$1699...used $999 Emperical Labs Mike E, aka EL-9...

reading the old books time and again the effort and creativity to create sounds seems to be someones brainchild (and demanding job) for the psychedelic days. with the 3.6 and Kastles its fast n furious and no reverb tunnels and rooms needed but has any compared? thats one shootout not many can do. didnt Les Paul dig his own tunnel in his backyard or something for his reverb tunnel attempt?

all the greats having a reverb room and GOLD STAR studio reverb designed approach was something to be proud of before someone could buy a 24bit $80 box that can do a thousand settings while drinking coffee.

its still an interesting era to read about isnt it? reverbs and delays and rooms with 900 ft ceilings on 54th st NYC.

of course a plugin can probably do everything too. now all I need to find is a blue/grey EQ and a really nice channel strip would be sitting here to touch....someday....for now Im dealing with blown engine cars, hail damage and work. I need to buy two lottery tickets and double my chances of winning.
 
It's still the discovering the chocolate eclair with real custard thing. With the generations now being served plug-ins it's hard to say what is getting covered ? We know that if a plug can do can do some custard thing, it will sell : ) Delay is a big thing in the synth world, so anything is game for that effect
 
like General Brand coffee theres no placebo effect, WalMart brand what? coffee....so Hills Bro offers some placebo origin, history, imagine meeting someone with no name, versus a last name of Fender or Gibson or LA2A... UA made a name brand purchase and won adding placebo to the plug-ins and for some a standard to compare to. Neve 1073.....who is the Echo Delay king? Roland? Dr. Moog? who invented the popular brand name Delay Inc , Im curious... Roland Space Echo was popular and vintage, what was Dark SIde of the Moon ...Time ..time...time...time...time....time...time...and Us.....and them using on that delay track?

Ive never thought of Delay brand names of fame.

Boss Delay, Roland, Lexicon, Digitech, Moog, what years did that hit the Billboard charts eliminating people digging large tunnels and placing the speaker at the other end? instead a chip could do it and no one complained.

I can see synth musicians having the least problem with technology because they embraced it from the beginning there was never the fear of a tube-amp-guitar player feeling awkward with transistors and chip reverbs....delay and distortion in a chip, sawtooth and square and invereted, perverted, contorted and exhaled...

its funny Bitch Vig of Nirvana fame engineering spoke about the early days when it was garage sale finds and being creative and fun....then another video he was older and pointing to his huge racks of old same old la2a,1073...(yawn)....1176...(yawn...) stuff that everyone who makes it buys....to try to purchase the golden years or something...or maybe it is that good?

maybe its like cars, as a teen the old piece of crap had more fun in the backseat than the old mans luxury cadillac of farting from exlax.
sorry...analogys arent working this morning.

probably the <no name> coffee im drinking...
 
haha Oh, there is still an avoidance of any synth with a chip. haha Or, something in there needs to be labeled "Analogue" : )

Would I buy another Rambler station wagon ? Sure !
 
The Kastle came today. What a little shit. I wouldn't want to be seen in public with it, unless it was a police lineup for a bombing suspects. hah I had to order a keyboard controller along with some Modular style patch cords. Kind of like a VW camper bus doing the Pikes Peak Run over here.
 
Midnight Rambler?

Pikes Peak might be motivating....ahahaa analog signals always comes out somehow right?

I think outboard is just there for the gearheads, no latency and less effort maybe. CLA says he just buys new 1176's for each setting and doesnt change them ...half joking in a video. but is it for ease of work or tones unobtainable by the CLA 1176 plug?

do you prefer a delay box in your room or hauling everything out to the cathedral for the high ceiling?
 
Well, the effect for delay has other use with the sequencer. Four beats, four bars is so much time per BPM. Slowing it down and getting 2,3, or, 4 beats for the price of one can work : )
 
time for a coffee. GreatValue...hmm? the marketing isnt too exciting...
"what coffee you drinking today?"
"great value..."

no placebo brain buzz..
one reviewer said hes been drinking Colombian coffee for his entire life and GREAT VALUE is a great value.
its 100% Colombian coffee. whats that mean?

I wonder if GREAT VALUE brand name would work in gear?
"hey I just bought a GREAT VALUE guitar!!"
"my mic is a GREAT VALUE brand it sounds warm and not mushy"

WalMart Great Value for $8..380 cups!! 2cents a cup..lol....wouldnt Juan Felipe 100% Colombian fresh ground for $8 sounded and therefore tasted better? ......Nievado Del Ruiz colombian fresh ground coffee beans $8.

The Beatles GREAT VALUE album?
Pink Floyd's GREAT VALUE SIDE OF THE MOON album?

they could have called it "OK Value" or "Good Value" coffee...GREAT VALUE is a bit better than just Good...or ok...or alight coffee unless maybe a exclamation point is added ALRIGHT! Coffee..

TIME MAGAZINE:
In a new taste test, Walmart’s medium-roast Great Value 100% Colombia coffee was rated on par with the equivalent costing more than double the price bearing the Starbucks label. And no, the taste test wasn’t organized by Walmart.

It was the taste testers at Consumer Reports drinking and comparing all the home-brewed cups of Joe available to consumers.

In the most noteworthy results of the blind taste tests, Walmart’s coffee, which costs $3.88 for an 11.3 oz. container, matched the taste produced by Starbucks. A 12 oz. bag of ground Starbucks runs $8.88 at Walmart, and typically over $9.50 at most grocery stores.
 

Attachments

  • great value.png
    great value.png
    1,003.1 KB · Views: 13
Don't make me post a pic of my True Tone Radio, which wasn't sold at True Value. hhaaaa Can't use Best Buy !

I've been on a Mrs. Olsen love fest. You mean Juan Valdez ? I know a professor photographer Juan Felipe in Columbia and he's never done anything visual with coffee ?
 
todays hindsight

I think the blind-tests are real for our senses but theres nothing wrong with buying Mrs Olsen and Great Value probably the same in bed with the lights out. If you spill a pot youre out 20cents for 10 cups. Its 100% Colombian because theres no sense in cutting the coffee grounds with plastic filler yet or manmade simulated coffee.

in gear thoughts this morning....like "what the hell is all this gear stuff doing?"
... my $1800 Grace headphone amp thats 10% better than the interface UX8 (which is designed for 250-600ohm and has some balls in a plastic way). who is the End User?
whats the Gear doing, How often is it used? how much do you pay for 10% better?

..10% rule.....

end user:
1) pro line of artists needing next platinum record
2) wannabe # 1
3) HR head working a cubicle job reading beatle books and has a interface and computer

whats the gear doing:
1) used everyday
2) used alot
3) used sometimes
4) not used much, but shopping gear is fun
5) has dust on it

how much do you pay for 10% better:
1) a bunch of cash to be Billboard competitive
2) im a tool and just buy shit to brag about it
3) i need well built shit because its a busy studio and is used by bands
4) i have a interface and computer studio no one comes to, not even myself
 
end user
spazz case

utility
collecting dust - but that is every day

hype resistance
none, but I'm not burdened with extra cash : )

I just realized I still don't have a Viking tape machine
hfff752.jpg
 
you'll get one someday, keep the faith....just keep the dust off the thing.
the partilces that fall off the tapes, is it the HiFreq that goes first or Low End? or is it random?

is $1000 a lot? What goes better with 100% Colombian coffee a Irish or Idaho potatoe? Can a person tell?

...the EL9


Mike-E's Seven Circuits:
1) Mic Preamplifier with super low noise and detented gain switching.
2) A built in “Direct Box”, called the “Inst In”, which offers unparalleled
distortion, noise, and frequency response when preamping instruments.
3) A “Colored” 80Hz High pass filter that emulates the warm low frequency
cut of our favorite vintage equalizers.
4) A Phase Switch to invert the audio signal 180 degrees.
5) CompSat section that offers both a musical Compressor/Limiter, and a
unique tape-like saturation circuit.
6) Emphasis Circuit. A high frequency emphasis system to soften high
frequency “pile-ups” and further the creamy color of the Mike-E.
7) Mix Control to allow the blending of the Compressed/Saturated signal,
with the clean un-processed “Dry” signal.

7
 

Attachments

  • EL9potatoe.jpg
    EL9potatoe.jpg
    155.9 KB · Views: 4
Ya, I saw(vid) Trump sPEAKING AT THE Snap-On factory. CAN't beat good tools.

The E looks like a bargain if it can pull all that stuff off.

Ya, the tape doesn't get as much energy printing hi freqs, so the surface shed affects that. The Tandberg and akai X-Field head was a extra head on the backing side of the tape to make that a bit more solid
 
Trump ...yawn...isnt his 4yrs about up?

its the same old ending here....Outboard vs ITB....funny how thats always the case.
 
more time to allow the shop&buy high to fade .... :drunk:

cont...gear sqwak talk...

the Emperical Labs MikeE EL9 has more gain and options than I need, I got it for one vocal hi-end pre+ mojoDirt(comp/sat). the versatility is cool having Mojo and Clean in one unit. My Rane MS1 does the clean for $100 but doesnt have any mojoDirt.
the EL9 feels total tank built, everything. The buttons are expensive parts for 1 million or 2 million clicks or something mentioned of that. The Rane is the size of a fork and has one plastic knob...with a lot of clean gain. so in short, MikeE's built well, has massive power and quiet power, MojoDirtColorSaturation without tubes. ok its a great unit.

then Im thinking today, Im HR Hobby gearhead and no income from any of this but most Hobbys dont bring in money per the definition of Hobby...like fishing, shooting, painting, making toothpick statues...
the cost is,,,,,,,,,,,hmm? in HR Hobby Hole land $1500 is a lot for one piece, kind of. imo.

Hi-SpEnders are used to it...$1200, $1700..Ive seen Focusrite 430 strips for the same though they are $2000 new and drop to $1400. It seems the pro level is in that area at least, a BAE 1073 to a UA1176 starts heading to $5,000...etc..etc.. imo, HR hobby world is more copys- like WA73+WA76 with a WA87 maybe a WApultec and WALA2A...still around $1500 so the MikeE EL9 is $1600new, used $1200 today might be a bit more Hi-End and Overbuilt for a shade tree mechanic. $175 RNC compressors and $200 preamps, maybe $500 for most HR hobbits.

Lets compare? comparison to HR prices, chose a random BlueLion1073 is $650 add a KTBehringer1176 for $500, thats $1200ish! its where the HiEnd EL9 tank tough built is. So is $1100-$1500 expensive? relevant.
Im already reading WA1176 failing problems, like ART gear suffers PR. Will the Behringer KT1176 suffer this too?Ive had a few noisy ART items and the blue light needed a shim put in to get it right for the VU to not stick. Ive read no EL gear having issues, like the old Joe Meek gear its done so well it seems.

more to come...I dont know.

>file under Hardware
 

Attachments

  • EL9 crap.jpg
    EL9 crap.jpg
    170.4 KB · Views: 5
2 months later....another gearhead post on EL9

so the buying crack hi's and low's has dissipated away...
the main target is Vocal track unit aka strip.nonclean dirt but not mud.

Cost thought: hmm? its a PreAmp and Compressor, Is it worth it? Yes. expensive relevant to ?
BUILD: I dont have 10yrs data but higher quality parts reside inside the EL9 and this costs more. germaniums,transformers, special vac sealed buttons for a million clicks.
HARDWARE: The Hardware offers no latency blurr and user friendly vibe thats fun and real imo,
2 Months and counting review: I've found it hard to make the MikeE EL9 sound bad.

Analog Analogy-
I had a Rueben Friday it tasted great, the waitress said the corned beef she preferred better than the turkey they switched to. The MikeE just nails it. You can go deep grunge or clean. I tried getting the old Symetrix out to compare & it couldnt do dirt the way I like it I suspect is designed to NOT distort. the best ITB setup I have brought some cloudy processing latency blurr that the Hardware DI avoids during tracking. I know the RaneMS1 doesnt do grunge so didnt plug it in recently.
So I personally prefer the MikeE over anything Ive owned/tested really, the old green JoeMEekVc1 movin to 2nd. but tastes of reubens vary like sounds.... i always like the vocal on I Am The Walrus dirt vox, and some edgier stuff grunge-ish so the EL9 can seem to hit that genre. "dirt""vocal dist" subtle overdriveishness. For clean tunes a simple turn of the Dry/knob and its clean..frkn too enjoyable.

this track demo take 1 is a dirt Vocal with acoustic rythm, the other tracks tossed on top er..to the sides.
 

Attachments

  • Its all up to you CLIP.mp3
    2.3 MB · Views: 15
Mike-e ... Pricey'... but very nice. Even if it will never be in the range of 'make or break anything I do LOL, I don't regret springing for it :>)
Kind'a wish they did comp threshold independent of saturation. (clean comp' but no 'Sat, but there's a work around if need be.

Fun track btw :)
 
Turkey is alright on a mile high Club Sandwich. Dripping deep-fried turkey/ham Monte Cristo ? Kinda like a 1U tape deck : )
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top