Sweetbeats seems to have summed it up. He has a very nice, solid mixer, that does what it is supposed to do - NOT add things other than things we like. EQ is always personal. You grab a knob and while it just changes the response, it does it in a useful way that is predictable. My first bigger home mixer was a Mackie and this did NOT do what the Studer does. The HF control made the sound really harsh, the bottom LF one made it sort of boomy, and the ones in the middle needed serious work to make improvements. It also hissed in an unpleasant way when the gain structure was even a tiny bit off. I bet the Studer doesn't.
Big, sold mixers are buggers to keep going though, once they get old...
Rob, that’s been my exact experience with more “budget” EQ…like, it works, for fixing a problem or whatever, but I’m not usually *excited* about what I hear, like musically…a high shelving filter that brightens the sound but it’s not sweet, and it may be harsh, and so I feel like I can only do so much with it…use with care. Or like you said LF filters that are boomy or I like the term muddy, and I believe some of that stems from what’s coming in to the filter…like on the Studer the high quality transformers and opamps, more costly and innovative circuit architecture, VCA stages, trimable distortion nulls at multiple points in the signal path, all metal film resistors, high quality pots, etc…the opamps…a lot of high-quality parts…like $10+ each currently…all of that contributes to low noise and distortion and high slew (an underrated aspect of signal performance…we often focus on the slew rate of an individual amp stage, but what about the cumulative slew rate of the entire signal path? I think these are things Studer addressed in their design), and high quality tracking across stereo signals and it really mitigates the mud factor and sound stage, so what’s going in is clean…so the EQ is just so much more usable, and the highs are sweet and the lows are clear and defined, and then the same goes for the mids. And like you say as I listen and hear something that needs cut, or I want to bring something out spectrally, intuitively I know which filter is going to do that, and I grab the control expecting it to do what I need, and it does just that, whereas on the Tascam or whatever it kinda does it, but there’s baggage that comes along with the change or gets added as a result and then I’m working to mitigate that too. And it feels like “Ugg I hafta use the EQ” vs feeling like I *get* to use it. The Studer EQ is just…easy…and exciting. And the Studer is just so insanely quiet. And I understand your point about big console and the challenges to keep it going, and maybe as my Studer gets older I will run into that more and more, but I’ve torn into a lot of consoles over the years across many brands and classes and types, so I’ve seen a lot of different examples of how they are built and what the negative results over time are of different approaches and designs and as I looked at the Studer I was just like “there ya go”…really high quality boards, and the fact they used the eurocard connectors for the modules and motherboards, all gold plated contacts, and the module connectors completely cover the motherboard connectors so no dust or otherwise can get in there…smart. I’ve picked up some spares over the years, modules that looked like they were in a console in a dirt factory…really, really filthy and beat up…plug them in and 100% everything works…it’s the design and quality. And the motherboards are very well anchored and supported…lots of 2020 and 3030 extruded material and frame buckets no bigger than 16 slots with heavy guage steel sides…relatively light but very strong laterally, longitudinally and torsionally; empty frame you can lift up at a front corner and there is no twist or flex…solid. And it’s not a huge console but not tiny either…almost 4.5’ wide. It’s the same construction as all the other 900 series consoles. So all these things contribute to reliability and longevity and minimal quibbles. Like I said earlier when I got the console it had been sitting for awhile with all the modules pulled out of it, I got it home, put it all together, powered it up, and absolutely everything worked except for a bad output on one channel of one of the master busses, and a bad side on one of the stereo input channels. The master buss issue was a damaged output transformer from poor handling and storage…broken winding…replaced that and all was good, and the stereo channel was a bad VCA. Replaced that and good to go. The console was nearly 20 years old at the time. I’ve never had such an easy startup on a new-to-me console. I’ve had to do LOTS of fiddling on pretty much everything else. I also love the modular meter bridge and all the different options there, and the compressors on the group channels and limiters on the master busses…all very musical and usable and all of which are patchable to any input channel. I also acquired some time ago a couple of the rare 4-channel dynamics modules that go in the meter bridge…so 8 channels of compressor/limiter/gate, but all VCA driven. That means no signal goes *through* the processor, rather the processor sniffs the source, and then controls the channel output VCA according to the settings on the dynamics channel. That means it’s fast and super transparent with no added noise or distortion. Pretty unique I think for onboard dynamics processing. Oh and 10 AUX channels (6 mono, 2 stereo)…great if you have a lot of outboard effects…and the power supplies…there are two generations, both high quality, but the later generation supplies are a notch up using high quality reliable Lambda modules. My console is early generation but I got ahold of a set of later gen supplies and converted over to them…they are switching type so super-fast transient response, and gobs of current capacity…my console uses three supplies, each side of the audio power rails can handle up to 10A…three bipolar supplies that’s 60A total current capacity just for audio. Compare that to many typical supplies that use 78xx/79xx regulators and max current handling is 3A total. It’s just a really powerful great sounding and reliable tool…great as the centerpiece for a hybrid studio since the console is so clean and quiet. I know there is a very valid line of thinking about having a console that adds “color”, but I think the Studer is the perfect switch-hitter. I rather like to lean into sources and source capture techniques and recording systems for “color”, and have a studio central command center (the console) that is clean and quiet…let the tape machines do their thing and the console not get in the way of that. And, again, this is great for digital tracking systems as well. My strong preference is to have an analog console as that centerpiece, but it’s great to have one that doesn’t get in the way of digital clarity, and also lets the color of the sources and analog tracking systems speak, also without getting in the way. And yet the summing busses with their relatively unique hybrid opamp/transformer drivers…you can get “color” if you want that’s really musical…when you push the levels things reach a point where there’s this fine mid-range “fur”…the highs are still clear and sweet and the lows still clear and defined, but there’s this bite on the edges of the mids, like a fringe or kind of a halo that helps midrange transients cut in the mix. Okay that was much more than I intended on going into, but I get talking…these are the things that make it a great console to me as far as the performance and features and then the design and construction “under the hood” that make it so. I know there’s better stuff, but the 928 is far well good enough for me. And, yet again, it comes at a cost! And truly great music has been made on far lesser equipment. So it’s important to never lose sight of the fact that what makes something “great” starts with the writing and composition and performance first and last. And then the space in which it is captured and mic placement. Then mics and front end and of course skilled utilization of whatever is downstream in the signal chain including whatever console is being used. I think those things, and primarily the writing, composition and performance, are going to drive the ultimate quality of the production and whether or not it’s going to connect with people. I will never forget a great lesson in this came at me years ago…these dude that bought my Tascam M-520 console I refurbished…I’d been to his studio and he had some nice equipment, was a prolific writer and performer, and had also spent time in some studios with some exceptionally boutique gear. He *loved* the Tascam. I was surprised. But then I heard some of the stuff he did on it…it was all about the music and how he used the equipment, like the unique things he could do with it to support the music, that made for an impressive outcome. And his style was very classic analog dirt and character…like a really rich sound. And he loved the Tascam for how the summing busses handled being pushed. I think they are 4556 opamps, which are like a high drive version of the TL072. This all sounds garden variety. But the 4556 has really high drive capability…70mA IIRC…and he would drive it and get some fur going…I don’t know…he seemed to be a pretty skilled engineer and producer along with his writing and performance skills. But it sounded great and worked with his style. So my point is I think it’s short-sighted to get hung up on snobbery…it’s okay to accept realities of the capabilities of more expensive gear, but short-sighted to undervalue more budget gear…easy to get lost in the weeds of the equipment and lose sight of the music and how any type of gear *can* contribute. Focus on the music and learn the equipment.
