StudioSystems.co.uk

You've got yourself a Digital Setup and you now need :

• Good solid modular console with discrete mic' amps.(4x transistor front end) that give loads of dynamic headroom.
• Classic "British EQ" : warm as toast (Hi and lo shelf with two swept mids) with those all important cross over points.
• 4 Aux sends, stingy, but think about it.
• Dual input modules:- "in line" format, where channels 1>8 double up as groups : probably the best value modular console" for 24 Trk monitoring: 24/8/24 selling for around 800 quid
• ALPS faders and switches and Midi Mutes all round
• Omeg pots',(same as Amek Einstein/Tac Mattress/A+H Sabre
• Meter bridge monitoring 8 group outs and the 16 tape returns: comes with separate rack mount 4u power supply
• The 24/8/24 s' give 48 inputs : great for 24 Trk monitoring, would be an ideal companion for the new 24trk HD systems coming out.
• The PC Midi 32 input gives 64 inputs for around £1300
• Various formats

NOVEMBER 2007

Just supplied Tristian O ' Dwyer with a PC Midi 24 ,and here are his thoughts on the

"The SOUND of the PC MIDI "

Hi Tristian , yes its really good to get your thoughts

________________________________
From: Tristan O' Dwyer [mailto:tristanoduibher@mac.com]
Sent: 14 November 2007 14:33
To: tim jones

Hi Tim,
Thought Id just send you some thoughts on the PC Midi (Pictures below).
The best thing about these desks is the construction, it looks and feels like a Pro Console. The real shame in the audio industry these days is that with everyone concentrating resources on digital equipment nobody is manufacturing decent affordable modular consoles.

ME : I guess its just too expensive to recreate

I found the construction of this desk reminiscent of something like a DDA and definitely a step above something like the Soundcraft Ghost, which always felt cheap to me.
I was really blown away by the E.Q on this desk. Perhaps Im imagining things because its been about two years since I did a mix on one but the EQs reminded me of the Amek Einstein, which is, as you know, a fairly serious console.
I dont have much call to use the preamps but I thought Id give them a try. I was surprised to find that they sounded, to my ears at least, every bit as good as some outboard preamps Ive used in the 300 range-and you get 24 with the PC Midi! I found them clear and detailed but with enough character to make them interesting.

Thats good input for the web site '

Theres still a bit of tweaking to do, I have yet to bring all of the inserts onto the patchbay and intend to start optimising the monitoring set up when I get time.

ok
I have very few criticisms of this desk. The routing is perhaps less intuitive than on a split console and the +48v switches are hidden under the meter bridge. At least the phantom power isnt global-a pet hate of mine!
I was wondering if, in your experience, there is any way of calibrating the meters. Im sure this is a common complaint in analogue/digital hybrid systems but I would really like to try and match the metering to Pro Tools in so far as is possible.

Well have you seen the +4 /-10 option ? STEREO JACK + 4 on TIP , -10 on RING ?

I bought this mixer to work on some live projects I recorded over the summer. Im a broadcast engineer by trade and while my job has many parallels with my hobby and allows me to work with pro audio and video gear, Ive found that in recent years I have less and less time to work with music. Perhaps there is no connection but Ive found since I installed this desk last weekend Im actually sitting down and writing songs again. Im not claiming that the desk had made me more creative but maybe sub-consciously Im trying to justify owning such a great console by writing music again-who knows.

Well that’s just the sort of stuff that keeps the Analogue flag flying !, I get this kind of feedback all the time ,and you being a broadcast engineers just about puts the icing on the cake for me

Hope you get some good results , love to get a CD one day ?
Have you got a “My SPACE “ going ??I've attached a link to my website.

There's a track on the Music page called Dingle Regatta which I mixed on the desk at the weekend. Its a traditional instrumental recorded in a pub. I didn't do anything crazy with it, simply ran the eight channels through the Soundtracs and added some EQ. I applied some limiting to the mix but it hasn't been mastered professionally.

By way of comparison there are two more polished performances- Greenland Whale Fisheries and Jock Stewart also on the page which I mixed on my Alesis rack mixer and had professionally mastered for a demo CD.

I think you'll agree that the mix I spent half an hour on with the Soundtracs is far superior to the mixes I slaved over for hours and had professionally mastered.

I'll continue to add new songs over the coming months, with more controlled production as opposed to live takes. I'm confident that the new tracks will compare favorably to stuff I've mixed on DDAs and Ameks, which you can hear on the "Other Artists" page on the website.

http://web.mac.com/tristanoduibher Tristans web site

Regards,

Tristan O' Dwyer

Head of Studio Engineering
Bang Media (London) Ltd

• JAN 2007 : Just repaired Paul O'Duffys trusty old PC Midi 24 , Hes had this thing turned on for 12 years !!!
• I Installed it for him ! and this is the only fault he ever had (Bridge Rectifiers blew ,for you tech 'folk out there )
• I cheekily asked him what hes been working on : His reply :
  
• " I did Swing Out Sister amongst others - recently I've been working with Amy Winehouse and I'm just finishing off an album with a girl called Amanda Ghost ( who co-wrote that god awful James Blunt record!)
  You can find more details here: http://www.myspace.com/pauloduffyproductions and http://365artists.com/producers.php

  
  Knock yourself out...

  
  Best

  
  Paul

  
  My Soundtracs rocks ( if I plug it in!)

APRIL 207

 

Just delivered a lovely old PC MIDI 24 to James in Bradford :________________________________________
From: fhfgh fghfgh [mailto:james528150@yahoo.co.uk]
Sent: 18 April 2007 12:33
To: tim jones
Subject: Re: PC Midi to Bradford

Hi Tim,

Great mixer love the sound.
Good to know there are people still into preserving
the quality equipment of yesteryear.
Thanks again.

James

That’s great James , glad it arrived in one piece !!!

Ill paste you onto the web site

Regards Tim