big knob vs central sataion

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N_Yeager

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Is it worth the extra money to put into the central station? any thoughts?


Nathan :rolleyes:
 
I have the CS and think it's a really nice piece of gear.

As the owner of a MCU, a 1202 VLZ Pro and a pair of MR624's, it was hard to turn away from the Big Knob.

I like the fact that the CS is a purely passive piece of equipment. And a major deciding point for me was the CS being rack-mountable and the Knob being a desktop unit. I don't get the trend of some manufacturers building gear which isn't rack-mountable. Desktop space in my project studio is at a bit of a premium.

The CS has been working great for me.

My 2¢...
 
Don't forget all those cables going across your desk and over your power supplies...

Yup. The Central Station gets my vote. Pretty schveet D-A converters also. Couldn't be much happier with that unit.
 
The Central Station?

Sounds very cool :cool: , can someone provide a link? :confused:
 
P.S. - I'm the "John S., IL" on that page! Whoo Hoo! I'm famous! :rolleyes:
 
I just purchased a Big Knob. I didn't need the converters on the CS and couldn't justify the higher price. I'll check in with a little review once I get a chance to play with it more.
 
imissthewar said:
I just purchased a Big Knob. I didn't need the converters on the CS and couldn't justify the higher price. I'll check in with a little review once I get a chance to play with it more.
Click to expand...

Just curious, do you mind saying what you paid for the Knob?

Thanks.
 
avalive.com

click "email me a better price"

edit: they seem to have raised the price to $260
 
pardon my ignorance but if the centrel station is passive, how does teh talk back feature work? doesn't the mic signal have to be amplified in some way in order for the artist to hear it in the headphones?
 
I think only the speaker signal path is passive, the rack and all has power in it for the other functions. I'll be getting one in about a week and a half, with the remote and all that.
 
From the Presonus site.

Uh, the Central Station has talkback as well.

PURELY PASSIVE SIGNAL PATH
The Central Station features a PURELY PASSIVE SIGNAL PATH for ultimate sonic performance. The main audio path of the Central Station uses no amplifier stages including op amps or active IC's (integrated circuits) that add noise, color, distortion, and give that "pinched" sound. Distortion produced by op amps and IC's also gives added ear fatigue.



Signal routing in the Central Station is acheived utilzing 34 sealed mechanical relays (instead of active IC's) maintaining a minimal signal path design wherein extraneous electronics are hard-wire bypassed. Using relays ensures the most transparent signal path maximizing dynamic range, frequency range, and headroom, while minimizing noise and coloration. The Central Station uses the highest quality passive components including military grade 1% tolerance metal film resistors, multi-element potentiometers and ultra-durable connectors to deliver the highest sonic performance.
 
I maybe picking up a central station this weekend. i was originally looking at the Big Snob but decided against it because I would much prefer a rack and I hear that the audio path is much better as well. The Big Knob has the signal going through medium grade opamps.....and well....that's doesn't sound like a good thing to me when it comes to monitoring your stuff.
 
has anyone done a direct A/B between the big knob and central station? All i see is speculation cuz the presonus is 'passive' but all that marketing jargon means squat IMHO
 
Haven't compared the two but I now have a central station and it sounds great. Compared to when I was using my Mackie 1642 I would say the central station sounds better for sure. Nice lookin' unit too!
 
I Demo'd the central ststaion at GC, I ordered mine and it should be here by monday. Soon as I hook it up, I will A/B the sound coming direct out of the 2408 Mk III analog outputs and the 2408 Spdif to CS to Speaker conversion. lets see which one sounds better :) and I will post my opinions.

But from what I heard at GC with a cd I had mixed and mastered myself, the CS revealed a lot more information than I had heard before. Especailly in the area of imaging.
 
well... My central station is on the way! caint wait!

stupid question-

My monitors (Blue sky system1) has XLR ins and the Central station has 1/4" out's do i want to run thse balanced or unbalanced? Any thoughts on really good cable? alot of people reccomend Mogami but you guys have any other thoughts?

thanks again!
 
Run it balanced. You'll need to buy or make a trs to xlr converter. The central station is balanced. canare cable is very good.
 
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