I'm about 12 hours away from purchasing a Central Station. I was using a Mackie 1202 Mixer..but I sold it, now I'm using a patchbaywhich is hella annoying.
The central station seems to have exactly the features I want. I need 4 input sources, and i've got 2 sets of monitors. I can use the additional line outs for my headphone amp and the best thing is that it's got an easily accessible volume knob.
Aside from a mixer or some sort of console, I really can't find anything else that does what this thing does. Is this a one of a kind unit?
I'm just wondering if anyone knows of any alternatives that I could check out before I jump in on this.
Comments
Massive Mastering wrote: At that price point, it's certainly uni
Massive Mastering wrote: At that price point, it's certainly unique. The (quite decent) D-A and passive circuitry sets it considerably up from the popular alternatives.
Big ditto on that. I spent alot of time looking at alternatives before I bought my central station. Nothing else stacked up. It's one of my most used pieces of gear and I haven't regretted the purchase for a second.
Wes
it is a great unit, but there are alternatives (at varying price
it is a great unit, but there are alternatives (at varying prices).
mackie big knob - but i think it has ICs in the main signal path
SPL MTC2381 - no converters, but personally i'd prefer this to the central station if i already had a good d/a.
coleman TB4 MKII - a little more expensive again and no converters, but i'd imagine it would be cleaner than any of the others except possibly the:
crane song avocet - best of all worlds and a price tag to match
hope that helps.
I REALLY dig the Central Station! The only change that I'd ma
I REALLY dig the Central Station!
The only change that I'd make (and am in the process of making myself) is to change out the main attenuator for a stepped switch.
Other than that - the DA is surprisingly QUITE good, the switching is amazingly flexible, the remote control is the bomb and the headphone amps are actually quite nice too!
Enjoy!
J.
I still feel the best unit isn't there yet obviously as a frien
I still feel the best unit isn't there yet
obviously as a friend of JLM I'm expecting Joe to get there first
but
Cranesong and others are all possibles
my beef is about the remote control and the signal path
why bring the signal to the work bench and then back to the rack ??
I have a couple of remot volume control devices on my sites and they employ VCA or Relay/stepped methods
The BurrBrown PGA chip looks very good and offers very acurate balance and possibility of multiple channels .. of as many as you want ... all with the ame accuracy
I think we will see more development in this area.
The hardware is already out there and all that is needed is the right combination and aplication of the idea
At that price point, it's certainly unique. The (quite decent)
At that price point, it's certainly unique. The (quite decent) D-A and passive circuitry sets it considerably up from the popular alternatives.