Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Evan F. Hunter]

Steve Payne wrote on Sat, 29 November 2008 11:54

Evan,  With all due respect to everyone else's personally valid opinions, it is my opinion  that the Venice is overall a very poor professional tool.  I have owned and used one for several years.  It sounds very good.  That is pretty much the end of it's strong points. - phantom power switch on the back of the console next to the xlr inputs, no polarity reverse, no pad, fixed freq hp filter, 60mm faders, no aux inserts, limited aux pre/post selection, STUPID "you'll do this our way or not at" all aux master send/return section, inconsistent aux send connector types  -  This console was designed for weekend musicians that don't have a clue.  It has done very well in the pro market because it has the Midas name and nothing else on the market sounds as good at this price point.  Until APB.  If you can wait a month or so to buy, I think, at it's price point,  the APB ProDesk is going to be very hard to beat for sound, features, build quality and support.  That's how it looks to me.    Best of luck with whatever you decide on.

Thanks, I will take that really pretty seriously... Im planning on purchasing this summer.

[Dick Rees]

Please note at this point that any significant upgrade in feature set(s) in new purchases requires spending more than the Venice costs.  Just a reminder.  

I still maintain that the most user-friendly configuration involves lots of auxes and 8 subgroups.  Matrix sends and VCA are plusses beyond that.  Give me all the bells and whistles I can handle.

I'd love to have a Spectra T.  If business is good for another year or two I may have a go.  But I'll still take my Venice out for remotes and recordings.

[Evan F. Hunter]

alright guys. Well it sound like with an APB console I could get Same/Better? sound quality AND more features is that what im hearing? I have only briefly heard of this company and dont know anything about them other than what you guys are saying and a brief trip to their website. I am interested if they have a 24-32 channel board in that price range (I think someone mentioned one in here somewhere) Also how would the sound of the Soundcraft GB4 compare to the Venice? It was mentioned above. How would it (and A&H boards) compare in the studio as well as live sound? It looks like for the price I could have a 40 channel GB4 for cheaper than the Midas, I dont NEED more channels but it wouldnt be a bad thing either.

Im sure this will get shot down, but Mackie Onyx 40-48 channel boards are in the price range....?

Thanks for your input guys i really appreciate it!

[Dan Johnson]

Evan Hunter wrote on Sat, 29 November 2008 16:28

alright guys. Well it sound like with an APB console I could get Same/Better? sound quality AND more features is that what im hearing? I have only briefly heard of this company and dont know anything about them other than what you guys are saying and a brief trip to their website. I am interested if they have a 24-32 channel board in that price range (I think someone mentioned one in here somewhere)

The only 24 channel APB near the price range of the Venice would be the Pro-Desk (not sure on actual pricing but the Spectra would be well above the range).  It's not totally clear on their site but it looks like the 24 channel version might have 24 mono channels plus 4 stereo channels (is this right Chuck?).  That would make the 24 channel Pro-Desk a better comparison to the Venice 320 as far as channel counts go.  The Venice 320 has 24 mono channels and 4 stereo channels.

Have you checked out all the reviews of APB products here on PSW on the Road Test and Product Review pages?  These include reviews of the Pro-Rack line which would basically be the baby brother of the Pro-Desk so to speak.  I can't think of a single negative review that I've seen and everybody comments on how great they sound.  The entire product line definitely has peaked my interest.

[Dick Rees]

Evan Hunter wrote on Sat, 29 November 2008 16:28

Im sure this will get shot down, but Mackie Onyx 40-48 channel boards are in the price range....?

BANG!!!!!!!

[Evan F. Hunter]

Dan Johnson wrote on Sat, 29 November 2008 16:58

Have you checked out all the reviews of APB products here on PSW on the Road Test and Product Review pages?  These include reviews of the Pro-Rack line which would basically be the baby brother of the Pro-Desk so to speak.  I can't think of a single negative review that I've seen and everybody comments on how great they sound.  The entire product line definitely has peaked my interest.

Im starting to lookin more into them now...

[Evan F. Hunter]

Dick Rees wrote on Sat, 29 November 2008 17:10

Evan Hunter wrote on Sat, 29 November 2008 16:28 Im sure this will get shot down, but Mackie Onyx 40-48 channel boards are in the price range....? BANG!!!!!!!

ahahaha i  knew that was coming!

[John Petrucelli]

Dave, et al:
Some basic info about the ProDesk:
It uses the (exact) same channel plug-in cards (Preamp/EQ and Fader-Amp) as the ProRack-FOH mixer.
We basically took the limited-format ProRack (we only had 19" to work with) and expanded it to a bigger desk-top console (up to 48 Mono channels).
The channels strips are effectively the same with some added mute groups, the Master section is now full-featured because we have the room.
As far as sonics, it sounds like a ProRack; it uses the same components and circuits as our other consoles.
Construction-wise, it mimics a Spectra; looks like someone took a shrink-ray and aimed it at one of our bigger consoles.

As Chuck mentioned earlier, we're experiencing some production delays because one of our vendors wasn't able to deliver some assemblies; we've got that covered now.
We'll keep the website updated as new info is available.

Thanks,
JP

[Tim Padrick]

Dick Rees wrote on Fri, 28 November 2008 19:56

Tim Padrick wrote on Fri, 28 November 2008 18:28 On a live gig a few years ago, band A was on a Venice through a Rane EQ into the DR480.  Band B was on a GL2200 straight into the DR480.  (Mic package was the same.)  I was very surprised that I could not discern any meaningful qualitative difference between the two FOH setups. Tim.... With all due respect I would suggest that there are a lot more factors involved which would make a qualitative assessment difficult. 1.  Quality and proper placement of input devices. 2.  Speaker system/amps. 3.  System tunings/DSP in the 480. 4.  The room. Just because most things were the same does not necessarily mean that each board was a part of a fully optimized system.  If one board was "cleaner" than the other, would it make an SM58 sound noticeably better?  Maybe so, maybe not so much. I have and use both the GL series boards and the Midas.  I prefer the GL for live sound for reasons of practicality, not the least of which is the availability of the polarity flip.  For pure sound quality I'll take the Midas any day.  That said, the times when pure sound quality is the determinant come under the headings of broadcast and recording. DR

This was a multi-band gig.  I did one band on the A&H, my friend did the rest on the Midas.  The only things that changed were the bands and the consoles - mics, wedges, backline placements were the same on all bands.

[Evan F. Hunter]

So im looking at different boards..... Allen & Heath ML3000..... 32 channels, 8 bus, 8 aux and some more features.....thoughts?