Little sleeper mixers

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analogcabin
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Post by analogcabin » Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:58 am

inverseroom wrote:As long as this one is back, I should mention that I ended up buying a Soundcraft M8, liking it pretty well, then selling it when i found a Hill Multimix.

Hey.... so how are you liking the Multimix? Modded any channels?
I'll be putting mine into service soon as well.

Erik

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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:02 am

e.maynard wrote:
inverseroom wrote:As long as this one is back, I should mention that I ended up buying a Soundcraft M8, liking it pretty well, then selling it when i found a Hill Multimix.

Hey.... so how are you liking the Multimix? Modded any channels?
I'll be putting mine into service soon as well.

Erik
It's nice! I'm trying to hunt down a hum problem, but otherwise it's working great. I put the burr browns on the first channel but haven't done a shootout yet...we'll see how I like 'em.

I wish it was as easy to try out different mixers as it was to, say, try out different guitar strings...all in all though I think this mixer is a steal.

Brian Brock
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Post by Brian Brock » Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:10 pm

as far as uses for old uncool mixers, I often come across situations where I want to do something that just seems not right, or possibly harmful to my regular tools. Bingo, I turn to that Soundcraft Folio Notepad that I got for 60 bucks whose monitor section crapped out immediately and whose mic preamps sound not just not great, but actually horrible, like they must be broken.

Great for that purpose.

b

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winky dinglehoffer
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Post by winky dinglehoffer » Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:40 pm

Since the thread came back, here's another goofy old location mixer for broadcast: For.a AM-10, japanese made, Tamura transformers, even has some funky discreet opamps on the outputs.

http://home.att.net/~giuseppe_poteet/fora_1.jpg
http://home.att.net/~giuseppe_poteet/fora_2.jpg

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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:44 pm

Yeah and that reminds me, since I started this thread I also found a Yamaha PM-180. It's a live sound mixer (not powered) with really good pres and interesting opamps on the outputs. Transformer balanced ins, lots of nice clean gain. The EQ is even pretty decent. Somebody here told me about it, and I picked one up for fifty bucks. I'm presently using it on snare and am getting the best snare sound of my life.

Also I solved the hum problem on the hill.

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Post by RefD » Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:26 pm

kickazz...
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calaverasgrandes
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PM180

Post by calaverasgrandes » Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:49 pm

I was turned on to the rackmount yamahas a few years ago by an older sound engineer mentor. They are mostly discrete, and transformer based. Not nearly the same as the PM1000 but good nonetheless. They tend to get a bit muddy if running too many sources but sound fantastic on some voices and guitar. Pretty good at smoothing out strident instruments. They also made an unbalanced version I think its the PM170?
I modified my pm180 to be a 6 in 6 out pre box. I call it my mud box because I usually gainstage it to get some hair or mud on the signal. Kind of an antidote to the Mackie and Motu pres I was stuck with. Now I that have some summits as well I never go thru the motu or mackie pres!

Also worth mentioning are the old Toa mixers. Not great sounding, but interesting. Also the Shure FP11 and their other tranny based preamps. Not exactly clear as a bell, but good for a beefy guitar sound.
Ramsa? I had one for a while, I liked its features, hated the sound.
??????? wrote: "everything sounds best right before it blows up."

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roygbiv
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Post by roygbiv » Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:42 pm

Someone mentioned it earlier, but the Studiomaster 8 into 4 (circa 1980) is a pretty cool little mixer.

Pros: Lots of cool routing options, two effects sends, and semi-parametric "British EQ" for Lows and Mids.

Cons: Not much headroom, really really bad noisy headphone amp.

Been my main recording board for more than 20 years. Pretty decent sounding pre's (especially if you come of out the channel insert points for recording).

Build quality is also good (they were originally >$2,000 new), and are crazy cheap now (less than $200 usually)

Studiomaster 8 into 4:
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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Mon Nov 12, 2007 7:42 pm

Yes, calaveras, you were the guy recommended the pm180, thanks!

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calaverasgrandes
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Post by calaverasgrandes » Mon Nov 12, 2007 7:59 pm

no problem!
Another oddity are the old radio shack mixers. They didnt have alot of headroom, and they arent balanced, but somehow I was able to get a fantastic sound out of those. Especially by running a mic or instr level into the phono preamp!
I still see these in use by a lot of noise and laptop core acts. Guess they dig the wall of fuzz too.
??????? wrote: "everything sounds best right before it blows up."

djgout
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Post by djgout » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:12 pm

Yamaha M series professional live mixers!!!!!

Last winter I picked up an M1532 for a grand. This local guy had it listed on Ebay as a discrete console, so I stopped by with a buddy after work to see if he was full of shit, but pulled up one channel far enough to see an input trafo and 2520 style opamp then took it home with me. It's not a bad desk at all. Bi-polar 25 volt audio rails, transformer in, discrete mic pre, IC's for the rest of the make up/boost circuits, and transformers on all the bus outs. Over the weekend I added some API 2623 transformers to the first 4 channels as direct outs and 2503 transformers for 2 channels, and will be adding some neve direct outs as soon as i can. Bad ass little desk. Really just kind of forward sounding pres. No ultra lows or really any highs above 16kHz. Kinda cool for drums. The worst part is the EQ's are super tight and since it was a live desk there's no control room section. The best part is the cheap wood veneer.


yeah, i'm a dork when it comes to the electronics side of things (will be adding a true API style ACA and boost section on the master busses soon)

-justin
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operator_tape
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Post by operator_tape » Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:22 pm

the studiomaster stuff us pretty cool, I have a series 5 16-8-2, pretty bitchin!!!!!

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Post by Neptoonijazz » Wed Nov 14, 2007 4:50 pm

Does a Fostex 812 -8 count? Is it similar to the fostex 450? I'm considering one for my jambox.

"fostex 450. beefy low eq and ..."

Thanks,
Jimi

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calaverasgrandes
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damn 1604.

Post by calaverasgrandes » Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:50 pm

I second the studiomaster. I used to bag on them. the name is cheesy and the graphics/color scheme kinda imply they are cheap (to my eyes). But when I had an opportunity to use one it sounded great. Excellent EQ. Totally Soundcraft 200b neighborhood. Wish I had picked up one of those instead of that damn 1604 that I cant get rid of.

I Also used to lust after the Ahsly rackmount mixers. They used to make this awesoe guy that had 8 mic inputs and a decent eq in 3 rackspaces.
??????? wrote: "everything sounds best right before it blows up."

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A-Barr
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Post by A-Barr » Thu Nov 15, 2007 1:10 pm

Anybody use any of those Sony video production mixers? MX-P21? MX-P390? They sure look professionalish and usually go for a few hundred bucks.

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