Preamp Suggestions Please

[soundchicken]

Doh

It does happen unfortunately. Technology can out pace us at all the worst moments.

[Tim Miskimon]

Thanks for the recommendations all. I got in a Focusrite Liquid 56 to try. We'll see how that goes.



I lost the first channel a couple years ago and here's the response I got from Presonus Tech Support:

Hi Mike,

Unfortunately, the Digimax 96k has not only been discontinued for some time, but it's also been EOL'd (end of life'd), meaning we can no longer get parts for it and can no longer support or service it. See here:

http://www.presonus.com/support/repairs

You can try seeking a repair with a third party, but they will face the same parts problems, and we cannot provide schematics or assistance with repair. Your only option may be to replace the unit with a different device. The closest thing we currently make would be the Digimax D8:

When a company leaves you out in the rain to dry and doesn't even have parts to fix one of it's products (that's not even that old) the best way to voice your dissatisfaction is to not buy anymore of their products.
Mackie did that same thing with their $10,000 + DB8 mixing board and now it's a worthless, useless piece of junk - no more Mackie for me.

[UpTilDawn]

When a company leaves you out in the rain to dry and doesn't even have parts to fix one of it's products (that's not even that old) the best way to voice your dissatisfaction is to not buy anymore of their products.
Mackie did that same thing with their $10,000 + DB8 mixing board and now it's a worthless, useless piece of junk - no more Mackie for me.

Of course, the Digimax 96 is pretty old, especially by technology standards.
That's not to say that it isn't quite possibly as good, or even better, than some of Presonus' later offering - which I, myself, have found lacking compared to the 96 and the 48 before it, for that matter... both units of which I still rely on for my own remote recording rigs.

Wonder if they still service the M80?... I might have to call soon to find out. That's a very nice piece of 8-channel gear for the cost.

[RBIngraham]

If you click on the link, I'm afraid you'll see the M80 is on the EOL list.

I wouldn't be surprised that this policy has something to do with likely the only guy they had that knew anything about that generation of gear passing away.

Presonus has just turned into another Mackie and Behringer I'm afraid... cheap disposable gear, no longer what is was when they first showed up with fairly decent gear reasonablly priced.

[UpTilDawn]

If you click on the link, I'm afraid you'll see the M80 is on the EOL list.

I wouldn't be surprised that this policy has something to do with likely the only guy they had that knew anything about that generation of gear passing away.

Presonus has just turned into another Mackie and Behringer I'm afraid... cheap disposable gear, no longer what is was when they first showed up with fairly decent gear reasonablly priced.

Thanks for pointing that out.
It's really too bad....

[Carl G.]

For what it's worth....While I was in NYC several months ago at B&H I compared the ISA 428 to the Grace 101 on a large variety of mics. It was Grace 101 all the way. Clean - clear - completely transparent - for about $700.

[Mike Bizanovich]

Thanks for all the info folks. I got a Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 to try out and ended up buying it and another one for 16 analog channels. I am currently running them in "standalone" mode using my RayDat card but will try out the Firewire interface at some point to see how that works too for SAW I/O. I'm on a new XP box and had no problems with the Focusrite software running in the background while SAW is running. (You have to use the software to utilize the "Liquid" preamp modeling on the first two channels of each unit.

I am sending my Presonus Central Station back for repairs as they're still fixing those, though I don't know if I'll end up using it because I like the sound I'm getting from the Saffire. We shall see... Thanks again.