Help! Soundcraft 500B or Studiomaster Diamond?

[tmix]

I have to make a choice on 2 deals presented to me. I had been considering getting a console for mixing as weel as possibly using the pres to augment my selection of stand alone pres ( RNPS, DMP-3s, MPA Golds).

Right now I can get a 20 year old 28 channel soundcraft 500b in good condition for 1K or a brand new Studiomaster Diamond Pro 24 Channel for $500.

I am tempted to go the Soundcraft because of all the good things I've read, but it IS 20 years old. The Studiomaster is NEW... I wonder how the pres / sound compares?
I'd appreciate the input, I am supposed to make a decision in a day or 2

Thanks,
Tom

 

[xstatic]

Personally, I don't think this is a fair comparison. In my opinion the sound of an older soundcraft console like a 500b is about 5 leagues above that of just about any studiomaster. The drawback to the soundcraft though is that it will be a little bit noisier, but the noise will be very reminiscent of a very light tape hiss. The fact that it is so old though is definately something to consider. Luckily, Soundcraft stuff is very easy to repair and to find people to repair them.

 

[tmix]

Thanks X,
THAT is the kind of answer I was looking for.
In my gut I figured the build quality to be a lot better in the older board, but there is always the chance that after 20 years it might need new caps etc.

I did get the feeling from many posts about the Studiomaster board that they did have a little noise, some of which gave it an "Older analogue sound" some of which can be fixed by getting a star ground mod done to the internal chassis from each of the input sections.

There is so little info out on the studiomaster diamond series. The posts I DID come up with led me to believe their were etremely mediocre to OK for recording.... Not what I wanted to hear. Everyone kept saying" well it isn't a soundtracs or Soundcraft or Allen and Heath. Possibly not even a Mackie"... so I opted out of it.

Now I just need to make up my mind if I am up to the possible long term investment in the older board... I am still building my studio building and may not want to start a new project just yet...

Thanks for your input.

 

[xstatic]

if you can handle the possible headaches that can come with older equipment, I would imagine that you will be much happier with the Soundcraft. The way I see it the SOundcraft will almost always sound better and you will never think about the studiomaster again. If you buy the Studiomaster though you may always wonder if you should have just bought the Soundcraft