Studiomaster Series II 24/8 console: any good?

C

Cliff K

New member
Hey folks,
I need to replace or add a second console to my old Tascam M-308B mixer, as I've run out of inputs. There is a used Studiomaster Series II 24/8 console going for $400 here with one custom mic-pre and an upgraded power supply. Are these consoles any good? I actually like my Tascam M-308B (the EQ works well for me and it's a pretty warm sounding board): how does the Studiomaster Series II 24/8 console compare? I don't know much about the Studiomaster Series II 24/8 console....I'm thinking it might be okay for my ghetto homestudio, but I'm a bit leary of that low price for a 24 channel board (that price fits my ghetto studio budget, though, so I'm curious).

Thanks,
Cliff
 
I owned one of the early Studiomaster 16x8 boards back in the day (circa 1980)... I don't recall if it was a Series II or not, it's been that long ago. Might not have been. But here's a thing to check, while you're checking on how old it is: it had a "meter on/off" switch right on the front panel that could be used to turn the LED-ladder meters off for the bus outputs.

I always thought that was somewhat braindead, until I actually used the board for tracking. With the meters on, you'd get this odd "zipper noise": as the signal level increased, you'd get a little click in the output each time a new LED in the ladder turned on (or off). So in tracking, when the meters would bounce, you would get little "zip-zip-zing-zip" distortion sounds in sync with the level changes... Great fun on kick drum, and rather unexpected (especially since it was post-EQ!). Rather than spend the money on buffer amps to isolate that noise, they just put a power switch in the +15v to the comparator/LED driver chips. Simple (and cheap) solution to an unfortunate circuit design problem, I guess.

To this day, I *still* regard LED ladder meters with some suspicion and worry, and listen for that zipper noise on every piece of new gear. Haven't heard it since 1982 or on anything but that board, but that doesn't help: I'm still paranoid. Check and see.

The other problem with that board was they used the cheapest Alps faders and pots they could get, so they got noisy/crunchy within a few tens of hours of use. That's fixable (I used to use Cramolin spray in all the faders before tracking with it, and turn the monitors way down when setting mic gains), but it was definitely a hassle.

That's one hell of a cheap price, so tread very carefully. Listen to the noise floor, check the faders and pots for noise (*especially* the preamp gain trims!), and listen for that zipper thing. I'd go so far as to say that if the unit has a "meter on/off" switch, I'd give it a miss just on principles. The cheap price might bring you a world of hassle down the pipe, so caveat emptor: listen with extreme caution before laying out the green!
 
From what I have read around the net this compares to some of the older Soundcraft Studio boards from the late 80s early 90s. I have not used one myself but you might check the reviews at the sound on sound website. www.soundonsound.com.

I saw an old ad somewhere where Phil Collins is giving them the thumbs up.

I would doubt the pres are anything stellar but the EQ may be quite good.

How do you like your Tascam board overall? I am thinking about picking one up for monitoring.
 
Middleman said:
How do you like your Tascam board overall? I am thinking about picking one up for monitoring.
Click to expand...

I like it a lot....I've thought about finding another one and patching them together for more inputs. They go for pretty cheap....I think I got mine with a Fostex A-8 for something like $250. It sounds good...it's not great, but it does the trick, the EQ works well, XLR with phantom power for the mic-ins, XLR or 1/4" out for the stereo buss, very flexible, but the M-308B is limited in inputs and sends...I wish I had one of the larger models. I think they're quite old, probably from the late 70's, but mine's quiet, the pots and faders sound clean, I've had no problems.


Anyway, thanks for the advice...I'm going to try to find the reviews of the Studiomaster. The guy did mention that the pots and faders are dirty sounding: I figuired that it probably needed a good douce with contact cleaner, but it sounds like it might be a chronic problem.....I'll be careful with this one.

Cliff
 
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