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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 11, 2024 23:03:18 GMT -6
Seriously considering just making the jump and picking up a Cranborne 500R8 as my mixing room interface. I already have the 500ADAT and it is just so good in every way. The conversion sounds great, the headphone amps are insane, and the customer service from Cranborne is fantastic.
So why would I do this?
I'm finding that the 500ADAT is so much more convenient than all my other outboard gear that everything in it gets used way more than anything else. Additionally if I went all in on the Cranborne system, I'd either add a couple of their C.A.S.T. units to clean up cabling and run my patchbay through that or I'd run the patchbay through the Cranborne inserts of which I'd have 16.
The way I'm using my outboard these days involves a lot more printing of tracks (for unrelated reasons) don't really need as much I/O as I used to. It's pretty rare that I would be using more than 16 channels of I/O at the same time... in fact I would go so far as to say that I've pretty much never done that.
This would also allow me to move my MOTU 828ES into my tracking room which, because of Thunderbolt, would allow me to run at 96khz. Something I can't easily do right now with my existing interfaces. So in a way that would be an upgrade as well.
Anyway, I could probably pay for this entirely by selling pieces that are getting underused (or not used at all) so cost isn't really a factor here. The reason to NOT do it is that everything is sounding pretty darn good right now. And whenever you introduce new variables, well, you introduce new variables!
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Post by dok on Nov 11, 2024 23:45:33 GMT -6
I've often had the same thought! Though I still don't have any 500 series gear, so I'd have to sell EVERYTHING, but hot damn do they make a compelling case.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 11, 2024 23:52:40 GMT -6
I've often had the same thought! Though I still don't have any 500 series gear, so I'd have to sell EVERYTHING, but hot damn do they make a compelling case. This would involve a lot of selling in order to fill the rack. The unit itself, not too hard... I'd just flip a couple of interfaces that it would replace. But filling the rack? I'd probably have to part with either two nice pieces or a bunch of lower end gear. However, it happens I have two nice pieces that are getting underused (RND Orbit and a Distressor). |
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Post by kcatthedog on Nov 12, 2024 2:41:38 GMT -6
I say , do it !
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 12, 2024 2:47:41 GMT -6
Somehow SSL Ultraviolet 500 series EQ are going for $600 now? Didn't these used to be like $1200?
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Post by thehightenor on Nov 12, 2024 3:05:28 GMT -6
Somehow SSL Ultraviolet 500 series EQ are going for $600 now? Didn't these used to be like $1200? They’re SMC made overseas units so I imagine the company that bought SSL have some room for manoeuvre on the price. |
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Post by thehightenor on Nov 12, 2024 3:08:35 GMT -6
Seriously considering just making the jump and picking up a Cranborne 500R8 as my mixing room interface. I already have the 500ADAT and it is just so good in every way. The conversion sounds great, the headphone amps are insane, and the customer service from Cranborne is fantastic. So why would I do this? I'm finding that the 500ADAT is so much more convenient than all my other outboard gear that everything in it gets used way more than anything else. Additionally if I went all in on the Cranborne system, I'd either add a couple of their C.A.S.T. units to clean up cabling and run my patchbay through that or I'd run the patchbay through the Cranborne inserts of which I'd have 16. The way I'm using my outboard these days involves a lot more printing of tracks (for unrelated reasons) don't really need as much I/O as I used to. It's pretty rare that I would be using more than 16 channels of I/O at the same time... in fact I would go so far as to say that I've pretty much never done that. This would also allow me to move my MOTU 828ES into my tracking room which, because of Thunderbolt, would allow me to run at 96khz. Something I can't easily do right now with my existing interfaces. So in a way that would be an upgrade as well. Anyway, I could probably pay for this entirely by selling pieces that are getting underused (or not used at all) so cost isn't really a factor here. The reason to NOT do it is that everything is sounding pretty darn good right now. And whenever you introduce new variables, well, you introduce new variables! How about the Wes Audio Titan rack. Those units sound fabulous and they give instant recall and can be controlled by a plugin on screen. If I ever down size - I’m going to go Wes Audio I think. So generally I’m a fan of going 500 series if one is looking to go compact and convenient. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 12, 2024 3:22:40 GMT -6
Seriously considering just making the jump and picking up a Cranborne 500R8 as my mixing room interface. I already have the 500ADAT and it is just so good in every way. The conversion sounds great, the headphone amps are insane, and the customer service from Cranborne is fantastic. So why would I do this? I'm finding that the 500ADAT is so much more convenient than all my other outboard gear that everything in it gets used way more than anything else. Additionally if I went all in on the Cranborne system, I'd either add a couple of their C.A.S.T. units to clean up cabling and run my patchbay through that or I'd run the patchbay through the Cranborne inserts of which I'd have 16. The way I'm using my outboard these days involves a lot more printing of tracks (for unrelated reasons) don't really need as much I/O as I used to. It's pretty rare that I would be using more than 16 channels of I/O at the same time... in fact I would go so far as to say that I've pretty much never done that. This would also allow me to move my MOTU 828ES into my tracking room which, because of Thunderbolt, would allow me to run at 96khz. Something I can't easily do right now with my existing interfaces. So in a way that would be an upgrade as well. Anyway, I could probably pay for this entirely by selling pieces that are getting underused (or not used at all) so cost isn't really a factor here. The reason to NOT do it is that everything is sounding pretty darn good right now. And whenever you introduce new variables, well, you introduce new variables! How about the Wes Audio Titan rack. Those units sound fabulous and they give instant recall and can be controlled by a plugin on screen. If I ever down size - I’m going to go Wes Audio I think. So generally I’m a fan of going 500 series if one is looking to go compact and convenient. The appeal of the Cranborne 500r8 is that it is an interface itself. The Wes Audio looks super cool with the recall, but having used the 500ADAT for a few years I can tell you that being able to connect a 500 unit through ADAT (or USB in the case of the unit I'm considering) is pretty amazing. Not to mention that everything else on the Cranborne from the layout to the headphone amps to the conversion is really top notch. |
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Post by thehightenor on Nov 12, 2024 3:31:58 GMT -6
How about the Wes Audio Titan rack. Those units sound fabulous and they give instant recall and can be controlled by a plugin on screen. If I ever down size - I’m going to go Wes Audio I think. So generally I’m a fan of going 500 series if one is looking to go compact and convenient. The appeal of the Cranborne 500r8 is that it is an interface itself. The Wes Audio looks super cool with the recall, but having used the 500ADAT for a few years I can tell you that being able to connect a 500 unit through ADAT (or USB in the case of the unit I'm considering) is pretty amazing. Not to mention that everything else on the Cranborne from the layout to the headphone amps to the conversion is really top notch. The Wes has a ADAT module that makes it function as an ADAT 500 series chassis (great converters too) but it can’t function as an interface so I’d still need to use my RME RayDAT. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 12, 2024 3:38:17 GMT -6
Somehow SSL Ultraviolet 500 series EQ are going for $600 now? Didn't these used to be like $1200? They’re SMC made overseas units so I imagine the company that bought SSL have some room for manoeuvre on the price. Makes sense, and digging further it looks like they blow these out periodically. Still, a great price. My use case would be that the Cranbornes would be my only inputs. So my other outboard gear (mostly compressors) would be passing through these 500 slots. Of course I could bypass units but what fun is that? A shelving EQ like this with a some corrective features could be a very useful way to tweak those compressed sounds on the way in. Also curious about the Shinybox Guillotine just because I really like filters. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 12, 2024 9:15:46 GMT -6
I'm leaning really hard towards doing this. I've been flirting with this idea for literally three years I think. I'm never going to stop thinking about it until I try it. And honestly these racks are priced so well that they're barely much more expensive than a quality high voltage 500 rack to begin with. You really can't lose.
Except for money. You can lose that. With that damn 500 series money pit!
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Post by doubledog on Nov 12, 2024 9:27:12 GMT -6
What money pit?  |
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Post by Quint on Nov 12, 2024 9:31:16 GMT -6
Somehow SSL Ultraviolet 500 series EQ are going for $600 now? Didn't these used to be like $1200? They were like $400 or $500 back when they were on sale last year. I thought about buying one, but never did. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 12, 2024 9:44:14 GMT -6
Somehow SSL Ultraviolet 500 series EQ are going for $600 now? Didn't these used to be like $1200? They were like $400 or $500 back when they were on sale last year. I thought about buying one, but never did. The question is always "is this better than ITB EQ?" In this case I think there's value in sculpting the signal before it goes back to conversion. This would be receiving outboard compressed signals in many cases. Plus, I just like physical EQ knobs. That's worth something too. |
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Post by deaconblues on Nov 12, 2024 9:51:03 GMT -6
I'm leaning really hard towards doing this. I've been flirting with this idea for literally three years I think. I'm never going to stop thinking about it until I try it. And honestly these racks are priced so well that they're barely much more expensive than a quality high voltage 500 rack to begin with. You really can't lose. Except for money. You can lose that. With that damn 500 series money pit! If I started everything over, I might try to go fully Cranborne with my setup. The 500ADAT is a gateway drug. Agreed on conversion, ease of use, customer service, and headphone amps. With the inserts hooked to a patchbay, these are great fun. Good luck! Lots of cool 500 units these days, too. |
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Post by Quint on Nov 12, 2024 9:55:57 GMT -6
They were like $400 or $500 back when they were on sale last year. I thought about buying one, but never did. The question is always "is this better than ITB EQ?" In this case I think there's value in sculpting the signal before it goes back to conversion. This would be receiving outboard compressed signals in many cases. Plus, I just like physical EQ knobs. That's worth something too. So you like it? I always kind of wondered about it, but never could manage to convince myself to pull the trigger. |
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Post by doubledog on Nov 12, 2024 9:56:31 GMT -6
notice how many EQs I have in my rack? In most cases, I'm not trying to heavily color the sound with an EQ, but if I want that I have plugins that will do it (numerous Pultecs, SoundToys Sie, even the Waves REQ has a "bump" in the HPF/LPF). Otherwise I have a Yamaha PM1000 channel strip (3-band EQ and HPF) and a LiNTec for outboard EQ - that's it (so far) and only get used when I can't get there with a plugin (or I have extra time to kill...). I suppose the LA-610 has some EQ in it too but I don't often use it (especially with the equivalent plugin at my fingertips). But if I did, I would probably want a pair of API 550 or the Avedis E27 (but all of those are a lot more than $29) or build the CAPI EQs if they were ever in stock....
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 12, 2024 10:24:26 GMT -6
The question is always "is this better than ITB EQ?" In this case I think there's value in sculpting the signal before it goes back to conversion. This would be receiving outboard compressed signals in many cases. Plus, I just like physical EQ knobs. That's worth something too. So you like it? I always kind of wondered about it, but never could manage to convince myself to pull the trigger. Sorry, badly written. I haven't pulled the trigger on the SSL Violet but I do have a quartet of RND EQ's that I love. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 12, 2024 10:28:14 GMT -6
I'm leaning really hard towards doing this. I've been flirting with this idea for literally three years I think. I'm never going to stop thinking about it until I try it. And honestly these racks are priced so well that they're barely much more expensive than a quality high voltage 500 rack to begin with. You really can't lose. Except for money. You can lose that. With that damn 500 series money pit! With the inserts hooked to a patchbay, these are great fun. Exactly what has started this thought process. On my 500ADAT (gateway drug indeed... nailed it!) I have all the I/O patched into my patchbay. And it's so much easier and simpler to use that it's become pretty much the only I/O I use except for my 2 bus which is hard patched into my interface. So for my brain at least, there's something about this workflow that draws me to it even if it means printing effects as I go which I never used to do. Hence the idea of just going whole hog with Cranborne. |
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Post by deaconblues on Nov 12, 2024 10:42:24 GMT -6
With the inserts hooked to a patchbay, these are great fun. Exactly what has started this thought process. On my 500ADAT (gateway drug indeed... nailed it!) I have all the I/O patched into my patchbay. And it's so much easier and simpler to use that it's become pretty much the only I/O I use except for my 2 bus which is hard patched into my interface. So for my brain at least, there's something about this workflow that draws me to it even if it means printing effects as I go which I never used to do. Hence the idea of just going whole hog with Cranborne. Yup, I get it. The one thing that made my studio explode in size was connecting it to the patchbay! |
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Post by doubledog on Nov 12, 2024 11:44:39 GMT -6
The only thing I see about the Cranborne interface is that it looks like the clock is set with DIP switches on the back of the main unit? That would be a deal killer for me. I am always switching settings because I get tracks from all over and they are always different (24.44.1, 24/48, 16.44.1, 24/96, etc...). If I had to move those switches each time I'd jump out of a window (ok, the studio is a one story, but...). Hopefully I'm misunderstanding those switches?
edit: I see they have changed it so the firmware/driver can control (the users guide says the DIP switches are no longer active with current firmware)
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 12, 2024 11:47:59 GMT -6
The only thing I see about the Cranborne interface is that it looks like the clock is set with DIP switches on the back of the main unit? That would be a deal killer for me. I am always switching settings because I get tracks from all over and they are always different (24.44.1, 24/48, 16.44.1, 24/96, etc...). If I had to move those switches each time I'd jump out of a window (ok, the studio is a one story, but...). Hopefully I'm misunderstanding those switches? 1) Super annoying 2) Fixed in the most recent firmware update So you can now bypass the dipswitches. Not sure how it works but supposedly it does. EDIT: There are a couple of other things like that where I think they would do it differently if they could start over. Another example is that there is a slot bypass that is only usable if you remove the 500 unit. My complaints are one or two little things like that where you *can* do what you want to but it's so annoying that you never do. Stuff I imagine will be fixed in a V2 but so minor that it's not that impactful. |
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Post by doubledog on Nov 12, 2024 11:53:41 GMT -6
what about the USB connectivity? I like the USB connectivity on my Orion 32+, but it's not the lowest latency. I don't care because when I track I use the "real time" console to monitor and mute any armed inputs in Pro Tools -- so it works fine. But I almost never track into a plugin except maybe if it's a MIDI keyboard and I have not had any issues so far (M-Audio USB Midi-sport - old but still works!). Anyway, just wondering how that would work on the Cranborne?
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 12, 2024 11:59:43 GMT -6
what about the USB connectivity? I like the USB connectivity on my Orion 32+, but it's not the lowest latency. I don't care because when I track I use the "real time" console to monitor and mute any armed inputs in Pro Tools -- so it works fine. But I almost never track into a plugin except maybe if it's a MIDI keyboard and I have not had any issues so far (M-Audio USB Midi-sport - old but still works!). Anyway, just wondering how that would work on the Cranborne? I don't have the USB interface yet but my guess would be probably average. However, there's a caveat. The unit has physical/analog monitoring that is very elegantly done. It really does function like a console in that respect. A console with limited routing to be sure, but the routing that it has is very familiar and very effective for two cue mixes. |
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Post by Tbone81 on Nov 12, 2024 12:00:56 GMT -6
I say do it! If I were staring from scratch I’d be hard pressed to not go the same route.
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