I don't know what to tell you...other than these days you can find really good desks, like a Trident 80 series that will more than satisfy the requirements of both worlds...for not a whole lot more money...

As always, YMMV

My 2c:

Please note: I am not commenting on Manley's sonic qualities in this post!

I really think that the Manley stuff of today is overpriced and not built to the quality the highly regarded reputation and great looks might suggest. Manley stuff still gives very good client, but that can change - quite fast I'm afraid... I would think twice before spending the $$. There must be better products available at similar cost.

An example: Just pop the hood of a Manley Pultec EQ and compare it to the insides of an original Pultec and you will probably ask yourself what the hype is all about - the build quality of this units insides is certainly not what you are paying for.

But don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself.

/Mats

I really think that the Manley stuff of today is overpriced and not built to the quality the highly regarded reputation and great looks might suggest.

Out of curiosity, what are you comparing the Manley stuff to?

I just bought a Manley VoxBox and, in terms of build quality, it seems to compare favorably to anything else in my studio. (Not to mention it sounds really good.) I haven't opened it up yet, but the chassis, jacks and controls seem totally "pro". So I'm wondering why you made the above comment. Care to elaborate?

:)

Originally posted by Fletcher:
I don't know what to tell you...other than these days you can find really good desks, like a Trident 80 series that will more than satisfy the requirements of both worlds...for not a whole lot more money...

I agree with you, but its just a matter of finances. I would really like to get the new ProTools controller board (its "sexy") :D

Hey People!

Fletcher, this my first post on your board, sorry it took me so long.

Did you tell anyone here Bob is selling his 80B?

We'll be using the Otari 90 for another couple weeks or so, but it is my understanding that too will go.

The two make an great pair and both have a huge history.

Thats my "two cents" {??K for the pair} worth.

This place looks hot, keep up the good work.

Paul :cool:

Originally posted by mats.olsson@rockfile.se:

/Mats

That's funny. George M thought that the Manley build quality was good enough for his products.
http://

Different strokes for different folks I suppose.

Mark Plancke

Mark Plancke wrote:
-----------------------
"That's funny. George M thought that the Manley build quality was good enough for his products. http://

Different strokes for different folks I suppose."
-----------------------

No Mark, I´m not kidding.
Next time you visit Dreamhire: ask them to open the hoods on Manley´s "Pultec" and a REAL Pultec.

I repeat my previuos statement: The Manley "Pultec" looks just like some home-cooked DIY-project inside. And I seriously do not think it resembles the build quality of a genuine Pultec at all, when I compared the two I was totally flabbergasted. Now, be a good sport and go take a look for yourself!

Please note that I am still NOT making any comments whatsoever on the sonic qualities of the Manley "Pultec".

/Mats

I repeat my previuos statement: The Manley "Pultec" looks just like some home-cooked DIY-project inside. And I seriously do not think it resembles the build quality of a genuine Pultec at all, when I compared the two I was totally flabbergasted. Now, be a good sport and go take a look for yourself!

Please note that I am still NOT making any comments whatsoever on the sonic qualities of the Manley "Pultec".

/Mats

Ok, so I look under the hood of a 1963 beetle and WHOA :eek: to my suprise its dirty, rusted, and needs a new generator. I look under the hood of a 2001 Beetle, and DAMN its not the same car, its shiny and new and the parts are tight...looks kinda like beetle on the outside, but I'll be damned if I am going to spend thousands on restoring the old beetle, when the new beetle has air conditioning and will get me the ladies. Its faster, smoother, drives better, is reliable with warranty and the stereo sounds hi fi.

So why would I want to go back to the old car, just because it is a legend? If its smells like a legend, looks like a legend, sounds like legenf, tastes like legend...it is a legend and so it stands for MANLEY.

...i'll take a real Indian over one of them new reproductions any day....

Hey Mats,
Who said we ever wanted to "clone" 30-40 year old build quality or "clone" a Pultec? I for one, am not interested in tag-strip or bird's nest construction. THAT smacks of "home-cooked DIY shit" to MY eyes. I like using PCBoards to hold all the parts in a repeatable and yes, servicable fashion. The trick is in the layout of said boards so that the signal is treated quasi-point-to-point just about jumping from part to part, minimising the number of inches the tunes actually spend on the PCB trace itself. More hand wiring is seen in our units than maybe some others in the name of signal itegrity.

So maybe you saw a part not standing at a 90 degree angle (because the shorter signal path was at some other angle). Or you saw hand soldered mogami wire (because I find solid soldered connections more reliable and better sounding than "slicker looking" Molex connectors.) Or you saw a strip of a peculiar looking metal near one of the EQ chokes and wondered why on earth we would stick that thing in there (hum deflection).
It all sure doesn't look like an old Pultec. And I don't want it to. Hopefully we've all learned something in the last few centuries and can do it better these days.

Our gear is chock-full-of WIMA caps, polystyrenes, Grayhill rotary switches, TOCOS toggles, ceramic sockets, Bourns CP pots, Cornell and Panasonic PSU caps, (MIT) MultiCaps, Neutrik gold-plated XLRs, mu-metal shielded trannies, etc. UL rated and CE certified. All parts I have personally been buying and using for over 12 years and all parts that have proved themselves to be extremely reliable. All this we cram into 1RU (not 3RU) fully enclosed, no tubes sticking out the back, no open-wafer switches to corrode, no secret wax-encapsulated EQ section you can't fix, no going noisey carbon pots and resistors, no blowing open input, interstage, or output transformers, no dying power transformers, etc. I get requests all the time to fix old Pulse Techniques Pultecs. We don't.

But still, let's give you the benefit of the doubt that you have repaired more Manley Pultecs than have ever been sold in Sweden... shit does happen. Tubes commit suicide, caps spew forth icky goo, knobs get busted off in door jambs, resistors rebel, monkeys pour cream soda into ventilation slots, our assemblers purposefully place timed-detinators inside units... in any case, please do not feel compelled to help us repair our gear; we're happy to do it. It's part of the package.

With over 20,000 Manley-built-and-branded thingies out there over about 15 year history of building this stuff we're well under a 1% failure rate of "aw shucks, sorry 'bout that. Totally was our fault us loading in a .32 auto Browning Bullet instead of an electrolytic capacitor. No wonder it blew up..." (read: whoops our fault) type repairs (can't count studio monkeys weilding cream sodas, sorry).

Regardless of what you think our gear should look like inside, could you perhaps consider that we *might* have some insight and experience to cause us to use certain parts or do things in a certain way? Hey, and if we goof, we're first and quickest to back it up.

All the same, let's have a Throw-it-Off-The-Shipping-Dock-Party at Mercenary. I guarantee you Eugene Shenk will NOT be there to help do warranty service on antique Pultecs...and you'll start by a having a coupla smashed tubes... oh waitaminute is that covered by warranty?

Fletcher? Care to entertain a gear throwing party? I am up for it (where's my welder...)

....

Brad-Sounds like it's time for the Pulse Technology units to see a little maintenance...

EveAnna-we've already done the "throw test", the stuff has been on several tours (just got Scorpio Sound's El-Op back, thanks!! That was 3 years to surviving tours ranging from a couple times around the world with "Meatloaf" to the "J. Geils Band" 401/k tour not to mention a ton of other runs).

As for the 'welder'...we just got a bitchin' welding setup for Mercenary Cycle Works (our bike shop), you can leave yours at home :D

I KNEW this would come back to haunt me. :(

Like the Michael Jackson thriller video, I will be exuming posts from a long way back to see if we can bring them back from the dead!
Please feel free to plunder the archives and rejuvinate old posts that take your fancy.

I am also looking at the Manley mixer for upping the quality of my Pro Tools Mixes. Manley hooked me up with the owner of the 32 channel custom version that is pictured on their web site. He is using it with a Pro Tools rig and has been very happy with the improvements of mixing analog and the tube output stage.

I'm a little frustrated with my PT mixes right now, but I can't go back to a non instant recall way of doing things. Too many projects running concurrently at once. If the PT level issue discussed elsewhere doesn't improve the depth/ image problem, the Manley or equivelent solution might be a great answer.

Jules- Great to see you on another forum here especially as its moderator. Your dedication and enthusiasm for all this is amazing. Please keep me/ us informed as to your results with recording and mixing in Pro Tools with the more conservative levels you spoke of the other day. I have not had a chance to try this yet until a new project starts next week. I also have to thank you for the Sony EQ recomendations. Any word on when we'll see the Massenberg EQ or the compressor?

Jeremy- Did you ever end up getting the Manley Mixer and how did it work out?

Thanks,
Kenny Meriedeth
Melted Media Music

Hey Kenny!

GML 'late late late beta' just arrive in my in box half an hour ago, loading it in tomorrow. I will report here, YOU KNOW IT!
:)

Re my non max out sessions,

See here for background: they worked a TREAT! I will continue with that set bass drum level, then 'keep all the faders in a straight line' method.

It's ALL GOOD!

:)

FWIW, I've been playing with one of the 16 channel mixers quite a bit...and must say I'm absolutely loving it.

Fletcher-
What kind of games have you had a chance to play on it? I'm interested in summing individual Pro Tools outputs to see if I can get some missing 3D depth back into my mixes. Let us know what you think (like I gotta ask for that!)
Thanks,
Kenny Meriedeth
Melted Media Music