R/E/P Community

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Please comments about the VT747SP  (Read 2905 times)

Alécio Costa - Brazil

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 791
Please comments about the VT747SP
« on: May 30, 2005, 07:56:19 PM »

Hi,

Can you guys comment/share any of your experiences about the Avalon VT747SP? Is it fine for mastering as sometimes is used on tracking/mix? ( I am obviously not regarding the eq section -  Very Happy )
Pendulum OCL2 is not distributed here in Brazil so my eyes got caught by this box for a moment.
Thanks in advance
Smile
Logged
Alécio Costa Studio
High-end Mastering, Music Production
http://www.aleciocosta.com

Listen to my album at:
http://www.audiostreet.net/aleciocosta

MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/aleciocostamasterizacao

TotalSonic

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3728
Re: Please comments about the VT747SP
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2005, 09:25:52 PM »

The only ME I know of that actually has it in their rack is Emily Lazar at The Lodge (and I'm kind of supsicious that the reason it's listed in her studio's equipment list is that she is an endorser of Avalon products and it came as a "package" deal.  Heck - I'd be more than glad to say publically I used the 747 if it got me a free 2077!!).

I haven't used it in a while but my memory of it is that the compressor is way too slloowww to work well for mastering - and that the equalizer with its fixed freq center points and fixed Q is a way too limited unless used as an occasional secondary eq.  If you had it in your rack anyway for its uses in tracking I'm sure there would be occasional tracks that it would useful on in mastering - but if you were looking for gear specifically for mastering I think the cash would probably be spent better elsewhere.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

Alécio Costa - Brazil

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 791
Re: Please comments about the VT747SP
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2005, 09:38:09 PM »

Thanks, Steve. Just checked the very same info at other places. So.. I wonder why all this brand boutique crap towards the name of Avalon? Because of the Ad22Xx?
Checking top Brazilian mastering guys most do not have Pendulum or Crane. Generally, Manley boxes. I showed Brad some time ago a few links.
Homero is a very good brazilian mastering engineer and he is occasionally on here. He has got nice gear too.
Logged
Alécio Costa Studio
High-end Mastering, Music Production
http://www.aleciocosta.com

Listen to my album at:
http://www.audiostreet.net/aleciocosta

MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/aleciocostamasterizacao

TotalSonic

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3728
Re: Please comments about the VT747SP
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2005, 09:56:02 PM »

Well - I think the 2077 and 2055 are actually pretty nice eq's if you're looking for something more "neutralish" and "sheeny" - although they wouldn't be my personal first choice if I was in the market for a primary eq.

737 is a pretty nice pre too also and the 747 is not a bad thing to have in the rack for a tracking/mix studio either.

So I think Avalon actually makes really decent stuff - but in the case of the 747 it's just not a tool that I think really belongs in a mastering studio.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

Alécio Costa - Brazil

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 791
Re: Please comments about the VT747SP
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2005, 07:43:29 AM »

I have seen several different opinions towards their 737.. Love and hate thing
Already dreaming with an OCL2 here
hehee
Nice tuesday
Smile
Logged
Alécio Costa Studio
High-end Mastering, Music Production
http://www.aleciocosta.com

Listen to my album at:
http://www.audiostreet.net/aleciocosta

MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/aleciocostamasterizacao

twelfthandvine

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 136
Re: Please comments about the VT747SP
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2005, 03:20:07 AM »

OK ... I confess to still having a vt747 in the rack Embarassed .  

I agree with everything Steve said ... it's not a Weiss but on the other hand I don't think it was designed to be one.  Sadly, mine didn't come with a complimentary 2077 but then I'm not in Emily Lazar's league Crying or Very Sad .

You asked specifically to comment/share experiences. FWIW, a couple of producers/studios that refer work have reported an issue with mismatched output levels when the drive is set to a certain range of positions and the TSP engaged.  I believe the distributor addressed this promptly and don't believe it's a common fault. Both of them would buy another one and own other Avalon products. Mine's been fine ... but then it's not really fired up all that often in comparison.

IMHO, like Steve, I believe Avalon make some nice stuff and I'd like to think that I'll get round to acquiring more of it down the track.

Kind regards,
Paul Blakey
Logged

Imagine

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 200
Re: Please comments about the VT747SP
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2005, 02:01:25 PM »

Hi Paul,

You mentioned there are issue's with mismatched output levels. I've been having the same problem with mine. Do you know if there's a way to adjust the attenuators?

Thanks

twelfthandvine

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 136
Re: Please comments about the VT747SP
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2005, 02:39:59 AM »

Hi Dean ...

Specifically, I don't know about adjusting the attenuators but given the experiences below I'm not sure this is the answer ... particularly given that it's only reported to be prominently noticeable when the TSP circuit is engaged Confused .

I wanted to be able to add something more constructive so I contacted the producer who had the "most" problems here. He says:

(1) The distributors (very good people over here ... which is helpful because we're on the other side of the world) suggested that there was in fact some sort of design issue where the L/R outputs would mismatch by around 4dB if the Input/Drive level was set to less than -10 (I think?) and the TSP circuit engaged.  The fix is obvious but may not be what you want on every occasion.

(2) Initially, they advised him to swap the valves around (not replace them, just swap them). FWIW I think this may have cured the other studio's problem but I can't be sure.

(3) They also warned him that the units were sensitive to ventilation issues and that the TSP circuit was particularly vulnerable.  In other words, make sure that it's not overheating.  Come to think of it, I remember that they threw in a couple of ventilator panels for the rack when I bought my 747 (see, they are good people).

(4) Unfortunately, none of these fixes really helped ... his other problem was that after waiting the advised 20mins for warm-up the unit initially functioned OK.  But, when he stopped "play" (he runs a big ProTools HD system) and restarted it again one channel ... usually the left ... would drop in volume by about 4-6dB and the "tone" would perceptually change. It was like a fresh signal somehow triggered the fault.  Really weird and seriously annoying. Eventually, he ended up sending the unit in for service.  Not really sure what they did with it there (the service centre is at the other end of the country) but they did acknowledge that there was some kind of issue and apparently fixed it. Because they were kind of vague about what was done, his cynical suspicion is that they just fooled around with everything in the TSP and really aren't sure themselves what they did to remedy the problem. Anyway, the box is running OK now but still displays some mismatch symptoms when the drive level is set "too low" and TSP engaged.  

I haven't had a chance to try to replicate the "too low/TSP in" fault on my unit yet as I'm a bit pressed at the moment.

I hope this is of some assistance, Dean.

Kind regards,
Paul

Logged

Imagine

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 200
Re: Please comments about the VT747SP
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2005, 04:55:17 PM »

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply. I've been having difficultites with the output levels for a few weeks now. The left level is a few dbs louder than the right. I'm surprized Avalon never mentioned anything about this on their site.

I'm not too far from head-quarters, so perhaps a visit is in order.

I appreciate the information. Thanks...

twelfthandvine

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 136
Re: Please comments about the VT747SP
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2005, 07:48:08 PM »

Hi Dean ...

If you have the time, let me know how you go after your "visit".  The info may come in handy over here.

Kind regards,
Paul
Logged

Jerry Tubb

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2761
Re: Please comments about the VT747SP
« Reply #10 on: June 04, 2005, 06:45:13 PM »

TotalSonic wrote on Mon, 30 May 2005 20:56

Well - I think the 2077 and 2055 are actually pretty nice eq's if you're looking for something more "neutralish" and "sheeny" - although they wouldn't be my personal first choice if I was in the market for a primary eq.


Steve,

We've got a 2055 in our B Room... It's not my first choice, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it.  It does have that "sheen" you described. This one's the older model with the blue lights, it's harder to adjust for small 1dB changes.

I've noticed that Peerless Mastering also has one in their rack.

Peace  Cool
Logged
Terra Nova Mastering
Celebrating 20 years of Mastering!
Pages: [1]   Go Up
 

Site Hosted By Ashdown Technologies, Inc.

Page created in 0.051 seconds with 20 queries.