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Post by Ward on Aug 15, 2023 17:53:49 GMT -6
It's interesting to see your post about choosing between the 1176 and LA-3A compressors for acoustic guitar tracking. Both options have their strengths. Welcome aboard, Will! I started another thread called "Favorite Acoustic Guitar Compressor" that you may find interesting as well. A couple of new findings were delightful to learn about!
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Post by Ward on Aug 15, 2023 17:49:14 GMT -6
Yeah like... Who was that guy from Austin? 😉 Hmm... Something sorta like "Strange" in the name. LOL! (I keed I keed) Chris Stranger Danger?
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Post by Ward on Aug 15, 2023 12:05:04 GMT -6
I had the good fortune pf picking up two of his nephews as my rhythm section for a bit back in the 90s. Oh the stories I heard!
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Post by Ward on Aug 15, 2023 12:01:52 GMT -6
The "secret" is recording live with everybody listening to each other using no headphones or stage monitors to screw up the dynamics! How I wish that weren't a "secret".
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Post by Ward on Aug 15, 2023 11:54:32 GMT -6
It's incredible that thanks to re-makers, boutique builders and other shops like Stam, Audioscape and Retro how many of us are able to get rare and/or impossible to find/pay for, acquire deceased equipment that has been resurrected!
Our gratitude is commensurate.
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Post by Ward on Aug 15, 2023 11:49:57 GMT -6
Digging the Brimar in my BU67. Chris Yeah, I think Ben found a nice alternative. Ben mics is one of those mic gurus in a class above all others. like wave, @klausheine, tskguy, Dallas Upton, David Bock, Dany Bouchard timcampbell, cserrano and a select few others!
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Post by Ward on Aug 15, 2023 8:53:52 GMT -6
I can remember heavily disliking a C800G at the beginning, for the very reason I love it now: It's natural and amplifies the beautiful! No cack or mud buildup at all. And yeah. stam has nailed this one too! Also going on my shopping list. Roof is almost done and paid for, daughter's wedding on Thursday (yay me, the Visa people are ecstatic) then after that . . . the Heiserman 251 and the Stam 800 are going on the list. And the new BN mics.
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Post by Ward on Aug 15, 2023 8:40:07 GMT -6
Stam Audio, delays, waiting times and everything related is something that will stick with us forever, even if everything is in stock one day. I have come to accept it (many years ago) and just try to do my best work daily so that it doesn't happen again in the future and most importantly to provide the absolute best sounding products I can. A little background on me and Stam that might explain our "rocky road" as Ward said if you allow me. The truth is I never intended so start an audio company. It wasn't planned. I had no experience, no employees, vision, office, storage nor the skills or experience to have a business. It pretty much happened over night. I remember when Greg Wells ordered and SA-2A from me and suddenly I had 500 emails from people around the world, it was very exciting as a young guy, it was an opportunity, I was happy but I wasn't prepared by any means and had no clue how to manage it all. At the time I was making only made 5-10 units a month and was already happy that I was selling a couple of pieces a month to afford bills. I stupidly decided to take all pre-orders in and that I would figure it out along the way and that everything would be OK.... and it wasn't. At least not until many years later. Would I have known what I know now would I would have done things in an entirely different manner. What had started as an exciting venture quickly became a sad dealing. I failed miserably on my attempts to deliver stuff within promised deadlines and pissed a lot of people of. I deservedly had dozens of emails with insults and even threats every day, as well as people calling me a scammer all over the internet. It was no fun. Many times thought it would be best to stop Stam Audio and go back to med school and do something different with my life. No matter how strong you are that amount of negativity and hatred takes a toll on you, specially when you are young. The only thing that kept me going was the positive feedback from clients about how our units sounded and to clean up my name. I was no scammer and I couldn't allow that to be the end so I carried on despite all the negativity around my name and I am glad I did. On top of the inexperience handling customer expectations I also didn't know the logistics of ordering parts in bulk for a company much less in Chile were things till this day can get stuck in customs for a month waiting inspection, I also didn't know there was this thing called an online persona and that my sense of humor (I am always joking) could translate into arrogance on a digital platform. I was pretty much ignorant all around. I still thank my father to this day for lending me a little office at his clinic to calibrate each SA-2A in a room so small I could only fit myself, 2 units and a computer with an interface. It was a very humble beginning and it's not until this year that I can say we have a proper office and space to work. We moved 8 times in 8 years. As time has gone by I have invested everything in finding competent people to manage Stam better than I ever could and in developing new engineering. There are many things I have kept secret that I think will come as a big surprise for most on here and I strongly believe will be a game changer in the audio business but that is a different story. I understand some people will never like me or buy from us again. I have come to terms with it. Sometimes you only get one chance and if you piss people off that's that. It is a shame but it is what is is and the only person to blame is myself. Anyways, apologies for my extended message. It's good to look back every now and then and remember how we got here. I hope the last lose ends will be fixed this year (like someone waiting on a 660 for 4 years) and there will be a clean start from next one. Much love to everyone (including those of you that don't like me, it's all good!) J Interesting read! I was an early adopter of the SA2a. And you were out of this world helpful with it! Helping me get the right Kinetic T4 cell for it to match the response I needed. It sounds better than a Teletronix. It's an amazing piece of gear! Lives on bass lately. IYKYK P.S. I know of other boutique builders having a devil of a time trying to source certain parts for a 660 or 670 build. Most parts are unobtainium. The choice is wait 3-5 years after ordering, or pay $280,000 and rising. It doesn't take a genius to work out that math.
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Post by Ward on Aug 15, 2023 8:00:03 GMT -6
Tubes in certain microphones can make a huge difference. The U67 is particularly known for it's sensitivity to different tubes. Personally I love an Amperex EF86 in my custom MK U67. 100%. Almost turns it into an M269! Absolutely my favorite, but also an 806s is very useful for a little more upper mid forward capture/
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Post by Ward on Aug 15, 2023 7:58:56 GMT -6
After several listens . . .
Tele 806S Balanced. Not quite as nice as an 806s but handy to it. Millard Balanced but rounder than the Tele. Favorite for guitar RFT Brash. Hurts my ears a bit. But only in an icepick through my eardrums kind of way. Valco Dull. Nice for an intimate soft performance.
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Post by Ward on Aug 14, 2023 18:45:08 GMT -6
It has been true in past, but recently Josh indicated they have all the parts for a current order, different product and build schedule is much more timely. Hope that becomes the norm. I have to agree. It was a rocky road for a while, but things have REALLY turned around lately . . . and the other impressive thing is that Josh has also been innovating in the development of some clones, adding a lot of "what if they did this?" to the designs which is intriguing. The SA 76 + series is the prime example of this. It was a bit shaky at the beginning, but you can't knock the quality for the most part. I have been really hard on Stam™ at times, but have been encouraged lately.
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Post by Ward on Aug 13, 2023 16:45:07 GMT -6
If It weren't a locked system, I'd probably have tried Luna by now. But I have no desire to move to UAD hardware. It's not locked anymore, right? It isn't locked to using it with UAD hardware? I did not know that! What a pleasure to find that out. I'll investigate!
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Post by Ward on Aug 12, 2023 11:09:33 GMT -6
I don’t really care what I work in, honestly. I’m fastest in PT, but if Luna was more mature, I would be fine using that. Or Cubase (although it crashed on me with auto saving and I lost about 5 hours of work)…Logic is the clunkiest to me, but I’m sure I could figure it out. They all have advantages and disadvantages. Once Luna grows up, gets HW DC, file management and a few other things, I might just move over…feel like it’s taken the best of PT and added a few other things. If It weren't a locked system, I'd probably have tried Luna by now. But I have no desire to move to UAD hardware.
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Post by Ward on Aug 11, 2023 13:00:20 GMT -6
What are you on pain killers for that foot🥸 100% pain killer free. I'm iron manning it. I'll bet if I popped 'round with a bottle of Basil Hayden you wouldn't continue to Iron Man it!
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Post by Ward on Aug 11, 2023 12:59:43 GMT -6
Elon is going to buy Avid, and then delay compensation in PT is going to quit working. If Elon bought it, he’d rename it and then we’d have fun guessing the new name? Avid > Livid Your turn AVID> ACID
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Post by Ward on Aug 10, 2023 12:48:20 GMT -6
This EQ is completely brilliant! The combination of the HPF with the output drive thickening/distortion is really sweet on vocals. More sources to try tomorrow... I believe that Warren Dent at Zen Pro Audio mods the hpf at 40hz (possibly 45). Whatever Warren does is usually the right thing. So I would trust him to do this, and you should feel confident taking that option. Is @warzone here?
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Post by Ward on Aug 10, 2023 11:29:08 GMT -6
Just picked up a second Avid Carbon unit for $1,900, when I learned the original unit can be booted into Carbon Pre mode on the latest firmware I immediately grabbed a B-stock unit without software before the vendors realize these are better value than new Pre units. Sweet!!
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Post by Ward on Aug 10, 2023 11:28:31 GMT -6
I’m waiting for John Epstein to chime in with his asymmetrical ribbon rant. Winter is coming?
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Post by Ward on Aug 10, 2023 11:25:10 GMT -6
Oh okay, I was thinking about something different but that's actually what I wanted for my studio. Looks good. Is it very heavy? Oh yeah, it was heavy. Took 7 guys to get it in place. Build on the studio floor, out of 1x3 pine all notched out to fit together, every intersection glued and clamped and pinned together with brad nails. Then stained in pecan to match the rest of the studio. The whole thing was backplated with 3/8" spruce plywood. Hoisted to the ceiling, and 4"long #4 wood screws into the bottoms of the ceiling studs. Used the common pattern for thickness. 5" grid for the squares, and cut the foam rubber accordingly and glued them in place. It works flawlessly. The sound is controlled but not dead.
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Post by Ward on Aug 10, 2023 10:51:29 GMT -6
Hey are two picture of mine. Mine is rather large, but then so is my control room at 17'W x 23'L x 10'h
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Post by Ward on Aug 10, 2023 10:10:01 GMT -6
Back on topic.... Is one's 10101st post their binary post?
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Post by Ward on Aug 10, 2023 10:08:36 GMT -6
Why, they're out of Control (24)! Honestly Could not remember the current model🥸 Dunno either . . .but I think it's still S6 S3 S1 or some other. I'm still using a C24 after 15 years.
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Post by Ward on Aug 10, 2023 10:07:21 GMT -6
Congrats Ward, your post count is finally catching up with the amount of equipment you have. Only 10,000 pieces of gear? I never said I was cutting back.
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Post by Ward on Aug 10, 2023 10:06:10 GMT -6
That helps a bit, thank you cj I'm going to pause on adding any CTG stock to my portfolio . . . for now. They may have paid cash, but AVID customers will pay for everything else they could be doing with that cash. I’ll bet nobody at the new owners could tell or explain the difference between a C24 and Venue. Why, they're out of Control (24)!
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Post by Ward on Aug 10, 2023 9:42:13 GMT -6
That helps a bit, thank you cj I'm going to pause on adding any CTG stock to my portfolio . . . for now.
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