steveeastend wrote on Fri, 18 February 2005 16:08 |
...again Spectrasonics...
There has to be something special about this...?
cheers steveeastend
|
Hi Steve,
I was just about to answer a few days ago, but was "interrupted" in being able to post...
Anyway, at the time, the SpectraSonics consoles just seemed "normal" to me. It was what I had, and what I used. And I haven't heard one in years now...I only can go with the sound of the older recordings compared to what I work on now.
Those desks were, in retrospect, very simple, basic, and clean. I would say that there was somehow a lack of buildup of low-mid frequencies (the dreaded 250-400 range!). This allowed the 'good' lows and the 'normal' high end to shine through well. I don't know to what to attribute this, but it is my first thought about the SpectraS sound. The mic pre's I always liked a lot. I distinctly remember in the early 70's getting hold of my first API, and not thinking very much of it, compared to the Spectra's I was using then. Now, this is hard for me to believe, and to say, as I use the API's (and Brent Averill versions thereof) quite a bit. But that was my very first impression "in the day."
The EQ's were OK, in my recollection. They were very basic and simple, and took a lot of turns to get anything out of them. While this may have seemed a bit weak, it also probably kept me (and other users) from going over the top with EQ...that is, everything stayed in a "good and normal" range. And I do believe that the best thing to do is usually nothing...keep it simple...
There were few features on the desks, meaning minimal echo/cue sends/returns, no automation, and usually not even a monitor section. But I would like to be able to listen to one today, just to see.
And again, these consoles used in Memphis at the time (Ardent, Stax, Pepper, et al) were built locally by Auditronics, under license from SpectraSonics. The later Auditronics (non Spectra) consoles I did not like much, and I don't know a lot about the non-Auditronics Spectra's made in Utah. But Mr. Dilly, the owner, was quite a character, and really into the hi-fi side of recorded audio, so they're probably good.
I was sort of the test platform for their real-life use of the Spectra products. They sent us the first prototype limiter, which later became the 610, and we helped tailor it to pro use. I wish I had one of those now, too, just to see what it's like today.
Anyway, maybe I'll run across something to try out now, and can give a much better report.
Thanks,
Terry