Joe Meek VC1Q vs 1Q

Listen to your ears, agreed. Yeah, I was a bit nervous about a few of the reviews and the CS 2017 chip or whatever, hoping I wouldn't be buying a lemon. Beautiful condition, though. I don't think this thing has ever been racked. The guy selling it claimed "it is perfect." Well, except for not including the original manual, it appears very nice. Nice to know for the $$$ I spent on it. :D It sounds fantastic, though, and thus far I'm glad I got it.
 
alanhyatt said:
Actually, it seems Paul White likes the new threeQ over the older ones. So that is fine by me....I can't wait until he reviews the new twinQ and oneQ... :)
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Like many manufacturers today, the Three Q uses bottom of the barrel components. For $20 more, perhaps JM should focus on using better quality radial caps, switches, pots, and jacks, rather than hyping a mediocre product. If and when this happens, I might consider purchasing another product.

Regards.
 
CCS said:
Like many manufacturers today, the Three Q uses bottom of the barrel components. For $20 more, perhaps JM should focus on using better quality radial caps, switches, pots, and jacks, rather than hyping a mediocre product. If and when this happens, I might consider purchasing another product.

Regards.
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The threeQ uses all Alpha pots and switches, custom all aluminum control knobs. Burr Brown Op Amps, Silonex encapsulated matched optical photocells are used with Knightbridge LED's and very good close tolerance caps and resistors. All connectors are gold plated and are pc mounted.

The front face plate is all aluminum extrusion and the chassis is all steel. We use quality glass PC boards and the design layout and build is excellent. I think you should open one up and have a look inside. This unit is very well built and uses very good components. Adding $20.00 in parts will not make this unit sound better or be any more reliable than it already is, but will add on a good deal to the cost which for this type of unit is just not warranted.

The reviews are very good and the threeQ is aimed at an entry level unit for the home recording person who wants to get more flexibility out of their sound. The threeQ is great for live applications as well.

The design and build is exceptional for $199.99.... If you are expecting esoteric gear then you will pay for it. We do not push this unit as anything other than what it is. I am not sure where you are coming from, but your statement is incorrect.
 
Haha CCS I work with guitars and let me tell you there are FAR worse pots on the market than those in the Joemeek stuff! :)

"Regards."
 
alanhyatt said:
The threeQ uses all Alpha pots and switches, custom all aluminum control knobs.
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I consider the Alpha pots marginal since they don't even line up with the increment markings.
Burr Brown Op Amps
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There is only the singular involved, as in one Burr-Brown INA217. The others being Chinese ST TLO72 CN.
All connectors are gold plated and are pc mounted.
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The 1/4" connectors are plastic with gold plated sleeve inserts and are incorrectly recessed to the PCB. They are specifically designed with a threaded part that is supposed to feed through the rear chassis and fasten to a nut on the other side. Instead, the only thing securing the Three Q's connectors are solder, so the connectors are loose when switching in and out, since they aren't fastened to the chassis.

The front face plate is all aluminum extrusion and the chassis is all steel. We use quality glass PC boards and the design layout and build is excellent.
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My objections are with the components, such as, cheasy pots, plastic switches, caps, unfastened jacks. The face plate, chassis and PC boards aren't an issue.

I think you should open one up and have a look inside.
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I already have.

Adding $20.00 in parts will not make this unit sound better or be any more reliable than it already is, but will add on a good deal to the cost which for this type of unit is just not warranted.
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I disagree. In my view, electrolytic caps influence sound. Better caps such as Nichicon don't cost that much more, than the existing REC caps; nor would upgrading the pots; nor upgrading the plastic switches, especially when you purchase components in bulk. At the end of the day, these units are made in China with slave wages, so using better components won't cut dramatically into corporate profits.

Regards.
 
We could keep picking at 'this' component and 'that' design feature until we ended up with a high end unit costing a significant amount more and aimed at a different market.

PMI have obviously drawn a line and stuck to it, they know what parts are around but they've made a business decision.

It's a highly competitive market, If PMI spend another $40 on parts and subsequently bump the price by $60-$80 (for arguments sake) then they lose a few customers.

I'm sure PMI are pretty clued up on the market and they know what parts they can skimp on. I'd guess that for everyone like CCS there are a number of people who are happy to get a cheaper pre even if some of the parts are inferior.

I understand your point CCS but at the end of the day it's cheap equipment, aimed at a market who don't want/can't afford to spend a lot of money on boutique preamps. So it's going to have some cheap components.
 
Kevin DeSchwazi said:
I understand your point CCS
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See, I DON'T get his point. If I don't like it, I won't buy it. I don't take cheap shots at the manufacturer in a public forum. I'm not being funny, but where are all the in-depth dissections of the insides of other inexpensive gear. I have Yamaha, Alesis and Behringer gear that is shamed by the component and assembly quality of the Meek stuff. You want to talk pots? Talk to me about the Behringer MIC2200 where 90% of the gain is hidden in the last 10% of the pot ................ and so is 90% of the noise. :eek:

And I don't either see the sense in arguing that what we REALLY need is more surface mount and DIY kit-type chassis boxes.
 
noisedude said:
See, I DON'T get his point. If I don't like it, I won't buy it. I don't take cheap shots at the manufacturer in a public forum. I'm not being funny, but where are all the in-depth dissections of the insides of other inexpensive gear. I have Yamaha, Alesis and Behringer gear that is shamed by the component and assembly quality of the Meek stuff. You want to talk pots? Talk to me about the Behringer MIC2200 where 90% of the gain is hidden in the last 10% of the pot ................ and so is 90% of the noise. :eek:

And I don't either see the sense in arguing that what we REALLY need is more surface mount and DIY kit-type chassis boxes.
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CCS is correct in observing that cheap gear has some cheap components. But as I said I think that's a given and it means people with not much cash can record their music. I've got nothing against PMI, I own a vtb-1 and a B1 mic and for the money I think they're great pices of gear.

And I don't know about cheap shots. Perhaps we're able to talk about the specifics of PMI stuff because PMI people spend time on the fourm? I'm sure if Uli started posting here he'd get a few questions (and no doubt some stick) about his designs. Well i say 'his' designs.... :D

I'm just starting out in electronics so I'd love to see some discussion on the innards of all different types of gear from all different manufacturers. I think if you use electronic equipment and the quality is critical to what you do it's good to have an idea of how it works and what parts are affecting the sound and in what way.
 
I do not feel any response to CSS is warranted. He now claims we use slave labor. He is wrong on all accounts. I am not going to argue with him about our product decisions. If he can design and build better products then let him come to market with them.
 
Kevin DeSchwazi said:
I understand your point CCS but at the end of the day it's cheap equipment, aimed at a market who don't want/can't afford to spend a lot of money on boutique preamps. So it's going to have some cheap components.
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Excellent point.


I don't consider myself a gear snob and am open to using inexpensive boxes. For example, for a few hundred bucks, the RNC comes to mind and it shines from a sonic point of view. I would like to see better (not necessarily boutique) components used on many of these imported boxes, since labor is so cheap. I wouldn't mind paying 20 to 40 bucks more if it involves fastening jacks to the chassis, better caps, pots and switches.

Regards.
 
alanhyatt said:
He now claims we use slave labor. He is wrong on all accounts.
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So, if my claim is incorrect, then how much are the factory workers being paid for manufacturing these boxes? Do they receive any benefits?

Regards.
 
CCS, that slave labor thing is crap, and you know it. All kinds of companies use overseas labor, and just because their economy is on a different scale compared to ours does not make them "slaves". To imply so is offensive. Maybe if you approached this in a different (more constructive) way, instead of trying to pick it apart in a public forum, you might get a better response.

Mr Hyatt, I am a satisfied customer of Joe Meek and Studio projects products, and I am planning to buy more. However, if there ARE some inexpensive ways to make the products significantly better for a minimum difference in cost, might it not be worth exploring (perhaps via private emails)? I for one applaud your customer service and if any company out there should or could benefit from a close customer relationship/customer feedback or customer driven improvements, why not PMI? You are certainly in a prime position to do so.

Regards,
Amra
(Mike C. from Texas)
 
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...and now for something completely different :D

I picked up a VC1Q, version 1 to be exact.

I realize that this is not a boutique piece of equipment so I wasn’t expecting something of phenomenal build quality or sound. My choice was driven by versatility, good reputation for sound and cost (under $500). At the very least I was looking for something that was better than the preamps in my Digi 001.

Using a Neumann TLM103 I tried the VC1Q on a Taylor acoustic guitar and my vocals (baritone range). This box sounds really nice. As COOLCAT had mentioned, it has a wide range of sounds that you have to manually tweak-which I like.

As far as the build quality goes, again I was not expecting point-to-point wiring, top of the line components, 'hand-made voodoo' etc. I don't know about the new models, but the build quality on this looks good. The pots feel smooth and solid and the unit is not noisy at all.

I’m from the school of focusing on the skill of the engineer and performer to get a great recording as opposed to buying expensive gear without knowing how to really use it and expecting that alone to improve my overall recordings. As a musician I think that I’m very competent in my abilities at performing and getting good tones out of amps, pedals and guitars. As an engineer, well let’s just say I don’t deserve the high-end stuff just yet LOL.

FWIW I had no intention for this thread to become a debate of a company's business practices or ethics. I certainly wasn't looking for Alan to get slammed. I was just looking for some advice. Which I appreciate.

Thanks,
Robert

www.mindcapsule.com
 
Actually, it seems Paul White likes the new threeQ over the older ones. So that is fine by me....I can't wait until he reviews the new twinQ and oneQ...
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that's odd. i heard he liked the older ones better. i think the build had something to do with it.
 
JoeBannon said:
Alan, how much did you save having the One Q made in china? How do you quality control?
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We do not save on any component costs, but we do save a lot in labor and packaging costs. The labor costs is much less because we buy so many of them, and labor is less. They sell very well and Europe is taking more than I can get. USA is doing ok, but should do better.

As for the quality, I think every reviewer who has reviewed the oneQ and twinQ have all said the same thing, which was they were very impressed with the build quality, look and feel of the units, especially when comparing them to the old units that were hand assembled in the UK.

The quality control is excellent and we have not had troubles electronically. They are tested after build, before shipping to us, and again when they land in our warehouse in Europe and the USA. The only issues out there have been digital interfacing and that has been user issues not setting menus up correctly.

Outside of that, I suggest you have a read of the latest oneQ review from a magazine that we do not advertise in...

OneQ review...Click Here
 
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