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Author Topic: APB Pro Desk 4  (Read 88833 times)

David Karol

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #60 on: September 08, 2009, 11:32:14 PM »

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John Roberts {JR}

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #61 on: September 09, 2009, 11:42:10 AM »

David Karol wrote on Tue, 08 September 2009 22:31

  One thing I really like about this console is the new metering.  


Very cool, thanx..

I know the guy who wrote the meter software.  Very Happy

JR
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Jason Dermer

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #62 on: September 17, 2009, 03:46:29 PM »

The Prodesk has been delivered to the very capable hands of Mr Dave Dermont, who has promised to run it through it's paces as only a fellow well bearded soundman can. Smile
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Dave Dermont

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #63 on: February 25, 2010, 12:35:49 PM »

Greetings from Greybeard central!

OK, so I've had the ProDesk-4 for a while now, and everyone's clamoring for a report. I've had a chance to use the ProDesk-4 and have sent it back to The Mother Ship.

My first use of the ProDesk-4 was as a monitor mixer for a show that consisted of two solo performers.

When I got the call for this gig, the guy hiring me asked if I had a monitor mixer available, since his inventory was tapped out for this date. I told him about the ProDesk-4, and along with being happy he found what he needed to do the gig, he was also very interested in checking it out the console.

The show's opening act was a woman named Judith Owen, who happens to be the wife of  Harry Shearer. Yeah, the wife of the guy who plays Mr. Burns (and dozens of other characters on The Simpsons) and Derek Smalls is about what you'd expect her to be.

The fact that she opened her set with a piano/vocal rendition of  “Smoke on the Water” pretty much says it all.

In the interest of expediency of set changes, a digital piano was used. Most of the sound check for this act was spent addressing the low-end rumble produced by a Roland keyboard amp placed on top of a portable stage deck. I suggested not using the amp and putting the piano through the wedges, but this option did not fly with this artist. (there's that “people skills” thing again) I was able to solve the problem by placing the amp on a piece of foam I scavenged from the microphone box.

For vocals, the artist carried her own Heil PR20.

Stage monitoring for solo acoustic performers has it's own set of demands that are very different than the “make everything louder than everything else until my ears bleed” requests so often encountered with rock bands. Providing detail and nuance can be just as challenging as squeezing out pure “balls to the wall” ear-splitting volume without feedback.

The EQ section of the ProDesk-4 proved to be just the tool needed to to shape the sound to the pleasure of the artist on stage. When the performer is happy, everybody is happy.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2760/4387140877_e8414d18c1_o.jpg

The headlining artist for this show was Shawn Colvin. The stage monitoring instructions given to me by her road manager were “start with everything off, and she'll ask for monitor if she needs it”. We then proceeded to check her guitar inputs, (a DI and a mic) and her vocal mic. After hearing what the room sounded like during our line check, the road manager expressed confidence that Ms. Colvin would not need any stage monitors that evening, and she was right.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4387140871_c05e6c5d27_o.jpg

OK, so sitting there with the faders down might not seem like the best way to test a console. It did, however, allow me to listen to the inputs in headphones and “get a feel” for the console. It feels good. Real good.

After this gig, I took the console to what is presently my “regular” gig in a small club with a PA system that's way too big for the room.

Let's just say that the bands that play this room like it that way.

The ProDesk-4 was a wonderful console in this application. Again, it was a bit of overkill for the room, but an absolute pleasure to use. As compared to the usual console I use in this room, which is named after a city in Italy, I enjoyed having things like a logical layout and real faders to go with the great sound of the console. I especially enjoyed the variable Hi-Pass Filter. How am I going to live without one now that I sent the ProDesk-4 back?

I suppose I'll survive, but I won't be quite as happy.

That's it for now.

Carry on.



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Chuck Augustowski

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What's better than owning an APB ProDesk? ProDesk-8
« Reply #64 on: June 18, 2010, 03:38:11 PM »

We have now introduced the ProDesk-8 at Infocomm and will begin to ship these near the end of the 3rd quarter.  Below is a photo of the ProDesk-832.  Input configurations available (mono mic/line input channels)will be 24, 32, 40 and 48 and all versions have 4 additional stereo line input channels plus 2 Stereo Program input sections within the masters section.

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics

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Phil Ouellette

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #65 on: July 25, 2010, 02:30:26 PM »

I'll bet the variable HPF has a lot to do with eliminating low end mud from the mix. Getting rid of that will do wonders for the clarity of a mix.
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John Roberts {JR}

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #66 on: July 25, 2010, 03:49:38 PM »

Phil Ouellette wrote on Sun, 25 July 2010 13:30

I'll bet the variable HPF has a lot to do with eliminating low end mud from the mix. Getting rid of that will do wonders for the clarity of a mix.


If it was that simple, the Peavey monitor consoles with sweepable HPF would get similar raves (actually no.... because there is also listener bias involved). Indeed judicious application of HPF cleans up a lot of mud, and adds usable headroom in most applications.

As I posted before the APB consoles are very well executed (linear) audio paths, with good attention paid to human factors engineering.

I have tried to encourage them to branch out into high end recording products as another market that should appreciate their audio path purity. I fear the live sound and install markets will eventually be dominated by cheaper digital solutions.

JR

PS: the secret in the pro desk is really the meters. .  Laughing
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Teri Hogan

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #67 on: July 27, 2010, 02:59:38 PM »

For anyone who is following this post and now finds himself just dying to own a ProDesk 4, I have one for sale, in a high-quality road case, for $4,000.  It has just 7 months of use of it, just enough to shake it out and ensure everything is working up to spec, and we couldn't be happier with it!  But now that we have retired from the live sound provider biz, it needs to find a new and productive job.  This is a 24-channel desk which we have also used very successfully as a monitor console.  Come and get it from me!  Please.
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Steve Payne

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APB Pro Desk 8 !!!
« Reply #68 on: September 21, 2010, 10:24:18 PM »

It's Alive !  We've had serial #0001 in our hands now for almost a week, doing the final beta testing for our friends in NJ.  This is one sweet puppy.  Those APB boys n' girls just keep figuring out more cool, useful features to pack into every new product!  Things like:  8 groups, 8 aux sends, 8 mute groups, 8 (8x12) matrix mixers...hey, I get it - Pro Desk EIGHT!
But really, in addition to everything you get on a Pro Desk 4 (x2), other great new features include:

[]  hi and lo eqs switchable between 8/12k and 60/120 hz respectively (still has the mid sweeps of course)
[]  fader flip between auxes and groups - for monitor application
[]  channel safes from mute groups w/ individual indicator lamps for local mute, remote group mute and channel mute safe
[]  variable level option on the channel mono assign for subs on an aux function without actually   using up an aux
[]  "dim" switch for solo and mute lights for that sexy stealth look at night

We had this desk out over the weekend doing a multi-act street festival.   It is basically a ProDesk 4 on steroids, so we were very familiar with what to expect from it performance wise. ( We have had two of the PD4s in use now for over a year and they are absolutely rock solid and sound fantastic.)  This little console will not disappoint.  It is a full on pro mixer in spades.  Everyone that used it at the street festival absolutely loved it. Actually, there was one engineer that refused to use it...
Labster Jim Brooks showed up with his headlining band "Casper", toting his very own APB Spectra C, complete with outboard compliment already dialed in and his show "premixed".  I think that Jim was impressed with the ProDesk 8, but not enough to give up his Spectra!

We've got another weekend festival scheduled for the PD-8 for real world tests as well as another week or so of listening tests in the shop.  We have to send it back mid October in time to make it's first official public appearance at the San Francisco AES Nov 4 thru 7.  If anyone is in the Richmond, VA area and wants to get a sneak peak before the official release, drop me a line.

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Looks like an APB Love Fest !  "Eggo" guarding over the ProDesk 8 and trying to look cool, while Labster Jim Brooks makes easy work of making his band "Casper" sound great on his Spectra.
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steve

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Steve Payne

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Re: APB Pro Desk 8 !!!
« Reply #69 on: September 21, 2010, 10:37:20 PM »

Billy Voigt going for the ultimate kik sound ?

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steve

"My favorite things turn money into noise"

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