Consoles in the $5-$10k range

[markpar]

Any recommendations on analog consoles in the $5-$10k range? I'm looking at an Otari Concept, a Ghost is also under consideration, but it lacks a patchbay. I'm not sure what else falls in that range. I have decent outboard pres, so stellar mic pres aren't a requirement, but decent EQ is. MCI/Sony 3036? Quad Eight? Also, any pointers to sellers would be most appreciated.

Thanks!
-mark

[Meriphew]

How about this: http://www.odysseyprosound.com/MCI428-LM.html
I'm sure it's gonna cost you at least a few thousand more to recap, but all in all a nice board that could come in under $10k.

[soundguy]

you can mix a good sound on a ghost. The coronado's are still fetching coin, or at least the people who have them are trying to get coin, but if you can find an older discrete quad eight without all the bells and whistles, you would be sooooo stylin. Dont hold your breath though, I looked for over a year to find the right QE and came up with not one lead.

Or you can do what I just did and just get a mackie with ultramix.

yeah!

dave

[prince turbo lung]

i have said it before but i think neotek series 2 and series 3 boards are the shit. start checking around and you will see how many people use these. the pres are decent, but the eq is excellent and just the way the board sounds when it sums is beautiful. most have a tt patchbay as well.

[jpschust]

i really dig on the ghost- the pre's arent the best but the eq i find to be great!

[markpar]

Or you can do what I just did and just get a mackie with ultramix.

yeah!

dave

Dude! I am sooooooo there. I hear it'll go great with the mics I have: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... gory=15198.

hee hee

-mark

[chikkenguy]

holy crap. ive been searching for the best mic ever and now i found it for 30 bucks. i guess ill just send back that r84 i just ordered...

[Meriphew]

This is either a potential amazing deal, or it's a big scam:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... gory=23785

[Meriphew]

Nevermind. I thought it was an actual API board at first.

[Professor]

That board Meriphew put up looks pretty damn sexy, but I would think that if you are getting into anything that old and that custom, you had better be prepared to spend a lot of your time babying the console. I'd have the same opinion of older MCI, API, or other decidedly vintage boards.
Ghosts have a rather strong advantage in that the 5-10k price point will buy you a brand new one with a warranty and readily available factory service and parts. Even a used Ghost will still have the advantage of available new parts. And Soundcraft can also deliver some parts for their older consoles as well - for example I was able to get a power supply cable for my Series 6000 (12-14yrs old) for about $150, inside of about 1-month coming from the UK.
If you can score something like an Otari Concept for that price range, that would be a pretty good buy, though alot of the maintenance will be on your shoulders as Otari is teetering on the edge and a tech might be hard to find. An Otari Status would be a great buy, and they are probably landing under 10k now. An Otari Elite would be even better, but might be just a hair over the 10k mark.

The other brand that immediately jumps to mind for you price range is to look for used Ameks. You should be able to find an Angela in your prices range and if you luck out you might even come up with something higher in the range like a Mozart, Einstein, etc. though you'd have to be both patient and lucky.

I've also seen a Soundcraft DC-2020 go for between 7-10k about a year ago. The earlier DC-2000 is supposed to be a nice board but the later DC-2020 had a better automation package.

And then, of course, just to make a shameless plug, I am currently getting ready to sell my Soundcraft Series 6000, 24x24x2 console with 368pt onboard patchbay. It is in need of some TLC as regards cleaning, maybe some electronics work. It would include a working power supply, new supply cable, and four new 56-pin Elcos for the patchbay breakouts and I'll be offering to TapeOp folks for $2500 before listing on eBay for around $2800. I'd estimate that with maybe $500 worth of parts and some hard work getting it ready to fly it would be a monster of a console - the original list price (1989-1992) was $28,000. If you're interested, e-mail me directly and I'll send you some photos. That said, I might also consider putting my Tascam M3700 console up soon as well which is a 32x8x2 with VCA automation, etc.(no patchbay) and would probably ask around $3500.

But enough of the shameless plugs. You should also check out digital boards like the Yamaha O2r-96. It is a significant improvement over the original O2r, offers full automation, on-board FX, snapshot recall, 24/96 internal processing & I/O, and if you are using outboard preamps anyway, why not go digital? They list at $10k. Or look at the DM-1000 that comes in at 5k and get a little higher-end analog as a sidecar for critical paths in the mix (like vocals) like the TLAudio TubeTracker 8-chan rackmount tube mixer for $2500. Then you'd have signal path & automation and still be under 10k.

Really you are in a great price range with lots and lots of possibilities.

-Jeremy

[fireproof]

you could find a Neotek Elan for 7-10k
I love mine.
Fort Apache and Easley had Elan's

Adam

[markpar]

Jeremy,

Thanks for the reply, man. GREAT info! I actually already have a digital console (d8b), but am looking to add an all-analog signal path. I recently experienced mixing on an analog board and it was really nice. The flexibility was incredible.

Having said that, I like the d8b for what it does. Total recall is very convenient and the automation package is pretty damn sweet. However, the comps aren't really all that great and I if I want to mult a signal and use an external comp, I have to deal with D/A-A/D latency and the related comb filtering, which totally sux.

One thing I like about the Otari Concept is that it does have VCA automation, which is nice. It also has 144 tie lines.

I'd not considered the sidecar idea. That's a great one. I guess the Manley would be in that range, too.

I'll pm you about your Soundcraft. That's definitely in my range.

The cool thing about the Ghost is that the form factor is such that I can put the d8b and Ghost side-by-side in the control room and not use a ton of space. The Concept (or 6000) will take a lot of room and I'll have to figure out some clever way to keep both boards available, layout-wise.

Hmm... that Ultramix is looking better all the time.

-mark

[spiffes]

: I have a Tascam M3700 (24 channel with meters) in good condition; I believe everything works, but the channel 2 meter bridge is finicky. I am selling it for $1,500 to anyone who wants to pay shipping. Email me if you are interested: jguggenhe@hartford.edu.

[Shawn Simmons]

I might know someone who is selling their Ghost and they are in Seattle. PM me if you're interested.

shawn

[Family Hoof]

: I have a Tascam M3700 (24 channel with meters) in good condition; I believe everything works, but the channel 2 meter bridge is finicky. I am selling it for $1,500 to anyone who wants to pay shipping. Email me if you are interested: jguggenhe@hartford.edu.

I believe the M3700 used to be a $10k board. The automation is very easy and they actually sound pretty decent, on the clean side I'd say, and Audio Upgrades (Jim Williams) can make them sound fantastic. I'm pretty sure there's at least one person on this board who can vouch for that.