Anybody hear anything about the Toft Audio ATB series mixers which are designed by Malcom Toft (the guy who designed the Trident 80s) and are supposed to replicate the Triident 80 sound without having to worry about decomposing innards in an old console? Do those things deliver as advertised?
There is a Mackie D8B for sale in my town presently. Not a large console of course, no wow factor but I have always heard good things about them, dont know how true.
Very cool. Sure beats worrying about re-capping and refurbing in my book. The prices aren't awful on them either. A bit high maybe compared with the prosumer brands, but if they sound that good, they may be worth it.there's a big thread at gearslutz about the toft ATB, and all of those guys are shitting themselves over how good it sounds...of course there's a couple little complaints here and there about routing and aesthetics and the such, but on the whole those who have bought/used them seem to have very positive things to say
It doesn't have to be that way. The D8B/HDR24 system has both Ethernet and Internet hookup capability (it may be an optional card for that, I'm not sure) that allow full file sharing and file transfer through common protocols. The sound for the TV show "The Simpsons" used to be (still is??) remotely mixed this exact way. The sound mixer had (has?) a D8B-centered home studio at his home in Arizona. The studio in California just sends him all the raw audio tracks via Internet, dumped directly into his Mackie system, on which he did(does?) all the final editing and mixing. When he's done he just FTPs the final product files back to the studio directly from his studio rig. Talk about telecommuting!another beef i had with it was that where i used it, it was a completely proprietary system in conjunction with a mackie HDR24...there was no way to import files from the outside, and if you wanted to export files, you would have to bounce them one-by-one to another unit, such as a masterlink, then burn to disc.
In your propesed price range you could even get a Sony digital board, an Amek BIG or maybe even Angela or Einstein, TAC Scorpion or Magnum,Soundcraft series 6000, TS 12 or Ghost, Otari console, Yamaha DM1000 or O2R, DDA, D&R Orion (if you can find one for sale) etc..... all of which I would greatly prefer to the Mackie
In your propesed price range you could even get a Sony digital board, an Amek BIG or maybe even Angela or Einstein, TAC Scorpion or Magnum,Soundcraft series 6000, TS 12 or Ghost, Otari console, Yamaha DM1000 or O2R, DDA, D&R Orion (if you can find one for sale) etc..... all of which I would greatly prefer to the Mackie
If you get yourself into a nicer console like some of the ones mentioned, you might be surprised at just how usable the preamps and EQ's are. We have done a few informal preamp shootouts at my studio. One of the things that surprised most people that were involved was just how well my D&R console held its own in each different test on each different source. In the last tests we did we used a Chandler TG2, API 512c, OSA A and C, and L models, Trident Fleximix, and maybe another that I am not remembering off hand. The console never really won on any one source, but of the three of us, one of us usually picked it as a favorite on a single source. In all tests though it held right up there neck and neck with the others. The bottom line is that we learned through actual use that it was very usable even with a good selection of outboard. Even up against a Martech it still sounded good. Add to that the killer EQ, much better routing than most all low to mid level digital consoles (including the DM series by yamaha), inline functionality, 10 auxes, calibratable metering, an excellent heat source in the winter, a sharp looking speaker stand, real P&G faders, the fact that it is virtually unstealable at 2000+ pounds, modular build, 104 channels with EQ and full routing on each, and a huge bling factor, and the console starts to look like a pretty good value. Just don't forget about your power bill
If your budget happens to increase by 400 or 500 percent, my D&R might be for sale