good 80's/90's analog consoles/mixers.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Simppu
  • Start date Start date
Some of the Peavey stuff is quite good, but being aimed at the live market they're generally not set up for multitracking and they're usually pretty beat up from gigging. It can be like the undead, parts falling off and half the channels taped over but still limping along decades after other gear simply died and got replaced.

Yamaha makes some good stuff if you get up a bit from their entry level stuff. Some of their late 70s and early 80s boards had transformer isolated inputs and are sometimes called a poor man's Neve. I never liked working on Yamaha gear of any vintage, pro or consumer. I like their Natural Sound home audio gear but when it goes bad I just toss it in the trash.

The main problem with gear of that era is the current condition. It may be more about what you can find that still works than which one has the sound you want.
 
If I remember correctly, the MC consoles were live boards. Unless you want to do a lot of patching, a recording board would be preferable. For example, a 24 channel Ghost will have 24 tape outs, 24 tape returns, 8 bus outputs and 24 tape returns. No patching once you plug everything in. Just a couple buttons to push. It also has a mix B, for headphone mixes and making it possible for a 48 channel mixdown.

With the MC series, you can only record 4 channels with the buses and tap off the insert to get direct out (before EQ). That's a lot of fooling around, depending on what and how you tend to record.

I'm not sure what the exchange rate or the used market is in Europe, but most of the things you are suggesting are bottom of the barrel boards. If you are going to go with that range, I would suggest something newer. Only because the low range mixers have been getting much better over the last 20 years, and the bottom range mixers from the 90's didn't have any colorful mojo about them. People bought them because they were affordable and arguably better than anything in that price range from the decade before.
 
Keep in mind the MSR24 is a 1" machine. Everything is more $$$...1" tape is significantly more as is the alignment tape.

I've never used the Yamaha mixers, but the MC2404 was a budget model. I'd probably take one of those before a mackie. It will get the job done, but it is not going to give you the character you seem to be looking for IMO.
 
I've heard good things from the yamaha ramsa series.

On the deck, having much experience with the 1/2 inch 16 track format, i think that's more than adequate.
Plus tape costs are much less.
 
The best Price point for a consoles that i'm looking for would be something from 1000€ to 3000€? Atleast i saw a ghost in ebay that was about 2000€.

Should i still consider the tascams? For example the m series? Otherwise i'm probably going to stick for the amek, trident, toft and ghost Line. Any other brands i should be aware of?

And sorry for suggesting such horrendous consoles, like i Said, i'm still kinda noob in these things. :( But i'm learning!
 
I think you might be confused by everyone saying that all these old great consoles are dirt cheap. They are dirt cheap for what they are, not necessarily dirt cheap. I think I bought my 32 channel Ghost for $9,000 in 1995 (equivalent to about $14k today), finding one in good condition for nearly 1/10th the price is a steal. The mackies, and Yamaha MC series were never anywhere near that expensive when new, so they are worth even less now.
 
Ive been through what you are about to go through, including the Mackie 8-buss stuff. Stay away from them. If you are thinking about using this console for recording to a 24 track analog the machine, find one that is built for that purpose. Don't compromise here, you will thank me later. A minimum of 24 channels and a minimum of 24 busses. Unfortunately to get to this level your weight requirement has got to go. Amek, Trident and Toft all make/made consoles that fit this setup. I finally settled (on my third try :-( ) on a DDA recording console. it weighs nearly 600 pounds though... They are also rare and no easy to find parts for. But they sound AWESOME.
 
Well good that they're more affordable now and yeah using couple hundred bucks for a console sounds kinda Dirt cheap to Me too when i paid 2000€ for My mesa Mark 3 head and a mesa 2x12 recto Cab. Is there any other good brands than tascams, soundcraft, amek, toft or trident that i should Look for? I'll probably keep the Price range in something like 1500 - 3000€ Just in Case to get a decent console rightaway.
 
mdainsd said:
Ive been through what you are about to go through, including the Mackie 8-buss stuff. Stay away from them. If you are thinking about using this console for recording to a 24 track analog the machine, find one that is built for that purpose. Don't compromise here, you will thank me later. A minimum of 24 channels and a minimum of 24 busses. Unfortunately to get to this level your weight requirement has got to go. Amek, Trident and Toft all make/made consoles that fit this setup. I finally settled (on my third try :-( ) on a DDA recording console. it weighs nearly 600 pounds though... They are also rare and no easy to find parts for. But they sound AWESOME.
Click to expand...

There's no way on earth that i'll be able to afford or have a 600 Pound console here. I'm most likely going to get a console in size like tascam m2524 or the ghost. If it's away from the sound, then no can do. I'm already compromising by getting a tascam msr24 instead of a large 2" tape machine.

Anyways, does Panasonic make any other good consoles than the ramsa? Also i'll stay away from consoles built in the 70s or early 80's as i'm not going to make music from that era.
 
Last edited:
Ramsa was the pro-audio brand of Panasonic. I don't think that Panasonic actually made consoles under the Panasonic brand.
 
Well, will keep that brand in mind anyways.

I think i'll probably will end up with a tascam or soundcraft console in the end.
 
Actually Seck-1882 would be perfect for My needs. Any other consoles there in same size?
 
Well, that's great to hear. Someone in gearslutz also said that he's really satisfied with midas 320 mixer. I get that this is a pretty recently released console but i will consider it still, anyone got experience with em?
 
Don't know if anyone mentioned it already but you should check out the Tascam M320. There was one in our old practice space and even as beat up as that one was, it still sounded great.
 
Most midas consoles are really good. They are known for their live consoles, but if you can find one in your price range and make it work for you, it would be worth it.
 
The midas venice 240 would be perfect and it is in my price range. I should just find a dealer that ships it to finland when i'm getting the console.

And i'll have a look at that tascam too, thanks!
 
Simppu said:
There's no way on earth that i'll be able to afford or have a 600 Pound console here. I'm most likely going to get a console in size like tascam m2524 or the ghost. If it's away from the sound, then no can do. I'm already compromising by getting a tascam msr24 instead of a large 2" tape machine.

Anyways, does Panasonic make any other good consoles than the ramsa? Also i'll stay away from consoles built in the 70s or early 80's as i'm not going to make music from that era.
Click to expand...

ABSOLUTELY! I have a DDA S Series in great condition & it is a fantastic analog console. Easy to service also & my model in 16 channels is not heavy...about 120 lbs.
 
Claude49 said:
ABSOLUTELY! I have a DDA S Series in great condition & it is a fantastic analog console. Easy to service also & my model in 16 channels is not heavy...about 120 lbs.
Click to expand...

Well in kilos that would be approx 60kg and now that i've found out that Midas venice 240 and seck 1882 both Wright around 20kg i'm not going to go any higher than that. Also tascam m2524 is around that in weight so i'll stick to the 20 - 30kg again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top