Got a chance to play with the Safesound P1 . . .

  • Thread starter Thread starter chessrock
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He didn't say he owned a P1, just that he tested one. So there's a lot of ways he could have tried one out for a while without having his name on a dealer list of customers. I loan gear out from time to time for friends to check out, so maybe someone let him borrow it or he had access to it in a studio. Just because he didn't like it doesn't mean he isn't legit, but we all know that. :-)

I would have to say that I see the same phenomenon all the time on message boards: the flavor of the moment. People get all worked up over some new piece of gear and it is God for a while, then some time passes and all of a sudden it's yesterday's news. It happens to so much gear. Look at Mackie, when his stuff first came out people were literally going up to him and calling him God. And now it's just a litany of complaints about the eq, summing buss, etc., etc. The gear is just as good as it always was, however. The P1 is the new flavor. This is not to comment on it's sound or quality, as I haven't heard it, just a slightly amused take on what I see happening all the time.

For me, the only major feature lacking in the P1, from a purely feature standpoint, is the ability to strap them together for stereo work. Using two of them as mono compressors on stereo source obviously doesn't work as far as the stereo image goes. With all the features they included I'm a little bit dissapointed they left that one off.

Hope to check one out at some point though.
 
Sonic, yeah the flavor of the moment thing can be pretty crazy at times. I hope you do get a chance to check out a P1 sometime, it's an extremely useful unit. Robert Campbell is a very thoughtful designer, he even performs final assembly of every unit we receive so he's a hands on guy. That won't mean much to some folks, but to me it makes me feel good about the product and the care that goes into each one.

As far as stereo linking, what is usually happening on units that allow linking is that there are actually 3 compressors on board; 1 left, 1 right, and 1 stereo. This adds to the cost. Using 2 P1's together provides the same stereo image as any two channels can. You just have to set up both units the same and you're done. If Grammy nominated engineer / producer Bill Drescher can get away with it (he used 2 on his latest project during tracking and mixdown), I'm sure nobody will think less of any of us for doing it, and the compressor is quite forgiving actually.

Bill Drescher compared the P1 on electric guitars to his Neve 1073 / Neve 33609 stereo limiter/compressor setup and preferred our P1. Will the P1 answer everyone's prayers on preamp / compressors? Nope, 'nother flavor.

It would be easier if the 3 compressors were on board one unit, I agree with you, but the cost would have been higher and Robert wanted to design sort of a "do all" single channel strip.

The P1 can be the main channel(s) for any project studio, or it can be a strong addition to any pro's lineup for compression / limiting during tracking & mixdown. The compressor acts in a different manner, again I wish you could play with one and hear it. It handles all sorts of signals with ease and exhibits very musical control. I cannot say enough good things about its' limiter as well.

There are many more features on a P1 than many competetive products, so I don't like doing comparisons. But to clarify for everyone:

The P1 is:

1) a mic preamp featuring +70db of smooth gain (Burr Brown INA217)
2) an instrument D.I.
3) accepts line level signals also
4) an expander
5) a compressor, multi stage design
6) a "look ahead" type limiter, with predictive multi stage design & no latency
7) a stereo mixer, for monitoring w/o latency
8) a headphone amp, for artists to blend themselves into the mix & adjust their own volume
9) has balanced outputs
10) has no wall wart and a healthy internal power supply
11) looks like a radar detector to some (haha)
12) has accurate and useful metering
13) sounds f*cking awesome (to most! :) )

The bulk of the design and efforts has gone into the compressor, limiter, preamp and expander. In other words, you're not wasting a bunch of money buying it just as a preamp or comp / limiter.

I agree, Audio Engineer never said he bought one-just checked it out. There are so few out there, I'm only curious where he is located. He is entitled to his opinion, but it does seem like we're talking about 2 different units.

Cheers!

Warren Dent
www.frontendaudio.com
 
Hey Warhead,

I really like your product, obviously. But since you're new to the board, I just thought I'd let you know a little bit about the culture here. This is just some advice to help you out a little bit: I know that you're a pretty good musician and you have a lot of good insight on recording, so it might be cool if you were to participate in discussions and what not . . . but keep your commentary on your product on a more informational level. :D In other words, I'm trying to tell you respectfully that we could do without the informercials. Since you're not a regular here, I just thought I'd let you know about the culture on this particular board.

You don't want those damn spam cops on your ass (those guys are assholes). :D Believe me.
 
Gotcha Chess. I wish I didn't feel like I have to explain everything about the P1 but there's not much info out there. I try to keep things toned down as much as I can. Maybe I should just refer folks to reviews or something?

Anyhow, thanks for the heads up.

War
 
warhead, i think chess is just saying "be aware of the line you walk, b/c some folks could view it as pimping or spamming". i'm not one of them, but hey, FWIW, YMMV. i like getting all the info i can on a piece of gear, regardless if it's spamming.

personally, i can deal with someone slightly pimping their products as long as they're contributing useful info while they're doing it, and as long as they don't turn every thread into a "you need to try one of my _whatevers_, it'll fix all of your problems". some folks have a MUCH less tolerant view. yes, they're assholes, but they're OUR assholes. :p at the same time, they're also the same people who very vocally "don't trust" gear reviews, so it's a no-win situation.

......and they've run off some folks in the past who treaded that line *extremely* closely......and i don't want to see that happen to someone who obviously knows the product well and likely has lots of good info to contribute to our little hole in the net. :D


(of course, those people who've been "run off" also got pretty vocal about being called spammers--justified or not......confrontations quickly followed and much suckiness ensued......you seem to be rational, reasonable and levelheaded.....these are good things said the cat in the hat)


anyway, no judgements are being made here on any of the above......just letting you know that some folks around here are quick to judge, quick to anger and slow to understand.

YMMV


wade
 
mrface2112 said:
......and they've run off some folks in the past who treaded that line *extremely* closely
Click to expand...


I kinda' get a kick out of the expression "run off the board." Like there was a lynch mob or something chasing these people with torches and pitch forks. :D

I think some of these people you're refering to, Mr. Face, just reached a point where they realized they didn't have any restraint, so they simply removed themselves from participation.

It's like someone who pees in a public swimming pool. If you can't restrain yourself, eventually you're either going to have to find a way to stop doing it . . . wait for someone to kick you out . . . or just admit you have a problem and stay out of the pool.
 
I guess what I'm saying about strapping two together in stereo is like what DBX did with their 160X/XT/A series. There's a link connection between two units, and one unit is designated the slave.

If you do what you are suggesting, and just use two mono P1's on a stereo source, the image might move around. In other words, if there is a volume spike on the left side but not the right, the left compressor will clamp down and the right won't. This will mean at that moment the right side will be louder than the left and the stereo image will wander right. Setting two mono compressors to the same settings will not solve this.

On the other hand, compressors that are linked right and left will have a different behaviour. If there is a volume spike on the left side, both compressors will clamp down the same amount, leaving the image intact.

It depends on the musical material of course. It's possible that some music may just not have that kind of volume variation from left to right, in which case it wouldn't be a problem. However, in most cases if you are running stereo you'll want the compressors to be slaved together.

The P1 does seem to be a cool channel strip though, I hope to hear one someday. I'm assuming that Robert Campbell must be working on a 1/2 rack eq to go along with this? I also like the idea of hand assembly and that attention to detail.
 
Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate advice trust me on that!

Sonic, I hear ya on the linked compression, you have a point. At the same time, if something is panned say 3 o'clock then the level of the signal in the right is going to get the most reduction and there may or may not be enough of that signal in the other channel to have much or any effect. Either way, I understand where you're coming from.

Sonic, I cannot comment on product development for any of the products we sell before they make announcements. :)

Mr Face, I've been a forum guy for a long time now, mostly on HC and now Studio Forums, here and some GS. I've been a gear pimp for like 30 days now! So yeah, my 2,000+ posts on HC and 1,000+ post on SF are all participation and helping and learning like anyone else. It's kind of like this is a new thing to me, commenting on gear I actually sell.

I still recommend and talk about gear I don't sell, because I think it's a good fit for someone. Wasn't there a song..."pimpin' ain't easy"...? ;)

Thanks guys.

War
 
chess, yeah, didn't i see you with little "witch hunt" emoticons around here somewhere? emoticons complete with maniacal faces, raggedy clothing, long hair and torches? :D :p you know what i mean, though, smartass. ;-) and yes, i agree.....one of the greatest things about publicly regulated forums is the public regulation. there's a fine line and some people don't see it. kinda reminds me of that Seinfeld where george gets caught pissing in the shower at the gym.....doesn't it all go down the same drain?

and warren, i lurk on the "other major" boards, so i'm familiar with a lot of your posting history (this just happens to be the only board i post on). i've always appreciated what you had to say, and i look forward to your insight on the products you're pimpin......and i know how it is to get "excited" about a "new venture" too......i don't want to see someone worthwhile fall victim to the mumbling voices and torches..... :p


wade
 
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