Otari Concept consoles. Experiences? Pros, cons?

M

mdainsd

Member
Hey guys. Looking for some information that this group probably has some experience with.

Background. Ive been building my modest studio while simultaneously building the live room which also doubles as the practice room so I can beat on drums all night long if I want without disturbing anyone. On top of that I have been learning how to play the drums, so its been a full schedule for a while. On the control room side, enough has progressed that I can do tracking now. The effort of late is the racks and outboard gear and the miles and miles of cabling (Ugg). I am playing with a couple of other guys and we are working original material, that is moving fine too. One of the guys has considerable experience with producing and has been a source of information while I journey along. HOWEVER, he says the Mackie boards "have got to go". Haha. His reasons are that "while he finds the Mackie boards to be reasonably quiet, the "musical quality" of them, particularly the EQs is ass". While I cannot speak to that due to my limited experience, I already see that I would be more comfortable with a 24 buss rig, which of course is an unrelated issued..

So to the questions. I cannot afford a Neve or SSl vintage board, that is a simple fact, so we have to explore more. I have come across a couple of Otari concept style boards and I am intrigued.

Opinions of the sonics of said boards? Do they have gating and compression on board?

I understand that these are digitally controlled analog boards. Is the computer required to operate these or can they be run standalone? Obviously the automation wouldnt be working. I dont want a board with a computer in the signal path but can tolerate signals through VCAs.

Thanks.
 
Fascinating.

Thomas Eaton Recording

It does seem to require a computer to operate at all, a vintage computer no less. The PC must have an ISA bus to accept the controller board, and the software appears to be DOS-based.
Someone suggested using an industrial control board with an ISA bus instead of an actually ancient PC that may die mid-session.
 
Yeah...I've looked at them a few times (there a couple on eBay right now, all refurbished)...but like it's been said, when the digital control goes out (and apparently it's on the flaky side AFA stability)....your console is dead in the water.
You would think the analog side should/would run fine without it...like a guitar pedal in bypass mode...but nope, it becomes 100% useless.

That said...they supposedly are not bad sounding/working boards...when running well.
 
mdainsd said:
HOWEVER, he says the Mackie boards "have got to go". Haha. His reasons are that "while he finds the Mackie boards to be reasonably quiet, the "musical quality" of them, particularly the EQs is ass".
Click to expand...

Maybe your friend should focus on getting his instruments, performance, and mic placement to sound better without needing EQ at all.

:D J/K.

EQs used to be called a "correctional device". I know we've come a long way since the horrid EQs used in the 50s and 60s. But the concept of getting your raw signal from the mic pre to sound 100% perfect without applying EQ, is something every engineer and musician should strive for when possible. My 2 cents...

For the most part, Otari makes very good quality mixing consoles. I have no personal experience with the Concept ones, but I have used the P series consoles before with much love and success. Good sounding boards.
 
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