Hi.
Take a look at the Midas Venice.
Don´t be fooled by the price. You will get very good micpre´s and a few bucks over to spend on a couple of super preamps of your choice.
http://www.midasconsoles.com

I actually chose one instead of a small Neve.

Best
Lennart

There are some nice used consoles out there in that price range, so it would be hard to suggest something without knowing what you need. How many buses/aux sends? Do you want something with a real colored sound or fairly clean and transparent? Can you or someone you know be able to fix stuff if something fails?
You might want to look around at some brokers and see what they have. When I was in the same position a couple months ago I was stuck between a neotek III, a couple different MCI 500 series consoles, and a Trident series 70. I heard some bad stories about the MCI's when it came to maintenance, and really liked the idea of the trident since it has the same pres and basically the same eq's as the 80 series, so i went with that. The neoteks are nice and have really good eq's, with nice big sounding pres for being transformerless. Either way its all about looking around and researching a lot. I ended up calling a bunch of different studios I found online and talked to them about their consoles if they had one i was interested in. You can also call some tech people and ask them what they think. If you go over to recordingconsoles.net they can help you out a lot.
Just make sure if you buy something used that it comes with the harnesses since a lot of those consoles can use connectors that can be EXPENSIVE to buy new cables for.

Hi John....

Defiantely look for a neotec.. they are great boards with really good pres and EQ. but they are no Neves but still excelelnt sounding an dvalue for the $$$

Also check out a MCI 428.. they rock, have big transformers, really good pre's and simplistic simple but good sounding EQ, patchbay and enough headroom to drive to the moon and back.... more so than the tridents.. ecxpeta or b range.

Also they are cheap and can be had for aorund $5K U.S

PEACE
Wiggy

Gentalmen,

Thank you for your helpful replies! This is a big undertakeing and I want to research this subject well, before makeing any final disision.

I will keep you posted with consoles that I willb be looking into and would apreciate your advice.

Just to clarify, I believe I am looking for an 8 bus and in this case I truly need the pres on the board to be clean/open and warm, but not colored!

I have been told that $7,000 is a pretty safe price range for a used board and that if you are careful and do your homework , one just might find thier "Dream board" (something that when new might have been as much as $30,000!)

Cheers,

Mad John
Zythum Studios

"The present day Composer refusese to die!" - Edgar Varese - 1921

Actually with a 7 to 9k price range you can find some boards that were more like 60-80k new. Isnt it a great feeling knowing that youre going to have something like that? As for the MCI's I've talked to several MCI buffs and they say the latter 500 series MCI (not the first yellowish one) are the best ones to go for. Do some searches on different message boards, I remember one saying a lot of studios replaced neve boards with the 500's because they liked them so much. You can also call Randy Blevins in nashville. I bought my console from him and he's a real nice guy and knows the MCI stuff like the back of his hand and seems to like giving advice on this stuff.

Hey thanks Red!

Yeah, it really is excieting to think that a top quality board with killer pres is not out of reach for fellas like myself, who are in the independant arena!

I will give Randy a ring and thank you!

Mad John
Zythum Studios

"The present day Composer refuses to die!" - Edgar Varese - 1921

Over on John Klett's forum on Pro Sound Web is a huge discussion of the issues with bringing some of these old treasures up to date.
A must read.
Ted

Over on John Klett's forum on Pro Sound Web is a huge discussion of the issues with bringing some of these old treasures up to date.
A must read.

John Klett is in your general neighborhood. You should see if he knows of anything. It would also be worth your while to hire a good tech (like Klett) as a consultant to check out anything you are interested in. If you get a good board in bad shape the labor costs to fix it will kill you.

I would second the thumbs up on a Trident. The MCI 500 series has a big low end but I always thought the top end was pretty scratchy in a funny way. You will also get a lot of old, noisy dbx vca's. The up side is, the 500's have a pretty comprehensive signal routing capability. I think the Trident 65/70/24 have the best combination of sonics, routing, and maintainence issues of most used consoles in that price range. Whatever you are looking at, try to have a good tech check it out before you buy. It could save you a lot of grief.

Thanks Mcsnare,

If I was fortunate enough to get a Trident that would really be a dream come true. I absolutly agree that haveing a tech check the board before a purchase made is a crucial step for this level in the game!

Any one else have suggestions of where I might try looking for a 24 channel analog board that could finally get me shamefully out of the Mackie/Soundcraft area (or at least the Ghost!)

Speaking of which, how is the higher end Soundcraft stuff? I think I could do a lot better with the pres, but what do you think?

I am excited about going into a new Professional sonic leval that I really had not thought was possible up till a few weeks ago!

I can feel the nerves in my system tingleing on this whole adventure! This is like the BIG MOMMENT! Every Studio has it's day , the time when the "Mother Ship" board comes in and then suddenly, the room has a soul! There is comfort in knowing all the years of "Brain fataigue" and hair pulling, from all the misery that is to be the angwish of the Lonley Engineer , the after hours Producer, the modern Composer (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!)that has spent the last 4 years with Mackie VLZ gear in agony and disgrace. :)

Mad John
Zythum Studios

"The present day Composer refuses to die!" - Edgar Varese - 1921

Check out what Randy Blevins has at:
http://

He has a great rep and is very good about checking everything before it is shipped. I have seen a Trident 65 that went through his shop (beautiful) and am currently in discussions with him about getting an older MCI board for me (he knows MCI stuff better than anything else).

Good luck, and let us know how it all turns out.

Im getting my trident 70 (which is in a whole other league from the 65, 75, and 24 series) from randy blevins. Real nice guy and he's totally taking the time (maybe a little to much?) to clean my console up and make sure its sounding AND looking good before I get it. I'm happy with the service I've gotten him so far, and he was kind enough to offer to get me from my nashville hotel to take me to his shop to look at it a couple months ago. But yeah, he does know MCI the best, and seems to LOVE to talk about them. Give him a call.

"I have been told that $7,000 is a pretty safe price range for a used board and that if you are careful and do your homework , one just might find thier "Dream board" (something that when new might have been as much as $30,000!)"

Hey John I don't know who told you this, but who ever did doesn't know what they are talking about. For beginners $7,000 will only net you something that is ok, if its new, and if its used you are going to pour in probably as much. Are you ready to dish that out? Is this your dream? I would say maybe $12,000-$15,000 will get you something decent. On the Trident issues the only one's I would personally invest in is a Series 80 and an 80B. All of the other ones on down are ok, they were like "project studio boards" today. Also on Randy Blevins, understand he is a salesman, a nice guy(I know him personally), but a salesman. There are other cool guys like Vic C. in Canada, even Duncan at Primal Gear is cool, and Sonic Circus also is pretty helpful and in your neck of the woods. This is something important, cause if you buy a used console and it breaks down, who will you contact on fixing it? About John Klett...he has stated that he will not take on any console rebuild projects, if the client is not ready to dish out the money that it takes. Also he has said that some boards are better condusive for rebuild jobs. Tridents are not one, with the Series 80 being an exception. If I were you, I would suggest look into used D&R consoles. They are built like tanks, parts are easy to find, and the company is still in business. They are also excellent sounding consoles. Food for thought, hope it helps.

Thrillfactor,

I really apreciate the rebound...it is food for thought and you remind me just how careful I must be in getting a well built and great sounding board. I think I have a chance, after all there are a lot of boards out there and situations do come up. :D

I will take as long as it takes, for I have just began this week.

Please understand this is a new area for me and I am just getting a sense for what I am seeking in an open arms explosion of informtion and exchanges with persons such as yourself.

Thank you, your comments do help me consider these matters!

Mad John
Zythum Studios

"The present day Composer refuses to die!" - Edgar Varese - 1921

Hi John,

I know I sound like a rainstorm on a nice parade. But I am just trying to make you aware. I've been in this crazy business since the mid 80's and I've mixed on just about everything under the sun. There are dogs out there, which were dogs back in there hey day. I think with the sudden backlash against digital, some of these dogs for some reason start to look like Kennel Club winners. This holds truth now and back then, Junk is junk no matter how good it looks in the moment. You get what you pay for. There is a reason that certain things hold there value better and others. My biggest advice is take everyone's word with a grain of salt(including mine). Cause basically at the end of the day, you will dish out the dough. And if you buy a board, DON'T BUY IT WITH OUT CHECKING IT OUT FIRST!!! This is the common advice when buying a board,a car, a wife(?) Check it out thoroughly, see if you like the way it sounds, cause in the end you will have to live with it. Good Luck on your decision!!!

You may be in luck. One of my friends has a Trident 65 for sale with bays in your price range. Email me at MooseAudio@aol.com and I'll hook you up. The console is in Brooklyn NY.

Jay, I'm there!

Mad John
Zythum Studios

"The present day Composer refuses to die!" - Edgar Varese - 1921