We live in strange times...Behringer 369

Yeah. Can really only tickle on the 2 bus.

At some point someone is going to offer a Transformer upgrade for the Behringer, then the debate will be what modern Ttansformer is best?

Of course the Behringer could suffer from the same availablilty issues next week or tomorrow, that’s the rub. The main advantage of the Behringer is when available better distribution.

That may be more about the knee than anything

There’s no rational to this stuff.

I’m 61 in October.

I have no sports car, no golf club membership, my wife only likes to travel abroad once a year, my kids are nearly out of uni and starting their own careers.

So my studio is my single big indulgence, I can afford a small but reasonable budget each year, and it gets spent on my passion.

Would it be better in savings, yeah probably but I’m reminded by my wife (who works for the NHS) life is a journey not a destination and if studio gear makes the journey exciting and enjoyable, within my personal budget, then what the heck …. let’s enjoy the journey.

I don’t want to overthink this stuff, just enjoy it for what it is.

Well agreed.

When I first started buying this stuff, I thought “I can easily get my money back”

Now I realise I’d be lucky to get 50p on the pound.

I’ve seen a Retro STA Level sat on Reverb for over a year and then I think the guy just took it down.

They cost £2950 new and he wanted £2600 for it - not a chance.

I bought mine second hand for £1700 and I’d be happy with £1500 if I sold it and even then I realise it could take a year to sell.

There’s fewer and fewer people each year who want this esoteric high end kit. So the second hand market shrinks and goes down and conversely, with less sales, the new price goes up.

So yes, you’re right about the financial aspect of it.

There’s a thread here about it? Why bother, rather buy Audioscape or Stam.

Use your ears and mix into it. Find the sweetspot for each setting of auto release where the meters and sound seem to speed up. Large amounts off will be drastically over compressed on all of these old non-vca comps because they’re not logarithmic. 10 db is twice as loud but the non logarithmic vintage type compressor sees 10x the level so put it in the sweet spot and mix into it.

The numbers don’t mean anything. They specify a time to do a certain amount of gain reduction at one setting when measured a certain way that varies between all compressors and manufacturers. But often attack and release influence each other and all good compressors have lots of program dependencies.

If the two bus compressor is putting a noticeable envelope on drums or taking them off too much, compress them individually less or create an overshoot (with a compressor or transient shaper) that gets smacked down by the bus comp and sounds right but then the drums are modulating the rest of the signal if the two bus compressor is mainly responding to them and not just the brief snare peaks, so you might want more aggressive drum bus compression or to control your kick and snare beforehand

My RND 5424 has a blend knob as well, and there are times when it has really come in handy, not just on the 2-mix either.  It can work amazingly well on vocals. 

AND the price has gone DOWN on the 5424. 

Mmmh that's a lovely unit.

Still £2900 in the UK ....over twice the price of the Heritage similar unit.

I bet your 5424 sounds fabulous.

Yeah, I would never choose the Stam route. Too many other great sounding options from reputable companies.