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anonymous 30 April 2005

At the moment I use an Allen & Heath 16 channel mixer. When I go to upgrade to a console. What brand names are the best? (anything under $30,000)
And where are some of the best places to look for used consoles, or even new ones?

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John Stafford Sat, 04/30/2005 - 12:36

Sometimes you can get all sorts of interesting stuff at
http://www.analogjapan.com

I couldn't get on to the website today so I don't know their current inventory, but I'd keep an eye on it. I remember seeing a Neve 8108 for $230,000, but they sometimes have smaller desks as well.

If you don't find anything you want, I'd be inclined to keep checking the site unless you find something better. I don't see a suitable emoticon for envy, but at least this one is green :? !

Good luck with the search!

John Stafford

KurtFoster Sat, 04/30/2005 - 14:41

Luke,
The gear brokers in the back of the Mix mag will charge top dollar .... you're not going to get the best deal from them.

Check out Blevins Audio in Nashville for deals on MCIs http:// ....

Wes Dooley sells older Sony boards http://www.wesdolley@aea.com

Pro Audio Marketplace .....

http://www.proaudiomarketplace.com

listings for consoles, recorders, outboard, mics etc. I found a lot of very good deals in there.

LittleDogAudio Sat, 04/30/2005 - 16:36

Well, I have an old MCI and I can't recommend it. It's noisy, expensive to power and always needs attention. I basically use it as a desktop for my keyboards and mice.

I would look into a Trident 65 or a Neotek IIIc. Both are bitchin' rock-n-roll boards and are pretty simple to maintain.

As to where to find them. That's a tough one. I wouldn't trust Ebay on a large purchase like this. Althuogh if you find one that didn't sell and you contacted the owner you may find a deal. But, only if you can drive to it and run signal through all channels.

You may want to consider the Soundcraft Ghost, for the money (about 5 K) you can get a brand new board that has great sound and no issues, that an older board will have.

Boards to stay away from: Otari, Neve 8108's both are hogs and will stop your session in it's tracks. I've been there many times with these boats.

My .02

Chris

Guest Sat, 04/30/2005 - 17:48

LittleDogAudio wrote: You may want to consider the Soundcraft Ghost, for the money (about 5 K) you can get a brand new board that has great sound and no issues

Chris, what do you think about, if I look at the Midas? I have the opinion that the Midas is better than the Ghost. Right? Wrong? :?
Need your .02cents

Davedog Sat, 04/30/2005 - 17:56

You can find a used Ghost for under 4K, do the mods on several channels and the mains section and for under 10K you'll have a board that sounds like a lot more. Basically you're gonna want a low maintainence console with the best sound.Tridents are great. Low mileage Sony's..With a Sony, theres a bunch of different boutique builders who make plug-in upgrades for pres,EQ,compressors...Hardy,Forsselle,others.All really great stuff.So you can kinda customize your console for the kind of work you do most of.

Davedog Sat, 04/30/2005 - 18:11

research is your friend,my friend...

here are some links...what I dont mind about a broker is they can know particulars about the type of room it came from, the number of owners, whether its been serviced,etc...sometimes they service the consoles themselves and while you may pay a bit more its sometimes better...not always....

Oceanaudioinc.com
Primalgear.com
Soundbroker.com
Odysseyprosound.com

As for Midas vs.Ghost its going to be a difference for your ears only.

AudioGaff Sat, 04/30/2005 - 20:49

I agree with the Da-dog. You pay more for a broker, but a good one will stand behind your purchase. They deserve to make a little money.

If I was in the market for an analog board again, I'd likely first be looking for a used Neotek just as I had before. Great sound and value. In fact I think Neotek is back in businees making one of the last newer models, the Elan I think. You might find some info or a link from the sytek website.

anonymous Thu, 12/08/2005 - 20:00

interesting stuff at www.analogjapan.com

Apparently their super Neve mixes are still there, but then they don't update their site too often. I bought 2 x 1073's and 2 x 1081's from them in the past year. Excellent. The good thing about recording equipment coming from japan is that it is always in way better shape than what I bought in the US or Europe. Japanese sound engineers seem to be very picky guys when it comes to original parts and also cosmetic condition. The bad side is that you have to pay a bit more than here as everything in japan is priced higher. There was the biggest economic bubble in history 15-20 years ago there and they had no problem paying a lot to get the very best from us.

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