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Post by mhbunch on Dec 18, 2020 12:17:29 GMT -6
In my experience the silverface apollos were some of the worst converters ever I've heard. Muddy, murky, horrible grey water buildup on everything is the best way I can describe it. And the DA was the same.
The new Apollo 16s sound incredible. Definitely on par with or above symphony mk1. I think the MK2 is just a little ahead of the race - but at this level it's all so good that it really just boils down to preferences in workflow with the provided softwear each converter uses.
I also have to continue to sing the praises for the Apogee Element series - really stunning AD/DA quality (like going from highschool baseball to the MLB when I compared it with the ensemble in my home setup) I think it is the best bang for the buck for a home studio where you dont need a bunch of i/o
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Post by mhbunch on Dec 16, 2020 22:24:54 GMT -6
Dang dude this is rad. I'm in the midddle of an Electrodyne 1204 build myself - aproaching 2 years now. Can't tell you how many "ok this is the last mouser order" I've done. Finally a light at the end of the tunnel. Congrats on the board, it looks great.
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Post by mhbunch on Dec 16, 2020 11:10:50 GMT -6
2x 2012 mac mini i7 (1 at home 1 at the studio) - highly reccommend backing up your computer and wiping it. Instantly blazing fast and only takes 4-5 hours including time to redownload all the plugins/licenses/programs you need.
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Post by mhbunch on Dec 14, 2020 17:38:05 GMT -6
Still loving our Apogee Symphony mk1. It just works and I never even think about it - also love the maestro mixer. Not so much a fan of the newer Apogee Control that I have to use with the Element series at my home studio.
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Post by mhbunch on Nov 30, 2020 10:08:38 GMT -6
Black Rooster Audio plugin sale. I grabbed the VLA-3A since I didn't own any LA-3A plugins, now I do. Just tried it out, works fine. Resisted the urge to get multiples of pultec or something I already have a bunch of. Their Magnetite is a great tape simulator also, I can say. I use it more and more these days. Finally got the Slate Fresh Air plugin, it's free. I had to use gmail instead of yahoo mail. It's a Dolby A kind of thing. Also seems somewhat useful in initial testing. Have you tried the Fuse VCL-4 and Flywheel? Better versions of the same thing from the programmer’s own company. Of course it’s a. cool LA3A vs an LA4 with modern components. Demoed I bunch of the fuse plugins this weekend - they’re all great but I had to buy the LA4. Really the best opto plug-in I’ve used (uad,waves,apogee). Closest sounding thing to my old Sa3a I’ve found - killer on clean electric guitar. Between Noiseash and others the plug-ins have been getting realllllly good.
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Post by mhbunch on Oct 4, 2020 12:35:32 GMT -6
I have an AM10 in my ss Pultec running on 24v. Absolutely love it.
Doesn’t hurt that it’s using Western Electric 111c for in/out transformers.
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Post by mhbunch on Aug 27, 2020 19:42:12 GMT -6
Either eBay for top dollar, once in a blue moon on groupdiy, or just get the sowter offerings. I built mine with sowter in/out and it sounds amazing - I doubt there would be a significant enough difference to justify the wait/cost of getting the real things.
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Post by mhbunch on Aug 24, 2020 0:22:28 GMT -6
AEA 44
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Post by mhbunch on Jul 19, 2020 0:07:12 GMT -6
It's all about using them, having a history with them, experiencing them live and in studio's and ultimately making them a part of your voice. A lot of the modern stuff is roughly inspired by the classics : Moog Prophet 5 (Sequential) Oberheim Jupiters 6/8/Super (Roland) To a lesser degree : Roland Juno's Waldorf (digital analog hybrid) Yamaha DX7 (FM style synthesis) Fairlight (grainy samples that first hit the market and took over the world) And on and on if you want to parse sub categories. If you really dive in, you'll start to intuitively feel it. Just like you feel the difference between a Tele and a Strat. But end of the weekend??.....hahahaaaaa!! If guitars / amps are a continent of sonic bliss to fall into, Synths are a galaxy. Go slow, don't hurt yourself. I would actually suggest the Moog, Juno, and DX7 are the perfect 3 synths to start with as far as identifying sounds and getting familiar with analog synth design/controls. There are free or cheap plugins for each.
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Post by mhbunch on Jul 19, 2020 0:00:22 GMT -6
Nice work drbill, I would add a couple and flesh out the list with some examples and sound characteristics. Moog Minimoog and modular (Parliament - Flashlight, ELP - Lucky Man, Kraftwerk - Autobahn, those wormy Dr. Dre leads ) Monophonic, round and smooth with huge bass. ARP 2600 and Odyssey (Edgar Winter - Frankenstein, Herbie Hancock - Chameleon) Monophonic, like Moog but often with more edge. The Odyssey can sometimes be spotted in solos by the sound of the unique PPC pitch bend controller. Sequential Prophet 5 (Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues album, Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight, Midnight Starr - Operator) Earliest real polyphonic synth with presets to spot. It's a poly but great for bass and leads too. Warm and powerful and fits in the mix well. Oberheim 8 Voice and OBXa (Rush - Tom Sawyer, Van Halen - Jump, Prince - 1999) The polyphonic Oberheim sound is characterized by being brighter and fuller in the top than the Prophet due to 12db/oct filters vs 24 on Sequential/Moog/ARP. The 8 voice sounds incredibly fat due to the impossibility of tuning all 8 modules exactly the same. Roland Jupiter/Junos (Bryan Ferry - Avalon, Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf, Talk Talk - It's My Life, Cindy Lauper hits, MJ - Thriller) Polyphonic synth that should sound like a Prophet but doesn't really. It's more cutting and less wooly even on mellow sounds. This is a very characteristic early 80s sound, often heard with that 80s bbd chorus. Yamaha CS80 (Vangelis - Blade Runner and Chariots of Fire soundtracks, Toto - Africa, Rosanna, Eurithmics - Here Comes the Rain Again, MJ - Billie Jean) This is a very unique polyphonic synth due to different filter designs with both HPF and LPF, two layers, integrated analog effects, ribbon controller, and most of all the polyphonic aftertouch which can be extremely expressive. Yamaha DX7 (A-Ha - Take on Me, DeBarge - Rhythm of the Night, Dire Straits - Walk of Life, Europe - The Final Countdown) That thin, glassy, piercing sound of the later half of the 80s. Think synth marimbas and that overly bright fake electric piano. EMS VCS3 - (Pink Floyd - On the Run, Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene) Very sci-fi sounding modular synth with a patch pin panel. Excellent post
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Post by mhbunch on Jul 7, 2020 0:06:30 GMT -6
sounds just like I hoped - can't wait to get ours
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Post by mhbunch on Jun 20, 2020 1:24:25 GMT -6
The warm was clean even with transformers engaged? It's too bad that you can't swap in your own op amps on that unit. I have an SB4000 I'm building. Been a big project. The PCB grinder kit would be a good place to start, there are a ton of mod's you can add to the GSSL boards. Overall that kit is a pretty basic unit compared to a lot of others but you'll be able to tweak it as you want. the trannys added some weight but not nearly as much colour as I would get from my colour palletes. would u say it's under 12 hours on the sb4000? If you think the warm is too clean you would hate the SB4000. That said the sb4000 is the best SSL style I’ve used.
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Post by mhbunch on Jun 4, 2020 13:56:48 GMT -6
I wish I could get along with my 160’s as overheads but I just don’t like them In that application. They are fantastic on toms though. Are you set on small diaphragm for overheads? We have had m160s up on OHs for a few years now and I'm really tired of them in that spot, FWIW. My studio partner likes 'em and likes to be record ready w/ the house kit. I just swap them out for my sessions, but I did try to get along with them there for a good bit. Much prefer the SF-12 in terms of capturing the whole kit with ribbons, but don't own one. Maybe one day. Agreed it’s not my favorite- much prefer my pair of coles or pearlman tm47 - but in a room with low ceilings and/or no treatment it’s hard to beat 160 ime
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Post by mhbunch on Jun 4, 2020 10:33:41 GMT -6
If the room you are recording in isn’t treated I would go with a pair of m160s.
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Post by mhbunch on May 25, 2020 23:27:33 GMT -6
Just picked up a pair of Westlake Audio BBSM-6 monitors to replace the Dynaudios at my studio.
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Post by mhbunch on Feb 29, 2020 12:49:32 GMT -6
QSC speakers/monitors and XR12
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Post by mhbunch on Jan 31, 2020 22:18:15 GMT -6
Ah good. I always get gear in pairs. They have more than one Neve/more than one location, I wonder which one is for sale. Looks like the Neve from Broken Arrow Ranch is going to be sold eventually too. They’re closing the San Francisco studios. Just keeping the newer Oakland one, which I believe has a neve as well. Haven’t been to it yet
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Post by mhbunch on Jan 31, 2020 1:34:34 GMT -6
My 501 is my favorite piece of gear.
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Post by mhbunch on Jan 22, 2020 19:29:43 GMT -6
Wow the tuning in that video is shockingly bad.
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Post by mhbunch on Jan 17, 2020 12:05:45 GMT -6
Interested!
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Post by mhbunch on Nov 18, 2019 21:38:43 GMT -6
DC8C is a great workhorse compressor - don’t like the saturation though, I just run it clean. Just used it today on drum bus. I love how much you can dig into settings.
I havnt used the saturation plugin in years since I grabbed soundtoys bundle.
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Post by mhbunch on Oct 25, 2019 20:58:13 GMT -6
Does anyone know if this is just a rip of the Poor Mans 660?
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Post by mhbunch on Sept 23, 2019 3:14:03 GMT -6
Unbelievable wealth of information here!!! Thank you for sharing. Can’t wait to dig into this.
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Post by mhbunch on Aug 10, 2019 4:07:50 GMT -6
Of course right after I order 8 am10 for my electrodyne console build!
Great work as always can’t wait to try some out.
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Post by mhbunch on Jun 24, 2019 0:46:18 GMT -6
I’m not sure I understand the question here
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