wow, I am blown away. Pristine, lush, incredible detail. oh my. The http://spl.info/pro… RackPack is solid, looks great and is equipped with a beast external power supply that will handle all 8 pre's no problem.This is very well made. rave rave rave.
I cannot wait to start using these. What a sound, exactly as described. Transparent and huge, silky and noble . DPA 2006's and a U87 on round one and oo la la. I feel heaven; like a guy that just found his maker. I need to calm down. smoke

SPL/ Paul, thank you for your recommendation on these. Pass this onto Wolfgang, he is brilliant!

I have a question about the Output 2. I understand its benefit for zero latency monitoring, sending to the FOH but the manual also mentions running one into the other? Can you explain that?

Cheers!

Hi Chris,

great to read that now ... be sure I forward this to Wolfgang and everyone here.

The power supply is even over-dimensioned for the max. supply demands with tube processing modules ... but with eight pres, it will always scratch its back, no matter what happens.

The note on Output 2 is meant for other module configurations than a straight preamp rack (channel strip with pres and processing for example). We intentionally have no internal signal bus in the RackPack frame. Two outputs for each module are simply more flexible: you just route the signals from module to module and for another sequence you simply change wiring. And with double outputs you can always route the second one externally from each module. In a channel strip for example you can record a preamp output directly (backup) and the main output after all processing modules.

In live recording with preamp racks, we use the analog split via double outputs consequently ... output 1 to converter/DAW, output 2 to another recorder with analog inputs and own converters. If the DAW route fails, it does not help to have a hard disk backup of it :)

Cheers!

This looks fantastic! Which mic pre's did you get? The premium or preference.

SPL, post: 383400 wrote:

In live recording with preamp racks, we use the analog split via double outputs consequently ... output 1 to converter/DAW, output 2 to another recorder with analog inputs and own converters. If the DAW route fails, it does not help to have a hard disk backup of it :)

Cheers!

Hi Paul,

Thanks for chiming in right away.. Of course duh, I wasn't thinking about other modules like an eq, compressor etc, got it!

Does Output 2 sound the same?

Paul999, post: 383404 wrote: This looks fantastic! Which mic pre's did you get? The premium or preference.

8 SPL Premium's thumb

Wow, I want to record at your place audiokid.....

Thanks Don, that's my hybrid rig.

Chistmas time in the Great White North! Send me the Gold Mic and I'll "store " it for you......LOL!!!

I see you 'broke down' and bought a REAL LA2A. Vocal monster box.

Davedog, post: 383543 wrote: Christmas time in the Great White North! Send me the Gold Mic and I'll "store " it for you......LOL!!!

I see you 'broke down' and bought a REAL LA2A. Vocal monster box.

Oh man, the LA-2A is incredible. And as you stated many times, Dave, just plugging into one sounds good! Highly recommended. What a thrill having gear like this.
Yup, I keep thinking about you when I look at the GoldMike Mark 2. I have a great price on it ;) I'll even drop it 100 for you.

SPL Paul, will the RackPack fit other 500 serious manufacturers modules or is it specific to SPL only? With a PSU like that :eek:, and built like a tank, its got to be the one of best built 500 series case on the market.

This is my first experience with the 500 series. I had no idea they could be this kind of quality. Aside from the module design, a clear advantage is the external power supply. And, why I'm thinking this beast is well suited for any 500 series modules.

When the Premiums are cranked they are very quiet. I tested them with ribbons yesterday and they were lush. However, they were Royer condensers so I can't speak for the others. I still had tons of headroom.

I noticed a mass increase in level from 8 to 10. I can't imagine needing that but something big was clearly there. Whats that all about, Paul?

audiokid, post: 383547 wrote:
This is my first experience with the 500 series. I had no idea they could be this kind of quality. Aside from the module design, a clear advantage is the external power supply. And, why I'm thinking this beast is well suited for any 500 series modules.

I've been into 500 series for about 4 years and never had an issue with any module. It is a perfectly competent format. My API lunch box has went with me for live recording gigs, big venue live mixes, live radio mixes etc. Its bullet proof and sounds awesome.

audiokid, post: 383547 wrote: Oh man, the LA-2A is incredible. And as you stated many times, Dave, just plugging into one sounds good! Highly recommended. What a thrill having gear like this.
Yup, I keep thinking about you when I look at the GoldMike Mark 2. I have a great price on it ;) I'll even drop it 100 for you.

SPL Paul, will the RackPack fit other 500 serious manufacturers modules or is it specific to SPL only? With a PSU like that :eek:, and built like a tank its got to be the best built 500 series case on the market.

This is my first experience with the 500 series. I had no idea they could be this kind of quality. Aside from the module design, a clear advantage is the external power supply. And, why I'm thinking this beast is well suited for any 500 series modules.

When the Premium's are cranked they are very quiet. I tested them with ribbons yesterday and they were lush. However, they were Royer condensers so I can't speak for the others. I still had tons of headroom.

I noticed a mass increase in level from 8 to 10. I can't imagine needing that but something big was clearly there. Whats that all about, Paul?

I'm awfully poor right now. After the bike wreck and no work plus I updated some things that really needed it......Great price for that piece and it would complement my setup completely.
Ah well. I'm going back to work soon! Then we can talk.

audiokid, post: 383547 wrote:
SPL Paul, will the RackPack fit other 500 serious manufacturers modules or is it specific to SPL only? With a PSU like that , and built like a tank, its got to be the one of best built 500 series case on the market.

RackPack modules are a proprietary SPL format which is not compatible to API's 500 series. We have three RackPack frame versions: RackPack 8 (yours), RackPack 4 (four modules) - and the RackPack 500. We were in talks with API, but our designs did not fit into the API format for several reasons. In order to offer a solution to get API and SPL modules together, we concluded to design the RackPack 500 frame which allows to mount 4 SPL RackPack and 500 series modules http://spl.info/en/… RackPack 500: Sound Performance Lab

audiokid, post: 383547 wrote:
When the Premiums are cranked they are very quiet. I tested them with ribbons yesterday and they were lush. However, they were Royer condensers so I can't speak for the others. I still had tons of headroom.
I noticed a mass increase in level from 8 to 10. I can't imagine needing that but something big was clearly there. Whats that all about, Paul?

These pots have no linear regulation characteristics, but an (anti) logarithmic characteristic - common thing for mic preamps.
Mathematically, a logarithmic ratio is the opposite of an exponential ratio - a logarithmus helps to calculate with strongly growing values. Sound pressure level in dB also is an logarithmic scale, for example.
An anti-logarithmic pot characteristic provides a high resolution in the important control ranges and allows to squeeze a large control bandwidth. With a linear range in that resolution, you'd have to turn the pot twice :)
"anti logarithmic" means the pots start with a long control way for the first/main level range and end up with a short control way for the very last level travel - no problem as it is indeed nearly never needed anyway.