Desk For a 16 Track Deck

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Mark7

Mark7

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Looking for suggestions. Don't worry about price range for now.

Must be able to record to/playback from any of the tracks without repatching.
 
ANY split or inline console with 16 channels (minimum) with direct outs.
 
Mark7 said:
Don't worry about price range for now.
Click to expand...
SSL 4000 is just the ticket for you then! :D

ssl-4000-g-42418.jpg




Cheers! :)
 
What model 16 track is it? are the ins outs -10db or +4db?

Price no object? How about a Neve? Thats what I would get if I could afford one.

1682871-inline-inline-3-ghosts-in-the-machines-can-a-legendary-piece-of-gear-make-music-magic.webp
 
I had a Mackie 32-8-2 myself. It has the direct outs you want. Its, just, how do I say it, not that nice a piece of equipment. There is a reason it is under a grand. I let mine go for half of that and was glad. I had built my little studio around it and its 24 channel expansion unit. My complaints about the Mackie were: Poor quality switches, often I'd have to start a session by exercising any switch I might need to use in a session to get them working "reliably". Construction, it isnt made like a commercial grade board. On a regular board you can remove individual channel strips for servicing or repair, a Mackie requires you take of all of the knobs etc for at least eight channels, then pull the front plate to get to a 8 channel wide circuit board, lame. Finally the death sentence was the sound of the EQ which I found harsh and/or brittle. Ditching that thing set my studio back almost two years, as nearly every cable and there were tons had to be re-terminated to a different type connector or location :mad:

Looking at the listing for the studiomaster, it looks from the photos that it too suffers from the inability to remove a single channel strip. I'd like to see a meter bridge for studio use.

Its only my opinion, but keep looking.
 
Mark,

At the risk of being shot down in flames by the 'exorbitant price fixing squad' check out my Ebay handle 'althemusicwizard'.

I've just bought an Allen & Heath GS3000 which I've been looking for for ages for my setup. I was going to make do with the NOS Soundcraft Spirit Studio that I bought a while ago, but it's a tad too small for all my machines. But, having said that, I was prepared to run with it for this simple reason.

Vintage desks are great.........when they work. When they don't, unless you have a bottomless wallet or are expert at fixing things, they can be a pain in the arse. Also, when using multiple pieces of older gear, what I've found is that you're sometimes not sure which bit of equipment has gone off spec. By having a good desk, at least that removes that from the equation.

I've priced this desk at what it's worth to me to hang onto it or sell it. By comparison, I looked last week at a Tascam 3500 on Ebay (I actually bought it at a BIN of £375). After spending 2 hours to get there, another 2 hours to find out the groups were shot and a couple of other things and two hours to get back, buying an old desk (something older than 15 years) was losing its appeal. Then the GS3000 popped up on Ebay locally (30 miles), I saw it that evening and although it has a couple of faults bought it (for significantly more than the M3500). It ticked all the boxes. I'd also last week bit the bullet on a Behringer SX4882 which I thought might fit the bill..........Suffice to say it was back in the box the next morning and back to the supplier.

The Spirit might not be enough of a desk for what you want. The pre-amps I think are great (ballsy and edgy when you want them to be). For me I really need a meterbridge because of the location of the recorders but if the MSR16 is next to you, then the Spirit might fit the bill. I seem to remember seeing one back in 1992 coupled with the Tascam digital 8 track (the one on Hi-8 tape)...seem to remember a price tag around the £3500 mark. I don't think you'll find a new analogue desk comparable to this around the £1000 mark......can't think of one....it seems to either be a Behringer or significantly more for a Toft or similar.

Al
 
One desk that works well with the MSR16 is a Tascam M2524, I know because it was my old setup until I upgraded to a Tascam M3700 desk. The extra channels of the 24 channel version are always useful for effects returns etc. Tascam developed the M2524 to be used with the MSR series recorders.

Alan.
 
I say try and find a Soundcraft Ghost 24 (or 32). It's what I use with my MS-16 and I love it. Everything you could want in a studio desk for the price (if you can find one). More routing options than I can use (8 buss, direct outs on every channel, 2 inputs per channel, multiple stereo outs, multiple buss outs, 4 aux sends, 2 stereo aux sends. It can be switched between -10 and +4 too... not by individual channels unfortunately). It's been a dream - the EQ is what really does it for me. I have a couple outboard EQs and I find I never really need to use them anymore. Oh, and the preamps sound great too. I've heard it sounds significantly better with an upgraded power supply, but I haven't shelled out for one (or found one) yet.

Something like this... Soundcraft Ghost 32 8 2 Live Sound Mixer Great Mic Amps 8 Aux British EQ | eBay
 
Hey Ignatius,
I had a Ghost a few years back. I'd read about it on forums and thought the 24 channel with meterbridge was for me. I had it for about six months but I sold it on. I found it too sterile and lacking any real Soundcraft character. It certainly was quiet for most of the time, but it lacked the edginess of the Spirit and the 200B I used twenty years ago. I don't know if that's me because the Ghost seems to get a thumbs up from everyone else. I was using it with a MOTU 24I/O and running REASON with it (didn't have the tape machines then). Maybe it was the combination of these other things, but I prefer the sound of the Spirit pre-amps to the Ghost....maybe I just like slumming it in the hiss and noise rather than the ultra quiet Mackie sterility. Running it with the MS16 definitely will make it sound different than the setup I had.
Al
 
Maybe this Tascam:

tascam m-1600 | eBay

I did have an Allen & Heath GS3V about 5 years ago which had midi muting and also VCA automation. Great desk but no meterbridge and it was a little on the noisy side. Mind you I was running AKAI S6000 samplers in those days so it might have come from those.
Al
 
Looks nice. I also found this Studiomaster that has the advantage of actually having 16 busses.

Where would you chaps place the Soundcraft, Tascam, Studiomaster and Mackie desks mentioned so far in a top ten?
 
I wouldn't touch the one you listed....only 8 returns and a strange numbering sequence of channels (for a left handed person maybe?)
My rating would be:

1. Soundcraft
2. Allen & Heath
3. Tascam
4. Mackie
5. Studiomaster

Although, this would have to be flexible to deal with the fact that most manufacturers made /make budget models.
For example, I would imagine this Studiomaster would blow the one you listed right out of the water:

Studiomaster Mixdown Gold 16-8-16 / 16 Channel 8 Buss Mixing Console Mixer Desk | eBay

Al
 
Hey Mark,

If you're interested in the Spirit desk, then check that seller's other items....the power supply is on there for another £100.
If there's nothing wrong with the desk other than age, then I think these desks are absolute steals at the moment.

£200 for a proper mixing console?
It's a no-brainer.

I've seen these desks used on loads of pub /club gigs. Admittedly, for that use they're really missing a HPF, but hey the EQ is so flexible you can dial it in if needed.

For that money, I almost bought the desk myself last week (just don't tell the wife).

The main thing to do if you went for it, would be to thoroughly check out the INSERTS and any dodgy pots. The nice thing about the SPirirt Studios though is that lathough they're not a modular deak, once you remove the back panel, each channel strip can be removed individually by removing the strip from the chassis (need to remove all the nuts securing the pots to the channel, but you can have the channel removed in under ten minutes). Try doing that with a Mackie or Soundcraft Topaz.....nightmare!

Al
 
We're already watching the Mixdown Gold. I'll let my friend know the power supply for that Soundcraft is available (although he can make one himself).
 
I had a Ghost a few years back. I'd read about it on forums and thought the 24 channel with meterbridge was for me. I had it for about six months but I sold it on. I found it too sterile and lacking any real Soundcraft character. It certainly was quiet for most of the time, but it lacked the edginess of the Spirit and the 200B I used twenty years ago. I don't know if that's me because the Ghost seems to get a thumbs up from everyone else. I was using it with a MOTU 24I/O and running REASON with it (didn't have the tape machines then). Maybe it was the combination of these other things, but I prefer the sound of the Spirit pre-amps to the Ghost....maybe I just like slumming it in the hiss and noise rather than the ultra quiet Mackie sterility. Running it with the MS16 definitely will make it sound different than the setup I had.
Click to expand...

Oh, I could totally see it sounding a little "sterile" with a digital setup. Quite honestly, before I had the Ghost + MS-16, I was using a TASCAM M312b + TASCAM 34b. That was a dirty sound! I loved that setup but it wasn't that versatile... real murky sounding (exactly what I was looking for at the time), but it wasn't able to do certain styles that I wanted to get into. The MS-16 adds all the color I could want (it has a much better frequency response than the 34b, of course, but it still has a rather large low-end bump that I like). The Ghost is perfect for this machine IMO. The computer only comes into play after I've finished the half-track mix. So, for me, it's great.
 
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