In a single box...

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Take Two

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I'm still mulling over the purchase of sgnal chain stuff for my home studio. I might get away with just a VTB-1, but I'm thinking more "long term" now. I'm thinking about a single box that can preamp, compress, and EQ. Focusrite makes something called a "Penta", and a music chain has it for $399.

Any other units that do this that you would recommned? Is this "Penta" a good value?

Thanks.

Purpose: voiceover

Budget: up to $600 for the right piece
 
if i were you i would get an old symetrix 528 right away ($150 or so). standard for VO work. then use the rest to buy your different sections (pre, eq, comp) seperately.

generally i avoid the "all in one" solution.

if you really want to blow the $600 today the drawmer is supposed to be nice. mx-60?
 
Interesting.

I put the symetrix into google, and found one for sale for $350. Do you know of one for $150?

Thanks.
 
well the older ones are better the 528 (not 528e). the preamp in the 528 is i think pretty much the sx202 preamp and the newer symetrix has the sx302 preamp. (the sx202 is better regarded- i have one myself, a pretty solid clean pre)

there were a million of them sold to the broadcast market over the years... a little while ago 2 showed up on musicgoround.com for $75 each!

i see them go on ebay for around $150. they are very sturdy and easy to fix... so you should feel pretty safe buying one off of ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2547816864&category=23793
 
I understand. I was just looking at that unit, and the other auction for a 528E. I see the E has jacks in the back, and the older model has screw heads and jumpers from section to section. No problem.

Thanks for the great steer!
 
eeldip said:
generally i avoid the "all in one" solution.

...particularly in that price range. There is some realy nice "all in one" stuff for mucho $$$, but if you're of more modest means (as most of us are) you're typically better off spending more on something with fewer features. If you need a pre first and foremost, I'd concentrate on that. Maybe look at the RNP and the Grace stuff. $600 is a bit of an awkward price point, but your options open up a bit if you are willing to go to the used market.
 
I'm familiar with the RNP from these boards, but what about Grace?

I just looked at their website, and the API stuff looks great, but most likely costs a small fortune. Which units do you recommend on a limited budget?
 
The Focusrite Voice Master Pro or the new Twin Trak Pro are in that $ ballpark and both have an excellent sound. The VM Pro is more for vocals and instruments, the Twin Trak is more for instruments only but it has two preamps vs one in the VM Pro.
 
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