User Reviews: Mixers, mics, outboard, monitors, and headphones.

[Monarch]

Hi everyone, this is a user review thread that focuses on Mixers, mics, outboard, monitors, and headphones. Please write a review of any items you currently own within those categories using these guidelines as best as possible...


1. Name of the product and current version:

2. When you bought the product:

3. Why you bought it:

4. How much did it cost:

5. Installation / Setup:

6. What do you like about it?:

7. What don’t you like about it?.

8. Any improvements:

9. Comparison to similar products:

10.Would you buy it again:

11.Licence:
a. Transfers allowed?
b. How many, per (PC or MAC)

12. Format (PC or MAC):

13.Copy Protection:

14. Pros and cons summary:

15. Rating:


Please bear in mind they are just guidelines. You can make your review as long or as short as you wish of course. Thanks for your help!

[sureno]

1.Name: Mackie Big Knob

2.When you bought: November 2007
3.Why you bought it: Easy access volume control and to set up reference Monitors
4.How much did it cost: £210
5.Installation: easy
6.Likes: Simplicity
7.Dislikes: No pan knobs
8.Any improvements: Introduce Panning
9.How does it compare: Seemed to be the best vfm and most solid looking
10.Would you buy it again: yes, nothing wrong with this product what so ever

Pro's - Easy and simple to use, 3 pairs of monitors, 2 headphone jacks with separate volume

Con's - No Panning

Ever since buying this product iv been able to keep a clear conscience when i lean forward to whisper into women's ears and say i've got a big knob which they are more than welcome to use.
oh stop the boo'ing it had to be done regardless of how cliche it may sound

[Monarch]

Hey sureno!

Thanks for getting the ball rolling in this thread. It's great too see how different members are sharing their thoughts in various dedicated User Review threads already.

Mackie are well known for quality and I had heard of the Big knob but never read any detailed *user* reviews on it until today. Thanks for helping out!

[sureno]

Originally Posted by Monarch

Hey sureno!

Thanks for getting the ball rolling in this thread. It's great too see how different members are sharing their thoughts in various dedicated User Review threads already.

Mackie are well known for quality and I had heard of the Big knob but never read any detailed *user* reviews on it until today. Thanks for helping out!

well it's hardly detailed but you get the idea, the reviews are good in a sense that if any one is seriously considering purchasing the item and there was something fundamentally wrong with it we would find out in advance

[e-vinyl]

1.Name: Yamaha MG 166C
2.When you bought: June 2008
3.Why you bought it: Needed more channels than my old mixer could offer.
4.How much did it cost: £229
5.Installation: Took a while to find a place big enough to put it in.
6.Likes: Has a nice color.
7.Dislikes: Nothing to deslike about it
8.Any improvements: It could use 2 more subgroups.
9.How does it compare: It has a built in compressor that a regular 16 channeled mixer doesn't have.
10.Would you buy it again: Yes
11.Pros and cons summary: It is easy to use but it is too big.

Rating: 4.5/5

http://www.dv247.com/invt/40682/

[sureno]

1.Name: Mackie 32-8 Buss mixer with meter bridge

2.When you bought: Q1 2008
3.Why you bought it: Needed a bigger mixer and was going to use it to track
4.How much did it cost:Discontinued but avg. £1000
5.Installation: awkward, very heavy
6.Likes: extensive routing possibilities, nice entry level Desk
7.Dislikes: The heater they call the power supply
8.Any improvements: for the price it has its following so im not one to say if needs improvements. it does the job and has now been discontinued
9.How does it compare: for it's price range its a good desk, for its type its at the bottom of the range SSL and NEVE being superior but at a price too
10.Would you buy it again: No, i would buy a current desk if i where to go down that road again but for me a small time producer i didn't need this desk if im honest so you may see it in the for sale segment shortly???

Pro's - once fully set up very easy to record from all different sources and in differently routed ways, for the price quality is very good

Con's - Big bulky and generates a lot of Heat, to much for a Bedroom studio imo, this is more aimed for the bottom of the line studio's sheerly because of price.

[e-vinyl]

1.Name of the product: Roland RH-50
2.When you bought the product: November 2006
3.Why you bought it: My old headphones spilled on my recordings
4. Cost: 25€
5.Set up and/or installation: Just plug the cable on the headphone out
6.What do you like about the product: Its confortable on the ears
7.What don’t you like about it: the cables seem to fragile
8.Any improvements you would like to suggest for the product: Tougher cables
9.How does it compare to similar products out there: It is really nice and doesnt add too much bass like a regular headphone.
10.Would you buy it again: yes as in matter of fact i might buy another pair.
11.Pros and cons summary: It is confortable altough the cables semm they are about to be unpluged any minute.

Rating: 4/5

http://www.dv247.com/invt/12419/

[sureno]

1.Name: Digidesign RM2 Referance Monitors

2.When you bought: Q4 2007
3.Why you bought it: Blew up my monitors with an electric guitar and decided to upgrade
4.How much did it cost: £2398.00 (DV did me an awesome deal so paid less)
5.Installation: Easy
6.Likes: VERY VERY revealing and honest flat sound but has bass boost if desired
7.Dislikes: the price, Warranty issues are a nightmare, Digi send speaker to PMC and they are an awkward size
8.Any improvements: Better customer support
9.How does it compare: they are on parr if not better than competition
10.Would you buy it again: No, bad experience with my set going into warranty have put me off ever buying Monitors from Digidesign. Iv forgotten now how long they have been in the shop, 2 or more months but the DV guys have been fab

Pro's - Revealing, flat and Look cool thats all you need in a mixing monitor

Con's - Expensive and poor warranty support*. awkward shape
UPDATE
*Digi has come through now and looked after me extremely well, replacing this set with a pair of brand new ones

[e-vinyl]

1.Name of the product: Behringer Sonic Exciter SX3040
2.When you bought the product: January 2008
3.Why you bought it: An exiter does wonderthings to a mix
4. Cost: 108€
5.Set up and/or installation: Just plug the cables.
6.What do you like about the product: Actually for a behringer it is quite good
7.What don’t you like about it: I like it all.
8.Any improvements you would like to suggest for the product: It doesn't need.
9.How does it compare to similar products out there: with more money you can get better equipment but for a budget processor i was quite impressed.
10.Would you buy it again: Yes.
11.Pros and cons summary: The cost. No cons to point out

Rating: 4/5

http://www.dv247.com/invt/38125/

[e-vinyl]

1.Name of the product: MICROHD HD400 Hum Destroyer
2.When you bought the product: Dezember 2006
3.Why you bought it: It is the most useful equipment i have.
4. Cost: 23€
5.Set up and/or installation: Very simple, it is so small it fits anywhere
6.What do you like about the product? It actually "destroys" the hum very efficiently
7.What don’t you like about it? Nothing
8.Any improvements you would like to suggest for the product? No
9.How does it compare to similar products out there? I am not sure if there is anything like this on the amrket
10.Would you buy it again? Of course
11.Pros and cons summary: It does what it is supposed to without adding noise, so no cons.

Rating 5/5 (i would give it a 10 out of 5 if i could

Behringer MICROHD HD400 Ultra-Compact 2-Channel Hu at DV247.COM

[conor_j]

nicely timed e-vinyl, im just about to order one of those lol

+1 for effective review

[TrevCircleStudios]

An addition to Sureno's post about the Mackie Big Knob (I bought one for a short time but canned it for the reasons set out below):

Features in summary:

INS. it has 4 analogue ins marked DAW, 2-track A, 2-track B and phono I've only ever used 3 of these: the DAW mix for... well duh, a 2 track in for Kork D1600 I used to use for mobile tracking, and the phono in to take a line from my mac for listening to music from my mac/members song reviews etc).

OUTS. 3 pairs of monitor outs (all analogue) (once used for a/bing between my Dynaudio BM5as and my Behry Truths),

a headphone amp with two outs (useful for tracking because of the next feature),

an integral talkback mic

Other features. Mono switch (very useful for checking mix in mono for phase cancellation); mute and dim

So here's how it's was for me. I got it and was happy with the feature set and was busily working away on a number of projects. Right from the start I began to have translation issues: bass or low mids always seemed to need work. I first assumed it must have been my monitors: cue purchase of Dynaudios. No change. Okay it must be my room: cue more treatment. No change. I pretty much worked through each piece of equipment I had. They all provided slight improvements in my mix but still the same old underlying problem. Hmm. And then by accident I unplugged the Mackie one day (I didn't actualy unplug it accidentally but the reason was not to work on my ongoing issue, I was tracking a band and...(I digress). Anyway, as I say, for whatever reason I unplugged the mackie from my signal chain. I was pootling around over night and the band were coming back the next day so I didn't change anything back. Listened to an old project...yikes!! Clarity!! Detail!! No more muffled sound in the bass and lower mids! That can't be right I thought. I plugged the mackie back into my signal chain...welcome back mud! The Mackie Big Knob was colouring the sound to such a degree that I couldn't actually here what my mixes sounded like!

I quickly went out and bought a presonus central station. The difference in sound was like like night and day. Crystal clear tones and details in the lower mids told me quickly that my mixes had been sounding a bit weedy. I'd been overcompensating for the mud provided by the Mackie. Moral of this tale: the Mackie Big Knob is a feature packed delight for a bargain price, but beware the layer of mud it washes across your mixes.

[Monarch]

Lovely write ups guys thanks! I need to get my monitor review up!

Oh...here it is...

Name: Samson Resolv 80a

Not available at DV but the new versions are...the Samson A8's) You can get a much bigger close up image of the Samson Resolve 80a's here.

2.When you bought the product: Back in 2004
3.Why you bought it: Very good quality brand.
4. Cost? £250 (for the pair)
5.Set up and/or installation: Ok actually. The box for the speakers was massive. The included set up manual was very helpful. Nice and easy. I added some balanced cables to go with my purchase.
6.What do you like about the product? Excellent sound IMO. It lets me hear the difference between different audio interfaces.Nice design. I love the blue glow when you switch them on .
7.What don’t you like about it? They are quite big, but worth it for the sound they produce. Not much to dislike.
8. Any improvements: Really quite happy with them.
9.How does it compare to similar products out there: Have not really done an A/B test with other products but the Samson Monitors do deliver professional results.
10.Would you buy it again? No. But that is because I would now buy the new version (which should be even better ...heh)
11.Pros and cons summary: They are a really nice set of monitors and I think they were a bargain for the price. I have had them for years and they have been extremely reliable. I might have preferred one or two controls round the front of the speakers but that is a minor nit pick.

Rating...Probably a 4.75 out of 5. Very pleased with them!

[sureno]

Originally Posted by TrevCircleStudios

An addition to Sureno's post about the Mackie Big Knob (I bought one for a short time but canned it for the reasons set out below):

Features in summary:

INS. it has 4 analogue ins marked DAW, 2-track A, 2-track B and phono I've only ever used 3 of these: the DAW mix for... well duh, a 2 track in for Kork D1600 I used to use for mobile tracking, and the phono in to take a line from my mac for listening to music from my mac/members song reviews etc).

OUTS. 3 pairs of monitor outs (all analogue) (once used for a/bing between my Dynaudio BM5as and my Behry Truths),

a headphone amp with two outs (useful for tracking because of the next feature),

an integral talkback mic

Other features. Mono switch (very useful for checking mix in mono for phase cancellation); mute and dim

So here's how it's was for me. I got it and was happy with the feature set and was busily working away on a number of projects. Right from the start I began to have translation issues: bass or low mids always seemed to need work. I first assumed it must have been my monitors: cue purchase of Dynaudios. No change. Okay it must be my room: cue more treatment. No change. I pretty much worked through each piece of equipment I had. They all provided slight improvements in my mix but still the same old underlying problem. Hmm. And then by accident I unplugged the Mackie one day (I didn't actualy unplug it accidentally but the reason was not to work on my ongoing issue, I was tracking a band and...(I digress). Anyway, as I say, for whatever reason I unplugged the mackie from my signal chain. I was pootling around over night and the band were coming back the next day so I didn't change anything back. Listened to an old project...yikes!! Clarity!! Detail!! No more muffled sound in the bass and lower mids! That can't be right I thought. I plugged the mackie back into my signal chain...welcome back mud! The Mackie Big Knob was colouring the sound to such a degree that I couldn't actually here what my mixes sounded like!

I quickly went out and bought a presonus central station. The difference in sound was like like night and day. Crystal clear tones and details in the lower mids told me quickly that my mixes had been sounding a bit weedy. I'd been overcompensating for the mud provided by the Mackie. Moral of this tale: the Mackie Big Knob is a feature packed delight for a bargain price, but beware the layer of mud it washes across your mixes.

Wow not that im probably any where near your level of mixing but will try leaving my one out and see if it was a one off or a design flaw

[TrevCircleStudios]

Originally Posted by Monarch

.Probably a 4.75 out of 5. Very pleased with them![/SIZE][/FONT]

Hmm. It occurs to me that herein lies the problem with user reviews. Any rating a user gives without having heard the competition is necessarily a very subjective measure. If let's say I reviewed my Adam S3a's and gave them a 4 out of 5 then, logically, that would seem to suggest the Resolv's are a better deal. I guess the only way we could get around this was to have a massive DV Forum gear shootout. Hmm... food for thought methinks.