Monitor-switcher: Big Knob, Presonus Central Station, ???

toothpastefordinner · Post by **toothpastefordinner** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:05 pm

I'm changing the monitoring setup of my home studio and it's becoming clear I need something that lets me easily switch between sources for monitoring.

On the list are a Mackie Big Knob and Presonus Central Station. The Big Knob is cheaper (and I really only need 2 source inputs, 1 monitor output) but the Central Station is supposedly cleaner. I could also get a little mixer of some kind but I'd rather have something small with a short signal path.

Anyone use a Big Knob and/or Central Station and can tell me what you think? I'm monitoring off my A&H board presently but the levels are set up kinda weird so I have to keep the master faders almost all the way down to keep the monitor level reasonable. (I have everything going thru the board too so if I switch stuff in/out at the wrong time I get horrible feedback.)

The sources I wanna monitor are my 002R and MPC2500... the A&H is going to be a "source mixer" for synths/vocals that goes into the MPC/002R inputs so I can set up all my fx on the aux sends.

Any opinions would be welcome...

JohnDavisNYC · Post by **JohnDavisNYC** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:20 pm

i had the BigKnob for a while, and it was great. No complaints, at all. would buy it again.... the central station is cool, too... used it at a studio once and it seemed great, but pretty much the same.....

BTW... the orange Sherlock i bought from you stopped working... can any tech look at the Shure schematic and fix it?

john

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:28 pm

bought a Big Knob the year after they came out.

it still works great and i still like it plenty.

only small complaint is having a bunch of cables coming out the back and trailing off behind the desk, but i solved that by putting it further back on the desk (doesn't affect ease of use for me) and it no longer bothers me.

primary appeal of the Presonus for me would be having everything sitting in a nearby rack space instead of on my already cluttered desk.

short version: i like the Big Knob just fine.

MASSIVE Mastering · Post by **MASSIVE Mastering** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:03 pm

I don't normally have much "nice" to say about PreSonus, but I had the CS and the BK in here a few years back (long story) while I was waiting for my Avocet.

Kept the CS and messed with it quite a bit. Actually ended up using the built-in DA (which was shockingly decent - I did not expect that at all) most of the time. Active path, [A-or-B-plus-C] switching capabilities (can you say "parallel sub?"), front panel calibration, plenty of I/O, crazy cheap.

If I had one complaint, the main output didn't track well at very low levels. But once I got "comfy" with it, I calibrated the system to a reasonable spot (around 1 o'clock) and that never made a difference again.

If I ever need to send the Avocet out for service, I'll be over at GC buying another Central Station.

dsw · Post by **dsw** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:27 pm

Presonus also has the Monitor Station which has some really cool features.
I like how you can hold the talk back button down while you're talking and then release it or you can just hit it once and it stays on until you hit it again. Pretty cool. It's cheaper than the Central Station and doesn't rack mount. http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail ... oductId=47

Galen Ulrich Elfert · Post by **Galen Ulrich Elfert** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 11:49 am

Check out the M-Patch 2 by SM Pro
(http://www.smproaudio.com/produkte/moni ... h-box.html)
Passive, and totally transparent to my ears. One balanced and one unbalanced input, two outputs, mute, and big volume knobs. No talkback or anything like that, but a pretty decent headphone amp, and all for quite a bit less than the Presonus or Mackie units, since it's basically just an attenuator and a few switches.
It was in TapeOp a few issues back.

weatherbox · Post by **weatherbox** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:02 pm

I like my Central Station. It's not the most well built thing on earth but no issues thus far (little under a year), and no problems with sound. I'm using it in a limited capacity currently - one set of speakers, one set of inputs, feeding to monitors and an 8 channel headphone amp - but it's been good. Looked at the desktop models but my desk is messy enough already,

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:36 pm

I use the Crane Song Avocet every day in my studio. But, last year, I had a chance to do some work in another studio that used the Central Station. I had no arguments at all about the audio quality of that box. Seems to be a fantastic value!

mcsquishytooshy · Post by **mcsquishytooshy** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:53 pm

Pretty sure the Big Knob isn't passive.
I got a great deal on a CS- it blew up once I plugged it in. I returned it and got another in return (an open box from GC), and that one had a knob that didn't push in. A call to Presonus got me a free part and free shipping, no questions asked.

Since then, my CS has worked PERFECTLY, and I LOVE IT.

Ryan Silva · Post by **Ryan Silva** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:44 pm

I have used the Central Station for about 2 years now with no problems. I also was excited about the D/A converter, I ran a stereo channel out of my Delta 1010(when I had one) simultaneously ran a SPDIF line in the CS, and the difference was very apparent, less noise and better imaging. For 500 it's worth the farm.

Cheers

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:28 pm

Happy with my Mackie. It also has a phono preamp, and I can run multiple monitor channels simultaneously, (which is great for adding a subwoofer and being able to switch it on/off at will).

Dave Stanley · Post by **Dave Stanley** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 4:19 pm

I'm running the original SmPro M-Patch and it's been great for me. No-frills, transparent and very cheap. I'm sure the M-Patch 2 is the same.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 8:49 pm

mcsquishytooshy wrote:Pretty sure the Big Knob isn't passive.

yah, it's not passive.

still sounds and works great, tho.

very flexible, too.

scott macdonald · Post by **scott macdonald** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:00 am

When I was in the market for a monitor thingy I looked at all the options and a lot of reviews and got an SM Pro M-Patch 2 and I love it.

Also, I read Toothpaste for Dinner every day, so you know I gots good taste.

oldguitars · Post by **oldguitars** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:01 am

I love my CS. Plus, when I got it, presonus had a rebate for a free remote. cool.

Message Board

Monitor-switcher: Big Knob, Presonus Central Station, ???

Monitor-switcher: Big Knob, Presonus Central Station, ???

Who is online