A
ad0lescnts
New member
what do you guys think about the soundcraft ghost? I see I can get a used 24 channel for about $2000..sounds like a steal
TexRoadkill
Audio Bum
Thats a pretty crappy deal. Who is this guy. I better talk to him about trying to rip people off like that. 
Track Rat
Just Your Average Sized Member
If it's in decent condition, that's a fantastic price. IMHO, for new consoles under $10000, the Ghost is the at the top of my list.
A
ad0lescnts
New member
how much do they go for new?????
Track Rat
Just Your Average Sized Member
A new 24 channel console with a meter bridge would be around $7000
Speeddemon
New member
TrackRat, check www.musicstorekoeln.de , they'll have the 24 channel Ghost (MUTE!) WITH Meterbridge for app. $4000 !
I'd say a $3000 difference is a good enough reason to take up a lil' holiday to Germany, eh?
I'd say a $3000 difference is a good enough reason to take up a lil' holiday to Germany, eh?
A
ad0lescnts
New member
so then what's wrong with $2000 for a used 24 ch. ghost?
skippy
New member
Nothing- it's a *killer* deal. Which makes most of us very cautious: most things that sound too good to be true usually turn out to _be_ too good to be true.
Just before the first of the year, I bought a B-stock (factory refurbed) 24-ch Ghost, with the machine control and the meter bridge. I paid a good bit under $6000 for it and I've been *very* happy- it has been a tank.
A new Ghost LE24 (no automation, no bridge) ought to go for about $4400. Given that, this used board you're looking at is probably worth more than that $2000, and that's what I'm concerned about: is anything wrong with it? Has it had beer spilled into it? Is the power supply dead, or intermittent? Did a family of gerbils move in and starve to death, or something? Did the cat pee on it? In short: why would the seller sell sell it so cheap, since they could certainly get more out of it? Hell, they could put it on Ebay and sell it for more than a new one... (;-) What's the story here?
It may be one hell of a screamin' deal, and you may just be lucking out in the biggest way possible. In which case, go to it! But I'd check it out very carefully before plunking the cash, if I were you. Something about getting one for that little worries me, and probably would worry a lot of other folks here as well. Caveat emptor!
Just before the first of the year, I bought a B-stock (factory refurbed) 24-ch Ghost, with the machine control and the meter bridge. I paid a good bit under $6000 for it and I've been *very* happy- it has been a tank.
A new Ghost LE24 (no automation, no bridge) ought to go for about $4400. Given that, this used board you're looking at is probably worth more than that $2000, and that's what I'm concerned about: is anything wrong with it? Has it had beer spilled into it? Is the power supply dead, or intermittent? Did a family of gerbils move in and starve to death, or something? Did the cat pee on it? In short: why would the seller sell sell it so cheap, since they could certainly get more out of it? Hell, they could put it on Ebay and sell it for more than a new one... (;-) What's the story here?
It may be one hell of a screamin' deal, and you may just be lucking out in the biggest way possible. In which case, go to it! But I'd check it out very carefully before plunking the cash, if I were you. Something about getting one for that little worries me, and probably would worry a lot of other folks here as well. Caveat emptor!
A
ad0lescnts
New member
thanks a lot. it helps. i shall check into it
T
T
TexRoadkill
Audio Bum
If you are talking about that board on Ebay it is a Delta not a Ghost but the guy is claiming they are the same thing. I am not that familliar with the Delta so I dont know how close they are.
A
ad0lescnts
New member
Is the ghost pretty awesome??? I've heard good reviews online, but I don't know anywhere that sells them, owns them, or anything to actually check one out..
skippy
New member
IMNSHO, yes. They really do offer the best bang-for-the-buck in the under-$10k analog board market. They aren't that common, because not a lot of home recordists have 6 or 7 grand to drop on their boards- but if you need (or just want!) the features they offer, they are the only way to get 'em for less than 10 grand (or buying a used large-format board through a broker).
Pros: they are a semi-large-format board: the channel strips are larger, controls are larger and easier to see and handle, 100mm faders allow much more comfortable operation. However, they are still in a somewhat portable frame- the Ghost bridges the gap between large (pro studio) and small (Mackieish) formats. If you bought a used studio board, you'd get one whompin' piece of gear that would be hard to fit in a normal home environment- not so with the Ghost. It has very usable pres, very usable EQ, and its summing buses are quite quiet compared to most entry-level boards. Mine easily exceeds its specs for equivalent input noise: it is 6-8dB quieter in every aspect than the Alesis Studio 32 it replaced (not to mention being big enough that I don't need to operate the controls with a pair of needlenose pliers...) The signal routing flexibility is top-notch, and allows a lot of very sophisticated routing of submixes and the like without requiring repatching. There are enough busses for anythig I need, and that's a wonderful chanes from the Alesis... It's an inline board, so you have proper tape playback support with A and B mixes and channel/tape path swapping. The tape return gain trims ares separate from the channel gain settings: a very nice touch. Polarity invert per channel, which is seldom seen on an inexpensive board. You have a proper foldback mix and talkback facilities, you have built-in abilities to handle several monitor setups for A/B- all in all, it's a lot of board.
Cons- there are few, but there are some. The mic pres get a little noisy when run above about 50dB of gain (compared to their lower settings, even up there they are still quieter than my Alesis was run at the equivalent gain)- there's an abrupt increase in noise up there. So use external pres for your ribbons. It is a large unit, so even as reasonably-sized as it is, there'll be a lot of home studios it just wouldn't fit into. Its behavior when run into clipping is rather obnoxious- it really sounds _extremely_ unpleasant in the monitors (the solution, of course, is simply not to do that- you do not _need_ to be outputting +30dBm into your recorder, now...). And many of the outputs are impedance-balanced rather that true differential- a small thing, and a significant cost savings, and inaudible, but since I'm a circuit designer in my real life, I'm allowed to ding it on that topic...(;-)
The board sounds _excellent_ compared to any budget board: you do get an improvement in sound for your investment. I cut my teeth on large-format boards, and when I got back into recording I wanted that feel and working style again. The Ghost feels like a proper large-format board, and acommodates that working style very well. It's a lot of board, and you can bet your butt I'm keeping mine. However, it's also a lot of money, so it'll provide different value for each person. Only you can make that call.
Ideally, you'd go lay hands on one _somewhere_: even finding a little commercial studio somewhere that has one, and booking an hour of their slack time to just work with it and talk to their resident engineer about it. But if you throw caution to the winds and buy one sight unseen, you will not be getting a turkey...
Pros: they are a semi-large-format board: the channel strips are larger, controls are larger and easier to see and handle, 100mm faders allow much more comfortable operation. However, they are still in a somewhat portable frame- the Ghost bridges the gap between large (pro studio) and small (Mackieish) formats. If you bought a used studio board, you'd get one whompin' piece of gear that would be hard to fit in a normal home environment- not so with the Ghost. It has very usable pres, very usable EQ, and its summing buses are quite quiet compared to most entry-level boards. Mine easily exceeds its specs for equivalent input noise: it is 6-8dB quieter in every aspect than the Alesis Studio 32 it replaced (not to mention being big enough that I don't need to operate the controls with a pair of needlenose pliers...) The signal routing flexibility is top-notch, and allows a lot of very sophisticated routing of submixes and the like without requiring repatching. There are enough busses for anythig I need, and that's a wonderful chanes from the Alesis... It's an inline board, so you have proper tape playback support with A and B mixes and channel/tape path swapping. The tape return gain trims ares separate from the channel gain settings: a very nice touch. Polarity invert per channel, which is seldom seen on an inexpensive board. You have a proper foldback mix and talkback facilities, you have built-in abilities to handle several monitor setups for A/B- all in all, it's a lot of board.
Cons- there are few, but there are some. The mic pres get a little noisy when run above about 50dB of gain (compared to their lower settings, even up there they are still quieter than my Alesis was run at the equivalent gain)- there's an abrupt increase in noise up there. So use external pres for your ribbons. It is a large unit, so even as reasonably-sized as it is, there'll be a lot of home studios it just wouldn't fit into. Its behavior when run into clipping is rather obnoxious- it really sounds _extremely_ unpleasant in the monitors (the solution, of course, is simply not to do that- you do not _need_ to be outputting +30dBm into your recorder, now...). And many of the outputs are impedance-balanced rather that true differential- a small thing, and a significant cost savings, and inaudible, but since I'm a circuit designer in my real life, I'm allowed to ding it on that topic...(;-)
The board sounds _excellent_ compared to any budget board: you do get an improvement in sound for your investment. I cut my teeth on large-format boards, and when I got back into recording I wanted that feel and working style again. The Ghost feels like a proper large-format board, and acommodates that working style very well. It's a lot of board, and you can bet your butt I'm keeping mine. However, it's also a lot of money, so it'll provide different value for each person. Only you can make that call.
Ideally, you'd go lay hands on one _somewhere_: even finding a little commercial studio somewhere that has one, and booking an hour of their slack time to just work with it and talk to their resident engineer about it. But if you throw caution to the winds and buy one sight unseen, you will not be getting a turkey...
ausrock
Well-known member
Skippy,
Good to see you here my friend.
When you said the Ghost bridges a gap from the large consoles to the Mackieish formats..........what Mackies did you have in mind, the 24/8 and 32/8 or the smaller boards?
I'm just curious because if I can ever afford to or justify an upgrade from my S/craft Spirit Studio 24/8, then the Ghost seems the next logical step up. The "Studio's" channel gains run up to 60dB and I have noticed a similar noise issue when they are around the 50dB level.
Good to see you here my friend.
When you said the Ghost bridges a gap from the large consoles to the Mackieish formats..........what Mackies did you have in mind, the 24/8 and 32/8 or the smaller boards?
I'm just curious because if I can ever afford to or justify an upgrade from my S/craft Spirit Studio 24/8, then the Ghost seems the next logical step up. The "Studio's" channel gains run up to 60dB and I have noticed a similar noise issue when they are around the 50dB level.
skippy
New member
Heya! I was talking about any of the Mackies I've ever seen- their channel strips are as narrow as my Alesis was, maybe 3/4" wide. The Ghost's channel strips are a more realistic 1.25" wide and about 18" tall: big enough to have large enough buttons and knobs to see, to feel, and to read the legends. I have large hands, and (just like Q) ran into real problem with the teeny Alesis buttons ,ammed in down between the rows of teeny knobs- change a button position ans you'd whack out the two adjacent channels! Sometimes, smaller ain't better...
You'll fine it to be more familiar than different coming from the Spirit. Those are more realistically sized, too, if I remember correctly...
You'll fine it to be more familiar than different coming from the Spirit. Those are more realistically sized, too, if I remember correctly...
ausrock
Well-known member
Yep, your correct about the size...........just ran a tape measure over mine.........1 3/8" wide strips and 20" from the phantom power switch (just below the XLR inputs) down to the bottom of the faders' travel. Overall, this 24/8 measures about 3'10" wide and 2'6" the other way. It's going to have to do me for a while I reckon.
TexRoadkill
Audio Bum
I've noticed some boards in the <$10,000 (used) range that I'm not really that familliar with. Stuff like the A&H Saber, Amek Scorpion, MCI's, SoundWorkshop, Tangent and for a little more a Trident.
Anybody have any comments on these? I'm guessing some of those are more for broadcasting?
Anybody have any comments on these? I'm guessing some of those are more for broadcasting?
A
ad0lescnts
New member
ok...thanks for that, the boards sounds rufus, maybe too big, but i'd see it when i check it out. here's what i'm looking at:
Soundtracs Topaz
SoundCraft Ghost
Mackie 24/8
All three sound pretty awesome, but the soundtracs sounds the best because i can get it used for around $1000 or less. What about this one?? for $1000 used is it so reliable??? Thanks
T
Soundtracs Topaz
SoundCraft Ghost
Mackie 24/8
All three sound pretty awesome, but the soundtracs sounds the best because i can get it used for around $1000 or less. What about this one?? for $1000 used is it so reliable??? Thanks
T
T
toby.I.
New member
have you seen the topaz? in the pictures they look quite big but there tiny. Haven't used a mackie, but the ghost is a great console, If you have the space and the cash
A
ad0lescnts
New member
no i havent seen them in person. i need to check them out. what about soundwise?