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Post by miscreantrecords on Feb 27, 2024 18:59:30 GMT -6
Hey friends. I'm new to these parts. Nice to meet you all. I've been strongly considering purchasing a hardware 1176 unit for the studio. I'm not planning on grabbing the official UA at the moment, that said, I've been considering all the other flavors available. I don't want the KT, and the people I've spoken with personally weren't that impressed with the Warm Audio in their experience. I'm leaning towards the Hairball 1176 Rev A DIY kit. I've read nothing but good things about its performance and sound, the DIY project sounds interesting, and I love it's appearance with the lack of branding. Clean and classy. For those who have experience with it - How does it compare to the others? UA, Purple, Stam, warm, black lion, KT, etc. Thank you in advance! I’ll happily send you a SA-76A Plus to test for free. In case you don’t want to keep it you can return it to our local service center in NY, FL or LA. We also have the D plus available =) Wow! Thank you very much, I really appreciate that. I very well may take you up on that. If I decide to go that route, I'll send you a DM. |
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Post by smashlord on Feb 27, 2024 22:42:46 GMT -6
One of my friends built a Hairball Rev A. He's a quite capable tech, so I have no doubt it was built and calibrated properly, but I wasn't blown away with it. It was noisy and a little toooooo bright. Another mutual engineering pal shared the same thoughts.
It's hard to beat the Serpent Splice, which gives you Rev A, Rev D, and combinations thereof in one box. Its Rev A mode is FANTASTIC.
I have no doubt for the price, the Audioscape 1176s are good. I have several of their other products and its good kit.
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Post by sean on Feb 28, 2024 8:43:26 GMT -6
I've probably built a dozen Hairball 1176's for people over the years. They are nice, Mike is great, but unless you enjoy DIY I would buy an Audioscape. The Hairball kit is pretty unforgiving if you accidentally install the wrong part somewhere...it is VERY difficult to get a part out without pull/damaging a trace.
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Post by okcrecording on Feb 28, 2024 22:05:03 GMT -6
I have a Stam 76A that lives on snare drum and vocals. It excels on so many sources.
Still need to build my hairball rev D. Honestly, you really can't have too many 1176 or LA-2A clones.
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Post by miscreantrecords on Feb 29, 2024 2:53:24 GMT -6
I've probably built a dozen Hairball 1176's for people over the years. They are nice, Mike is great, but unless you enjoy DIY I would buy an Audioscape. The Hairball kit is pretty unforgiving if you accidentally install the wrong part somewhere...it is VERY difficult to get a part out without pull/damaging a trace. Noted! Thank you. I'm confident we can get the build right. Assuming the right tools are used, how difficult is the calibration? Question for all. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 29, 2024 3:46:59 GMT -6
Can’t say I agree, if you have a desoldering station any part is easily removable, at the end of the day you can always simply clip the legs of any component, heat up and gently remove from motherboard.
Finally, you can always ship to Mike and he makes everything right for a nominal fee. If you have any concerns about your build or for calibration he can do that too.
Given your dad’s expertise and the opportunity for you to build together, I still say take your time but go for it, what a great experience!
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 29, 2024 3:50:12 GMT -6
Re: calibration: lots of videos:
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Post by miscreantrecords on Feb 29, 2024 3:53:06 GMT -6
Given your dad’s expertise and the opportunity for you to build together, I still say take your time but go for it, what a great experience! Thank you. My thoughts exactly! I'm 36. He's 75. It's a beautiful opportunity to build something I will use, value, and cherish for the rest of my life. Memories. I use the bluestripe 1176 plugs on everything. My all around favorite. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 29, 2024 4:00:55 GMT -6
I think peeps advice about the quality and convenience of other products: Audioscape, etc., is valid, they make a great product, but you din’t get the build experience with Dad, which you will treasure much more than the convenience of purchasing a built product. Go for it, worse thing is Dad chews you out big time for screwing up: stay humble !  |
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Post by sean on Feb 29, 2024 5:45:46 GMT -6
Can’t say I agree, if you have a desoldering station any part is easily removable, at the end of the day you can always simply clip the legs of any component, heat up and gently remove from motherboard. Finally, you can always ship to Mike and he makes everything right for a nominal fee. If you have any concerns about your build or for calibration he can do that too. Given your dad’s expertise and the opportunity for you to build together, I still say take your time but go for it, what a great experience! Even with a Hakko desoldering tool double sided PCBs with very small solder cups it’s not easy to fix simple mistakes with these boards. But the calibration is easy |
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 29, 2024 6:30:45 GMT -6
Fair snuff, can clips legs, heat and remove, carefully?
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Post by miscreantrecords on Mar 1, 2024 4:21:01 GMT -6
Can’t say I agree, if you have a desoldering station any part is easily removable, at the end of the day you can always simply clip the legs of any component, heat up and gently remove from motherboard. Finally, you can always ship to Mike and he makes everything right for a nominal fee. If you have any concerns about your build or for calibration he can do that too. Given your dad’s expertise and the opportunity for you to build together, I still say take your time but go for it, what a great experience! Even with a Hakko desoldering tool double sided PCBs with very small solder cups it’s not easy to fix simple mistakes with these boards. But the calibration is easy Thank you both. |
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Post by indiehouse on Mar 1, 2024 5:11:33 GMT -6
Thanks everyone for the responses! Greatly appreciated. Very helpful. I wasn't previously familiar with the Audioscape, it does look very interesting indeed and the price point is fantastic. Seriously considering. I actually don't have the tools / experience to pull off the build myself. My father is a brilliant electrical engineer and it seems like a fun project to build together and learn a thing or two as he's 75 and not getting any younger. Do it. Time is fleeting. You’ll create some great memories. |
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Post by krackle on Mar 12, 2024 12:44:41 GMT -6
These days I think the smart money is on the AudioScape 76's. I’ll 2nd this, tho I think it’s already been done here. I’ve got a 76d and a 76f. These are extremely well detailed units..great sound first-great, They’re built to a T, look good inside and out while doing everything they do. I’m about to order one of their Optos and can’t wait to hear it. Great company. |
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Post by kcatthedog on Mar 12, 2024 13:33:20 GMT -6
Ya, but then he doesn’t build with his dad, he can buy AS anytime.
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Post by copperx on Mar 14, 2024 1:00:17 GMT -6
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Post by prene1 on Mar 14, 2024 11:59:14 GMT -6
Can’t go wrong with the splice, AS, or STAM.
Own all 3. Beautiful units.
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Post by miscreantrecords on Mar 15, 2024 23:16:13 GMT -6
What a fantastic community and warm welcome! Thank you everyone for the great input, suggestions and experience.
At this point, I've decided on the Hairball. I'll post a few photos here and there as the project gets underway in a couple weeks.
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Post by kcatthedog on Mar 16, 2024 1:48:48 GMT -6
Fun !
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Post by miscreantrecords on Apr 4, 2024 18:41:12 GMT -6
Well fellas, the 1176 rev A kit showed up today!
Can't wait to build it, get it into the control room, and put it into action on a record I'm currently producing.
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Post by kcatthedog on Apr 5, 2024 4:08:53 GMT -6
Great, take it slow and enjoy the build !
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Post by miscreantrecords on Apr 9, 2024 0:01:25 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Apr 9, 2024 3:11:53 GMT -6
Great stuff !
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Post by miscreantrecords on May 29, 2024 23:42:41 GMT -6
Hey friends. Thanks again for the encouragement and great advice. Thanks to Stam for the amazing trial offer. I didn't post updates and what not along the way as I realize we have a DIY room for that exact sort of thing. Thought it made sense to close things out with some photos / video of the finished project - streamable.com/dnm799 |
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Post by kcatthedog on May 30, 2024 3:08:10 GMT -6
Looking good, of course, let us know , what you think of its sonics !
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