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Author Topic: APB Pro Desk 4  (Read 88766 times)

Steve Payne

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Re: What's better than owning an APB ProDesk?
« Reply #40 on: June 15, 2009, 01:03:45 PM »

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ThomasDameron

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Re: What's better than owning an APB ProDesk?
« Reply #41 on: June 15, 2009, 08:45:03 PM »

Steve,

Those things sure are pretty.  I wish I could have fit in one when I came through town.  I told the FOH boy that he missed out big time by choosing the computer (as Grant calls it) instead of the Spectra.  Do you have a pair of Pro Desks now or are they on different gigs?  

What's funny to me about the Apb family is that to some extent it seems that the things that they're doing right are so obvious to us end users.  There's no one thing that they're doing that's really ground breaking.  Every other console mfg. has some amazing example of "sure it's _____ but why in the WORLD did they ___."  It seems that Apb is releasing really well thought out products with OBVIOUS evidence or being people who use the consoles and listening to people who use them.  Oh yeah, they sound great.  Maybe the only other company who hasn't made a boner of a console yet is Digidesign.  However, they've only made 3, so there's that.  Also, it hasn't played out yet, but they seem to still be figuring it out as they release each new console.  If they don't start working new features into the older pricier consoles, they'll really shoot themselves in the foot IMHO.  

just a couple of cents,
thomas d.

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drewgandy

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #42 on: June 24, 2009, 01:34:14 AM »

Teri Hogan wrote on Sun, 31 May 2009 14:33

Well, our 24-channel ProDesk 4 finally arrived and we immediatley put it to the test, doing 3 shows in 4 days.  After the very first sound check, John turned to me and said Jason Dermer described it perfectly...someone just pulled the tarps off the speakers.  Couldn't have said it better ourselves!



Ok, so can anybody with one of these things do the measurements and tell is with proof that the console does not have a high shelving boost built in?  Maybe 3db of that "Air" that Mackie used to do?  
Wink

drew
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John Roberts {JR}

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #43 on: June 24, 2009, 12:24:28 PM »

drewgandy wrote on Wed, 24 June 2009 00:34


Ok, so can anybody with one of these things do the measurements and tell is with proof that the console does not have a high shelving boost built in?  Maybe 3db of that "Air" that Mackie used to do?  
Wink

drew


I have had some private conversations with JP on this subject. I am pretty sure there is no funny EQ tricks involved, but this would be simple enough to test. Note: I once encountered a european powered mixer that had some bass boost when set flat, but that turned out to be because they were using a knob designed for vertical instead of horizontal orientation on the tone control, so it was a half spline off. Despite being unintentional (?) it sounded audibly different at point of sale.

My suspicion with the APB is that there is a cumulative effect of decades of solid electronic design practices, and good ergonomic design. How a product responds when you twist the knobs will impact perceived and real results.

JR

PS: I always thought that "air" knob on the mackies was to compensate for the suck.  Cool
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Bennett Prescott

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #44 on: June 24, 2009, 02:52:30 PM »

Spent two days straight at the helm of the ProDesk mixing monitors for some particularly picky people who, despite their pickiness, didn't have the budget for more than 6 mixes. A good time was had by most, however, and I finally got the chance to really kick the tires on the new toy.

As usual, it sounds stellar. I'm so used to it now I don't notice that what goes in comes out the same until I have to work with something else. The controls are all very responsive, it is easy and quick to get the desk to do what you want. Variable high pass is a godsend, and the EQ sounds great even when you get a little whacky with it. I did miss the ability to drop a band into a narrow bandwidth mode, but that's not the fault of the desk.

Defeatable EQ, HPF, very flexible pre/post auxes... all a joy. Extensive metering, also wonderful. The main meters are very nice and large, although they didn't get much of a workout this time so I had less of an opportunity to play around with their ability to display dynamic range. I did very much appreciate that the board still sounds great even if you leave a little less headroom than you'd thought... one singer suddenly discovered his stage voice when it came time for the actual show, and the bassist and the drummer both didn't really start playing until the show started either, so I was in the red a little on a few channels. Listened for a bit and decided not to play the gain pot versus aux pot game, left it alone because it sounded totally fine.

The surface was also very easy to get around on. Very little thinking to remember which aux gets what channel to which wedges. Of course, it's hard to get too lost on a 6 aux console, but the color scheme and layout made it simple nonetheless.

One of these shows was also multitracked, and the direct outs of the desk worked like a charm. Through some quick experimentation we determined that they are pre just about everything, which was perfect for the task at hand.

Some photos of one of the shows, courtesy of John Cavanaugh:
index.php/fa/23384/0/
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-- Bennett Prescott
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Bennett Prescott

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #45 on: June 24, 2009, 02:52:59 PM »

index.php/fa/23385/0/
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-- Bennett Prescott
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ADRaudio d.o.o.
Cell: (518) 488-7190

"Give me 6dB and I shall move the world." -Archimedes

Bennett Prescott

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #46 on: June 24, 2009, 02:53:26 PM »

index.php/fa/23386/0/
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-- Bennett Prescott
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ADRaudio d.o.o.
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Tom Young

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #47 on: June 24, 2009, 05:36:50 PM »

No close up of the rack (center stage) ?

Evil or Very Mad
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Tom Young
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Bennett Prescott

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #48 on: June 24, 2009, 05:51:23 PM »

You don't actually want to see that.
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-- Bennett Prescott
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"Give me 6dB and I shall move the world." -Archimedes

Lee Brenkman

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Re: APB Pro Desk 4
« Reply #49 on: June 25, 2009, 01:35:10 AM »

Mohegan Sun?

If that's who I think it is I hope the close up video wasn't HD Smile
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