AWA Console

[Linear]

Hi All,

Thought some of you (aussies) may be interested in a recent console purchase.

It's a discrete, transformer-coupled class A console from the 70's, designed and manufactured in Sydney and originally installed in the Sydney Opera House.

I've included pictures and the schematic of the channel amplifier here:

http://www.linear-recording.com.au/awa.htm

The work that has gone into each channel amplifier (x24) is bordering on obscene. Unfortunately, it's not as servicable as a Neve, as the boards and associated wiring are hard-soldered sans connectors.

Some of you may recall that I had a Neve frame that I was going to restore (my 10-year project) but when this console came along, it was similarly spec'd and complete so I sold the frame and other bits. The Neve page though is still up here and has PCB's and schematics for the 1073 channel amp.

I have the complete AWA manual if anyone out there needs schematics, I know there are a few of the channel amplifiers floating about.

Cheers

Chris

 

[Sammas]

Very nice!

Was it only recently removed from the Opera house? They upgraded to a euphonics system a year or so ago.


May i be so bold as to ask you how much it cost? It seems nice consoles are few and far between in australia... Either that or they want 3 times what the rest of the world pays for them.

 

[mattmoogus]

I think I know where you got that thing
I would have bought it if I hadnt been involved in repairing and racking 10 of those modules a couple of years ago.

Amazing sounding, probably the fattest mic pre and eq Ive ever heard, but an absolute pain to fix, and apparently the explosions you get every time you change gain are a feature. The channel (#) guys said it was known as the explosion desk because of this, and you never changed settings while it was on air.

Weve still got a bunch of routing/master modules lying around from it, as well as some of the racked channels.

Still, it would be a great thing to record and mix through, good luck with it!

Also, you have the best studio website Ive ever seen. Mine would be just like it, if I had one.


M

 

[MikoKensington]

That is gorgeous. I'd love to ask how it sounds, but how sick of Neve-APi comparisons are we?

Hefty looking trafos. What kind are they?

Who's got some AWA stuff they want to sell me? :green:

 

[mattmoogus]

The AWA input xformers are enourmous - theyre the reason why they modules are two channels instead of one. They probably have a lot to do with the sound and the amazing low end extension. The sound is quite Neveish but definitely a fatter low end. I still have to borrow em to record some drums sometime.

The AWA BIG-1 limiter is also worth checking out. Joe has figured out some good mods for mine and they just kill on drums.

M

 

[Linear]

[quote author="mattmoogus"]I think I know where you got that thing
I would have bought it if I hadnt been involved in repairing and racking 10 of those modules a couple of years ago.

Amazing sounding, probably the fattest mic pre and eq Ive ever heard, but an absolute pain to fix, and apparently the explosions you get every time you change gain are a feature. The channel (#) guys said it was known as the explosion desk because of this, and you never changed settings while it was on air.

Weve still got a bunch of routing/master modules lying around from it, as well as some of the racked channels.

Still, it would be a great thing to record and mix through, good luck with it!

Also, you have the best studio website Ive ever seen. Mine would be just like it, if I had one.


M[/quote]

Hi Matt,

Yeah, I'd seen that on Joe's website. I bought the console without ever hearing it which was a bit risky, but in theory it should be all there.

I don't believe that this was ever installed at channel #, rather it was at 2MBS for ages. I don't think it was at the Opera House for very long, although I can't be sure of that.

I'm trying to track down some history about these consoles, I've asked around for people that may have worked at AWA or the Opera House but thus far haven't had much luck.

Yes, it is a bit of a service nightmare. I was also thinking though that the explosions around the gain switch could be alleviated by the Neve large-resistor-between-the-poles trick. The switches are quite small though so this could prove to be difficult.

Luckily for me, the guy who purchased it previously had intended to part the channel amplifiers out and scrap the rest, so all I had to do was buy the 12 dual channel amps and I got the console chucked in for free!

Cheers

Chris

(also I have loads of spares, but let me know if you have any lying about that you may want to part with - ta)

 

[Ian Mackenzie]

[quote author="mattmoogus"]I think I know where you got that thing
I would have bought it if I hadnt been involved in repairing and racking 10 of those modules a couple of years ago.

Amazing sounding, probably the fattest mic pre and eq Ive ever heard, but an absolute pain to fix, and apparently the explosions you get every time you change gain are a feature. The channel (#) guys said it was known as the explosion desk because of this, and you never changed settings while it was on air.

Weve still got a bunch of routing/master modules lying around from it, as well as some of the racked channels.

Still, it would be a great thing to record and mix through, good luck with it!

Also, you have the best studio website Ive ever seen. Mine would be just like it, if I had one.


M

Hi Matt,

Yeah, I'd seen that on Joe's website. I bought the console without ever hearing it which was a bit risky, but in theory it should be all there.

I don't believe that this was ever installed at channel #, rather it was at 2MBS for ages. I don't think it was at the Opera House for very long, although I can't be sure of that.

I'm trying to track down some history about these consoles, I've asked around for people that may have worked at AWA or the Opera House but thus far haven't had much luck.

Yes, it is a bit of a service nightmare. I was also thinking though that the explosions around the gain switch could be alleviated by the Neve large-resistor-between-the-poles trick. The switches are quite small though so this could prove to be difficult.

Luckily for me, the guy who purchased it previously had intended to part the channel amplifiers out and scrap the rest, so all I had to do was buy the 12 dual channel amps and I got the console chucked in for free!

Cheers

Chris

(also I have loads of spares, but let me know if you have any lying about that you may want to part with - ta)
[/QUOTE]

There was a desk in studio C at ATN 7 in epping which was eventually replaced with a Neve.

 

[Whoops]

Hi Ian,
just to let you know that you are replying to a post from 2005, so 16 years ago...

 

[Ian Mackenzie]

Hi Ian,
just to let you know that you are replying to a post from 2005, so 16 years ago...

I know but there has been a fair bit of traffic about the AWA desks on other groups

 

[EvLoutonian]

I know but there has been a fair bit of traffic about the AWA desks on other groups

Good to have you on board, Ian.
It's good to see more Aussie-related content on these groups.


I believe there is currently one of these AWA consoles available for sale in Melbourne, over in Altona at Coloursound studio.
It used to belong to Chris (above) at Linear Recording in NSW, if I got my history straight on that.