The "End" of pro audio ? (another china "Lethal" killer)

[abbey road d enfer]

I deal only with stereo program so my frame of reference is narrow. I look at the VU meters all day. It's pretty critical in my line of work. I also have mechanical PPM's in the meter panel for the console I'm building. The NTP plasma meters are the nicest I've seen but still make me dizzy. I'm able to make good judgements with VU meters but it does take experience and you have to fill in the blanks somewhat. With the experience I think it's a nice way to display the information. I like a nice CRT phase scope too. I've never seen an LCD display that didn't look funny. Too much latency even on the best ones like NTP or DK.

I think there is some confusion here. NTP and DK audio are renowned for their PLASMA meters, not LED. And yes, plasma displays have some kind of remanence that might be disturbing. I never liked those. I favour LED's.

 

[okgb]

You miss the point
the meters betray the truth
[ indicative of quality ] of the whole unit .

good enough , good for the money

Do you replace the xfmrs , and the caps
and the resisters , to make it better , good enough
it gets like the general contractor attitude
new construction " builder grade "

If it can't ruin a recording or doesn't stand out
from the rest of your gear , maybe it doesn't matter then

 

[MikoKensington]

Doesn't look too bad.  Notice the pads for Carnhills don't have staggered pin arrangements.

 

[Gold]

I think there is some confusion here. NTP and DK audio are renowned for their PLASMA meters, not LED. And yes, plasma displays have some kind of remanence that might be disturbing. I never liked those. I favour LED's.

No confusion. I was touching on all the meter types. I have seen good LED meters too. Wohler and others. I like LED better than Plasma but not as much as a mechanical movement.

 

[JohnRoberts]

There is nothing wrong with preferring an old tool that still works for you. I am too involved in the technology of metering to be completely objective.

If you don't need real time peak information to perform your task, it could be considered a distraction and clutter on top of the average information.

Seasons Greetings...

JR. 

 

[helterbelter]

Doesn't look too bad.  Notice the pads for Carnhills don't have staggered pin arrangements.

yeah, that looks quite okay. And "mod-ready" !  ;D

 

[riggler]

May I ask the question:

Does it sound good?

 

[Slenderchap]

Doesn't look too bad.  Notice the pads for Carnhills don't have staggered pin arrangements.

Ooops.... looks like they have made it so that you can retro-fit the transformers which are used in a 33609.... which we don't stock.... so you would have to pay the full 1 off price which is about GBP 140 each.... clever.

On my desk at this very moment is an original 2254.... it has 4 transformers.... not 3.

I wonder why it is on my desk ?

Colin
www.audiomaintenance.com

 

[kazper]

I wonder why it is on my desk ?

Please tell.... and by chance can you take some high res pictures of it so I can finish mine with 4 transformers....?

 

[okgb]

It seems like they are bating you to buy one
with the thought of modding  / upgrading
maybe if you changed out the xfmrs , caps
and some resisters it would still come out cheaper
than a better quality D.I.Y. from here, But
it's still going to look like what it is .
if it's all you can afford then let it be a tool
I'd rather support people here than help
perpetuate the chinese quality & profit model
[ anyone who bought and tried , Knows ! ]

 

[AMZ-FX]

It's $400 every place that I see it for sale. Do you think that is that less than you can DIY the unit with cheap transformers?

regards, Jack

 

[kazper]

It's $400 every place that I see it for sale. Do you think that is that less than you can DIY the unit with cheap transformers?

regards, Jack

Not without many many compromises and some luck. But $400 puts you allot closer to something, than toward something you want to tweak.

Buy nice or buy twice

 

[okgb]

That's what i said
It maybe cheaper [ in all respects ]
but by the time you upgrade
you'd have better quality with the d.i.y.
It appears as though the platform of
the manufactured unit may save you
time or money .......merely an illusion i believe
Personaly i learned my lesson with the tnc chineve Pres
It's not worth it by the time you figure out where to stop

I notice someone is selling upgraded golden age neve pres on ebay
for not much more than the retail
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150536346421&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

[sahib]

There is an expression in Turkish that goes as " I am not rich enough to buy cheap". Often cheap  costs you more and on this particular type of product I would prefer to spend my money on Western manufacture. But when I was looking to buy a milling machine  years ago, I went for Chinese make. All the vices, dividers, indexers etc too. They served and continue to serve me well.

 

[0dbfs]

it's a mono $400.- right?

best,
j

 

[kazper]

it's a mono $400.- right?

best,
j

Yes

 

[MikoKensington]

I'm sure for $400 this gets you close to the behavior of a 2254, without all the sound.  If you left it a $400 compressor, I'm sure it would still serve you well until its demise.  Sometimes you just need to forget comparisons to the N brand and "run what you brung".

 

[strangeandbouncy]

  aye, what Miko sed, innit . . .



  you gets whats you pays for.


      FOr $400, Ill bet it sounds great!. The real deal will definATELY sound better, but they dont appear for $400!

 

[kazper]

I'm with both of you.

If you bought the unit and thinking you want to cheaply modify it to get a Neve 2254 for next to nothing your only fooling yourself. If you bought it as it's affordable and sounds semi close enough on a budget... well thats another story. It truly is what it is...

I actually haven't herd the thing to tell you.. but as others have said it's circuits are clearly missing a few things. IMO it almost looks like a cheap off copy of Igors modified 2254 unit.

I'll also second or third the manufactures concerns for mods, I think they were highly expecting end users to do it. If you look at the threshold it looks like they left room to add a better switch mechanism.

 

[okgb]

Vote with your wallet ,
plus you can always consider
how much of your gear are you presently using
and why would you need more .

A studio i used to work at would NEVER buy gear
or upgrade just because it was better
and only
if it would make them more money
they're still in business