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Post by Johnkenn on Aug 6, 2020 15:08:15 GMT -6
The recent talk about the Sound Skupltor units got me looking into these. Anyone have any personal experience with them? Always looking for a betterizer.
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Post by drbill on Aug 6, 2020 15:14:24 GMT -6
The recent talk about the Sound Skupltor units got me looking into these. Anyone have any personal experience with them? Always looking for a betterizer. Seems to be hit or miss depending on who you're talking to. Haven't tried them myself. For the "misses", it seems to be focused more towards people who actually worked with tape for decades. Seems to miss "that" mark. But as always, YMMV. Still a nice box. Manage your expectations, and I think it works. |
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,983 
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Post by ericn on Aug 6, 2020 15:27:58 GMT -6
If you really really want the sound of tape I have a Revox A77 in storage I haven’t even plugged in I bought at a rummage sale for $100.
Why go simulator when you can have the real thing?
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Post by Tbone81 on Aug 6, 2020 15:28:43 GMT -6
I have a pair and love them. One of the few pieces of gear I’d never give up. I couldn’t tell you how close they are to a true “tape sound”, but regardless they’re pretty great. My understanding is that they’re pretty similar in function to the sound skulptors.
I had a Zulu for a while and much preferred the 542’s. The Zulu sounds nice but being fully passive it was trickier to gain stage. The sound of them changed depending on what preamp you were using with them, how hard you were hitting them and what settings you had. The 542 by comparison was easier/quicker to get a desired sound and I didn’t have to tie up a pair of mic pres with them.
The 542’s are really two different sounds in one box. The first stage is a “tape emulation” using the electronics from a tape machine to approximate the “tape sound”. You can dial in the amount of saturation and there’s a wet/dry blend knob. Following that you have a independent transformer saturation stage, and you can choose between the Neve Silk “Blue” and “Red” transformer stages. Again you have saturation control to dial in a little or a lot. “Blue” really thickens things up and increases the weight of a sound. Too much and you’ll notice the lower mids get a little dirty/muddy (depending on the source). The “Red” has a more forward mid range and helps things cut better. Both are cool. Definitely worth auditioning a pair.
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RND 542
Aug 7, 2020 22:10:45 GMT -6
Post by Chad on Aug 7, 2020 22:10:45 GMT -6
Agree with Tbone81 100%.
I love my pair of RND 542s. (Sold my Zulu after I bought them.)
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RND 542
Aug 7, 2020 22:15:18 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by guitfiddler on Aug 7, 2020 22:15:18 GMT -6
542’s👍🏻🤟🏻
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Post by johneppstein on Aug 7, 2020 23:30:51 GMT -6
If you really really want the sound of tape I have a Revox A77 in storage I haven’t even plugged in I bought at a rummage sale for $100. Why go simulator when you can have the real thing? <cough>
caps.
rubber.
I have one in storage as well. Would much rather waste my money on the big Studer....... Which I have lots of tape for.
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Post by nomatic on Aug 8, 2020 5:55:14 GMT -6
Had one for years and love it! I much prefer to the Zulu....
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RND 542
Aug 8, 2020 15:18:24 GMT -6
Post by jamiesego on Aug 8, 2020 15:18:24 GMT -6
I've had a pair for a few months. I like them a lot. I've been using them mostly on kick and snare but I wish I had another one for bass. I sometimes run mixes through them. They work great for that also.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,983
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Post by ericn on Aug 8, 2020 16:54:47 GMT -6
If you really really want the sound of tape I have a Revox A77 in storage I haven’t even plugged in I bought at a rummage sale for $100. Why go simulator when you can have the real thing? <cough>
caps.
rubber.
I have one in storage as well. Would much rather waste my money on the big Studer....... Which I have lots of tape for.
Note how I did not offer either the ag440-2 or ag440-8 😁 |
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Post by Vincent R. on Aug 8, 2020 17:16:59 GMT -6
I have a pair of these on my “to buy” list. jtc111 has a pair and I had a lot of fun messing around with them at his place. |
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Post by nick8801 on Aug 10, 2020 10:31:20 GMT -6
Used to have a pair. They’re really great. If you’re going to put them on a mix you gotta have them on from the start. They can add a ton of bass so it’s important to keep an eye on that. I loved silk red on vox. Sold mine because I needed more preamps. Kind of miss them, but they weren’t used all that much.
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