentence would quotes of song lyrics and you can imagine what the sole topic of conversation was. But in all fairness, from what I've heard, that phenomenon sickened the people in the band a hell of a lot more than it sickened me.
Musically I can honestly say that to me the Dead occupy the unusual position of being both the best and worst band I've ever seen. It took talent to do what they did well, and when that muse refused to sing the result could be downright embarrassing for both the audience and the band - but when it really worked it was a pretty special thing to witness. I'll certainly give 'em this much; those guys had impeccable taste in gear!
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Post by jayson on Aug 14, 2015 7:02:41 GMT -6
No doubt an act of intense generosity...or is it keen business sense? I wonder if your friend isn't setting you up for a pricey purchase - The hard part is going to be giving it back; you might just have to buy it instead! You know how those gear-pimps work; the first fix is always free!
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Post by jayson on Aug 14, 2015 6:28:32 GMT -6
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