Ahhhh, that's what I love about this forum
Ed is entitled to his opinions, as are others. If I rant about how many records were done on VC3's and VC3Q's, or the Grammy Winners that own and still use them, I probably would get bashed as a spammer, so I won't mention it, but here is what I will mention.
The mic preamplifier of the VC3 and the VC3Q is the same chip that 85% of all the mid to low end units use...the SSM2017. I won't challange anyone's ear, but the mic pre is pretty darn good. The compressor is excellent...yeah it has a sound, but it is intented to.
Compressors were not invented to perform any electronic protection. They were invented as an effect to change or color the sound, and that is what a Joemeek does. As for the VC3's enhancer, well...it is a misunderstood device. It is intended to fix dull tracks, not to be used to track with...its an exciter...a 2nd order harmonic generator with a sweep "Q". Its easy to make this thing sound bad, but use it the right way like to add some sizzle to a lifeless bass track, or to liven up a track where the guitar strings don't ring, or even a vocal track that has no detail. It is best used for the mix...not tracking, which is why I suggested it come off and the EQ be put on because it was hard for beginners to understand how to use it correctly.
As for the EQ on the VC3Q, it is a very straight forward 3 band fixed designed to color. It excels for vocal and guitar. The one thing about the Meek, and I won't call it British, but the Brit's, especially Joemeek use a weird metering setting, so that at 0DBV, the unity gain is not +4, but 0. What this means is most users tend to set the input until the meter hits the yellow LED and that's all she wrote, but when the 1st red LED is on, there is 26db of headroom left, so the front end really needs to be pushed, and pushed hard. You will hear distortion if you overdrive it. When you do this, the compressor, mic pre, and EQ seem to come to life and sound much better, so if anyone owns one...push the shit out of it.
Hey, I'm with Gidge here on this one. Just because Gidge suggests something he may not have used, does not discount his opinion of any unit he may formed by talking with other users of a specific product, and on HR, opinions are just that.
The VC3, VC3Q, and the new MQ3 at $199.99 in the stores is a great unit. It is not for everybody, but 25,000 users can't all be wrong. When you look at what is out there for $199.99...the Meek is a great deal, and seeing how several of you got them for $99.00 at GC...they just got better. In addition, those with 2 like you Gidge, use it for a two mix. Run a 1K tone into each channel to line them up, and set the output levels using a meter on a DAT or other device with a meter, and do a mix...the results are quite good.
Alan Hyatt
PMI Audio Group
P.S. Yes we distribute Joemeek, but I did not try to sell any
And please try not to explain to people what I meant in the future. I post what I mean, and don't need you putting words in my mouth.
), I think I'd rather have something other than a mic pre named after me - unless he actually did the killings with a pre. I can sort of imagine a bloody little green box.
