Let's talk about outboard gear.

[dfuller]

What outboard do you own? What do you use it for?

...Has anyone ever spent the time to measure any of the classic pieces?

I currently own a Warm Bus Comp, which is more or less a souped-up SSL G comp clone. Very cool piece of gear, more intuitive to dial than any plugin.

 

[Philbo King]

I used to have a late 50s Gates Level Devil mono compressor/expander that I rescued from an AM radio station dumpster. I drew a complete schematic, did a complete restoration of the electronics, and did some level sweep tests at various frequencies to assure it was working.

But for day-to-day studio work, I almost never used it. After having in my rack for 9 years I ended up trading it for -$2500 worth of microphones. Which is approximately what restored units were going for on Ebay at the time.

I guess it's the 'vintage tube & transformer' mojo that drives the price. It did sound really great for processing bass guitar and amplified harmonica.

And it had enough tubes (12 or so) that it helped heat my previous studio...

These days I mix and master completely in-the-box, to simplify settings recall for mix rework.

 

[Gregg Hermetech]

I have a few nice bits (see on my website page below), but last October mostly switched from analogue/digital hybrid chain to all in the box, for mastering. Will likely have all the outboard up for sale before the end of the year.

Equipment

Hermetech Mastering Equipment

hermetechmastering.com

 

[DVDdoug]

I have a DBX subharmonic synthesizer on my home theater subwoofers.

 

[sarumbear]

I have a DBX subharmonic synthesizer on my home theater subwoofers.

Now that is a cool piece of kit with a long pedigree.

During the vinyl era, frequencies below 50Hz were almost non-existent, because frequency ranges that had more musical information (those being above subharmonic frequencies) were prioritized to manage the limitations of a 12" vinyl. When in the late 70s the legendary audio sound systems designer in NY city, Richard Long was installing a sound system for the dance music institution, The Paradise Garage he came up with the concept of subharmonic synthesiser and worked with DBX on the design of a commercial device.

DBX soon released model 100 Boom Box based on Long's subharmonic synthesizer concept. The audio in the range of 50–100Hz range was synthesized one octave lower, around 25–50Hz. Most major super clubs that Long designed the sound systems for, like Studio 54, Area, Bonds, Zanzibar, The Box, Warehouse and more, used the Model 100. Even more than a decade later when the Ministry of Sound was opened in 1991 there was a DBX subharmonic synthesizer in the signal chain.

 

[Philbo King]

I forgot - I have another piece of gear I (again) almost never use. It's called a Peavey Kosmos.
It is also a subharmonic synthesizer, which also spreads the mids & highs out to the sides, presumably to make room for the added bass in the mid. Interesting unit, albeit a little weird.

Nothing there I can't do with plugins... might come in handy if I decide to make Electronic Dance Music, which seems quite unlikely at the moment.


Marketing info:

Peavey Kosmos

Only at Sweetwater! ✅ Easy Payments, ✅ FREE Shipping, and ✅ FREE Warranty for your Peavey Kosmos!

www.sweetwater.com

 

[Scrappy]

I used to have a late 50s Gates Level Devil mono compressor/expander that I rescued from an AM radio station dumpster. I drew a complete schematic, did a complete restoration of the electronics, and did some level sweep tests at various frequencies to assure it was working.

But for day-to-day studio work, I almost never used it. After having in my rack for 9 years I ended up trading it for -$2500 worth of microphones. Which is approximately what restored units were going for on Ebay at the time.

I guess it's the 'vintage tube & transformer' mojo that drives the price. It did sound really great for processing bass guitar and amplified harmonica.

And it had enough tubes (12 or so) that it helped heat my previous studio...

These days I mix and master completely in-the-box, to simplify settings recall for mix rework.

>amplified harmonica

Nice!

 

[kipman725]

Anyone using waves for live sound? currently use an X32 and X32 rack so adding waves in is an option looking for opinions.

 

[Philbo King]

Anyone using waves for live sound? currently use an X32 and X32 rack so adding waves in is an option looking for opinions.

Does Waves make outboard hardware? Did not know that.
I'm not really a fan of their DAW plug-ins, but some people like them.

 

[kipman725]

Does Waves make outboard hardware? Did not know that.
I'm not really a fan of their DAW plug-ins, but some people like them.

kind of they sell sound grid servers that you can run the plugins in real time on. Then there is a card for the desk that allows it to digitally send and receive audio from the server. You can also DIY the server which is more cost effective. https://www.waves.com/hardware#sort...st-view|paging:currentPage=0|paging:number=20

 

[ThatSoundsGood]

You want outboard gear at a stupid affordable price? Ge this stuff.

DICTATOR Dual Pentode Vari-mu Compressor

Gainlab Audio is a Hungarian manufacturer of professional audio equipment. Based in Budapest, the company was mostly founded with the crew of Gainlab Studios and external engineers.

gainlabaudio.com

The FOH guy on my current tour is using the compressor and EQ. They're both amazing. I'm shocked at how affordable they are. The guys who make them are super cool.

 

[ThatSoundsGood]

I avoid Waves like the plague. They make great plug-ins but integrating into a live sound situation can be problematic. However, waves is quite common and probably 50% of the touring engineers I see are using waves.

 

[kipman725]

I avoid Waves like the plague. They make great plug-ins but integrating into a live sound situation can be problematic. However, waves is quite common and probably 50% of the touring engineers I see are using waves.

any alternatives? we don't have the van space for a rack of outboard.

 

[Matthias McCready]

I avoid Waves like the plague. They make great plug-ins but integrating into a live sound situation can be problematic. However, waves is quite common and probably 50% of the touring engineers I see are using waves.

Why is it problematic in your view?

any alternatives? we don't have the van space for a rack of outboard.

While Waves is not the only option for live (UAD, Liveprofessor) they are the most common plugin option used, and for good reason.

What questions do you have? (granted this might be outside of the purview of this thread, and maybe should be its own?)

 

[Scrappy]

Waves...

 

[Matthias McCready]

Waves...

I have found that if I reboot my console, and host computer at the start of my day, that it is absolutely stable. I have never had a crash doing this.

Also FWIW, every time Waves has crashed for me, before I got into the reboot regimen, it is that the host computer freezes, but it keeps processing and passing audio just fine.

----

Waves is not my favorite, but it is a really useful set of tools for most consoles, even running a DiGiCo, Waves opens up some useful options.

 

[Scrappy]

I avoid Waves like the plague. They make great plug-ins but integrating into a live sound situation can be problematic. However, waves is quite common and probably 50% of the touring engineers I see are using waves.

I don’t know percentages, but I’ve seen guys unbox ‘em for a whole day..

 

[Scrappy]

Why is it problematic in your view?

While Waves is not the only option for live (UAD, Liveprofessor) they are the most common plugin option used, and for good reason.

What questions do you have? (granted this might be outside of the purview of this thread, and maybe should be its own?)

There’s some serious obsolescence with UAD last I heard, but that’s far from my purview.

 

[Scrappy]

I have found that if I reboot my console, and host computer at the start of my day, that it is absolutely stable. I have never had a crash doing this.

Also FWIW, every time Waves has crashed for me, before I got into the reboot regimen, it is that the host computer freezes, but it keeps processing and passing audio just fine.

----

Waves is not my favorite, but it is a really useful set of tools for most consoles, even running a DiGiCo, Waves opens up some useful options.

If it’s reliable it’s great; different than my side of “computer audio” for touring. Man the old racks for analog processing were awesome, seems like DBX, Drawmer, Yamaha, TC etc, all got the memo and put AC inlet on the right and audio on the left. One could build a double 17ru, with assembling panels, in just a few hours. Ahhh that’s all gone now.

 

[Matthias McCready]

There’s some serious obsolescence with UAD last I heard, but that’s far from my purview.

That, and they are fantastically expensive compared to Waves.

I do have big hopes for Live Professor, as when I have the option, there a lot of other plugin manufacturers that are phenomenal such as Kush, Soundtoys, and Vahalla.

If it’s reliable it’s great; different than my side of “computer audio” for touring. Man the old racks for analog processing were awesome, seems like DBX, Drawmer, Yamaha, TC etc, all got the memo and put AC inlet on the right and audio on the left. One could build a double 17ru, with assembling panels, in just a few hours. Ahhh that’s all gone now.

This is a valid point, but I can fly with what used to be a trucks worth of outboard in a backpack (64 channels up 8 plugins on each). I can change routing and patching with a few clicks. You have to admit that is pretty useful.

Yes a lot of the stuff is extra and Waves of course won't fix bad sources, a bad mix, or a bad PA. However it is a really nice equalizer on the console end, meaning I can get roughly the same performance out of a $5k one as $60k one, as a mix engineer it also provides some nice consistency on the tools that are front of me when mixing on different desks. It is pretty nice to have Desser and dynamic EQ as a possibility on every channel, that alone is worth the price of entry for me.

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(Edit): This very much got derailed from the hardware outboard, the real fun stuff. Sorry to the OP! Plugins and digital processing (DAW or Live) is fun, but might be better off in a different thread??