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Author Topic: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?  (Read 106333 times)

John Chiara

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Re: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?
« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2012, 01:26:33 PM »

while I'm not quite sure of the reasons why, I'd definitely agree that older yamaha desks (LS9 and M7) are noticeably worse sounding when compared other desks.

I'm sure though a large part of it just simply that they were so early to market, and newer desks obviously benefit from much cheaper/better technology, more processing power, better mixing/processing algorithms etc etc.

k

Went to the local casino to check out the new house guy.. He did a decent job...M7 with Meyer Mica 4/side. I thought at time inputs were running a bit hot and I could hear the comps clamping.. The old guy hated the comps. I think many of the perceived sound objections can be alleviated..at least when running analog outputs.. If you have a decent line driver or gain stage after the console. I never run a live show without some way to not have to run console inputs and outputs hot. Not necessary.
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Ryan McLeod

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Re: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?
« Reply #11 on: December 29, 2012, 01:33:33 PM »

I heard a noticeable improvement in sound quality when I went from an LS9 to a Si compact.

Same here -  in my case on two different "known rigs" where only the console changed:

From LS9 to SI-compact, "the sound quality" overall just 'improved".
from a GB4 with quality outboard, I found the improvement in needing to reach for both channel and system EQ considerably less.. But I did miss my DBX160's enough that I brought back a pair to insert when required.
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Ivan Feder

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Re: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?
« Reply #12 on: December 29, 2012, 01:59:05 PM »

Yamaha digital consoles seem to get a lot of respect on this forum for reliability, features, rider friendliness,... but rarely do people praise the sound compared to most other analog or digital consoles.

I was curious what part of Yamaha systems people think is lacking. Is it the preamps, the AD, the DA, the internal algorithms (EQ, Comps, effects,...), all of these?

Love my new CL5 with the premium plug-ins!
IMHO, a console (digital or analog) sounds only as good as what goes in.
You can have the best mic pre's or outboard gear in the world, it won't make a crummy band sound good.
The old saying " shit in, shit out" still applies!
« Last Edit: December 29, 2012, 02:16:37 PM by Ivan Feder »
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g'bye, Dick Rees

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Re: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?
« Reply #13 on: December 29, 2012, 02:08:45 PM »

Same here -  in my case on two different "known rigs" where only the console changed:

From LS9 to SI-compact, "the sound quality" overall just 'improved".


Bravo!!!!  I love the way you properly place the ubiquitous and subjectively nebulous terms in quotes.  Forum protocol should dictate that any "sounds better" should actually be "sounds better to me".

That said, I still maintain that the MG series is crap......

 
« Last Edit: December 29, 2012, 02:10:20 PM by dick rees »
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Ivan Feder

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Re: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?
« Reply #14 on: December 29, 2012, 02:18:08 PM »

Forum protocol should dictate that any "sounds better" should actually be "sounds better to me
#1!
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Riley Casey

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Re: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?
« Reply #15 on: December 29, 2012, 03:04:33 PM »

Gasp, a mixing console preamp that neither adds nor detracts from the original signal ( other than gain I would hope ) !  It would seem to be a ringing endorsement of any piece of audio electronics that it could be described as having achieved that goal.  I would be a bit disappointed in any console that had failed to have such characteristics in the EQ or built in compressors and effects but I would far prefer mic pres such as you described to be in any console I bought.  To the extent that I wanted to become a part of the musical interface with the mic I wouldn't hesitate to drop a nice transformer coupled tube mic pre in front of my otherwise neutral console but that shouldn't be the default. 

The greatest short coming of any poorly rated digital console in "sound quality " in my personal experience has bad I/O convertors.  Use a high quality convertor on the input and output and even an M7 sounds gorgeous.



... Yamaha desks have always had that "Japanese" sound. Even the analog desks. It's their preamps I believe. They are very dry and sterile. They add nothing to the original signal, but they also don't take anything away, so they are very detailed and true to the original...

g'bye, Dick Rees

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Re: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?
« Reply #16 on: December 29, 2012, 03:15:15 PM »

Use a high quality convertor on the input and output and even an M7 sounds gorgeous.

And I prefer 98 octane gas in my Corolla....... ;D
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Jim McKeveny

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Re: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?
« Reply #17 on: December 29, 2012, 05:39:19 PM »

I believe in science and double-blind tests....but! in my experience in revealing environments (outdoors w/well tuned systems), the M7 never seems to "sum" DCA's well. No show stopper. Not even close to "crappy". Certainly not a reason to refuse the console.  Just not as full/natural/etc. as other analog & digital desks.

It may be a result of latency compensation or whatever, but I believe it is audible and  replicable. It just falls below the current spec radar.
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Scott Helmke

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Re: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?
« Reply #18 on: December 29, 2012, 05:55:11 PM »

It may be a result of latency compensation or whatever, but I believe it is audible and  replicable. It just falls below the current spec radar.

If it's audible, it's measurable.  I'd love to see some measurements on that.
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John Roberts {JR}

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Re: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?
« Reply #19 on: December 29, 2012, 06:06:18 PM »

If it's audible, it's measurable.  I'd love to see some measurements on that.

Amen brotha... but not only that, care must be taken to correlate what we measure to what we hear and vice versa. The roadside and ad copy is littered with esoteric "measured" specs that are not what we are actually hearing.

Not to disappoint but 99% of the time it's simple frequency response (that we do actually hear).

JR
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Why no love for the 'sound' of Yamaha digital consoles?
« Reply #19 on: December 29, 2012, 06:06:18 PM »


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