Central Station, Big Knob, or direct?

[James Steele]

Very true. Well, if you ever get a chance to try it. Converting to SPDIF from AES/EBU is pretty straight forward. Same data package just different voltage format. Converter should be cheap, BUT:

That is a good question about the 192. The 896 is a lot older so definely older parts.

Hmmm... I'd be interested in giving it a shot perhaps. It might make for more accurate metering on the Central Station. Although there might be a chance too that the HD192 could sound better than CS.

I did the calibration setup in the CS manual but the analog metering was a little inaccurate and showed clipping early. I had to adjust DP's output to -18.4db then set the calibration on CS telling CS that was actually -18db and it was fine.

One gripe was that I downloaded the testone as an AIFF file from Presonus site and it came out all funky... was not a sine wave but full scale noise. I didn't realize it because I started the calibration with main volume down. Then I downloaded the WAV version of the 1k sine wave and they recorded the sine wave at -18, so that 0db on a channel fader was -18 at the master. Which was groovy, but then when they tell you after calibrating to check it at full scale to see if it clips, you can't.

I ended up finding another 1k tone online that worked for calibration. And yep, it does indeed sound much better than when I was using my cheapo Behringer mixer (one of those little tiny ones) as a volume control.

[James Steele]

I am using a behringer DEQ2496 to convert from AES/EBU to spdif to use the digital in on the central station.

Ahhh... I missed this part. Well I will look up the converter. If it's not too much $$$ maybe I'll do this. I can have them both hooked up anyway and then switch on CS back and forth to see if I hear any difference. Although I suspect the HD192 has a better sounding analog output than the 896.

**EDIT** I do have an old SV-3700 DAT machine laying around. Perhaps I can run AES/EBU to it and then it might pass SP/DIF?

[grimepoch]

It's worth a fun test anyways! The only reason I thought to try it, Brad told me to check the stats on the D->A in the central station and I was amazed at how high they were. So, I tried it.

I had the same problem with the AIFF. That's strange isn't it!

Question, my only complaint is that if I have the volume knob all the way off, some audio still bleeds through to my speakers. Very little. If I hit mute it goes away, but thought it was strange. Now I know why I was getting audio in my vocal mixes before cause I had the headphones on, I didn't know!!!

[James Steele]

It's worth a fun test anyways! The only reason I thought to try it, Brad told me to check the stats on the D->A in the central station and I was amazed at how high they were. So, I tried it.

I guess I can look that up and compare with the HD192.

Question, my only complaint is that if I have the volume knob all the way off, some audio still bleeds through to my speakers. Very little. If I hit mute it goes away, but thought it was strange. Now I know why I was getting audio in my vocal mixes before cause I had the headphones on, I didn't know!!!

I wonder if maybe backing down the speaker output trims on the Central Station would help that at all? I don't have any problem with that. The volume is all the way off. Of course I don't have the remote yet and am using the volume on the unit itself. Maybe it's an issue with the volume pot on the remote if that's what you're using?

[grimepoch]

You might be right on the speakers, I have them gained down -10dB, but I did that because I wanted more range out of the volume knob on the central station. I NEVER go above 25% on it.

I don't use the remote and don't remember this problem before.

[gregwhartley]

Congrats on your purchase, James! I'm crazy about my CS! I'm using SPDIF in from my Traveler - the SPDIF is slightly louder and a little bit cleaner than the analog input from Traveler.

I also get the slight bleed with the volume all the way down (I use the remote). I calibrated everything in the rack multiple times but it still gets through. The speaker trim may be a good way to solve this, but I'd hate to have an added attenuation stage on output (not sure if there' a detented nominal or not b/c I've never had a reason to adjust it).

[BradLyons]

Any way, Brad, if you're reading this... much as I HATE to say you were right... well you were right. (snipped) Did I say I hate it when you're right Brad? ;-P

WHAT?? You mean, I'm not some guy that's just selling gear? I actually know what I'm talking about? hehehehe

Glad to hear you picked one up and it's working for you.

[mhschmieder]

I'm with Acro on his comments re: Mackie being coloured and Behringer degrading the overall sound. I couldn't find the recommended ATI MX-8 using Google though, as the first few dozen hits were all for a computer model with that name designation.

The Central Station is probably best bang for buck combined with quality, and I look forward to reading James' ongoing experience making it function properly/ideally in his setup.

I will soon need something like this in my setup as well (actually, I could have used it when I had the MOTU 828 mk II, but it is now more critical as there is no direct hardware volume control for the RME Fireface 800, and as I plan to soon buy the Avantone speakers as a sanity check during mixing and mastering).

Upgrading my Bryston .5B preamp to a newer model that has more switchers and has pro audio connections, is prohibitively expensive. So I'm looking at the Presonus unit, alongside various units from Coleman Audio. I think the Coleman Audio units are probably built the best and have the best specs, but they are a bit pricey, and the Presonus is probably of sufficient quality; especially based on feedback here and in the trades.

For those still looking, though, I highly recommend looking into the Coleman units, as they make several that are targeted towards different needs. And all of them are configured slightly differently from the Central Station. So it's probably best to first match the best model to fit your specific needs (both current needs and short-to-long-term future needs if you can predict those). Then match to your budget from there.

[James Steele]

So far I'm surprised at how much better I can hear things. Also, not that one should ever monitor at loud levels for any length of time, but when I do feel like cranking it just a bit, it seems that the sound does not degrade... it's louder but just as clear.

I finally went with the Central Station because they have a rebate deal going from now till the end of April. How it works is that if you buy the Central Station for no less than $499.95 you can send a form, a copy of the receipt, and the UPC code from the box and they will send you the remote (street price around $149) for free. Seemed like a good deal to me. Also, there comes a point where you just have to make a decision and get it overwith!

[grimepoch]

I'm there with you

[mhschmieder]

Yep, the "make a decision and go with it" is where I am on multiple fronts at the moment . And one of those decsions was to yet again postpone a Mac upgrade (less bang for buck than other priorities, and there's almost always workarounds). Fortunately I've been getting a lot of REAL work done during my intense evaluation processes, but now that taxes are behind me, I'm eager to go forward unhindered by distractions .

Thanks for the info regarding the "rebate" for the free remote control. I think PreSonus did this once before as well, so maybe it's an annual or periodic event. At any rate, it's good to know about the 30 April deadline, so I'll bump this decision up my list. My comparisons of Central Station to the Coleman Audio units also take into account the input routing, not just output routing.

[James Steele]

Yep, the "make a decision and go with it" is where I am on multiple fronts at the moment . And one of those decsions was to yet again postpone a Mac upgrade (less bang for buck than other priorities, and there's almost always workarounds). Fortunately I've been getting a lot of REAL work done during my intense evaluation processes, but now that taxes are behind me, I'm eager to go forward unhindered by distractions .

Thanks for the info regarding the "rebate" for the free remote control. I think PreSonus did this once before as well, so maybe it's an annual or periodic event. At any rate, it's good to know about the 30 April deadline, so I'll bump this decision up my list. My comparisons of Central Station to the Coleman Audio units also take into account the input routing, not just output routing.

There's a PDF of the rebate coupon floating around on one of the music retailer sites I think. I don't remember where I found it, so I'll just post it here:

http://www.jamessteele.com/centralstationrebate0207.pdf

[tripit@earthlink.net]

Okay... so my money is now burning a hole through my pocket *before* it gets INTO my pocket. I'm pouring over music gear sites and thinking perhaps I want to ditch my little Behringer mixer I've been using for volume control. I'm going out my main XLR outputs on my HD192, into a small Behringer, and then to may Event ASP8 monitors. The Behringer is, as I said, a glorified volume control.

Looking at both units they seem sort of like overkill as I have one set of monitors and only really one source... one main stereo pair on my HD192. I have a "2-track"... but get real... it's a SV3700 DAT machine that I hardly ever turn on any more. So one source, one set of speakers, and I don't need talkback. Still it's been suggested (Brad!) that my little mixer is "coloring" the sound, so I'm considering something else.

Is there a way to just hook outputs from the HD192 directly to my powered monitors? This seems kind of risky. Just wondering what to do about this. Oh... also considering the Lucid Genx192 clock... any feedback on that unit would be appreciated too.

I looked at both the big knob and the station. I think I would go with the station. Most of the stuff Mackie makes tends to have a color. The only thing of theirs that I like is the mackie control. I've had several mixers in the past (still have one that I hardly ever use).
The one that I've got my eye on now is the Dangerous MONITOR ST-SR.

As for the Lucid, I tried one of their dedicated clocks a few years ago. I took it with me to Europe for an album I was producing. I ended up bringing back to the store on one of my trips home because there was an issue with it. I don't know if that was just luck of the draw or also that it was one of their eariler units.

Anyway, I ended up with a Nanosync instead. The Nanosync is a great clock (right up there with the Ardvark) and it has a whole pile of outs in the back so you can clock up a bunch of stuff. It also allows you to assign diferent clock rates to different ports out. For the money it is a good deal. The Ardvark is great as well, but you have to get an addon box if you want to distribute clock to various places. The big ben's are suppose to be great as well.

The dedicated clock can make a huge difference. I A/B'd my rig with the clock on and off and there was a very notable difference. Wider stereo spectrum, deeper lows, better top end, overall smoother sounding, etc. I would highly recommend a clock to anyone looking to kick their rig up a notch or two in terms of quality. It's kind of hard to buy because they aren't very sexy nor fun. They just sit there and they aren't cheap, but they make a significant difference in how your audio will sound.

[daddyunicorn]

Good one james. I am thinking about getting this too. My one question, Brad Lyons mentioned in his setup for speakers, he has the sub on speakers 3??? in latch?? How can this work>?>? Are you saying that you have l r speakers direct for CS, then you plug Sub into 3??
If you can tell me how this works, it will be huge. i am using the mAudio BX5a and the sub it came with. Love to be able to disable the sub by pushing buttons, instead on getting on the floor, crawling in back and shutting it off.

hit me back.

[grimepoch]

Not sure I understand your question, but I'll try to answer. There are 6 outputs on the back for your speakers, three stereo pairs A, B and C.

In my setup I have my ADAM A7's on A. I have a pair of Triple-P Pyramids on B and a Tannoy TS-10 on C. C is either on or off, but is not dependent on A or B. Either A or B can be on, but not both.

So, the Sub is shared between both sets (even though I shut it off when I am listening to the Triple-Ps).

I used all the trim controls and 'FuzzMeasure' to get everything balanced out as best I could.

When I used Tannoy monitors as well, the monitors were plugged into the sub and the the sub into my 896. However, now I do not do that, I have it run separate.