Who still mixes with a console?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Scott Baxendale
  • Start date Start date
noah330 said:
In college (Berklee), I was a dual major - MP&E and Music Synthesis (now something like Music Technology). The LM3204 was in the better labs (L1, L2, etc.), and it sounded fine, and by that, I mean it didn't sound like anything. IIRC, these were made in the USA, and at the time, Mackie was a reasonably new company coming out with some revolutionary products (8 buss, Ultramix, etc.).

If I needed a line mixer, that would be the one that I would look for. Otari made a fabulous line mixer, but I've only seen a couple pop up over the last ten or twenty years.
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My first mixer in 1976 was a 6 channel Tapco mixer. This was Mackie before Mackie.
 
noah330 said:
I think everyone's first was a Tapco! The early Mackie gear in the 1990s was pretty epic at the time. Just think of how many records were made with an eight-bus bus and ADAT/DA-88!
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I used a Mackie SR24 and a Tascam 1/2” 8 track for lots of recordings. Here is one of those recordings.


 
Hmrc said:
Was something like this ?
https://www.otari.com/support/vintage/b20/index.html
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No, I would have lusted for that mixer.

It was like this:
IMG_4888.webp
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Aren't those the ones with the pots that would seize up?
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Maybe after 30 years of beer and smoke? They were built like tanks. They were pretty easy to fix I think too? Mine never failed me back in the 70’s. We used this with a TEAC 3340. We also used this mixer as a PA for our band paired with some big powered EV PA speakers
 
Somewhere in my memory, I recall something about early Tapco pots being modified to make them feel tighter for a more professional feel. I never had one, we used a Kustom 100 PA, and later a 6 channel Kustom 300 PA. Eventually, the bass player bought a Tascam Model 5 when he went to work at a store that handled Teac/Tascam. He got a deal.

I've still got a Yamaha MX12/4 that works fine. I had a Mackie 1400i amp but it had problems. The QSC that replaced it is still rock solid.
 
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Scott Baxendale said:
Maybe after 30 years of beer and smoke? They were built like tanks. They were pretty easy to fix I think too? Mine never failed me back in the 70’s. We used this with a TEAC 3340. We also used this mixer as a PA for our band paired with some big powered EV PA speakers
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No, it was a known issue with at least some of them, and it was something that I heard about by the mid-80s when the mixers were probably less than a decade old. Other mixers that suffered the same treatment didn't have that problem.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
No, it was a known issue with at least some of them, and it was something that I heard about by the mid-80s when the mixers were probably less than a decade old. Other mixers that suffered the same treatment didn't have that problem.
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We used a couple of them in the 70’s and never had an issue with any of the pots, but I’m sure they had some eventual chronic issues. Even old Neve’s or APIs have some of that.
 
Yikes. My 'starter rig was their '6000R- before they went to black maybe? Anyhoo.. Those knobs I'm quite sure had a lube in them. And they did go sticky after a bit.. Tightened up good. Gads' I've had a such a slue of his mixers :facepalm:
But.. Thought that thing's reverb seemed 'special?' for a dang long time'.. It's still sittin back there :rolleyes:
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Aren't those the ones with the pots that would seize up?
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Sometimes. Greg Mackie designed them with the pots filled with goo to make them turn more smoothly. In my experience, they would loosen up if you turned them a bit but many of the ones I tried were still smooth.
 
TapeRoll said:
Yes you are correct,... it was the Scully 288 2 inch 16 track tape machine and one of only two that existed in North America at the time. I think Engineer Eddie Kramer also deserves much of the credit for the innovative sounds on Electric Ladyland. He really pushed the creative aspect of recording for that 1968 time period.
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I bet the 12 channel 2” sounded amazing!
 
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