Big Knob or Central Station?

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 5:55 pm

OK guys... Time for me to melt some plastic again.

Mackie Big Knob or Presonus Central Station?

Any other suggestions besides these two?

This is for a project studio with a vocal booth and running Pro Tools.

Basically, I need all of my source/monitor switching in one spot. Talk back is a must.

Thanks for your input!

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 6:50 pm

I would doasearch on this site for the Big Knob. I remember reading quite a few complaints about it. I have heard good things about the Central Station.

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 7:41 pm

Yeah... I tried searching with keywords but nothing came up.

I heard there were some nasty crosstalk issues with the BK.

I think I am going to go with the Presonus. For $300 more I get meters, digital I/O, a semi-decent DAC and a remote so all of those cables aren't strewn across my desk.

I can throw it in my rack and the cables can make the mess already back there even bigger.

I guess I am more curious if anyone has had any problems with it or if there are any other manufactures that have something I can compare it to.

Thanks for the reply!

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 8:44 pm

Found nothing with the search? I found these three with no difficulty:

http://recording.org/ftopic-29903-0-days0-orderasc-.html
http://recording.org/ftopic-25319-0-days0-orderasc-.html
http://recording.org/ftopic-21178-0-days0-orderasc-.html

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 8:51 pm

Thanks!

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 9:17 pm

The Presonus is pretty OK. I am underwhelmed re the BK. I guess the Samson C-Control is a far more useable and costeffective alternative unless you can afford an SPL or the Presonus. That said, the SPL is just fine. The build quality is acceptable and the actual performance is quite good.

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 10:17 pm

SPL MTC

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 11:14 pm

Looks like the SPL unit is the way to go.

And it looks like Atlas has the right price. Better than Fletcher @ Merc. What the hell are they thinking?!?

Can you do a free ground deal on shipping it to So Cal, Atlas?

Let me make sure a couple of client checks are going to clear from a couple of jobs and I'll be in contact!

Anyone I should ask for specifically @ Atlas?

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 4:18 pm

My vote is for Central Station.
I have one, and like it, alot.

My Pro Tools setup, Analog Board setup, mixdown deck(s), monitors all interface with it quaitely & are accessible via the small remote (which only requires one cable - the BK has all your cables into it, making it messy if you have to move it around or lay it on your console, like I do mine).

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 6:49 pm

The Central Station is working great for me. I like that it is rack mount and there is no cable mess at all. It's rack mounted right in front of me to the left, within easy reach. For me, that's better than a table top unit.

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:06 pm

I used to use a Central Station... Nice unit, "A-or-B-plus-C" capability (very important to me) and actually usable D-to-A which was surpising.

Not too crazy about the pot, but a nice unit and a bargain at the price.

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:58 am

I just went through this same dilemma and wound up with the Central Station. Ultimately, I listened to them both and preferred the sound of the PreSonus (I know, hard for me to admit publicly).

The convenience of the remote was another selling point - I couldn't live without this considering my rack is a good 10' away. Plus as John mentions, the A or B + C is a GREAT option if you like to monitor with a sub and without!

Oh, and the price is right.

I don't use the D/A so I can't honestly comment on it, but I'll take others' words on it.

J.

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 4:05 am

If you've got the budget for a Central Station + Remote, you should also have a look at the Studio Technologies 61/60A which is about the same price. It is active, not passive which makes a difference (good or bad?) and has a very nice remote as well as some useful switching capabilities (passive). It is not entirely transparent but in reality, we are talking very small percentages of a percent here and your room/monitors are probably more dominant.

Mark

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