Joemeek higher-end

[alanhyatt]

How much money has the Joe Meek estate made off of the "JoeMeek" products? Just curious.

To answer this, none from the old regime. Despite a promise to donate to the Joe Meek Appreciation Society which funds the Joe Meek estate, no funds were ever paid by the old owners.

I on the other hand have and continue to work with them and their supportive associates. If you would like to, join the Joe Meek appreciation society....

[alanhyatt]

I have a question for the PMI/joemeek guy, how would you compare a joemeek threeQ to a grace design model 101? I am just curious because I have the joemeek but want to get the grace design 101. Thanks for any info. Does the pre-amps on the twinQ differ from the threeQ much? I was thinking about selling my threeq for a twinQ. Thanks!

I think Grace make some really great gear. While known for their "clean" sound and use of Burr Brown Op Amps, the new Joemeek uses Burr Brown Op Amps in the mic amp circuit as well, but as a result of the EQ and compressor, it offers up a much more "colored" sound. The older VC3Q units used a 5532 Motorola chip so it brought more colored sound to the mic amp.

The new threeQ is pretty clean if you leave the compressor and eq in by-pass and the noise spec is on par with the Grace as well. I think you have to decide what you like. Of course having many flavors is always a good thing....

[drewbass]

hi allen, you might be able to see that there is an inherent conflict of interest. No other manufacturers talk about their gear in this forum.
you can also see that there are arguably thousands of active recordist/consumers on this forum.
when you argue in an insolent manner can you see how you may permanently ostracize them? especially when you rebut in such a manner to joel hamilton-someone most people on the board have a great deal of respect?
you might be burning bridges and distancing potential clients in an industry where most people can?t afford to do so.
tapeop is kind of big. that's why you yourself are here. remember why you first logged on. remember the kind of impression you are trying to make of your company and products.
it might be diplomatic to apologize and move on. try to restore some good faith in people?s idea of PMI audio group.
drew

[JohnDavisNYC]

Alan, are you a recording engineer? Gear designer? If not, I don't think anyone wants to hear the opinion of some rich dude who bought a company name and IP. If you are actually an engineer, tell us how you personally use this equipment, and then your opinion and information will be appreciated. If all you do is run the company and try to malign other manufacturers, I don't think anyone wants to hear any more of your drivel.

John

[alanhyatt]

Drewbase,

I appreciate your civil response and thank you for expressing how things at Tape OP work in a polite manner, but with all due respect, I see no reason to apologize to anyone who accused me of using this forum for advertising or selling my gear on this thread when that is simply not the fact.

I am very civil on these boards unlike toaster300 who has been baiting and hostile to me from the start, along with some others. If you all do not want me here, a simple..Hey Alan, we would prefer you do not post on Tape OP is all it takes. I thought I was being helpful, no matter what my title.

As for Joe Hamilton, perhaps he should be the one to apologize for threatening me with lockdown because I answered a question about my products from one of the members.

He could have simply said in a nice manner...Alan, we prefer you do not mention, talk, or answer questions on your products at all on this forum. Would that not have been more the results one should expect from a moderator?

With that in mind, I leave it to those here whose opinions are so much more valid than my own, and I am sorry for trying to assist some of the members here on Tape OP....

[;ivlunsdystf]

And the pissing match is underway. Alan, you made a brilliant rebuttal to "Joe" Hamilton. You must be really smart. The JoeMeek products must be really great. Don't worry, I'll let you have the last word if you want to make another post here.

Sorry to the originator of this thread; I am breaking my promise to stay away. I think you can see that it is impossible to use a messageboard to get any reliable, unbiased user reviews of the JoeMeek products with this creep Alan skulking around. I have a theory that there really aren't very many users out there. Or maybe they're so thrilled with the sound of the product that they can't tear themselves away from the usage thereof long enough to post a smokin' review.

[the brill bedroom]

For what it's worth, I certainly respect Joel, but I don't think there's anything wrong with a manuafacturer responding to a request for info about his products. Maybe there's some history here that I don't know about, but I think that most of us are hear as a source of info, opinions and ideas. We're all pretty savvy and know when we're being promo'd to. I don't think there's any danger of Alan tricking anyone into buying his gear.

[mjau]

Ok, move on, nothing to see here...go post in mjau's distortion pedal thread instead.

Moving on, moving...

[joel hamilton]

This thread brought to you by PMI audio!

Now back to our regularly scheduled public messageboard,

where none of the people here are selling stuff commercially.

At least you dont log in as "super_hoT_PonyGurrrrl69" and try and front....

Please never try and use this forum as advertising. i will delete the thread without hesitation.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
-Joel Hamilton

Your pretty touchy. I am not selling anything here. I answered a question with my opinions. If that is too much for you then ban me or get over it. Why don't you let your attitude go and if others here want to ask questions then let them.

Show me where I ask anyone here to buy any of my products?

You would think you would encourage manufacturers to be here. Shut the thread down if you wish, run off people who are trying to help. That is a great way for you to be moderator on a public forum.

As I have seen the 3 million page rants you are capable of, I dont think i will be directly challenging you for the sake of this messageboard and all the people that enjoy constructive commentary on the art of recording.

So show me where I called you a name in that statement?

I didnt, just as you did not specifically "sell" anything with your posts. You tone and overall bedside manner is what i truly find repulsive. If I have to lock a thread before it turns out to be the PMI/Joe meek rant fest that EVERY, literlly EVERY other thread i have seen on any messageboard has turned into courtesy of you... I will.

I would rather not act as a censor in that sense, but i will do what i have to do as the moderator of a forum that deals with the enthusiasm for recording, and not so much the jaded hot headed business side of the actual manufacturing process.

Whatever. I will lock the thread if this turns into the PMI show. Period. Dislike me for it. I couldnt care less. I have a job to do here.

If there was not a track record (as referred to above) of your chasing "joe meek" threads around ad nauseum, I would not be typing this.

Enjoy the board, follow the rules and all will be fine.

[;ivlunsdystf]

Okay, unbiased users waiting to write reviews, you can come out of your hiding places now... it's safe...

[operator_tape]

O.k. can we get back to the audio talk, mr. pmi recording group,, I boosted my joemeek threeQ all the way and noticed that is is extremely noisey not as bad though as my dmp3. I am thinking of opening it and seeing if there is aqny burr brown i.c. s in there, What should I be looking for when I open i up

[Professor]

Well, I may be the only one who will say this, but I think it is a tremendous value to have manufacturers, reps. and dealers as part of the community here - especially when they are as open about their affiliations as Alan is with his signature line. I mean the guy actually includes his phone number, while I'm sitting here and don't even include my last name because of my own concerns about plausible deniability for the University.

Pro studio owners, magazine writers and reviewers, university employees, equipment dealers, we all have open conduits for communicating with various manufacturers whether at the regional rep, national rep, technical or administrative levels. But the average home players don't have that resource, or don't know how they might tap into those resources which may be only slightly hidden from regular sight.

We have Alan, and we have Ethan Winer, and probably a few other manufacturers. We have Fletcher and Garth and the guy from Atlas Pro Audio (sorry I can't remember your name). We have pro engineers, masterinng engineers, label owners, teachers, and all sorts of folks. And most of us are pretty up front about who we are and what we do, and then we state our opinions so they may be applauded or shit on just like everyone else's. And I expect Steven from Massive Mastering to chime in on most of the DIY mastering threads, and I really don't expect him to be unbiased about hiring a pro. I usually chime in whenever there is a thread on the merits of audio education. I expect Joel to chime in on threads about ElectroHarmonix and Charter Oak, even though there could be a sense of bias considering his relations there.

Honestly now, Alan may have disenfranchised as many folks as he 'sold' through his posts. But I'd sure like him to continue posting. I own a nice Studio Projects mic (LSD-2) that I use very regularly, and I've been considering adding a TwinQ to the studio since I saw they were being redesigned last year. Like many folks who cannot get out to major studios to try gear or bring in a half-dozen new preamps to test and choose just one, I and many players of the home game tend to see magazine ads, or catalog write ups and then check around for reviews and web info to make decisions. For me, the University purchasing rules prevent me from putting down a credit card to get an evaluation unit in for personal testing, so outside of tradeshows and very long road trips, I'm pretty isolated. Having one more access point for manufacturers makes the task at least a little easier.

And I have to also say that ripping on ANYONE here for typos and incorrect spelling is really both infantile and irrelevant - especially when NOBODY here proof reads their posts very well. That's almost as bad as when the home studio guys start demanding to know whether Fletcher or Alan or anyone else is really "a professional engineer" and not just a "salesman". And it's really none of our business how much money is or isn't paid to the 'estate of Joe Meek' any more than we should expect that every company building a Neve 1073 "re-issue" (read that as "rip-off") is paying royalties to eith Neve the company or Rupert himself.

-Jeremy

[joel hamilton]

Well, I may be the only one who will say this, but I think it is a tremendous value to have manufacturers, reps. and dealers as part of the community here - especially when they are as open about their affiliations as Alan is with his signature line. I mean the guy actually includes his phone number, while I'm sitting here and don't even include my last name because of my own concerns about plausible deniability for the University.

Pro studio owners, magazine writers and reviewers, university employees, equipment dealers, we all have open conduits for communicating with various manufacturers whether at the regional rep, national rep, technical or administrative levels. But the average home players don't have that resource, or don't know how they might tap into those resources which may be only slightly hidden from regular sight.

We have Alan, and we have Ethan Winer, and probably a few other manufacturers. We have Fletcher and Garth and the guy from Atlas Pro Audio (sorry I can't remember your name). We have pro engineers, masterinng engineers, label owners, teachers, and all sorts of folks. And most of us are pretty up front about who we are and what we do, and then we state our opinions so they may be applauded or shit on just like everyone else's. And I expect Steven from Massive Mastering to chime in on most of the DIY mastering threads, and I really don't expect him to be unbiased about hiring a pro. I usually chime in whenever there is a thread on the merits of audio education. I expect Joel to chime in on threads about ElectroHarmonix and Charter Oak, even though there could be a sense of bias considering his relations there.

Honestly now, Alan may have disenfranchised as many folks as he 'sold' through his posts. But I'd sure like him to continue posting. I own a nice Studio Projects mic (LSD-2) that I use very regularly, and I've been considering adding a TwinQ to the studio since I saw they were being redesigned last year. Like many folks who cannot get out to major studios to try gear or bring in a half-dozen new preamps to test and choose just one, I and many players of the home game tend to see magazine ads, or catalog write ups and then check around for reviews and web info to make decisions. For me, the University purchasing rules prevent me from putting down a credit card to get an evaluation unit in for personal testing, so outside of tradeshows and very long road trips, I'm pretty isolated. Having one more access point for manufacturers makes the task at least a little easier.

And I have to also say that ripping on ANYONE here for typos and incorrect spelling is really both infantile and irrelevant - especially when NOBODY here proof reads their posts very well. That's almost as bad as when the home studio guys start demanding to know whether Fletcher or Alan or anyone else is really "a professional engineer" and not just a "salesman". And it's really none of our business how much money is or isn't paid to the 'estate of Joe Meek' any more than we should expect that every company building a Neve 1073 "re-issue" (read that as "rip-off") is paying royalties to eith Neve the company or Rupert himself.

-Jeremy

Jeremy,
That is very well put, and I take it to heart.
It IS an asset to the "community" to have manufacturers "available for comment."

Very much so.

Thank you for posting that. I will keep it in mind when "moderating."

[Rolsen]

It is rare to find a product representative providing insight to the design and application of their product. I'm so sick of the snobbery on this board sometimes. It like 'no girls allowed' or something of the like when it comes to contributions from 'business men.' When is the last time the owner of DigiDesigns posted a response to someone's question? I own two pieces of gear from PMI audio. One reason why - I emailed Alan with a question about the gear and he emailed me back two days later! I've emailed Marshall Amplification a couple times when I had problems with a $2000 amp - no reply. I've not found pushy salesmanship in Alan's posts.

[soundsubs]

let me first start off by saying that i dont have any problem with the way alan replied to the open question, and it didnt seem salesman-like at all. i think we should remember what we're here for: finding info on gear--- that IS the title of the forum, right???

so to the original question: i just got a joemeek 1q, and i love it. i am using it basically as a single voice channel. i replaced an avalon 737sp with it, and no, im not crazy. after 4 years of owning the avalon, i wasnt loving it anymore. in fact, it had gone into disuse for some reason. for the record, the mics im using are neumann tlm-103, electrovoice 664, and shure 57 and 58. i havent yet used it on femme vocals or male rap vocals, but will in the next week.

i find the oneQ to be extremely flexible. turning it up and bypassing the eq and compresser and de-esser on the line input it is very quiet indeed, perhaps more quiet than the avalon. i have previously owned a joe meek vc6 that was used on 58 mostly. it was fairly noisy, although it came in handy occasionally for DI for bass. the oneQ seems to fit my bill really nicely. to be fair, i am recording vocals in my apartment all by myself 90% of the time. i also have taken a liking to dirtying up the vocals from time, overdriving here and there, getting different tones ALL the time. i think the avalon, to be fair, wasnt trying to do this, it was trying to be an all tube pure signal as much as possible. when i overdrove it, i didnt really like the sound. to be fair, i havent run a guitar through it enough, or a bass through it (with a real player) so i will leave that for another time. i WILL most likely connect the line input on the back to use as an insert on a bus, so that i can throw synths or whatever through it.

here are some features as i see it:

PROS
1.) burr brown circuitry. seems to breath new life into low's of DI and voice. yes, im bypassing the eq while saying that. i havent tried the syteks, so i cant really a/b them against that or have a valid opinion.
2.) iron switch. i can hear a definite difference in the two, it gives a nice new color (not always better mind you) to the input at the push of a button.
3.) the compressor has a lot of control. you can make this sound crunchy or gentle. i imagine i'll be using this to crunch up fake drums a bit
4.) the digital output! yes, finally something integrated that just works. this way, i can monitor through a mixer, while going straight to my soundcard. of course the multiple analog outputs would also allow me to do this.
5.) it drives the shures and EV nicely without too much gain. the neumann needs a bit of gain to come out, but definitely not anywhere near 60db.
6.) very good eq: i can dial in the lofi radio voice instantly, somehow quicker than i could on the 737.
7.) the attack time is definitely better on this than the previous meek i had.

CONS
1.) mic input on front and back cannot be connected simultaneously. the manual says not to, but im not sure why. i wish the front panel would override the back, like the line input does.
2.) not sure what the 2nd line input on the backs signal path is. cant tell if it goes straight to the DA or ??? i imagine it doesnt go through any of the other circuitry.
3.) i love the VU meter but its a little tough to see from 10 feet away or so. i could see a digital led meter on here somewhere as a compliment. thats nitpicky though.
4.) the compressor is really nice, but its easy to overdo it in a hurry. there seems to be a sweetspot in the knob position.

i am glad i made this "downgrade" now (i see it more as a cross-grade), because i can see potential uses for it. and its solid state so i dont have to let it warm up for 30 minutes before i can use it---- woops there goes that idea! it just seems to me that i have LOTS of tone shaping controls, the digital output, and an easy to use voice channel. i would strongly recommend this unit to any pro level recorder that wants a lot of tone in an easy package, specializing in vocal work. seems a perfect fit.


just my .02

----------shane