New Analog Multitracks?

[stevieb]

... For instance I own a mid 80's Japanese sports car that I've had from new. I drove it daily for 14 years then retired it as a daily driver. While the mechanical parts are great and the car runs wonderfully still many of it's 22 micro processors have quit and some of its digital instrument panel displays have died. These items can not be had new anymore and are very hard to find used if at all. Unfortunately making circuit boards from scratch is a specialist industrial process and unlikely to find its way into the cottage industry realm...

I think this is not too far off-track: if your hobby car was, say, a 1965 Mustang, or a 1968 Triumph Spitfire (or, for that matter, an early Mazda RX), it would have NO microprocessors in it- all the component parts (except the radio, and even the channel pre-sets would be mechanical) would be electro-mechanical, and much more easily found or repaired. I think that is analogous to earlier R@R machines.

 

[stevieb]

Made in China does not mean automatically made like crap. China is turning out a lot of quality things...

They may be, but the ratio of junk to quality is pretty high, in the direction of junk. I just don't trust Made in China mics, especially. Can you say "counterfeit?"

And quality is only one of the many good reasons to not buy from China. Actually, the counterfeit thing is another one- China consistently looks the other way while it's factories churn out sub-standard counterfeits and pirated goods.

Oh, and here's another reason to not support China: NEPAL.

 

[stevieb]

... Another great example is Behringer gear...

You have GOT to be kidding us, right? BEHRINGER??

 

[zorf]

Here's another reason not to support the united states....Iraq.


We won't get into the whole native American deal, the slavery deal, the Spanish American war, veitnam war, panama invasion...

Just saying nobodies perfect and governments have agendas.

Besides china is so last week.

The next source of cheap labor is going to be Africa.




Just pointing out that many governments have agendas.

 

[sweetbeats]

Just pointing out that many governments have agendas.

Umm...EVERY government has agendas. Not trying to be melodramatic, I just think it can be demonstrated as fact.

 

[briank]

You have GOT to be kidding us, right? BEHRINGER??

I'm just glad I'm not the only one who thought that when I saw it

I've said it elsewhere and I'll say it here...if you only have $100 to spend on a mic...get an SM57 and a bottle of wine for the session.

 

[rene-lemieux]

HEY SWEETBEATS, can you post a link to your MM-1000 thread?

All day I dream of owning one of those Ampex machines, I don't know when that day will be, hopefully i get to at least WORK on a large scale tape console soon...

 

[mshilarious]

I would submit that nobody here really wants new decks produced, because that would mean that demand was once again high enough to support the cost of manufacture, which would mean that all of the old decks y'all are picking up for cheap would once again be expensive . . .

 

[Lance Lawson]

You have GOT to be kidding us, right? BEHRINGER??

No not kidding. Ever use a B-1? or a Zenyx mixer? It's not as good as the stuff that costs 10-20 times as much but that stuff does not sound 10 or 20 times better than the Behringer products. Most people who lambast Behringer either do so because its an easy target from earlier times or they've never used anything recent from Behringer.

I own 3 LDC mics. A genuine Neumann U-67, a Rode NT1a and a Behringer B-1. Each unit can do great things and each unit sometimes is the perfect tool for the job and sometimes its not. The B-1 has never let me down yet. I like the B-1 better than the Rode and the Neuman is gold across the board. However it is headache to maintain. The B-1 was perhaps the biggest bang for the buck I've spent on equipment. Certainly the best $100 I ever spent for a brand new condenser mic.

That said can you provide us with some direct negative experience you've had with Behringer? Maybe start a whole thread devoted to it. It could be interesting.

 

[Lance Lawson]

I would submit that nobody here really wants new decks produced, because that would mean that demand was once again high enough to support the cost of manufacture, which would mean that all of the old decks y'all are picking up for cheap would once again be expensive . . .

Wrong! I want to see new R2R decks being made. It'll mean more tape is being used. More tape will mean more makers. More makers will mean competition and competition will help quality, lower tape prices and increase choice. Also if there are brand new reel to reel decks being made again I can ease the burden on my 30+ year old TEAC. BTW I think if new R2R decks appear it will lower prices on old decks because they won't be the only game in town any more and many will become just what they are...........old tape decks that have been many times around the block and some have been around the block a few too many times.

 

[pianodano]

But then there was the day I got in my buddy's '63 (?) Nova SS...when a rocks around just from revving the motor...or my other friend's Pontiac Formula 400 (Trans AM)...part of the perfromance is the feeling of the thing...there's a depth to it. Has to be experienced and it has to be something that matters to you, but that's totally how it is with the MM-1000 for me, and there are results.

Cory,

Then you would have really been awed to have dropped the hammer on a 69 Boss 429. Or just to have heard it rev up. Raw power ! Awesome torque ! As only the best in America could build at the time. I sold my beloved Boss in 1976 to keep myself and a frickin bunch of other idiot musicians on the road. Life has never been the same without it.

 

[pianodano]

Here's another reason not to support the united states....Iraq.


We won't get into the whole native American deal, the slavery deal, the Spanish American war, veitnam war, panama invasion...

Just saying nobodies perfect and governments have agendas.

Besides china is so last week.

The next source of cheap labor is going to be Africa.




Just pointing out that many governments have agendas.

Hey Zorf, Just where are you located at on the planet ?

 

[Blue Jinn]

Most people who lambast Behringer either do so because its an easy target from earlier times or they've never used anything recent from Behringer.

I had one of those Behringer compressors with the tube gimmick. Actually, on paper a lot of bang for hte buck, but one channel just wouldn't behave right, and I never liked the way it sounded. Harsh and with an unpleasant edginess.

That said I have the mini headphone amp, $40. No complaints, and the power cord is nice and long. Seems like a small thing, but some forethought in design with that.

ALso, the Behringer exciter isn't bad either. It does what it claims to do just fine.

 

[Lance Lawson]

I had one of those Behringer compressors with the tube gimmick. Actually, on paper a lot of bang for hte buck, but one channel just wouldn't behave right, and I never liked the way it sounded. Harsh and with an unpleasant edginess.

On paper there's a lot of bang for the buck with a lot of things. However I don't put a lot of stock in the paper specs. I actually use the devices and if they please me than I keep them if they don't I return them for something that does. I got my Zenyx mixer when I had to send my venerable Yamaha out for repairs. I discovered that the Zenyx seamlessly carried on the projects I was working on when the Yamaha died and did so while sounding better than good. Frankly judging from all the negative press they get I was expecting the Behringer to sound like a two tin cans and a string.

BTW did you try and exchange the compressor with the funny channel? They would have exchanged it for another quite willingly. Now maybe Behringer will make a new reel to reel tape deck for a couple of hundred $$.

 

[sweetbeats]

Cory,

Then you would have really been awed to have dropped the hammer on a 69 Boss 429. Or just to have heard it rev up. Raw power ! Awesome torque ! As only the best in America could build at the time. I sold my beloved Boss in 1976 to keep myself and a frickin bunch of other idiot musicians on the road. Life has never been the same without it.

Seriously....I think I can almost feel it. Not quite the same but one of my managers has a '38 Ford Coupe...used to drag race it...fully tubbed and caged. Really nice work. He's got it set for street right now but the motor is still drag spec with the blower et al. Bored and stroked big block. Oh my goodness...the oil pump, cooling fan and fuel pump ALONE sound impressive and then when he starts it up...I don't mean to be idiotic but the first time I felt that thing fire up I thought "that's American..."

 

[Blue Jinn]

On paper there's a lot of bang for the buck with a lot of things.

BTW did you try and exchange the compressor with the funny channel? They would have exchanged it for another quite willingly. Now maybe Behringer will make a new reel to reel tape deck for a couple of hundred $$.

I bought it used, and sold it, found out later it had a bad tube somehow... I frankly just didn't like the way it sounded, and decided I wanted a compressor with less knobs.....so I'm trying to build the PRR (Basically no knobs once you set the attack and decay times...and I still have a dbx 163x (one knob.....) The tube gimmick actually wasn't a bad idea, worked like the PAIA tube head I'm assuming with a starved plate to add "colour" it was subtle.

 

[sweetbeats]

That said can you provide us with some direct negative experience you've had with Behringer? Maybe start a whole thread devoted to it. It could be interesting.

I'm not a behringer-basher...just don't see the point. Maybe that's a cop-out but I've got better things to think about/do.

Direct experience:

• I used to have a UB802 mixer. Loved it/hated it. It always worked, and it was very affordable. Controls felt nice and had a nice little feature set for what it was. My only complaint is that things sounded bad through it. It was like a broadband dynamic squasher....I don't mean nice squashing but the kind that just makes things sound thin and lifeless. I mostly used it with percussion. I ended up selling it for that reason but take my comments on the sound-quality with a grain of salt...the opinion comes from only one set of ears...mine.
  
• I currently own an HA4700 Pro headphone amp. I love the feature set. It is remarkable prone to RFI and EMI...have to be careful where I put it in the rack. If it is near a unit with any A/D or D/A conversion watch out. Seems like a cheapy issue. Also had some phantom trouble with the right main out giving up. Its been working for awhile now so mmmmayyyybe it was user error or maybe there is a gremlin in there...I don't know. But it was cheap (got it new), has a very useful feature set, etc. Gets the job done as long as the right main doesn't crap out again (if that's what it was) and as long as I'm carful in my placement of it...no other headphone amp has quite the same feature set except for the Samson S-Phone, which looks surprisingly similar to the HA4700 you look at the controls layout......I'd bet money they are both made in the same factory.
  
• I currently have a CX2310 2/3-way active crossover network as well. With this I have had no issues. Great feature set, and sounds fine. I use it to split my main monitors and subwoofer. Some may question putting a $100 crossover in between the master and the monitors, but my alternative was the onboard crossover in the sub which doesn't sound good, and my monitors are Alesis Monitor One mkII Actives...not the best, but they work good for me and I could afford them. So the Behringer is a step up from what I had before and honestly the sound is good.