ericn
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Post by ericn on Jun 8, 2015 11:45:10 GMT -6
Hutch Hutchison joins Fredenstein's R&D team in Taiwan. Hutch has over 30 years of experience designing pro audio equipment, i.e. 14 years as the chief designer at Manley Labs and five years as senior designer at Rupert Neve Designs, he started his career as a FOH engineer, then migrated to studio work, most notably at the famous Electric Lady Studio in New York.
Hutch is some serious design talent.
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Post by drbill on Jun 8, 2015 12:08:20 GMT -6
Can't get past the name....sorry..... LOL
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Post by kidvybes on Jun 8, 2015 12:11:13 GMT -6
Can't get past the name....sorry..... LOL Fredenstein or Hutch Hutchison? |
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Post by drbill on Jun 8, 2015 12:15:49 GMT -6
Can't get past the name....sorry..... LOL Fredenstein or Hutch Hutchison? LOL Hutch is great. Love his stuff. Ferdenstein.....eh, can't dig the name. Marketing dept (if they have one) should have nixed that..... But that's just ME. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jun 8, 2015 12:20:36 GMT -6
Fredenstein or Hutch Hutchison? LOL Hutch is great. Love his stuff. Ferdenstein.....eh, can't dig the name. Marketing dept (if they have one) should have nixed that..... But that's just ME. Yeah so often what works in one culture bombs in another |
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Post by kidvybes on Jun 8, 2015 12:32:00 GMT -6
Fredenstein or Hutch Hutchison? LOL Hutch is great. Love his stuff. Ferdenstein.....eh, can't dig the name. Marketing dept (if they have one) should have nixed that..... But that's just ME. ...oh, I don't know...you love Gefell (gesundheit!)... ...don't see a problem with Fredenstein myself...up to now all the gear is designed by Fred Schuckert, a German designer living in Taiwan, where the gear is manufactured...appears he wanted a name that reflects a more vintage Euro image ( 50's looking "Ear" logo), but instead he got one that reminds most of the Mary Shelley gothic novel...oh well, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry... |
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Post by drbill on Jun 8, 2015 13:32:44 GMT -6
Sometimes, over years or decades, great gear can offset a name. Perhaps this will be the case with Fred-enstein. We'll see......
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Post by Randge on Jun 8, 2015 16:55:24 GMT -6
I am enjoying running the preamp, tube comp, stereo pair of VCA comps and a gate through the paces. They sound really good. I really like the screen and being able to read every dial and the amount you are dialing in. Its all touch sensitive, so whatever knob on whatever module immediately goes to the screen as soon as you touch it without fail. The screen allows you to read what you are doing digitally. Attachment Deleted |
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 8, 2015 17:32:12 GMT -6
ya but this stuff lives off of electricity; right ?  |
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Post by jeromemason on Jun 8, 2015 19:12:34 GMT -6
Those comps and pre's are pretty darn cool, and that digital rack is out of this world. They sound good for sure, really impressed when I messed around with them.
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Post by KJ on Jun 8, 2015 21:27:34 GMT -6
Looks great although it's a shame that some of their modules can only be used with their own chassis.
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Post by Randge on Jun 8, 2015 22:07:10 GMT -6
I don't know of any of their modules that can't be used in other racks. You just don't get the digital readout when using them is all.
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Post by KJ on Jun 8, 2015 22:21:00 GMT -6
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Post by Randge on Jun 8, 2015 23:59:30 GMT -6
I was only speaking of things you would typically put in other rack enclosures, like preamps, eq's and comps. Their enclosures are so affordable, its really cheaper to own them anyways if you think about it.
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Post by Guitar on Jun 10, 2015 21:01:33 GMT -6
I'm interested, and not bothered by the name, it's kind of cool in a \m/ METAL \m/ way
same with Dizengoff and their vari-mu and REDD 47 units.
we need more companies like these!!! Warm, CAPI, others lead the way, more shall follow
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2015 17:34:13 GMT -6
Well, we were just investigating the market of non-500 types of micpres, stumbled upon the Fredenstein V.A.S., took a look on the inside pictures, saw it is the same as the artist 500 series with psu and everything, saw it was even reduced in price and pulled the trigger. From what i read, specs, concept and what it looks, it's hard to do anything wrong. I am pretty sure it's worth what we paid for, and we have 30 days money-back warranty without naming a reason.
I'm very interested in how usable it will be.
Seems it's a transistor pair array package frontend, discrete opamp, transformer out.
Full feature list - for a hundred bucks below the GAP competitor. And doesn't even look bad. Integrated PSU, insert, impedance switch, DI input.
Seems like the output trafo is an edcor, but that doesn't bother me, it is meant to have some grit for what we do. And if it's well designed for it, why not an edcor...
I wonder if one could experiment with other opamps than Fredensteins own one. Seems it's a 2520 footprint. Can not find much about this pre on the net yet...
Well, another new toy! ;-)
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Post by Ward on Jul 7, 2015 7:30:57 GMT -6
I guess this shows we're (collectively) consumers that are as influenced by brand name as we are by pretty lights... and performance can get overlooked in the process.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 17:08:13 GMT -6
So, after a little time with the very low priced V.A.S. pre i wanted to report back, that i am pretty impressed by what Fredenstein accomplished in this box.
It is very well thought. The illuminated switches are a very good idea and very handy. You never have to go over to the box to see if you accidentally switched something. Sounds meh, but is very practical.
Yes, it sounds 'vintage' somehow. Not Neve, not API, but a nice kind of colour. I like it.
65dB does not sound much, also, this is no clean gain for mics that need a pound, but it does work very well with the dynamic mics i tried, SM58 and MD441.
The impedance switch is a very good thing to have. The both impedances are well chosen, it made quite a difference to sound.
It is very universal. I tried the DI input in front, and it disconnects the inputs on the back, which is very handy. I plugged a passive bass in with some EMG pickups, and it sounded quite good to me Very very usable. I absolutely liked what i heard.
Nice, nice, really nice box at this pricing.
And man - it is manufactured very well, great build quality, great connector quality as far as i can say this after this short amount of time, the whole box does not feel cheap *at all*.
One very small downside: There is a "warranty void" sticker, so you can not open the case without losing the warranty. BUT - as far as i read from other users - different DOAs don't make much difference in this circuit, i guess most of the colour is in the edcor transformer.
Great bargain, a fully discrete pre with transformer, lots of features that are really useful, especially if you need something that fits all signals, dynamic and phantom powered condensers, instrument and line levels.
I had mixed feelings what to expect from such a low priced pre, but I really like it.
For someones first or only entry level mic pre, this is a no-brainer, high usability, if you ask me. Also a nice one to carry around maybe, no wall-wart, small, very flexible, maybe for recording of ideas in a hotel room. It accepts 85V up to 240V or so, so you can use it globally without having to think about manually switch something.
Yes, i am impressed. Nowadays are very good times for musicians. Great quality at great prices.
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