Vintage Console Restoration - Part 7 "What if it doesn't fit?"
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ต.ค. 2023
- I've taken on a ridiculous project: to restore a vintage Sony/MCi MXP-3036 recording console.
I don't entirely know how to do this, but I'll figure it out as I go and hopefully come out with an amazing peice of vintage audio history to use in my studio.
In part 7, I finally do all the VCA calibration, and replace all of the VU meter resistors. Then I have to make the decision: Do I move this into the studio or sell it?
#studiolife #studiogear #newgear #sony #MCI #MXP-3000 #MXP-3036 #vintagegear #vintageconsole #expo86 #restoration #vintagerestoration #audio #vintageaudio #audiogear - เพลง
the mixer looks amazing in there! i suspect it makes the room feel smaller though, holy cow it's enormous! it didn't really process for me just how much of a beast it was until y'all were moving it in.
i still think it's fun now that a lot of the frustrating bits are done anyway. thank you for sharing this journey!
It feels a bit overwhelming in the space, but I've been getting used to it while doing other computing, like making this video.
Man. This reminds me of when I moved my studio in 2009. Took me a couple of days to un-hook everything, and weeks to put it back together. Because of course, I didn't put everything back as it was. I rethought some things, and un-did some mistakes. But it was a drag. The worst was that I'd had some flashes of brilliance setting some of the routing up originally, and then nine years later, I couldn't remember why I did it.
I went through the same sort of planning process when I built the studio and then when I switched from UA Apollo to Presonus. There is always something I inevitably could have done better.
Your likely a genius people like you fascinate me.
I don't know about genius, but I'm driven and slightly obsessive. ;-) Once I get an idea in my head I either have to act on it or come up with a better idea.
Right on... Well worth the effort I think, in smiles alone :)
Indeed, indeed.
Congrats!! Great to see all that hard work and patience start to payoff. Looks awesome!
Thanks. I can't wait to track through this beast, but yet I still have to. ;-)
This is great! Thank you! I'd love to see a long-format video on some tracking sessions with the desk as the centerpiece.
Just have to get over my own "imposter syndrome" around mixing first. Especially since I haven't done analogue mixing since the 80's!
I have an idea to do some composition videos, so maybe I'll do some mixes after that.
Great you got the desk inside the studio, I am sure you’ll love the sound of it. These are amazing desks and you made it a shining centerpiece again. Awesome job, lot of patience and dedication will eventually pay off, I’m looking forward to hear and watch it in action. I hope you will try to mix on it too, those channel eq’s are really nice. Looking forward to the result and wish you the best of luck ❤
Oh I'll definitely try mixing on it. But session recall is so fundamental these days that I'll likely end up with a hybrid approach with subgroups going to channels and the faders zeroed out.
Those EQs sounded pretty nice when I was testing audio in the garage. And so far, PC audio through the tape returns sounds pretty sweet.
Looks good the friend in the studio 🎉🎉🎉🎉 glad you got it in lol
Thanks. It's been a fun ride. Mostly.
I am in the process of taking an old mx2488 carvin console and modded with electronically balanced all in's and outs plus a patch bay all on db25's and it is so much work but this looks like on another level work. Congratulations sir for your tenacity.
Thanks. Indeed, repairing these old boards is a lot of work, but in a way I got lucky. Other than the automation boards being problematic, and chewed ribbon cables, and cable connections, practically everthing just worked.
The rest was cleaning and cosmetic things like consistent lights.
I still have a couple minor issues, but as far as I'm concerned it's fully functional.
Interesting that the _newer_ boards have transformers. On my MCI and Sony tape machines, the older ones have transformers, the newer do not. I fully relate to phantom issues going away when you unplug and re-plug things, and finding that I have two channels swapped.
I think that there was always an option for the boards to have transformers or not. The console I purchased was the 19th one built in 1986 and I suppose they chose not to have them. The replacement cards I got were definitely from a console in the 90's and just happened to have them.
YOU SHOULD MIX WITH THIS!!! Chris Lorde Alge supposedly started on an MCI ;) All the best, Tobi
Oh, I'm sure there will be some mixing on it.
wow it looks at home in the studio!
when you look into lowering the keyboard tray, maybe you could stain / round the corners on it to match the wood on the side panels?
thanks for posting all these updates, what a wild ride
One of the reasons I did the orange tray is: that is our "pop of colour" throughout the house. The sidecar is going to be the blue it was before. All very mid-century vibes at our place.
makes total sense! @@EdgetoneStudios
Congrats! Been following the progress for a while now. Broight back memories to repairing my console! I know you feel proud! Well deserved and i hope it works out for you!
Thanks. It's been a cool project, but has definitely bit into my music creation. I can't wait to get through the final connections.
Exciting to see all your efforts come to fruition. Hope you enjoy this new toy. :)
Thanks. So do I.
The mixer looks so good in the studio. Well done!
It does indeed. Thanks. Hopes is I feel it sounds even better.
I have enjoyed this series. A friend of mine in Iowa runs one of these consoles. With a console like that, I would recommend using the console for analog/hybrid mixing or summing. I think you'll find it really adds something to the sound over mixing in the box.
Thanks. Unfortunately I made the call that it was a bit too big for my space. It was a cool project though.
@@EdgetoneStudios I understand. I have been outgrowing my studio too. Sometimes streamlining and having more open space can be inspiring too.
@@TwinCreekAudio I think I knew it was too big from the start, but the "idea" of this analogue beast as the centerpeice of my productions was so compelling. Still don't regret it though, but kinda sad.
@@EdgetoneStudios That makes sense. The restoration process is also interesting and fun. I've learned a lot working on my consoles.
Wow looks so cool, but you know this :)
The cool factor is a large part of the reason that all this work was worthwhile. Thanks for following my journey.
Wow! How would a Sony stand with an Api/Ssl/Neve in general?
Well, I used an SSL board in the late 80s, but now have SSL Six CH. I've never worked with any Neve other than the UA Unison pre models. I have a very limited experience with some API pres. So, my answer is based on not a wealth of knowledge.
However, I feel like the Sony leans towards that clean SSL pre amp sound. The EQ's have their own flavour which is very musical and pleasant, even with mild boosts/cuts. It's a super clean sounding board with tons of headroom. I prefer that over something that's adding a particular colour to all tracks.
@@EdgetoneStudios Fantastic. Thank you!
I’m real curious as to why you would use that desk for tracking but not mixing?
Mainly because I tend to go back to mixes with revisions, sometimes days or weeks later. With analog mixing, unless you very accurately document every level, you don't really have session recall. I also tend to do a lot of volume automation in my mixes.
I could see my primary mix workflow being a hybrid, where I send up to 24 stems back to the board and zero out the faders. Then I would mix in the box and use the board as an analogue summing amp. But I guess I'll find out more once it's connected and I get to try things.
@@EdgetoneStudios Yeah, recall is an issue…
And I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on the Presonus board…
The Presonus boards are pretty amazing. I often wonder if going analogue was really going to be worth change.
Have you seen my video on the Presonus StudioLive?
th-cam.com/video/LF2BF-DG308/w-d-xo.htmlsi=4q8I6uy4Mog1aiT3
@@EdgetoneStudios Let us know once you’ve decided, lol…