Remote preamp gain control/save/recall

[Jazzyrick]

Well since we're making accusatory remarks and instantly assuming that the other guy is a just a windbag that doesn't know what they are talking about (and I guess I am some days, but sorry I know what I'm talking about!) I would then have to assume you haven't talked to many people out in the field actually using the M7! Or at least not any that have an acceptable amount of grey matter left between their ears.


Richard

OK, not necessarily meant to be a specific accusation towards you, but I haven't talked to "other guys" that have used M7s because I've used them myself, and Midas Legends, and so forth. Some people think vinyl sounds better than CDs too...it's all subjective. My point is that what's considered "better" is just a load of junk for the most part, marketing people with too much time on their hands. The most important piece of equipment in any signal chain is the people being miced or amplified in some way and the guy controlling how that sound gets to the audience.

A good engineer can get the best out even marginal equipment the same way a great guitar player could probably use some cheap $100 guitar and sound way better than some average player on the most expensive guitar/amp/strings/etc... you could afford.

It's like the high end audio guys talking about $5000 interconnects. Seriously? Who cares. If the system sounds better and you can scientifically attribute it to the mic pres, that's awesome. The fact is that 99.9% of the people listening to your production or show won't have a clue if you are using a Telefunken U47 or a SM57 for a mic either.

I mean is it the mic pres or the way they are being used? I can certainly see in a recording environment using impedance matched inputs and Telefunkens, and Neve Mic pres, and so on...and you certainly may have a completely different use for your skills than I do. Me? I mix live bands in small to moderate sized venues and even at the smaller shows the audience just talking to each other is at 85+ dB, so that little extra clarity I could get out of a nice mic pre is just bouncing off the ceiling into someones head.

I've mixed with a Mackie 16 channel mixer with JBL TR125 tops and behringer amps and gotten compliments on how good it sounded. On the other hand I've been behind a Midas Legend and had problems. It is most certainly easier to work with good equipment, don't get me wrong. It's also just as easy to get someone behind that "good equipment" that isn't comfortable with it, and it'll sound bad no matter how expensive the Digico/D&B/Lab Gruppen/etc...system is.

[RBIngraham]

My point is that what's considered "better" is just a load of junk for the most part, marketing people with too much time on their hands. The most important piece of equipment in any signal chain is the people being miced or amplified in some way and the guy controlling how that sound gets to the audience.

A good engineer can get the best out even marginal equipment the same way a great guitar player could probably use some cheap $100 guitar and sound way better than some average player on the most expensive guitar/amp/strings/etc... you could afford.

Couldn't agree more!

I've mixed with a Mackie 16 channel mixer with JBL TR125 tops and behringer amps and gotten compliments on how good it sounded. On the other hand I've been behind a Midas Legend and had problems. It is most certainly easier to work with good equipment, don't get me wrong. It's also just as easy to get someone behind that "good equipment" that isn't comfortable with it, and it'll sound bad no matter how expensive the Digico/D&B/Lab Gruppen/etc...system is.

Yep, same here for the most part. I never (or I try to never anyway) put the equipment before the art of my craft. I do theatre sound design, so my audience is a little bit more umm.. not sure the best word here... subtle, or subdued maybe?

I've worked on some really lousy plays with decent budgets and nice equipment. (in theatre it's more than just me and the band that will determine how good a show is, there is a lot more folks involved, including directors, authors, composers if it's musical, producers, etc, etc, etc...) And I've worked on some truly great plays with great casts but I had no money and had to beg, borrow and steal everything that I didn't provide myself to the show. And most days (not always) people are happy with my work.

I'm not the kind of guy that is going to walk into a venue, see an M7, turn up my nose and demand more. If that is what I have to work with, fine I'll do it. If there is something better lying around however I'm gonna use it. Just ask the folks on the theatre sound list. I suspect (if I do say so myself) you'd find I have a reputation for understanding that not everyone is going to have stellar budgets and I know how to make things work on the cheap but still sound acceptable.

Actually suggesting that the Behringer Preamps sound better than the preamps in the M7 is hardly being an equipment snob. In fact it's kind of the opposite really. I'm saying a set of 8 channel preamps with A-D-As that cost less than $200 likely sound better than a console costing almost $20K. Or a $10K desk in the case of the LS9. Granted those desks do a lot more than even the cost of 48 channels of ADA800s would. (that's only $1200, that doesn't even buy you a 01V96) But in my usage of the desks I think the ADA800s sound just as good if not better than what is in the M7. I wasn't comparing mixing in SAC with ADA800s to mixing on a LS9 or M7 with internal or external preamps. I was comparing apples to apples as much as is humanly possible outside of some scientific A/B experiment.

On the theatre sound list I would be shot down big time for stating that I like the sound of the ADA800s but that's more because of the dislikes of Behringer's business tactics by the theatre sound community in general than for their sound quality. Of course the dark secret is that despite what many might say in public forums many sound folks use Behringer gear for much the same reasons that everyone on this forum seems to fancy them. (they work OK and they are cheap!)

Sorry if I took your post too personal and made a snappy reply.

I just don't like being lumped in with the folks that have bigger wallets than brains or the types that just spout off marketing BS and so I kind of barked back.

Best Wishes,

Richard