First impressions of Meek 3Q

[aliensurfmusic]

The first thing I noticed was the color. It's not sick green but rather emerald green. Did I get an oddball?

The next thing you have to get used to is it's size. It's very small. It's not exactly an Art tube MP but it looks like a small cable box. It's real straight forward. Pre-amp gain, compressor, meequalizer, output gain. The Eq and Com can be punched out. Line level is achieved with a pushbutton on the front. Phantom power along with +4 -10 dbl button are located on the rear. No power button/switch. 3 meters are helpful when setting the levels.

Now to the sound. I thought it was very quiet. This is $200 and it's as quiet as the Focusrites I had. So far I've only listened to myself sing and play acoustic guitar through a Blue Bluebird with a spring reverb unit. It sounds very nice. I descibe the sound as being crisp in a nice way. I think the compressor is more powerful than I'm used to. It can take a strong vocal and level it. I'm very confident when I put a sample through this it would be able to demolish it like Godzilla. That is clearly my intention.

I still need to run a bass through it, electric guitars, and a theremin. I think it will do the job well. I might be a little more open minded than some. Take my D-28 it's a great guitar but it doesn't mean I wont pick up this student model guitar from the 70's and coax some kind of charm out of it. On the other hand I think The Joe Meek 3Q represents higher quality equipments because the market demands it. The price is most attractive and a person really can't go wrong with one. Do I think it sounds like Joe Meek's productions? Absolutely not. This is just a nice little box to get your music to tape. I'm satisfied.

AlienSurfMUsic

 

[guido #2]

I find it a little "bright" sounding, overall. The EQ doesn't seem to do too much. I kinda like the compressor though.
I DO NOT like haveing the Phantom switch on the back!
Also, doesn't seem to have a lot of gain....

I guess it's just what to expect for the ching, but I was expecting a little more.
I'll be selling it, I'm sure (what am I talking about, I never sell ANYTHING) as soon as I find something better. Had this one for well over 6 months.

As a bass DI, it doesn't suck.

As always, IMO

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

Mine's emerald, too.

Its not a "Wow! This is worth 10 times the money!" box but its also not a "Wow, I really wated my money" box. The compressor seems more like an effect to me than I nuts-n-bolts compressor. The EQ isn't drastic, but it *does* do a good job making the passive bass sound like my active bass. The pre is a useful extra flavor of clean if you have others....

Yeah. Glad I have it. I always consider getting a second one for stereo micing or squashing drum subs, but... I always pass. 1 channel of "I sometimes use it" is enough.

Take care,
Chris

 

[Seeker of Rock]

Haven't heard the 3Q, but I do have the MQ3 its predecessor, and have always like the color it adds to my input. The Comp can be strong when summoned, but I never use that much compression, just to knock down a few really strong peaks from bass or vocals mainly. EQ is nice on mine. Different model, but I'll bet mine was made in the same Chinese factory as the 3Q, and mine has a darker color than the VC models as well, emeraldish like you said.