Channel Strip choices...

Big Kenny,

Meant to ask you . . . P1 specs talk about maximum of 20dB reduction on their expander. Is that adequate to cut out all common room noises?
 
any more than that and you would seriously impair input (my experience) YMMV. It is supremely effective, I have a computer in the room and sometimes I forget to shut it down now. The limiter is also fabulous, makes recording tracks really easy and if you push the compressor you can take it from clean to fat
The toft has no fan or other noise making devices
 
Big Kenny,

That's outstanding. The SafeSound P1 has shot to the top of my gear list. The only thing that I see out there that is similar in function and price is the Symetrix 528e. It's a broadcast industry standard (seems like every radio station in the country has one), but you don't hear much about it outside that realm.

528e has Pre, Comp, Limiter, De-esser, Expander, EQ, but no headphone monitoring. 1U form factor.

P1 has Pre, Comp, Limiter, Expander, Monitoring, but no EQ or De-Esser. 1/2U form factor. So obviously, you need EQ somehow. Maybe SafeSound will add EQ in a future model :) My only reservation with boutique companies in foreign countries is that if the unit breaks, you might be screwed for a good long time while it's repaired. But I do like to idea of supporting their development.

Anyone have thoughts/experience with the 528e?
 
Warren (Warhead) has found some older dbx product that he likes. You can get him at mojo pie or front end audio or maybe he'll pipe in here
 
I have a pair of Orban-designed DBX 242 parametric EQ's and a 2-ch. Speck ASC. I consider the DBX's to be the "RNC" or eq for those who are on very limited funds.

I upgraded the ICs on the 242, and they sound much cleaner and tighter as a result. Very flexible EQ's.
 
Bowisc said:
I have a pair of Orban-designed DBX 242 parametric EQ's and a 2-ch. Speck ASC. I consider the DBX's to be the "RNC" or eq for those who are on very limited funds.

I upgraded the ICs on the 242, and they sound much cleaner and tighter as a result. Very flexible EQ's.
Click to expand...

Bowisc, did you perform the swap or did Jim Williams do the tinkerin' for ya? Mine are just stock and sound fine anyhow. I may mod them someday to see if there's a substantial difference.

The 242's rock y'all. Harvey Gerst has 5 and that said a lot for me as I trust the man.

War
 
tuco said:
Can you recommend a hardware gate/expander (or other solution) that I could use with the ATC-2 to knockout the background? Work is mostly voice over through a Rode NTK which seems to pick up a mouse fart in the next county. Ideas?
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A Drawmer DS-201 would be my weapon of choice for that kind of thing... but it's kinda like puttin' a band-aid on a headwound... much better to eliminate the extraneous noises in your room... I'd also recommend ditching the NTK and getting a real mic but that's probably a discussion for another day.

FWIW, there is a t.c. EQ called the 2240 that's fucking awesome... in many ways it's like a poor man's [a very poor man's] GML.
 
Big Kenny said:
Those are the ones!
Man you are getting quite the studio
Click to expand...

Thanks man.
I'm still a project home studio, nothing professional. But I have something to strive for.
 
Warhead said:
Bowisc, did you perform the swap or did Jim Williams do the tinkerin' for ya? Mine are just stock and sound fine anyhow. I may mod them someday to see if there's a substantial difference.

The 242's rock y'all. Harvey Gerst has 5 and that said a lot for me as I trust the man.

War
Click to expand...

I did it myself. I was easy.
 
Fletcher,

Thanks for the tip on the Drawmer, I'll work on the ambient conditions here.

Yes, I've heard I can do better than the NTK. What's on your shortlist for a voice-over mic?
 
tuco said:
Fletcher,

Thanks for the tip on the Drawmer, I'll work on the ambient conditions here.

Yes, I've heard I can do better than the NTK. What's on your shortlist for a voice-over mic?
Click to expand...

If I can add my $.02

:: EV RE-20, Shure SM-7B, Sennheiser 421, EV 635a are good starting points for VO work.
 
The few voice overs I've done, I worked with my 1B Groove Tube and RE20. I have done some "talk" singing stuff with my NTK and it sounded good. I wouldn't reach for it ( nor am I contradicting the Fletcher One) but I think you could get some usable tracks with it by compressing and rolling off some of the brightness. Maybe not the best way to accomplish this (getting the clean, untampered signal preferable), but still I think you could do it. Bowisc's suggestions for mics are right on!
 
Bowisc said:
EV RE-20, Shure SM-7B, Sennheiser 421, EV 635a are good starting points for VO work.
Click to expand...

Bowisc, thanks for the mic recommendations. I'm familiar with the RE-20, but have not seen the others . . . will check them out.

Back to Kragbax's original post about channel strips in say, the $500 - $1,000 range . . .

There's a boatload of options out there. I've owned the VoiceMaster Pro and Presonus VXP. Sound is probably OK, but was turned off by the cheesy/cheap/thin build of those units. And just don't like wall adapter-powered units like the RNP. Want to move up the food chain to something better.

For my needs, the expander is essential. Gotta have it. And of course I want to have the best-sounding pre and compressor I can get my hands on for the money. But also need an effective limiter since I'm going straight to disk. So far, I have not found a strong need for a lot of EQ tweaking.

So that leaves me with a couple of choices:

1. SafeSound P1. Pretty much everything I need except EQ, which I can add if necessary with a Toft EC-1. Cost $500 + $600.

2. Symetrix 528e. Everything in one box. A broadcast standard since what, the Carter administration? How does it sound compared to others? I have no idea. Not clear if its "compressor/limiter" would really prevent all over-limit peaks. $500.

Am I overlooking another option?
 
If you want to go the 528 route, I would buy an original 528 (not the E version) then send it to Jim Williams at Audio Upgrades for his mods. The total, depending on how much you pay for the 528 on Ebay, should be around $600 give or take. I have one, and right now, it's my best recording channel for vocals.

www.audioupgrades.com
 
freshmattyp said:
If you want to go the 528 route, I would buy an original 528 (not the E version) then send it to Jim Williams at Audio Upgrades for his mods.
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freshmattyp,

Why do you not recommend the 528e model?
 
The consensus around here is that Symetrix made some changes when they updated to the E series that made the unit sound not as good. I'm also not sure if the E can be upgraded by Jim Williams. That makes the 528 better in my book.
 
Hey Matt,

Thanks for the news on the 528e -- sounds like good ol' Symetrix might have cheapened the unit a bit. I do like the simplicity and functionality of the P1 box (wish it was a full rack space though). The SafeSound folks are launching a line of complementary gear, probably a dual channel, an EQ, etc. For my limited purposes, I can probably live without hardware EQ for now.
 
I've pretty much narrowed my choice down to the Safe Sound P1 and the Toft ATC-2. $500 + $25 (rack ears) + shipping for the Safe Sound. I can pick up the ATC-2 Toft for less then $800 shipped. Safe sound is single channel, the Toft; 2 channel.

Thanks for all the input folks. Feel free to chime in with opinions. Might be a week or two before I make the purchase - whatever it ends up being. Think I'm picking up a Masterlink this week.

-Krag
 
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