RNLA... Realy nice limiting amplifier

  • Thread starter Thread starter usernamebob
  • Start date Start date
I think I see some confusion here. It is NOT called a Real Nice LIMITING amplifier, but a Real Nice LEVELLING Amplifier. Which is to say, it is a compressor, just a different one. Now, either the RNC or the RNLA can do limiting, it is just a matter of what they are going to sound like.

What I want to see is the RNEQ, but it looks like I am going to have to wait a while.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
OK, so I was just reading about this thing, and I think they have probably one of the best lines about audio I have ever heard:

(you know, it's really true: talking about audio is like dancing about architecture...)
Click to expand...



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light said:
I think I see some confusion here. It is NOT called a Real Nice LIMITING amplifier, but a Real Nice LEVELLING Amplifier. Which is to say, it is a compressor, just a different one. Now, either the RNC or the RNLA can do limiting, it is just a matter of what they are going to sound like.

What I want to see is the RNEQ, but it looks like I am going to have to wait a while.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Click to expand...

I read that they dropped the RNEQ idea because the Speck ASC EQ (http://mercenary.com/speckmodelasc.html) came out. Don't know if that's true though..
 
Well, it's small and ugly... Maybe they think it ate up their market segment. ;)

No honestly, it's also mono and expensive. I'd expect FMRAudio to make a stereo box for half that price, or less. That's where their segment has been so far.
 
I believe eq's are more expensive to make though. There's a lot of stuff in there on an eq.
 
SonicAlbert said:
I believe eq's are more expensive to make though. There's a lot of stuff in there on an eq.
Click to expand...


I would guess this is the problem. They are probably having a hard time making one which is up to their standards but can still be manufactured profitably for a resonable priced.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Yeah, if they start making a $1500 EQ they will break out of their current dead cheap price/drop-dead sound niche. And other companies EQs are not much more expensive that their preamps, so... ;)

If they have dropped the RNEQ, it's most likely because they couldn't make it good enough in that price range.
 
I suspect the Speck ASC at around $500 per channel is probably about as cheap as you can sell a professional quality eq.
 
regebro said:
If they have dropped the RNEQ, it's most likely because they couldn't make it good enough in that price range.
Click to expand...

The main problem with the EQ was the lack of room on the faceplate. It just didn't allow enough room for all the controls of 4 band parametric EQ. Take a look at the Speck ASC and imagine compressing (no pun intended) that into a 1/3rd rack space. It would be nice though, and knowing Mark, he hasn't given up just yet.
 
i'm sure you could fit a decent parametric eq into that small space if you used concentric pots and stacked em 2-1 or 3-1.
 
mrbowes said:
i'm sure you could fit a decent parametric eq into that small space if you used concentric pots and stacked em 2-1 or 3-1.
Click to expand...

That's basically what DBX did with their 905 modules, a fully parametric three band eq.
 
mrbowes said:
i'm sure you could fit a decent parametric eq into that small space if you used concentric pots and stacked em 2-1 or 3-1.
Click to expand...

I mentioned this to Mark a couple years ago when we discussed the EQ once. I forgot exactly what his response was, but I believe the concentric pots were very cost prohibitive. Especially ones that met his requirements.
 
Jake Langston said:
The main problem with the EQ was the lack of room on the faceplate. It just didn't allow enough room for all the controls of 4 band parametric EQ. Take a look at the Speck ASC and imagine compressing (no pun intended) that into a 1/3rd rack space. It would be nice though, and knowing Mark, he hasn't given up just yet.
Click to expand...
Ah, of course, they would want to use the same boxes, for cheapness and consistency in manufacturing...

Anyway, stacking the knobs should work, unless they want significantly more knobs than the Speck. ;)
 
The only eq's I know of that are 1/3 rack size are the old Alesis Micro Eq's and the new Presonus EQ3B. The Alesis had concentric pots, but it should be noted that it didn't have any high or low cut filters and the Q was a simple switch between wide and narrow. The Presonus is fully parametric and has a low cut filter at 80Hz, but obviously having adjustable cut filters at both the high and low ends is refereable. Another eq that is approximately this size is the API eq that fits in their lunchbox, but that is quite expensive depending on the model.

My DBX 905 modules have concentric pots, and while DBX did a great job of using tall pots that are relatively easy to work with, I am not a fan of concentric pots in general. I have other gear with concentric pots and find that the only time they are truly easy and convenient to use is when there is a lot of space around them and the labelling on the front panel is very clear. The concentric pots on my Urei 546 and Orban 642b are convenient to use but those are 3 and 2 rack space units respectively.

The other issue I have with concentric pots is that unless they are designed and built *just right* you get into situations where turning one pot rubs the other and moves it a bit as well.

Actually, now that I think of it, I believe Crate had or has a small eq unit too, maybe around 1/3 rack space in size.
 
they could make two box one with sweepable high and low filters (like the api 215l),and one with the eq. though it would be a pain in the ass to buy two box.
 
i got mine today. i won't be around tomorrow to test it out. i'll try it on a drum bus as soon as i can.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
We've had a prototype here for several months and it's amazing. More when Mark tells me it's ok to mention the details.
Click to expand...
Harvey

Can you talk about the RNLA yet, Mercenary is already selling them.
 
Personally I would be happy with a 3-band parametric, if the bands overlapped well enough and it sounded amazing at a decent price. It doesn't have to be 4-band to be good. I have 4 and 5 band parametrics in the studio, but I almost never use more than 2 bands of them on a single source.

In fact, I would be happy with just a 1/3 box containing very high quality LP and HP filters at a decent price. Quality LP and HP filters that can be swept over wide bands are underrestimated tools for making space in a mix.
 
maby they could go old school, kinda with a "here's the freq's you can fiddle with, we put them whare they need to be and you're gonna like it" ?


or maby not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top