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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2023 9:08:23 GMT -6
Damn. Reviving this thread. I was looking at the focusrite ISA two to add to my collection for acoustic, and piano recording. Does it really suck? What else should I look to? I already have the usual suspects for "vibe" (neve, api, chandler). No it doesn't suck, but this is 10x better: www.ebay.com/itm/145096071621And you get 4 chanhnels. This is probably one of the most underrated Focusrite units ever made. The Mark 1 was made in the UK, unlike later crap sourced out to the far east old Focusrite and new Focusrite sound nothing alike. Old Focusrite is pretty clean with some sheen. New Focusrite sounds like there is something wrong with the sound. Scarlett is lofi murky crap, Clarett and red have boosted bass and highs and less lofi, ISA is the only tonally even one but it’s lofi and colored. There’s probably more junk Chinese electrical parts in it than in the chip based units, which are filled with Chinese capacitors and sometimes have incredibly junky power supplies. The air buttons change the impedance and thus the sound even more. Inquirer should buy anything else not current Focusrite not a Behringer, RME product with lots of crap or pga2500 junk with forced pads. Clean solid state pres and the that chip pres on better interfaces (eg apogee, Lynx) are closer to old Focusrite then new Focusrite. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jun 8, 2023 9:12:21 GMT -6
Damn. Reviving this thread. I was looking at the focusrite ISA two to add to my collection for acoustic, and piano recording. Does it really suck? What else should I look to? I already have the usual suspects for "vibe" (neve, api, chandler). No it doesn't suck, but this is 10x better: www.ebay.com/itm/145096071621And you get 4 chanhnels. This is probably one of the most underrated Focusrite units ever made. The Mark 1 was made in the UK, unlike later crap sourced out to the far east Like Dan said, your vintage of Focusrite and the quality of even the new ISA series are 2 different worlds. You have the Lexus LFA new stuff is a an old Uhber drivers Prius. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jun 8, 2023 9:14:29 GMT -6
Piano and acoustic recordings? I love the Hardy M1 for those. A Daking is also good on those sources and even better on drums and percussion. But I digress. I too had looked at the ISA before getting the Daking. I had read some reports of overheating in the ISA which caused problems, so in the end I went with the Daking. BTW, if you use ribbon mics a lot, the Daking is fantastic on mine. Plenty of clean gain. If I could for some reason only have one Pre it would be the Hardy M1. Not perfect for everything but like a u87 it’s never going to sound bad either. |
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Post by chessparov on Jun 8, 2023 10:07:38 GMT -6
Relatively speaking (or singing)... IMHO my UA Volt sounds slightly better than my 3rd Gen Scarlett. Let alone my Vintage  Presonus Audiobox! Gee I guess I may shoot out my Studio Projects VTB-1. Probably a bit cleaner than these Prosumer Interfaces. If you leave the Tube Blend off. Been tempted by the Useful Arts Hornet. Might be the Holiday present to myself, later in the year. In any event, differences are more subtle to me than others of you!  Chris P.S. I do sometimes like using gimmicky features. Ala "Air Mode" or "Vintage Button". LOL! |
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 8, 2023 11:12:24 GMT -6
Fender's Bassbreaker. It's a poor choice of a name, but it's a killer amp. Standard Fender sound, but one click, and you've got a Vox sound that's perfectly balanced. It breaks up exactly where you want it to begin breakup. It also has a metal setting, but it's just a silly thing to try to give people everything in one box. I doubt anyone into metal will be using a Bassbreaker. The only shortcoming is it doesn't have the Fender spring reverb, but the reverb it has is fine and the choice between classic Fender and Vox tones is a godsend for tracking.
It has more headroom than most 15W. amps, so it can be used for a small gig.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jun 8, 2023 11:43:41 GMT -6
How about this for a sleeper, we all know the biggest factor in the sound of any Microphone is the capsule. Then this manufacturer his the heart and soul of the best of Dave Bocks creations and if Memory serves me Klaus’s choice for the KHE, MBHO / Haun. What you get for your money on the used market is insane and talk about a great modular system that includes LDC capsules!
Even bigger sleepers are the OEM Strausser and Audix ( SCX-1 and TR40). Yet to have a MBHO product that wasn’t impressive.
Everybody should have a pair of decent SDC’s as some of their first 10 mics, the Audix SCX-1 and the Strausser relabeled MBHO are always one of the first budget recommendations, but since there is a heavy Schoeps influence here they are a recommended at any price.
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Post by copperx on Jun 8, 2023 13:49:29 GMT -6
Fender's Bassbreaker. It's a poor choice of a name, but it's a killer amp. Standard Fender sound, but one click, and you've got a Vox sound that's perfectly balanced. It breaks up exactly where you want it to begin breakup. It also has a metal setting, but it's just a silly thing to try to give people everything in one box. I doubt anyone into metal will be using a Bassbreaker. The only shortcoming is it doesn't have the Fender spring reverb, but the reverb it has is fine and the choice between classic Fender and Vox tones is a godsend for tracking. It has more headroom than most 15W. amps, so it can be used for a small gig. Sounds like the perfect amp for me, but it doesn't have spring reverb, right? Ant suggestions on how to fill that gap? |
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 8, 2023 17:43:09 GMT -6
I actually like the reverb it has. The original Fender spring reverb is of course classic, but I rarely used it because it was just so common.
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Post by paulcheeba on Jun 8, 2023 18:05:51 GMT -6
Neumann SM69 - either tube or Fet. While the world goes mad for mono Neumann’s and pays ridiculous money, the elegant vintage SM69 with 2 AC701K’s sounds delicious. Normally cheaper than a mono version and half the price of a U67 of which it is like having 2 prime ones. Don’t listen to naysayers about Xformer size as The T14 is hardly beefy and the C24 is going for stupid money. I feel the SM69 is better and less than a third.
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Post by Ward on Jun 8, 2023 18:18:33 GMT -6
You're not wrong about that, Mr. Godfrey!
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Post by christopher on Jun 8, 2023 22:58:14 GMT -6
The reason nobody talks about sm69 is the same reason 251 used to be under $5k on eBay (it wasn’t vf14 u47, so why pay that much?) iow, nobody knows about it
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Post by Ward on Jun 9, 2023 6:06:06 GMT -6
The reason nobody talks about sm69 is the same reason 251 used to be under $5k on eBay (it wasn’t vf14 u47, so why pay that much?) iow, nobody knows about it I wish nobody knew about M269s KM54a KM56s KM64s and many others! |
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Post by Chad on Jun 9, 2023 11:21:34 GMT -6
The reason nobody talks about sm69 is the same reason 251 used to be under $5k on eBay (it wasn’t vf14 u47, so why pay that much?) iow, nobody knows about it I wish nobody knew about M269s KM54a KM56s KM64s and many others! I wish nobody knew about Greg Mackie. 😂 |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jun 9, 2023 11:31:29 GMT -6
Neumann SM69 - either tube or Fet. While the world goes mad for mono Neumann’s and pays ridiculous money, the elegant vintage SM69 with 2 AC701K’s sounds delicious. Normally cheaper than a mono version and half the price of a U67 of which it is like having 2 prime ones. Don’t listen to naysayers about Xformer size as The T14 is hardly beefy and the C24 is going for stupid money. I feel the SM69 is better and less than a third. High dollar high quality stereo mics are always a hard sell, no matter how much you stress the versatility and savings. I don’t know why but there was always an attitude of “ real men use a stereo pair”. |
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Post by paulcheeba on Jun 9, 2023 11:43:43 GMT -6
Neumann SM69 - either tube or Fet. While the world goes mad for mono Neumann’s and pays ridiculous money, the elegant vintage SM69 with 2 AC701K’s sounds delicious. Normally cheaper than a mono version and half the price of a U67 of which it is like having 2 prime ones. Don’t listen to naysayers about Xformer size as The T14 is hardly beefy and the C24 is going for stupid money. I feel the SM69 is better and less than a third. High dollar high quality stereo mics are always a hard sell, no matter how much you stress the versatility and savings. I don’t know why but there was always an attitude of “ real men use a stereo pair”. Real men use 2 stereo mics. |
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Post by chessparov on Jun 9, 2023 11:53:34 GMT -6
And they never hire two identical Twins as Court Stenographers.
That would be Stereo Typing.
Unless it's for a Bollywood movie.
Then it's type casting.
Chris
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Post by Ward on Jun 9, 2023 12:32:48 GMT -6
ericn, real men use 3 stereo pairs...and a stereo mic.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jun 9, 2023 12:37:14 GMT -6
ericn, real men use 3 stereo pairs...and a stereo mic. Real men use a Decca Tree ! |
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Post by Ward on Jun 9, 2023 12:37:50 GMT -6
ericn, real men use 3 stereo pairs...and a stereo mic. Real men use a Decca Tree ! I'm still partial to Oak trees |
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Post by mcirish on Jun 9, 2023 13:21:31 GMT -6
Chris has had waaaay too much impact on these forums. Everyone is a comedian now.... :-)
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jun 9, 2023 13:40:46 GMT -6
Chris has had waaaay too much impact on these forums. Everyone is a comedian now.... :-) The question of the day: is Chris the Jerry Seinfeld or Jerry Lewis of the audio world? |
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Post by seawell on Jun 9, 2023 13:51:23 GMT -6
I've always thought the Little Labs IBP jr. was underrated. Some very interesting guitar and drum tones in particular to be found by experimenting with some in between phase relationships on multi-miced sources.
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Post by mcirish on Jun 9, 2023 13:56:50 GMT -6
Chris has had waaaay too much impact on these forums. Everyone is a comedian now.... :-) The question of the day: is Chris the Jerry Seinfeld or Jerry Lewis of the audio world? Either of those would be fine. I'm just hoping he isn't the Jerry Springer of the audio world.... as he grabs a chair to throw at someone.... |
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Post by chessparov on Jun 9, 2023 14:20:20 GMT -6
They DO call me the "Bobby Knight" of chess.
But I got demoted from First Chair in the high school choir. When I sang Silent Night. I wasn't.
That's when I decided to "go electric". Too much impact? Hmm...?
Couldn't have come at a worse time.
I had to break up with my Therapist.
Told him I had "suicidal tendencies".
Then he said I better start paying in advance.
Chris
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 9, 2023 15:49:51 GMT -6
Logic's compressors are underrated. Their DBX style is on almost every 2 bus I've done, and for some, the Focusrite works as well as any other brand. I probably have a dozen compressor plug-ins, but Logic's still gets chosen.
The UAD 176 is also under the radar. I got it on sale, and it does have a little bit of that magic trick of smoothing out a vocal, adding a little tone shift without drawing attention to itself. Just two days ago, it turned a "plain" sounding vocal into something that sounds pro, and it was the first preset at only 2db of gain reduction!
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Presonus Audiobox!
