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Title: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: The Guy on May 22, 2006, 09:54:14 AM
Brian Bolly and myself just did a show this weekend and the people of APB were nice enough to lend us a demo APB Spectra-T console.  It was only a 24 channel model, but was adequate for the show.  The gig was a large dance in a huge (~100x300') tent.  

The Basics:
The console is a smaller-format VCA desk.  Physically, it reminds me of my Verona in terms of size and weight.  The console features a 4-band sweep EQ, 10 auxes, and 8 VCA groups.  Also, a 24 channel console gave us 24 real channels, with an additional 4 stereo inputs that didn't cut into the channel count.  The fader feel is nice, and the layout is easy to get around on.  The Spectra has 2 internal PSU slots and indicator lamps on the meterbridge to display PSU status (our demo only had 1 PSU installed.)

In Use:

The band was a rock outfit, featuring an excellent acoustic guitar, a Sax player, an aux percussion section, and a female vocalist/flautist.  Mics were fairly standard Shure Betas, Audix OM7s, small dia. condensers.  High quality mics, but nothing exotic.

Preamp quality of the console is EXCELLENT.  Super clean, transparent; what you'd expect from a touring-quality desk.  I noticed this as soon as the first parts of soundcheck were underway.  The EQ section is excellent sounding and responsive, with an interesting feature:  When engaged, the console has a wide-Q curve when EQ is boosted and a somewhat more narrow-Q when cut.  I found myself using less EQ than I normally would on this desk.  Whether or not this was a function of the different EQ feature of the desk, I'm not sure, but I liked it Razz .  

The 10 aux sends are switchable (first 4 in a group, then in subsequent pairs) pre/post.  Furthermore, you have the option of selecting pre/post EQ for a pre send, a feature that could come in handy whilst mixing monitors from FOH (which we did not do at this gig.)  Faders are provided on the aux send outputs.

The VCA section was a great thing to have, especially on a console of this size.  VCA assigns are via latching switches on the channel strips (ala PM4K) but are not soft-recallable.  There is an indicator LED on the VCA masters for "VCA Unity," another neat feature.

The master section features a nice complement of standard features, 4 matrix outputs, and dual 1/4" and 1/8" headphone jacks.  No more lost adaptors!  The Spectra-T has clearly been designed by those who have had experience behind a console.

As I said before, sound quality was beyond excellent.  After listening to the 2-track board mix after the show, the clean-ness and transparence of the console became even more apparent.  This is just MY opinion, but based on my significant experience on the Verona, the APB sounds noticeably better in just about every department.

Now for the airing of Grievances:
-Above each fader, there are the routing assignments:  L/R, Mono, Center, and one more I can't remember.  These are little tiny buttons with no indication lamp, and it's somewhat difficult to tell where your channel is assigned.  During soundcheck, my talkback mic rolled down and hit one of these buttons, taking it out of the L/R mix.  Also, the VCA assign buttons are right next to the channel faders and are also small/short travel buttons.  There's no real way to see what channel is assigned to what VCA other than soloing or muting a VCA group and then looking for the respective lights for solo or mute on the channels.  Other than that, I had no major complaints.  

I think this console can satisfy a real niche of the small-format VCA console.  It's a high end mixer in a small package, and I think it'll be a great addition to the market.


Show Report PA:
-APB Dynasonics Spectra-T Console
-PCM91/M3000/D2 EFX
-BSS 402 and DBX 1066 Comps
-KT 504 Gates
-DBX Driverack 480 Main DSP
-QSC PL6.0/PL236 FOH Amps
-Yorkville TX4/TX9 Main speakers

Monitors:
-A/H GL3300 Console
-QSC PL236 Amps
-Rat Microwedges/EAW SM500 Wedges


-JB



Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on May 22, 2006, 11:33:55 AM
Thanks for the update.

It looks like their experience is showing, and that's a good thing. Very Happy

JR

Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on May 22, 2006, 12:04:33 PM
Jim Bowersox wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 09:54

  When engaged, the console has a wide-Q curve when EQ is boosted and a somewhat more narrow-Q when cut.  I found myself using less EQ than I normally would on this desk.  Whether or not this was a function of the different EQ feature of the desk, I'm not sure, but I liked it

Hey, Jim, that asymettrical cut/boost is just on the high and low sweeps when you've got them in bell mode, as opposed to shelf mode. The two swept mids have the option of symmetrical cut/bost either wide or narrow... I think they're 1 octave and 1/3 octave, respectively, but don't hold me to it. The cut on the high and low shelves is 1/4 octave. That EQ went through a lot of different techs' hands before the various frequency points, bandwidths, and other esoterica were decided upon... APB really does their homework.

Glad to hear you were thrilled with the console... I'll be getting one in a few weeks to beat up for Road Test, but I don't know how much more there is to say! Analog ain't dead yet, folks, and with the team at APB's help it's got a lot more to go.

DISCLAIMER: I have a close relationship with APB, and I am on the design team for their future products. I was not, however, in any way involved with the creation of the Spectra series, and I am not in their employ.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Rick Stansby on May 22, 2006, 12:17:41 PM
Great review.  I can't wait to use one of these boards.  

I know I'm not the only one wondering how much these things cost.  So I emailed Chuck Augustowski who told me.

The spectra-C is almost identical to the T except it has a simpler - dual sweep - channel EQ.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: The Guy on May 22, 2006, 01:07:29 PM
Bennett Prescott wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 12:04

 that asymettrical cut/boost is just on the high and low sweeps when you've got them in bell mode, as opposed to shelf mode. The two swept mids have the option of symmetrical cut/bost either wide or narrow... I think they're 1 octave and 1/3 octave, respectively, but don't hold me to it. The cut on the high and low shelves is 1/4 octave.




Thanks for the clarification.  I was trying to decipher what the little graphics next to the EQ buttons meant.  RTFM, right!

I'll bet the APB design team all have small fingers...those little buttons take a little getting used to by a large-handed individual like myself.

-JB
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Andy Peters on May 22, 2006, 01:40:00 PM
Jim Bowersox wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 10:07

I'll bet the APB design team all have small fingers...those little buttons take a little getting used to by a large-handed individual like myself.


I bet they wanted to reduce the footprint/size/weight as much as reasonable.  Your fingers may not like it, but your back will.

-a
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Dave C(arugo) on May 22, 2006, 01:42:42 PM
Can I ask is it a 2 man lift in the case?
Thanks and Regards,
Dave C.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: The Guy on May 22, 2006, 01:46:41 PM
Believe it or not, the demo model didn't have a case.  

Bolly will disagree, but it was a 1-man lift for me without the case.  Then again, this was only a 24.  

A 40/48 in a nice doghouse case would probably be manageable for two vigorous young go-getters.  Then again, no one can argue with EZ tilts.

-JB
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Alexandre Richer on May 22, 2006, 01:49:48 PM
For those looking at http://www.apbdynasonics.com/products.html, the pictures are actually very neat once you right-click and use "Show image" (and maybe click on it so it shows full size).
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Brian Bolly on May 22, 2006, 02:58:54 PM
Let me add my $0.02...

I got a chance to talk with Chuck Augustowski a week or so ago when he brought this desk into our office along with our local rep.  We didn't have any chance to pass audio through it, but he also brought an 8-channel block so that we could see the construction of the desk and its layout.  I knew I had a relatively high-demand gig coming up and it was during this time that I was able to arrange the demo.

I was aware of some of the feature set for the console before it was even released to the public, and know some of the people that were consulted for the design - this console is no slouch.  As such, I had high expectations for the desk, but was still blown away with its ease of use and, above all, sound quality.  The things that make it especially nice are the finer points that are overlooked on some other designs.  Sound quality aside, I think my favorite feature is the mute light status - no more guessing if the channel is muted via its own switch or via a mute group.  

Even though it is a 1-man lift for a 24ch frame not in a case, I don't forsee it being liftable for one person when properly cased, especially in a larger frame size.  Could one person flip it on an easy tilt?  Probably.  Push it up a truck ramp?  Sure.  But, for safety reasons I wouldn't want to do it.

I'll openly admit that I'm a large fan of digital desks.  In fact, my next purchase was slated to be a Yamaha M7CL-48.  However, after using and hearing this console, I'd say that it's now on my (short) list of desk choices, arguments about digital vs. analog aside.

I've attached a photo of the desk in action.  The blue LED's aren't really as painfully bright as they may appear to be in the photo.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Horvath on May 22, 2006, 03:19:11 PM
Thank you for the nice review, Jim & Brian.  Couple questions though..

How's the build quality?  Due to the lack of high-res pics, or ANY pics for that matter, for some reason the console has a Biamp/Phonic look to it.  Are the pots nutted?  Are the jacks plastic?

And is there built in pink noise or external pink/osc output?  With the amount of Smaart users nowadays, it's my opinion every mid-priced console should have built in pink noise with an external output.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Grayson Rech on May 22, 2006, 03:27:55 PM
I just noticed that for the master outputs there is only one fader next to the 8th VCA.  Maybe I'm old school or just picky but does anyone else find it a but odd that there aren't 2 or 3 master (L R C) faders for a great console like this?  In my decision between Soundcraft MH2, Spectra-T  and AH GL4800 (no VCAs) It was my top choice until I noticed that . . .

Someone please give me a great reason or modivation to get past this unpleasantry.

blarn it blarn it blarn it Sad  Sad

Grayson  "the Sad hoobster" Rech
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on May 22, 2006, 03:29:44 PM
John Horvath wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 14:19

Thank you for the nice review, Jim & Brian.  Couple questions though..

How's the build quality?  Due to the lack of high-res pics, or ANY pics for that matter, for some reason the console has a Biamp/Phonic look to it.  Are the pots nutted?  Are the jacks plastic?

And is there built in pink noise or external pink/osc output?  With the amount of Smaart users nowadays, it's my opinion every mid-priced console should have built in pink noise with an external output.


Wow? A "Biamp/Phonic look"... that's really cold dude. Laughing

JR
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Horvath on May 22, 2006, 03:46:41 PM
John Roberts  {JR} wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 14:29

Wow? A "Biamp/Phonic look"... that's really cold dude. Laughing

Well, doesn't it though?  I'm very excited about hearing this console, but only after Jim & Brian's reviews of it's sound quality.  The MH2/3 definitely win in the aestetic appeal and overall 'look of quality' category.  I guess the good thing is APB spent their time on building a great sounding console as opposed to a great looking console.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Mac Kerr on May 22, 2006, 03:48:28 PM
Grayson Rech wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 15:27

I just noticed that for the master outputs there is only one fader next to the 8th VCA.  Maybe I'm old school or just picky but does anyone else find it a but odd that there aren't 2 or 3 master (L R C) faders for a great console like this?  In my decision between Soundcraft MH2, Spectra-T  and AH GL4800 (no VCAs) It was my top choice until I noticed that . . .

Someone please give me a great reason or modivation to get past this unpleasantry.

blarn it blarn it blarn it Sad  Sad

Grayson  "the Sad hoobster" Rech
Why do you think it is important to have them? The only time I change a master output fader is at the end of the night when I shut down the console. If you are hitting the master bus too hard, pulling down the output fader will not change the fact that you are probably overloading the bus. That's what the input faders are for, and with VCAs it should be easy to control the inputs.

I'm amazed that on a console with a change in paradigm like no groups, only auxes, you find the lack of a master output fader as the deal breaker issue.

Mac
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on May 22, 2006, 04:13:31 PM
John Horvath wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 14:46


Well, doesn't it though?  I'm very excited about hearing this console, but only after Jim & Brian's reviews of it's sound quality.  The MH2/3 definitely win in the aestetic appeal and overall 'look of quality' category.  I guess the good thing is APB spent their time on building a great sounding console as opposed to a great looking console.


Aesthetics are very subjective. I've been involved with a lot of designs over the years (some much worse than others Rolling Eyes  ). While I have personal opinions, I try not to be too judgemental about other people's cosmetic design calls. One can be pretty confident in evaluating technical performance, cosmetics are almost a fashion issue where good/bad is ultimately defined by the market response.  YMMV  

JR
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bill Eborn on May 22, 2006, 04:15:47 PM
It's the superior PCB layout that makes it work soooo well. It must have been Taz.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: The Guy on May 22, 2006, 04:21:14 PM
Brian and I were just talking about how APB should consider some new photos for their website.  It looks somewhat less phonic-ish in real life than on their site.  It is fairly colorful, and believe it or not, two seperate girls took pictures of the mixer at the show.  I have to admit, I was surprised when I saw it in person.  It's a nice looking desk.

The console feels solid.  Probably slightly more so than Verona.  Pots are nutted, jacks are high quality, faders are nice (not uber-smooth P&G nice, but very good.)

As far as the 1 master fader, I've never run my L/R outputs at different levels.  I'd hardly consider this a dealbreaker.  Also, It has a tone generator, but not a pink generator with an external output as far as I saw.  

I'll jump in with Brian on this one, and agree that we were sold on a Yammi M7.....until this guy came around!

-JB

P.S.  That guy in the picture should be a hand model! Very Happy
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on May 22, 2006, 04:27:28 PM
Grayson Rech wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 15:27

I just noticed that for the master outputs there is only one fader next to the 8th VCA.

Of course... otherwise you'd be changing your levels (and maybe crosspoints) between parts of your speaker system (L,C,R and Sub, potentially) whenever you adjusted it. A properly put together PA shouldn't have that happen to it.

For those of you asking for photos... here's one of the internal construction. I've got more, but I want to save them for my review. The reason there are two layers of PCB is a) rigidity and b) so they can route audio in three planes, thereby having as many audio paths cross at 90-degree angles as possible, thereby reducing noise and interference. In this photo that's the preamp module closest to you, fader furthest away. All parts are field-replaceable with a screwdriver, especially the fader.

index.php/fa/4837/0/
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on May 22, 2006, 04:30:50 PM
Jim Bowersox wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 16:21

Pots are nutted

No they aren't! They're solidly constructed, though. You'd have to be throwing some real weight at the console to break one.

I also like the color scheme/layout/size of the console... High-contrast, everything's easy to see, important things are bright, less important things get out of your way.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: The Guy on May 22, 2006, 04:34:39 PM
They're not nutted?  My B.  They felt like they were.  They certainly didn't have the amount of "play" that I've experienced in my former FOH console.  

-JB
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Alexandre Richer on May 22, 2006, 04:38:01 PM
http://www.apbdynasonics.com/images/ProductPage1SpectraCInpu tEQ.JPG

and

http://www.apbdynasonics.com/Downloads/Photos/SpectraPhoto1_ 300dpi.jpg

are the two best photos I've seen on APB's website. Too bad they let the browser do the resizing.. except for the JPEG compression artifacts, picture #1 is pretty good.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Eric Snodgrass on May 22, 2006, 04:41:42 PM
Bennett Prescott wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 13:27

Grayson Rech wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 15:27

I just noticed that for the master outputs there is only one fader next to the 8th VCA.

Of course... otherwise you'd be changing your levels (and maybe crosspoints) between parts of your speaker system (L,C,R and Sub, potentially) whenever you adjusted it. A properly put together PA shouldn't have that happen to it.

For a number of years I was mixing on an Amek Recall RN and it had a great feature where one could bypass the LR master faders.  That meant that, when bypassed, any channel assigned to the Stereo master went straight to the Stereo master section of the matrix.  I would always bypass the Stereo faders when mixing on this console.  I never found it necessary to adjust the master faders.  
On the other hand it is sometimes useful to have a secondary fader for an output so you can run subs off of it rather than using an aux.  
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on May 22, 2006, 05:53:42 PM
Jim Bowersox wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 15:34

They're not nutted?  My B.  They felt like they were.  They certainly didn't have the amount of "play" that I've experienced in my former FOH console.  

-JB




Nuts on pot shafts have pretty much gone the way of the dodo bird due to labor costs. The early "nut-less" desks lived up to their name, but the pot manufacturers have developed better components since then that work well in the modern packaging approach.

While there are probably some high end products still using nuts, it may be as much an artifact of old technology components and resistance to change than any reliability benefit.

Likewise there was a comment in passing about use of plastic jacks... Any use of jack nuts for structural attachment/support is questionable design practice whether it's metal or plastic. The difference between good/bad mechanical design is not quite that easy to discern from casual inspection or assumptions based on components used. I recall in the past using metal nuts instead of plastic on a mixer because of so many customers who judge the book by it's cover. (FWIW the cost difference between metal and plastic nuts was a fraction of a cent per.)


JR
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Fred Merkle on May 22, 2006, 05:59:02 PM
John Roberts  {JR} wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 17:53


Likewise there was a comment in passing about use of plastic jacks... Any use of jack nuts for structural attachment/support is questionable design practice whether it's metal or plastic. The difference between good/bad mechanical design is not quite that easy to discern from casual inspection or assumptions based on components used. I recall in the past using metal nuts instead of plastic on a mixer because of so many customers who judge the book by it's cover. (FWIW the cost difference between metal and plastic nuts was a fraction of a cent per.)



 What do you expect the jack to be supported by?  The PCB?  I think there's still very good reason for using nuts as physical attachment points to provide support.  Secondly, I also believe that in terms of shielding and immunity, having a metal jack and jack nut with properly masked chassis (or lock washer of sorts) is far superior to plastic jacks.   I'm especially concerned about it in this day and age of GSM.

 I certainly agree with you though, that metal or plastic jacks provide very little insight into the quality of the overall mechanical design.  There are always price points and manufacturing constraints to deal with.

-Fred

Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on May 22, 2006, 06:15:37 PM
Fred Merkle wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 17:59

Secondly, I also believe that in terms of shielding and immunity, having a metal jack and jack nut with properly masked chassis (or lock washer of sorts) is far superior to plastic jacks.   I'm especially concerned about it in this day and age of GSM.

DISCLAIMER: I don't know what I'm talking about.

Wouldn't the chassis act as a faraday cage? It's certainly properly "grounded" to the signal reference... I'd think that incoming cables (which are outside) of the shield would be much more of a problem, but seeing as the whole design team was there with myself and a few other LABsters at SynAudCon Hums, Buzz, and RF I doubt you'll be able to get the console to have any sort of noise susceptibility.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Fred Merkle on May 22, 2006, 06:35:46 PM
Bennett Prescott wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 18:15



Wouldn't the chassis act as a faraday cage?




 Your faraday cage is only as good as the holes in it...

Quote:


It's certainly properly "grounded" to the signal reference... I'd think that incoming cables (which are outside) of the shield would be much more of a problem, but seeing as the whole design team was there with myself and a few other LABsters at SynAudCon Hums, Buzz, and RF I doubt you'll be able to get the console to have any sort of noise susceptibility.


 That's easy enough to test out.  Do you have a GSM phone?  (preferably a Treo)  Set it on the console and call it.  See what happens when you move it around.

-Fred
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Rick Stansby on May 22, 2006, 06:39:25 PM
Alexandre Richer wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 21:38

 http://www.apbdynasonics.com/Downloads/Photos/SpectraPhoto1_ 300dpi.jpg



Does anybody know what that little hole is next to the line in jacks?  I think it is labeled "Ext In".
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Brian Bolly on May 22, 2006, 06:39:47 PM
Perfectly logical questions, John.

I can see where you might comment on the Biamp/Phonic look, but it's really not that bad.  I found the Midas Venice I just sold a lot more "offensive" to look at than this thing.  I think a lot of it has to do with the neutral color they picked for the chassis and the majority of the desk.  

The build quality is SOLID.  There is relatively no chassis flex whatsoever, and keep in mind we were moving it with no case.  As you may be able to see in Bennett's photo, the channel cards are set up very well.

As mentioned, the desk does have a built in tone generator and a built in TB mic.  It's good for times when your TB mic might be prone to theft (ie: installations), but I'm fine with my own mic externally.

The dual jacks for headphones on the front plus an add'l 1/4" on the back is helpful.

I was told that the faders are Panasonic faders (self-cleaning?) and are very smooth.

If I think of anything else I missed, I'll post it here.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Petrucelli on May 22, 2006, 06:55:30 PM
We here at APB just saw the review- thanks.
I think this thread may end up in the new Road Test Forum, but we'll try to respond to any specific questions brought up by posters.

The single House Master fader DOES control all 4 of the main outputs of the Console: Left, Right, Center and Mono.
The L-R-C buses are used when in LCR mode, an additional Mono bus is provided for Sub feed (or anything else) if desired.
If you DO want independent control of one (or 2) of the main outputs, there are 2 Alternate Outputs that can be fed from any (or all) of the main outputs- either pre or post the Master fader. These Alt Outs have their own (rotary) level controls and (transformer) balanced XLR outputs.

Ref RTFM: We'll have the Owner's Manual up on our website soon along with some updated pix.

Thanks,
JP

BTW: My finger's not THAT small ...
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on May 22, 2006, 07:17:05 PM
Rick Stansby wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 18:39

Does anybody know what that little hole is next to the line in jacks?  I think it is labeled "Ext In".

That's a recessed latching button, Rick. It's for the expansion capabilities on the board... there are (three?) expansion slots by the master section that let you plug in external inputs (like CAT-5 from a digital snake) and then you bypass the console's pres and use your alternate input by pressing that recessed switch.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on May 22, 2006, 07:26:38 PM
Fred Merkle wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 18:35

Your faraday cage is only as good as the holes in it...

The holes represent the knee of the faraday cage's high pass, I take it?

Fred Merkle wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 18:35

That's easy enough to test out.  Do you have a GSM phone?  (preferably a Treo)  Set it on the console and call it.  See what happens when you move it around.

Don't worry, I plan to test everything I receive that's got an audio interface. The Spectra T will go through the same tests the Roland's about to go through... phone and 60hz "hummer".
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on May 22, 2006, 07:29:22 PM
Fred Merkle wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 16:59



 What do you expect the jack to be supported by?  The PCB?  I think there's still very good reason for using nuts as physical attachment points to provide support.  Secondly, I also believe that in terms of shielding and immunity, having a metal jack and jack nut with properly masked chassis (or lock washer of sorts) is far superior to plastic jacks.   I'm especially concerned about it in this day and age of GSM.

 I certainly agree with you though, that metal or plastic jacks provide very little insight into the quality of the overall mechanical design.  There are always price points and manufacturing constraints to deal with.

-Fred




I am not going to write a tutorial on packaging and there are folks much better than I at that game, but better 1/4" jacks have screw bosses in them so they can be screwed down to the PCB. Even lower labor approaches involve solid bosses that nest into holes in the PCB to strain relief the forces from insertion/removal cycles. The fastest way to fatigue and trash a solder connection is to make it structural. Likewise if you have tens of 1/4" jacks in a PCB you need to resist the temptation to use that for fastening, although I suspect many smaller low cost (disposable) products do that (who me?  Rolling Eyes ) .

What exactly do you expect the metal barrel on a 1/4" jack to shield, the ground lead? With modern powder coating and metal treatments getting a proper ground even with metal nuts isn't insured. Good quality plastic jacks can even have special piercing ground contacts to cut into the panel chassis and make a decent quality ground connection. This is often adequate for shielding, not for high current safety ground bonding.

I will concede that I have used a metal barrel 1/4" jack on a low end fixed installation product (something like a 2W or 5W amp and I think I used a high current speaker jack)) for safety ground bonding and it passed agency testing, but that was a very small, very sharp pencil product, and not IMO best practice.

If you're a customer tho' of course you're right.    

JR
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Rick Stansby on May 22, 2006, 09:47:00 PM
Bennett Prescott wrote on Tue, 23 May 2006 00:17

... there are (three?) expansion slots by the master section that let you plug in external inputs (like CAT-5 from a digital snake) and then you bypass the console's pres and use your alternate input by pressing that recessed switch.


Wow! Thanks.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Phil Ouellette on May 22, 2006, 11:16:38 PM
I've been mixing on Yamaha digital consoles (01V, DM1K, DM2K) for a few years now and I love them for what they do. Despite that I still end up wondering every now and then if anybody at Yamaha ever spends any time at live gigs.  The Yamaha consoles get the job done, but sometimes you really have to work pretty hard to get them to do what you want.  The boys at APB have obviously been taking notes and I am very impressed with their understanding of what it takes to get the job done.

To be fair, I haven't got much time on the PM family so it is probable that my occasional sour grapes are just because of the particular consoles I can afford to use.

I wonder what a console that implemented the functionality of a Spectra-T console using a digital console's inners would cost?  Could you implement this in digital for the something close to the price APB is asking for these?  Add some dynamics (compressor/gate) to each channel while you are at it and that would be just about a perfect console.

In reply to the poster complaining about there only being one master fader, I hate multiple master faders.  I often end up wasting a VCA or fader group just to make sure my master levels move in lockstep with each other.

Good job of understanding your market APB.

Phil
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Langston Holland on May 23, 2006, 12:02:33 AM
If you're using Internet Explorer, you can stop the graphics resizing by deselecting the check box for "Enable Automatic Image Resizing" in the following:

index.php/fa/4841/0/

Select Tools|Internet Options|Advanced to get to this dialog box.

Comment: This console looks a lot like one of Chuck's prior designs, the Crest X-VCA. Some key specs are similar as well, such as the very important higher input Z around 4k ohms that results in much less mic loading when paralleled to a monitor console. After some experiments in my lab (actually with my lab-rador retriever in my living room) a couple years ago, I raised the input Z of my A&H GL3300 to 4k ohms as well. The improvement was not subtle, specifically with dynamic mics.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Petrucelli on May 23, 2006, 12:07:16 AM
Sorry, had to break into JR and Fred's "discussion" of metal and plastic jacks. Just to be clear, we use metal bushing jacks with metal nuts on the Spectra in all locations that call for Sleeve=Chassis. The jacks have pointy barbs at the base of the bushing that dig into the metalwork when the nuts are tightened to make a solid electrical connection.
For the XLRs, we use the type that provide a Pin-1 to Chassis connection at the mounting screw. Again, these have a small barb at the mounting locations to insure good chassis contact.
I think that most Pro gear these days would use these same components- the connector manufacturers have been quite good at responding to the audio industry's requests for better "grounding".

Thanks,
JP
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Mike Sveda on May 23, 2006, 08:05:27 AM
Glad to see this console getting out there. Saw one at the SE Systems trade show. Very nice looking console. I wish it had been out when we were shopping.  Has some nice features for HOW.  The stereo channels have a special feature for handling split track cd's for tracks performances.  
Who knows, we might have bought the APB instead of the Verona had it been out........
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on May 23, 2006, 08:10:24 AM
John Petrucelli wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 23:07

Sorry, had to break into JR and Fred's "discussion" of metal and plastic jacks. Just to be clear, we use metal bushing jacks with metal nuts on the Spectra in all locations that call for Sleeve=Chassis. The jacks have pointy barbs at the base of the bushing that dig into the metalwork when the nuts are tightened to make a solid electrical connection.
For the XLRs, we use the type that provide a Pin-1 to Chassis connection at the mounting screw. Again, these have a small barb at the mounting locations to insure good chassis contact.
I think that most Pro gear these days would use these same components- the connector manufacturers have been quite good at responding to the audio industry's requests for better "grounding".

Thanks,
JP



Yo, JP... Never any question in my mind about you guys doing it right.

I understand that customers judge icebergs by the bit that's showing but there's so much more to it.

JR

PS: Has the snow melted off the tennis courts way up there in Joisy yet?
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Fred Merkle on May 23, 2006, 10:55:25 AM
John Roberts  {JR} wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 19:29


I am not going to write a tutorial on packaging and there are folks much better than I at that game, but better 1/4" jacks have screw bosses in them so they can be screwed down to the PCB. Even lower labor approaches involve solid bosses that nest into holes in the PCB to strain relief the forces from insertion/removal cycles. The fastest way to fatigue and trash a solder connection is to make it structural. Likewise if you have tens of 1/4" jacks in a PCB you need to resist the temptation to use that for fastening, although I suspect many smaller low cost (disposable) products do that (who me?  Rolling Eyes ) .



 Certainly.  Those are all acceptable ways of relieving mechanical forces to the connectors.  My using the PCB comment was a rhetorical question directly referencing the insanely bad practice of relying upon solder for mechanical strength.  I (and others) happen to feel that using the chassis for these purposes is more reliable for a product designed for many years of abuse.  


Quote:


What exactly do you expect the metal barrel on a 1/4" jack to shield, the ground lead? With modern powder coating and metal treatments getting a proper ground even with metal nuts isn't insured.



It is if you want it to be.  Putting metal nuts on a design for grounding reasons, but not getting good contact to the metal surface is poor practice.  Not all products are powder coated.  Metal to metal contact can be insured if designed that way.

Quote:


Good quality plastic jacks can even have special piercing ground contacts to cut into the panel chassis and make a decent quality ground connection. This is often adequate for shielding, not for high current safety ground bonding.



Quote:


If you're a customer tho' of course you're right.    



As I stated before.  You and I are (mostly) in agreement.  Metal jacks and metal nuts do not imply good design practice.  (Now here's the part that I'm not sure whether we agree on.)  Metal jacks and metal nuts do not imply bad design practice or even poor design choice.

 You really have to either respect a manufacturer's technical competence or test for yourself.

-Fred
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on May 23, 2006, 11:44:37 AM
Fred Merkle wrote on Tue, 23 May 2006 09:55



As I stated before.  You and I are (mostly) in agreement.  Metal jacks and metal nuts do not imply good design practice.  (Now here's the part that I'm not sure whether we agree on.)  Metal jacks and metal nuts do not imply bad design practice or even poor design choice.

 You really have to either respect a manufacturer's technical competence or test for yourself.

-Fred


Agreed... and even if use of metal nuts/sleeves is a marketing cosmetic decision, that doesn't make it wrong either. Perception in lieu of better data is the operating reality out in the real world.

JR

Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Grayson Rech on May 23, 2006, 02:22:55 PM
Mac, and others who want to know why I  am hung on multi master faders. . .

I prefer individual faders for at least 2 reasons.
The first, on sunday one of my powered cabs decided to be at least 20db quieter than the other.  I checked EVERYTHING from the board outputs (Crest XR20) through the protea, snake, XLR to the speaker and even the back of the speaker to see if something had been pressed a pad or mic/line switch.  Troubleshooting led it to a faulting speaker (haven't had time to bench it yet).  I was under the gun and didn't have time to get a back up speaker for the first set.  So the "get through it" kicked in and ended up running that side 20db hotter than the other.  Thankfully it was a quiet atmosphere and I had more than enough headroom to do this.  Swapping speakers cleared up the issue and my world was calm again.  Now try and do that on a single fader console quickly.  

The other reason is more for the Mono or Center master to be used via aux feed subs or a remote feed or something cool that I can't even think about right now.  Now that one of APB's own chimed in on an alternative to that, I will consider that should the situation arise.  

Lastly, thank you Mac for pointing out the lack of subgroups.  I knew it did not have subgroups but until this moment I didn't think of the impacts of my style of mixing as I was focusing more in the VCA realm.  Without subgroups how could I insert processing over a select group of channels?  

As always thanks to all who help sharpen my knowledge and give me a different perspective.

Greatfull,
Grayson Rech


Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Gian P. Portanova on May 23, 2006, 02:41:04 PM
Grayson Rech wrote on Tue, 23 May 2006 14:22


Lastly, thank you Mac for pointing out the lack of subgroups.  I knew it did not have subgroups but until this moment I didn't think of the impacts of my style of mixing as I was focusing more in the VCA realm.  Without subgroups how could I insert processing over a select group of channels?  

As always thanks to all who help sharpen my knowledge and give me a different perspective.

Greatfull,
Grayson Rech





Grayson,

I beleive that the inputs can be routed to an AUX out, then to main outs, allowing you to insert processing!  AUX on a fader is similar to a group.  
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Mike Sveda on May 23, 2006, 03:52:32 PM
If you are using your auxes for moinitors from FOH and EFX, you might not have any spare auxes.  We typically insert compressors on a group for a multi-band affair or to compress a vocal group.

Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Mac Kerr on May 23, 2006, 04:35:32 PM
Grayson Rech wrote on Tue, 23 May 2006 14:22

Lastly, thank you Mac for pointing out the lack of subgroups.  I knew it did not have subgroups but until this moment I didn't think of the impacts of my style of mixing as I was focusing more in the VCA realm.  Without subgroups how could I insert processing over a select group of channels?  
I didn't mean to portray, nor do I consider, the lack of "groups" as a shortcoming, or disadvantage. In some ways it is an advantage. Like most higher end digital consoles, the use of groups and auxes becomes blurred. Those consoles, and the Dynasonics consoles, replace that paradigm with one where all mix buses can have variable level. If you need to process a group, you do it on one of the 10 variable mix buses. This is how a Midas XL3 works, it is how a Heritage 3000 works, and I assume an XL4 as well. Where the H3000 and many of the digital consoles differ is that it is possible to make the aux sends be fixed gain. The XL3 and I think the XL4 follow the same method as Dynasonics.

Mac
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Dave Stevens on May 23, 2006, 05:40:18 PM
Mac Kerr wrote on Tue, 23 May 2006 13:35

 The XL3 and I think the XL4 follow the same method as Dynasonics.


The XL4 has dedicated fixed gain subgroups in addition to variable auxes.  The XL3 was the first large frame console that I'm aware of that eliminated fixed groups and replaced them with a variable buses only.

Dave
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Rick Stansby on May 23, 2006, 11:00:08 PM
Grayson Rech wrote on Tue, 23 May 2006 19:22

 So the "get through it" kicked in and ended up running that side 20db hotter than the other.  ... Now try and do that on a single fader console quickly.  



You could always reach over to the graph or the DBX120s and balance the level there.


Edit: Did I say dbx 120.  Oops.  I meant dbx 160.  The mono compressor frequently used in pairs on the L,R outputs.  
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Tim McCulloch on May 23, 2006, 11:21:32 PM
Rick-

The dbx 120 a "sub-harmonic sythesizer" that has a sub/main crossover function of 6dB/oct. but from what I can tell, left/right control is ganged.

Tim Mc
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Rick Stansby on May 25, 2006, 11:57:14 AM
Tim McCulloch wrote on Wed, 24 May 2006 04:21

Rick-

The dbx 120 a "sub-harmonic sythesizer" that has a sub/main crossover function of 6dB/oct. but from what I can tell, left/right control is ganged.

Tim Mc

Good catch that was a typo, I meant dbx 160, which lots of guys seem to have on their L,R. Basically what I'm saying is that if you have your signal going through an EQ, or compressor you can quickly balance the gain there, even if the board doesn't have multiple master faders.  

To be honest I generally prefer multiple faders, but this Master fader has more power, because it can control matrix sends as well as the 4 main busses.  I'm thinking of it as a ninth VCA for controlling output faders.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Teri Hogan on May 25, 2006, 04:01:36 PM
I have to jump in here with my .02.  We've had our 32-channel Spectra-T for about five weeks now and we are just amazed.  I really don't have anything to add technically, as it seems to have been pretty well covered.  But we've been showing this console around to engineers in the field and seeing is believing.  We took it out to a huge festival with six stages.  On day 1, I had it at my stage.  On day 2, I sent it over to another stage to be used by another sound company and put up the Verona.  Four engineers mixed on it and eights others came by to see and hear it.  Now you all know you can never get a bunch of audio engineers to agree on anything.  But all twelve engineers said the same thing:  "I'd take the APB over the Verona any day!"  

This console has more quality features than anything on the market in its price range.  As Chuck told me, "We wanted to make a console that would allow production companies to make money."  What a concept!

I had balked at the paradigm shift in console construction.  I really hated the idea of 8 inputs to a module.  If I lose one channel, I have to lose 8 channels to ship it off for repair?  Pleeeeeeze!  APB has addressed this in a completely logical fashion.  Each input is "plug and play".  If you lose a channel, you call 'em up and tell 'em, they overnight you a new  card, you pull out the bad one, insert the new one and you're good to go.  Now how logical is that?

To date, the only complaint we've had is that the yellow solo lights are impossible to see when working outside in the day time.  They're working on it.

Name recognition is the only obstacle we see for APB and I sincerely feel that this will be overcome quickly.  I just can't say enough good things about this desk!
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Petrucelli on May 25, 2006, 04:33:32 PM
Teri wrote:
"This console has more quality features than anything on the market in its price range. As Chuck told me, "We wanted to make a console that would allow production companies to make money." What a concept!"

Hey, wait a minute ... Chuck told us that we're building this Console so that WE could make some money ... Confused

Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Gian P. Portanova on May 25, 2006, 05:59:59 PM
John Petrucelli wrote on Thu, 25 May 2006 16:33

Teri wrote:
"This console has more quality features than anything on the market in its price range. As Chuck told me, "We wanted to make a console that would allow production companies to make money." What a concept!"

Hey, wait a minute ... Chuck told us that we're building this Console so that WE could make some money ... Confused




WAIT...maybe everyone wins here!

JP, did you start making money yet?
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Teri Hogan on May 29, 2006, 08:20:21 PM
This weekend I took the Spectra-T out for 3 days and used it as a monitor desk.  Very cool indeed.  Once I figured out that I needed to depress the 'pre-source' buttons to send signal to the stereo auxes, it went without a hitch and the musicians were very happy with what they got.

The functions are pretty much the same as working on my LM except for the LED ladders actually being more like meters, therefore, more useful than ever.  It was just so easy.  The cue functions are completely intuitive.  I used it both with a cue wedge and with headphones and it did exactly what I expected.  The talk-back feature also performs perfectly.  I found I couldn't turn up the gain on the talk-back more than "1".  It's pretty powerful.  I still haven't figured out how to use the on-board talk-back mic on the surface, though.

We're considering buying a large-frame Spectra-T and using it as a monitor desk for this season until Chuck and the boys get me a real monitor desk, so this was truly a test demonstration and it passes all my tests.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Scott Raymond on May 29, 2006, 11:35:50 PM
Teri wrote on Mon, 29 May 2006 19:20

  I still haven't figured out how to use the on-board talk-back mic on the surface, though.


Turn off the XLR switch in the Talkback section?  Twisted Evil
Quote:

 

We're considering buying a large-frame Spectra-T and using it as a monitor desk for this season until Chuck and the boys get me a real monitor desk, so this was truly a test demonstration and it passes all my tests.


Let me quess, you need more auxs!  I just found time to look over the info.  They didn't miss a trick.  I like the mirror image XLR outputs.  Easy to get at all the latches.  And the power supplies snuggled into the channel modules.  Though that looks like it makes the smaller frame models heavier than some the 56 channel is just over 200 lbs.  A two person lift uncased.  I'm waiting for a block diagram on the website.  Helps me understand how it's all layed out.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on May 31, 2006, 03:07:51 PM
First, thank you for all of the kind comments about our Spectra Consoles.

The Spectra weights (approx) are as follows (Not including road case - or packing materials):

Spectra-56P (56 Mono + 4 Stereo Inputs) with two Power Supplies = 210 lbs

Spectra-48P (48 Mono + 4 Stereo Inputs) with two Power Supplies = 185 lbs

Spectra-40P (40 Mono + 4 Stereo Inputs) with two Power Supplies = 165 lbs

Spectra-32P (32 Mono + 4 Stereo Inputs) with two Power Supplies = 145 lbs

Spectra-24 (24 Mono + 4 Stereo Inputs ) with ONE Power Supply = 125 lbs  (It will accept 2 power supplies but I do not have this weight).

Even though I show the Spectra-24 with one supply, we ALWAYS recommend redundant power supplies (regardless of brand of console)for back up as we believe in Murphy's Law. I would never think about doing a revenue producing (or Critical) gig without having backups for key parts of the system.  

On our web site www.apb-dynasonics.com, we give all sizes and weights of our Spectra Consoles including shipping boxes for domestic and export shipments.

Chuck Augustowski
Sales/Product Manager
APB-DynaSonics, Inc.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Michael 'Bink' Knowles on June 01, 2006, 12:47:40 AM
I like your thinking on redundancy. Could have used a Spectra-T at my show yesterday and today where a failed digital board got replaced with an aging Ramsa WR-S4424 with no matrix, few buses and very limited channel EQ...   Mad  

Thanks for showing me the console at NAMM in Anaheim. I keep thinking your design is where I'd like to be when flying analog. Someday I'll have the fortune to run across your desk in my travels. It'll be a good day.  Very Happy

-Bink
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Mac Kerr on June 01, 2006, 11:06:48 AM
Michael 'Bink' Knowles wrote on Thu, 01 June 2006 00:47

Could have used a Spectra-T at my show yesterday and today where a failed digital board got replaced with an aging Ramsa WR-S4424
OK Bink, spit it out. What happened?  Rolling Eyes

Mac
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Michael 'Bink' Knowles on June 01, 2006, 12:11:47 PM
Quote:

OK Bink, spit it out. What happened?  Rolling Eyes


Uhh, I'm not sure. Motorized faders wouldn't move on their own and audio levels wouldn't track manual fader moves. Mix engine worked okay under laptop control, though. It's like the faders weren't there at all. Seems to me like the fader bank needed a connector re-snugged or something simple like that. I didn't want to try and open it up for the first time on show site under time pressure.

Probably related: the internal cooling fan kicked into high speed after a minute or so of being on. I had never heard it do that before.

More info when the unit gets back from service. Until then it's just guesses.  Razz

-Bink
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on June 01, 2006, 02:32:05 PM
All of our rep firms now have samples, either a 24 input or 32 input (no road case).  In Southern California, our rep firm is Mac West Group (562-599-6890).  Give Steve or Zeke a call and they can arrange for you to take it out for a few days for your evaluation.

Chuck Augustowski
Sales/Product Manager
APB-DynaSonics, Inc.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Teri Hogan on June 03, 2006, 01:03:10 AM
 Laughing Need more auxes?  No, not really.  I have a 40X20 LM...plenty of mixes there.  And I LOOOOOVE my LM!  But if a regional sound company wants to remain competitive, it has to be up-to-date on gear and my LM is getting a bit long in the tooth in that respect.  I'm just awaiting the arrival of the Spectra-M (I guess that's what they'll call it) next year and I have a potential buyer for my LM now, which means I need something to get me through the rest of this year.  That's why I'm so excited about how well the Spectra-T performed as a monitor desk.  True, it doesn't have output EQ, but I can work around that for one season if I know its sister is coming soon.  After all, APB can't birth them all at once!

As I said before, it performed flawlessly for me and when I get my monitor desk, the 'T' will move to FOH.  Then we'll be an APB shop! Very Happy
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on June 03, 2006, 12:07:55 PM
I really wish we could give birth to all of our APB console plans at one time.  At this time Spectra-M is just the code name for this 2007 product as it is still going through its definitions.  We welcome any and all suggestions to what this and any other product should be, but it appears that there will be EQ on at lease some of the outputs as Teri is requesting.

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Brad Snow on June 23, 2006, 08:58:14 AM
Having had consistent success with the APB team’s earlier efforts, it was a no-brainer to order a Spectra-T 40 & 4.  Now that it’s here, I am also as impressed with both its features and sonic quality as the rest of you.  While we are waiting for a proper case for it from R&R, we were able to take our GT-40 out of its case and drop the Spectra-T in to use it right away.  

The feel is that of a more modern and efficient analogue console, packed with useful features like sweepable HPFs and VCAs while not giving up valuable real estate to stuff not essential – like sub-groups.  While I’m in the group that passionately hates the single master fader knob since I often use left and right to feed entirely different things different levels, the alternate outs do make it possible to work around this one hurdle when necessary.  

Ditto on all the cool jack field features mentioned already, and flipping the jacks so one can get to the locks in such tight quarters definitely blew me away.  A very smart console from a very smart company!  Will probably order another one soon.          
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Michael 'Bink' Knowles on June 23, 2006, 10:38:50 AM
Quote:

...Ditto on all the cool jack field features mentioned already, and flipping the jacks so one can get to the locks in such tight quarters definitely blew me away...


I like the variable intensity LED labeled CV on each input that tells you how much all the VCA assignments on it are opened up--what the effective level adds up to.

-Bink
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on June 23, 2006, 11:23:39 AM
On a (near) future (and more expensive) console design, I am considering using seperate Left - Right - Center - Mono (subwoffer) faders with individual switches to have them still be able to follow a VCA Output Master fader.  This will require taking up more physical space but it should satisfy both camps - those wishing individual level control (now done on Spectra using the alternate outputs) and those wishing a single master fader to maintain an absolute balanced between their left/Right/Center/Mono(Subs)and doing their speaker level balance within their speaker processing electronics (As Spectra now does).

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics

Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Tom Young on June 25, 2006, 12:05:52 PM
While I appreciate Brad's (and others') preference for separate output faders, I harken back to why I recommended (very strongly) to Chuck that these buses be on a single VCA fader: my concern that overzealous and un-technically oriented mixers would corrupt the balance that had been very intentionally achieved between subs and upper-range ldspkrs in a painstakingly optimized system with aux-fed subs.

Bearing in mind that the clientelle I serve is balanced somewhere between secular performance spaces and HOW, the majority of these users do not necessarily understand why upsetting this (crossover) balance is something to avoid. In my experience; screwing around with this without understanding what is occuring to the acoustic crossover is potentionally far more destructuve than simply using liberal channel-strip EQ tweaks and other user-adjustable processing functions.

I respect the reality that many folks here on LAB *and* in the trenches do understand all this (and may chose to not follow the restraint that I do) OR that some folks may simply not subscribe to the concept of aux fed subs.  Therefore perhaps it will be a good thing to design a future product that allows either method/functionality. If this is developed further I would prefer to have some method to maintain crossover balance as Chuck has proposed.

Brad -

just out of curiosity, why can't you achieve (the same) alternate mixes via matrix buses or aux buses ?  Or is it an issue of the quantities of alternate mixes that you need ?
Title: John & Chuck can you comment??
Post by: Steve Shafer on June 26, 2006, 01:30:09 AM
I have heard that your team designed the Crest XR series mixers prior to leaving Crest/Peavey. If true to you plan to do a newer APB version of what is all ready an excellent versatile rack mount mixer??

While many on this road test column would not be excited by such a small board/desk, it sure would spark my interest and loosen my wallet Smile

Stevesb
Title: Re: John & Chuck can you comment??
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on June 26, 2006, 02:06:06 AM
There are many new product planned both above and below the category of Spectra. We are limited only by the engineering man hours that are available and the desires/needs of our customers.

What comes next (after MixSwitch - info of which will be on our web site in a few weeks - this is an accessory box that provides a means for backing up digital and analog consoles or used to switch between opening act consoles and the headlines console - though it does much more than this which will be useful to a number of people) is based upon the large number of request we are getting for additional products. Among these requests are requests for APB Rack Mount mixers of high quality, though the definitions are different that what we had done in our past.

I am currently on the road in the San Francisco area, and in addition to promoting the Spectra console, I am out here researching future products including Rack Mount Mixers.

Thanks for asking,

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Horvath on July 03, 2006, 05:08:19 PM
Chuck, can you post MSRP and/or MAPP pricing for both the T & C series?

Thank you!
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on July 03, 2006, 06:58:43 PM
I would prefer NOT publishing our price list on this or any other web site.  We do not even do this on our own site as the pricing is different in every country into which we sell product.  You will see very few Pro Audio manufactures publish this type of information in this manner - (Sorry).

If you wish, since you are in Indiana, please contact our rep in that area, Carl Schwartz of Powerlines Marketing (847-475-4200) and he will be happy to provide you with pricing and purchase information, or contact me by PM and let me know specifically what size of console you are interested in and I will provide you with this information.

Chuck Augustowski
Sales/Product Manager
APB-DynaSonics, Inc.

Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Horvath on July 04, 2006, 10:23:41 PM
Thank you, Chuck!
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: the other Mike Russell on July 10, 2006, 09:42:08 PM
I recently had the pleasure of mixing on a Crest V-12 which, at first blush, seems to be the inspiration of a lot of the APB feature set, and certainly one of many past products to be proud of. It had a similar LED tied to VCA activity.  Overall a very nice experience...  VCA's and audio groups on the same console at the same time... something I don't get very often!!!

[quote title=Michael 'Bink' Knowles wrote on Fri, 23 June 2006 10:38]
Quote:

...I like the variable intensity LED labeled CV on each input that tells you how much all the VCA assignments on it are opened up--what the effective level adds up to. -Bink

Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on July 11, 2006, 12:18:05 PM
We are very proud of the V12 console though it was some time since we did the design work on this product in a previous life.  The only negatives were that it was a little to late (H3000 was introduced at nearly the same time) and it was a little too big in depth.

Thanks,

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on July 11, 2006, 12:22:17 PM
We are very pround of the V12 console though it was some time since we did the design work on this product in a previous life.  The only negatives were that it was a little to late (H3000 was introduced at nearly the same time) and it was a little too big in depth.

Thanks,

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on July 15, 2006, 02:27:05 PM
Hey, everyone. As many of you have read in the LAB already, APB were kind enough to lend me a 32 frame Spectra T for a few weeks, and I immediately put it to use.

I have never in my life had a show sound this good this easily. Everything I've mixed through the Spectra so far has been a breeze and sounded great... it gives me every bit of control I need without being complicated, and makes it very easy to get an at-a-glance view of how my mix is going... the metering is fantastic. I purposefully laid in only rough gains for a few channels to see what would happen if I over drove a channel or had to get loads of make up gain from a VCA... the board handled both situations beautifully. I had to clip one vocal 10dB or so before it started to be apparent. Amazing.

If there was ever an EQ strip to fall in love with, this one's it, by the way. Powerful, responsive... I find myself making 2-3 dB boosts and cuts and needing nothing more. On my kick channel I just barely had to get the gain knob off the detent and... snap! There's my click. This is nothing like any other EQ I've ever used in this price range, and the addition of "narrow" buttons next to the swept mids and "bell/shelf" buttons next to the swept highs and lows make it so close to parametric that I certainly wan't missing the additional control.

I am astonished at the clarity of the console... imaging is spectacular, and I don't have to resort to my usual tricks to get separation between instruments in the mix. It's like I've been driving a Ford Focus for the last several years and someone's lent me a Ferrari.

I am very much looking forward to some upcoming shows so I can use more of the capability of the console. For me it's got more flexibility than I have need or equipment for... with four matrices and 10 auxes on faders I can do a big outdoor show with delays and front fill, run a rough mixdown of the mains to the camera guy (transformer isolated!), run a Q&D stereo mix to my laptop, and use auxes 9 & 10 to mix down to a CD or something with a limiter inserted on the outs. Meanwhile I've still got all sorts of outputs left over... man is it nice to not feel cramped.

This console has some extremely professional features for the "power-user" engineer, like pre-fader bus levels on bi-color LEDs for every aux and main out, like VCA unity LEDs, and like control voltage LEDs next to every fader so when your kick isn't coming up you can look and notice you've accidentally assigned it to VCA 8, hence no gain. These features and more make it simple to get a look "under the hood" and see what your signals are doing before they hit an output. Add in the ability to route almost anything almost anywhere and back (including your aux outs) plus a comprehensive talkback section and multiple external inputs for matrices and what have you... well, it's a killer feature set. If I wanted to go over all the little details I've noticed it would take more text than anyone wants to read.

I highly suggest anyone looking into a reliable (dual psu and robust circuit board construction), great sounding, powerful mixing board get a demo. I know it's at the top of my Christmas list.

I'm not going to pretend that there aren't a few little things that bother me, but I think they've been well covered already, seeing as they almost all have to do with either buttons next to the faders or buttons that are hard to tell whether they're engaged or not. Since that's almost entirely a cost issue, I'd rather have unlit buttons and more of them so that I can buy a desk this flexible for what a few years ago wouldn't have landed me much of anything.

By the way, I took some photos from my first APB factory visit a few months ago, thought I'd post them here: http://www.campuspa.com/images/apb/index.html
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on July 15, 2006, 02:55:07 PM
This crew has been together for years. They have done some undeniably great work in the past. Any time you get an opportunity to start over you can drop the ideas that didn't work so well and build on the ones that do. Analog mixers are not very high tech and arguably one of the simpler products in the analog world, but boy is the devil in the details!

This team has accumulated decades of these subtle details that work and the skills to pull it all together for good effect. It shows in the result. Congrats to all.

JR
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on July 15, 2006, 03:01:49 PM
Chuck is fond of saying to me: "We can make good products because we've made every possible mistake in the past".
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on July 15, 2006, 03:42:53 PM
Bennett Prescott wrote on Sat, 15 July 2006 14:01

Chuck is fond of saying to me: "We can make good products because we've made every possible mistake in the past".



Been there, done that.... Cool  That's why console designers have flat foreheads from smacking themselves with the heel of their hand with every new discovery. Like good inventions they're always obvious "after" you see them. The biggest PIA is that so many of the subtle interactions don't show up until you have a frame loaded full of boards. If you knew enough to build an accurate computer model you'd know enough to not need to model it.

Some companies just ship their mistakes, and some keep building more (like hand grenade PS, headphone induced crosstalk, etc). There no substitute for experience in console design. Digital domain consoles do sidestep some of the issues but many persist and there are surely new ones.

JR

 
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Andy Peters on July 15, 2006, 04:12:06 PM
John Roberts  {JR} wrote on Sat, 15 July 2006 12:42

 That's why console designers have flat foreheads from smacking themselves with the heel of their hand with every new discovery.


That's not limited to console designers.

Signed,
Dimwit Flathead

PS: two bucks via paypal to the first person who gets that reference.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Rob Burgess on July 15, 2006, 04:25:18 PM
Andy Peters wrote on Sat, 15 July 2006 16:12


Dimwit Flathead

PS: two bucks via paypal to the first person who gets that reference.


According to Wikipedia it's from the Zork games.

--
Rob
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Andy Peters on July 15, 2006, 04:32:45 PM
Rob Burgess wrote on Sat, 15 July 2006 13:25

Andy Peters wrote on Sat, 15 July 2006 16:12


Dimwit Flathead

PS: two bucks via paypal to the first person who gets that reference.


According to Wikipedia it's from the Zork games.


You cheated! A real geek would have known it without needing the crutch called Wikipedia Smile

-a
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Rob Burgess on July 15, 2006, 04:34:25 PM
Bennett Prescott wrote on Sat, 15 July 2006 14:27


I highly suggest anyone looking into a reliable (dual psu and robust circuit board construction), great sounding, powerful mixing board get a demo. I know it's at the top of my Christmas list.


I got to spend a couple of minutes with a board at the shop when the local rep dropped it by.  I would LOVE to mix a show on one of these.  Just with a 58 and a set of headphones I was impressed.


Bennett Prescott wrote on Sat, 15 July 2006 14:27

By the way, I took some photos from my first APB factory visit a few months ago, thought I'd post them here: http://www.campuspa.com/images/apb/index.html


Nice photos.  I really like the board butt shot and the pickle.

--
Rob
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Rob Burgess on July 15, 2006, 04:40:10 PM
Andy Peters wrote on Sat, 15 July 2006 16:32

You cheated! A real geek would have known it without needing the crutch called Wikipedia Smile

-a


Yup, I googled the name since it wasn't familiar to me.  I actually have a copy of Zork: Grand Inquisitor here but I don't think I ever played it.

I relinquish my claim on the prize.  Give it to a homeless person next time you're out - but don't try to use Paypal to do it Smile

--
Rob
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on July 15, 2006, 05:06:00 PM
Andy Peters wrote on Sat, 15 July 2006 15:12


That's not limited to console designers.

Signed,
Dimwit Flathead

PS: two bucks via paypal to the first person who gets that reference.


True, but from my dabbling in several disciplines large console design strikes me as having a huge disconnect between the appearance of and actual difficulty in practice.

At least when I started working on the electronic characterization and measurement of resonance modes in dual head circular membranophones I expected complexity and wasn't disappointed (he says several years and 5k lines of code later).

JR
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on July 17, 2006, 04:48:39 PM
Thanks Bennett for your kind review!

Chuck Augustowski and the "crew' at APB-DynaSonics
Title: Mixing Monitors
Post by: Bennett Prescott on August 03, 2006, 04:52:48 PM
I wanted to add a quick note about using the Spectra as a monitor mixer. I fielded 6 mixes and a stereo recording mix off this baby just last week and it was a joy. The high-contrast color scheme really paid off, and the conversion from "FOH desk" to "Monitor desk" was seamless. Having VCAs was really nice.

My only complaints:
  1. Wedge output is 1/4", not XLR
  2. Aux out pots start at -20, for many sources I found I needed slightly less than that, so tweaking the right level was a matter of breathing in the right places


For medium sized companies, a matched pair of Spectra Ts would be a hell of an asset. The narrow cut mode on all four bands of swept EQ also gives the operator a whole new level of versatility at this price point.
Title: Re: Mixing Monitors
Post by: Michael 'Bink' Knowles on August 03, 2006, 05:11:56 PM
Quote:

...Wedge output is 1/4", not XLR


You mean the sum of LCR output? I didn't see a dedicated cue wedge output.


Quote:

Aux out pots start at -20


What? Don't the pots have an fully off position? Maybe you mean the level jumps quickly up to -20 with a very small movement of the pot. There wouldn't be a very easy workaround if that were true.

index.php/fa/5436/0/

What I like about the rear panel is that the Aux Out XLRs are upside down on Auxes 6-10 so that you can more easily remove the XLR connections with normal-sized fingers.  Cool
-Bink
Title: Re: Mixing Monitors
Post by: Bennett Prescott on August 03, 2006, 06:00:44 PM
Michael 'Bink' Knowles wrote on Thu, 03 August 2006 17:11

Quote:

...Wedge output is 1/4", not XLR

You mean the sum of LCR output? I didn't see a dedicated cue wedge output.
Quote:

Aux out pots start at -20

What? Don't the pots have an fully off position? Maybe you mean the level jumps quickly up to -20 with a very small movement of the pot. There wouldn't be a very easy workaround if that were true.

You're right on both counts, Bink. I mean the sum of the LCR monitoring path output, and that there's just a few degrees between -inf and -20dB, with half of the control between -10 and +6.
Title: Re: John & Chuck can you comment??
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on September 06, 2006, 04:21:36 PM
As it is just a few days before the PLASA show, I can now say that we will be introducing a new Rack type mixer based upon our Spectra design at this show (in addition to MixSwitch) though its formal introduction will be at the AES show in October with first deliveries after the first of the year.  Info on this new product should appear on our web sit near the time of the AES show.

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
Title: Re: Mixing Monitors
Post by: John Horvath on September 06, 2006, 09:18:33 PM
Bennett Prescott wrote:

The internal construction is very flexible, making it easy to swap out or move 8-module banks or even the master section around.

I called APB today about ordering a 32 channel Spectra-C with 24 inputs to the left and 8 inputs to the right.. Negative.  32 channel consoles are only available with 16 on the left and 16 on the right.  I was pretty mad, but after hearing that I can get an MH2 the way that I want, all is good now.
Title: Re: Mixing Monitors
Post by: Bennett Prescott on September 07, 2006, 12:03:40 AM
You're right, John, I had double checked that with APB after leaping to a conclusion and they confirmed that there was no way to do it. My apologies.
Title: Re: Mixing Monitors
Post by: John Horvath on September 07, 2006, 12:25:53 AM
Bennett Prescott wrote on Wed, 06 September 2006 23:03

You're right, John, I had double checked that with APB after leaping to a conclusion and they confirmed that there was no way to do it. My apologies.

I know this might be silly, but what about getting a 40 frame, but short loaded with 32 inputs?  If they don't offer a 8 channel blank panel, I have no problem making one.
Title: Chassis configurations
Post by: John Petrucelli on September 08, 2006, 11:49:10 AM
John,
Sorry about the misunderstanding.
Just to clear this up for others about the module layout of the Spectra:
In our past life we did offer short-loaded modules and/or the ability to reposition the Master section on some of our consoles. We found that very (very) few customers every specified those options. When we designed the Spectra we had a list of features it had to have. High on that list were plug-in power supplies, easily serviced modules, chassis strength & rigidity, etc. The internal construction of the chassis has to accommodate all that. We wanted the power supplies to always occupy the same relative position in the console for all model sizes and there are different connection needs for the Input modules vs the Master module in addition to their different physical widths. All this basically says is that we could not design a "universal" chassis for the Spectra that would allow any module to be placed at any position without compromising some other aspect of the overall design (including the cost aspect). For each model size we chose the most requested configuration: for the 24-channel the Master is far-right, for all other sizes the Master is centrally located.

Thanks,
JP-APB
Title: Re: Chassis configurations
Post by: Steve Payne on September 12, 2006, 10:26:42 PM
some of the people all of the time.
all of the people some of the time.
etc.....    Smile
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on September 28, 2006, 09:24:07 AM
The owners manual for Spectra is now up on our web site www.apb-dynasonics.com under the "Products" section under "Spectra-C and Spectra-T Consoles"

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics.com
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on November 07, 2006, 12:46:28 AM
Just a quick update... for those of you who haven't read it, Paul Bell is waxing ecstatic about a Spectra T he installed in a club in NYC in this thread: http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/17751/437/
Title: Re: John & Chuck can you comment??
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on November 20, 2006, 12:16:54 PM
There is now photos of the prototype ProRack mixers on our web site at:

www.apb-dynasonics.com/Products_ProRack.html

We will begin regular production on ProRack (House and Monitor) at the end of January and will then do a complete photo shoot using the production mixers. These will then appear on our web site.

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on January 11, 2007, 01:27:08 PM
There is also further discussion that would be of interest regarding the Spectra console on the Product Reviews: Sound Reinforcement page.

The additional Spectra discussions are:

http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/19116/437/

and

http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/19681/437/


Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
Title: Spectra in PAR
Post by: Steve Payne on March 21, 2007, 12:35:27 AM
The APB Spectra got an absolutely glowing review in the latest issue of Pro Audio Review.  I gotta say, I agree in spades.  We just got ours cased up and had it out on it's first gig this week end.  St Patrick's day festival with several local favorites.  (Man it was COLD!  42 degrees in the sun.  Don't even talk about under the Easy Up with the wind blowing!)  Despite the cold; I, my A1, and the headliner's engineer all had a ball mixing on the Spectra.  The console sounds fantastic.  Plain and simple.  Routing options are abundant .  Dialed the stereo masters into matrix 1&2, added a little extra vocals to feed the stereo in-fills.  Dialed the matrix sends up to balance with the mains, hit the the matrix master follows master vca and voila!  In-fills follow Master vca and stay balanced with the mains as the mains level is adjusted.  Very cool.  Easy and intuitive.  I have to say, I am an analog dog.  Woof, woof!  I've got an M7CL48 and it's cool with the touch screen and on-board everything and the recall and so on and so on - but - I sure do like having everything layed out in front of me where I can see it all at a glance, and I am sorry, but that M7 doesn't hold a candle to the way the Spectra SOUNDS.  And that still gets this old pooch excited!  OOOwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!
Have Fun!
index.php/fa/8447/0/
Happy Camper  Cool
Title: Re: Spectra in PAR
Post by: Steve Payne on March 24, 2007, 08:16:48 AM
Here's a link to the review:

http://www.proaudioreview.com/pages/s.0028/t.3688.html
Title: Re: Spectra in PAR
Post by: Michael 'Bink' Knowles on March 24, 2007, 08:56:03 AM
Sweet lookin' FOH! Is that a Spectra-T or -C or -Ti or -Ci model?

-Bink
Title: Re: Spectra in PAR
Post by: Steve Payne on March 24, 2007, 11:17:53 AM
Bink -
 The unbalanced inserts on the T series was the one thing that kept me from ordering a Spectra.  As soon as the APB boys (and girls) announced the balanced insert option I put my order in.  This is the first "Ti" to roll out of  New Jersey.  Notice, I didn't say "China".  Cool
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on March 28, 2007, 04:30:44 AM
New Spectra M 20 mix monitor console introduced at Prolight + Sound 2007 in Frankfurt Germany! Get some photos here:

http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/21961/4221/
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Steve Payne on March 28, 2007, 10:51:12 PM
Chuck & JP look like two proud pappas, don't they?   Smile
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on March 29, 2007, 11:44:43 AM
Steve Payne wrote on Wed, 28 March 2007 21:51

Chuck & JP look like two proud pappas, don't they?   Smile


As they should...

JR
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Steve Payne on April 08, 2007, 02:57:22 PM
Did our first show with national acts on the Spectra Ti this weekend. Buckcherry, Saliva, Pepper, Flyleaf & Dropping Daylight.  Capacity crowd in a 10,000 seat shed.   All smiles and good vibes.  Everyone was very happy with the console.  Sounds good and easy to use was the general concensus.  Important attributes for a console that will spend much of it's time serving guest BEs that have to hit the ground running with no sound checks. I've attached a few of photos.  Hope everyone has a great season.
index.php/fa/8651/0/
Rich / Flyleaf
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Steve Payne on April 08, 2007, 02:58:55 PM
index.php/fa/8652/0/
Pepper's Guy - (sorry I forgot your name!)
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Steve Payne on April 08, 2007, 03:00:37 PM
index.php/fa/8653/0/
Herbie on his debut gig with Saliva.  (He did great.)
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Steve Payne on April 08, 2007, 03:07:42 PM
index.php/fa/8654/0/
Another shot of Rich at the controls.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on May 02, 2007, 11:39:47 PM
I wanted to add on to this thread because, while it's no secret that I'm a big fan of APB's work, I've finally got my own new Spectra-TP48 for this concert season and I put it to good use for the first time at Jim Bowersox's PSU Movin' On show.

While the console certainly made my FOH look pretty, what was far more important was how easy it made my job at FOH. Tom Manchester and I held down the side stage for 30-50 minute shows while the main stage was changing over, and in between wildly different acts that nobody had given out any sort of information on we changed over our stage. Classic festival fare, Tom and I decided on a very basic channel layout that worked well for all the bands (especially Lidz, for whom we struck our entire stage save one vox mic and then re-set it for Lemon Soul after they were done).

I was running subs aux fed, stereo mains, about 20 channels, 4 FX processors, and two CD players. Not a complicated show, although it could have become one at a few stages throughout the evening. I threw inserts at the inputs I thought I'd need them on and then used the handy "insert on" button at the top of the channel strip to turn them on and off when needed, mostly to decide whether the kit was gated or not (metal yes, jazz no).

During shows, the highly effective (and great sounding EQ) made quick work of adjusting for new bands' sonic characteristics. The straightforward routing made changing VCA and output assignments simple as well, as we had a few floating inputs that went to keys, samplers, and even a viola throughout the evening. It took me just a few seconds to reconfigure my board for each new band, and just a few more to get the tone shaping and level adjustments I needed in place during the first song. Aux fed subs, swept high pass, versatile EQ... I didn't even break a sweat.

If I had any doubts about sinking this kind of money into my first personal VCA console, that first show has dispelled them. It rained, there were problems, some acts were loud, some acts were quiet, but the Spectra was a rock and didn't once get in my way.

http://www.campuspa.com/images/movinon/movinon-Images/15.jpg
http://www.campuspa.com/images/movinon/movinon-Images/13.jpg
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Jason Ellis on May 05, 2007, 09:41:47 PM
Bennett --

Not at all an atempt to thread jack; but first is that your Dolby Lake in the front FOH under the graphics? If so, good to see that you are taking care of ALL points of audio with quality kit; I'm very jealous Smile
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on May 06, 2007, 02:29:33 PM
That's the Road Test DLP, I'll be finishing my first new writeup in a few days. I do like it a lot, though!
Title: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Monitor version at Infocomm
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on June 16, 2007, 12:01:52 PM
For those attending Infocomm in Anaheim, we will be showing the prototype of the monitor version of the Spectra-T,  to be called Spectra-M (even though it is an "i" version, we just do not like the idea of calling it Spectra-Mi).  We are looking for final comments about this product before engineering starts their final design work.  The projected production date for this product will be the end of this year.

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DyanSonics
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Monitor version at Infocomm
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on June 16, 2007, 12:05:42 PM
 Laughing  Laughing  Laughing

but the MI market is sooo large...

JR
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Monitor version at Infocomm
Post by: Bennett Prescott on June 16, 2007, 12:18:26 PM
I thought I might as well report on a quite possibly one-of-a-kind gig... Jason Dermer of Asbury Audio brought me in to help him out on this year's World Hunger Year (WHY) Chapin Awards dinner at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. The show went very well, with top notch talent and crew all around, but most importantly...

http://www.campuspa.com/images/june07/index-Thumbnails/210.jpghttp://www.campuspa.com/images/june07/index-Thumbnails/267.jpg

48 channel Spectra Ts at both FOH and Monitors! Between Jason and I we held down all of 15 channels to 5 stage mixes, two line array hangs, and 4 delay/fill zones, all controlled off the Dolby Lake Processor, which was also a dream. Smooth sailing the whole way.

Oh, also, Jason looks extra-dapper in a suit!
http://www.campuspa.com/images/june07/index-Thumbnails/271.jpg
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Monitor version at Infocomm
Post by: bo putnam on June 26, 2007, 09:38:55 PM
Great updates and pics - thanks.

A number of those roadcases look from the same maker - who...?
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Monitor version at Infocomm
Post by: Bennett Prescott on June 26, 2007, 10:45:10 PM
Bo, if you're talking my road cases, most of them are EWI, sold in the US by Audiopile (http://www.audiopile.net)... great option for "generic" racks and trunks. So far they've held up to my abuse flawlessly... I even had my work box get loose in the truck a week ago and it only suffered a few dents.

My Spectra T case is from LM Engineering. They made it to my spec, full doghouse, casters, all sorts of handles, and composite side panels that are both stronger and lighter than wood. I'm extremely happy with it, and recommend them, my only complaint is they shipped it with 3" casters by default which is not going to be OK, so I'll buy 4" from them and bolt them on myself when I have a chance.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Monitor version at Infocomm
Post by: bo putnam on June 27, 2007, 12:43:56 AM
Bennett Prescott wrote on Tue, 26 June 2007 19:45

My Spectra T case is from LM Engineering. They made it to my spec, full doghouse, casters, all sorts of handles, and composite side panels that are both stronger and lighter than wood. I'm extremely happy with it, and recommend them, my only complaint is they shipped it with 3" casters by default which is not going to be OK, so I'll buy 4" from them and bolt them on myself when I have a chance.
Yea, that caught my eye - particularly the smart doghouse.  My Verona doghouse is as good, and a configuration hard to come by.  

Thanks, Bennett - got some shopping to do!   Cool
Title: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Does Monitors
Post by: Steve Payne on July 10, 2007, 10:23:12 AM
Just wanted to report that we used the Spectra for the first time in a monitor application.  We would normally use our 40ch Lmx or 48ch M7CL.  This was for the Pat McGee Band ( http://www.patmcgeeband.com/flash/index.html ) , very good friend and client that we have worked with for 15 years or more.  Pat was headlining a show at Wolftrap ( http://www.wolf-trap.org/foundation/what.html ) and chose to use Soundworks gear and people over the state of the art gear provided by Wolftrap simply for the "comfort level".  He required 42 inputs, 10 mixes, and did not want digital - tada - Spectra to the rescue.  Bob Lipford was our system tech and monitor mixer for Pat on the gig.  In Bob's words, the Spectra sounded "amazing".  All he had to do was set the fader to unity and bring up the input gain to get great gain before feedback.  Slight tweaking on channel eqs for tone and never touched a graph - yep - that's what I said - never touched a graph.  He had the regular band monitor whores - who will go unnamed Smile, - giving the turn it down signal.  Unreal.  Hohum -headroom for miles.  Again, this console has demonstrated that it's got great features and flexibility, but it's strongest asset is it's sound.  We're going to be in the front of the line for a full featured monitor version of the Spectra!
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Does Monitors
Post by: Brian Bolly on July 10, 2007, 11:25:50 AM
Hey Steve,

Last I saw Pat and the boys, they were all on a mish-mosh of Sennheiser and Shure IEM's.  Did you guys have them on wedges for this hit?  If so, what boxes are you using?
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Does Monitors
Post by: Steve Payne on July 10, 2007, 01:21:14 PM
Hi Brian -
 We've done plenty of the mix n' match gigs with Pat as well.  No pms on this outing.  Wedges were Soundworks SW2s -(McCauley 15s, EV DH2amt drivers on DDS horns and my own secret sauce).  Drum box was an SW2 with a 2x18 EV underneath.  Sidefills were Turbosound TQ445DPs with 2x18 EVs underneath.  QSC powerlights, BSS minidrives and FCS960s.  Here's a photo of the wdeges and sidefills at a different gig.

index.php/fa/10072/0/
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on October 12, 2007, 09:07:46 PM
Thought I'd update, now that AES is over and I can sit down again, with some reliability news from a show I did a few weeks ago.

This is a three week long show in Massachusetts with an A and a B stage. I was brought in to provide for the B stage, and on weekends I mixed C level nationals. During the week, there are no shows on the A stage, so the crew there mix on my stage with a different act every weekend and every week.

The second week in and everything had been going smoothly, I was home in Troy doing generic desk work when my phone rings... it's one of the owners of the sound company that brought me in for this gig, Bill "70s Hairdo" Forbes. (not his real nickname). "Your console is freaking out... channels are muting and un-muting randomly and it's hissing." he tells me. This is my baby, the Spectra T 48 I bought in June, and a piece of gear I consistently put great faith in (although I do still bring my MixWiz to shows... you can't be too careful.)

I immediately call JP at APB and tell him what's happening. He concludes, as I had surmised, that the only possible issue would be if both power supplies were having problems and becoming intermittent. He immediately arranged to next-day a pair of replacement PSUs to me.

Shortly thereafter, as I am loading up my car to drive the hour and a half to Springfield, I get a call back from Bill who says to cancel that power supply shipment, they've found the problem. Turns out the neutral connection to the main distro had oxidized and failed... the first clue had been when half the lighting rig was working. Measured voltage on the leg feeding FOH was wiggling between 27 and 60 volts (give or take 3dB, it's been a couple of weeks). Shut down the main breaker, strip and re-connect the neutral, and the show was back up and running.

The only casualty of everyone's power nightmare? The Ramsa 840 on deck lost its PSU, so monitors had to be run from FOH while a replacement was found, which was no big deal. Two engineers, one console, easy.

I called JP at APB back to give him the good news, and he told me they were going to ship me replacement supplies anyway, just to be safe, and I could return them when I saw them again. I kept them by FOH but didn't need them through the remaining week and a half of the show (with performances from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, rain or shine).

Once again, I'm extremely glad I bought an APB console, the reliability, support, and flexibility should be an example to anyone wishing to succeed in this industry.

Oh, and a gratuitous gig shot, because it wouldn't be my post without it:
index.php/fa/11723/0/
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Pascal Pincosy on November 21, 2007, 05:59:52 AM
Hey Bennett-

Do you have any info on the Spectra 24 channel Expander? I'm curious on how easy it is to connect and disconnect? Seems like a serious boon for the small sound company that needs a medium-sized board most of the time, but still wants to be able to compete on the big shows now and then.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Bennett Prescott on November 21, 2007, 09:52:40 AM
Pascal,

I'm trying to get a 24 channel Spectra T plus 24 channel expander into a local theater so that they have more flexibility in their seat kills, but it's a slow process, so I've yet to use one in the "real world".

I have, however, seen the full harness and wiring system several times while visiting APB in New Jersey. It's a simple two cable connection system (one for audio buses, one for control buses) using commonly available cables, so it should be pretty easy to wire up.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on November 21, 2007, 10:05:28 AM
The Spectra Expander is a stand alone 24 input add on unit that includes its own power supply and back up power supply (and is available is a C, Ci, T, or Ti configuration).  It links to the main console (any of the Spectra models) with two multi-pin cables that are supplied with the console.  

Buffer electronics for the main console is included in the price of the expander and has to be installed either in the factory or by your dealer.  It is a relatively easy installation by a qualified technician.  We did this to not saddle every Spectra console owner with this extra expense item if the user was not ever going to use an expander.  Once it is installed it is a simple matter of plugging in the two multi-cables between the console and expander and then all inputs are now part of the same console.  No additional consideration must be given when operating these two units as they are now one.

Linking a Spectra-56 and an expander provides you with 80 mono mic/line inputs plus 4 Stereo line inputs.  Or added to a Spectra 24 provides you with 48 mic/line mono inputs plus 4 stereo line inputs.  It is an easy 2 man lift and the expander can be set up at a right angle to the main console to conserve space.

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics  
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Monitor version at Infocomm
Post by: Ryan McLeod on December 02, 2007, 04:49:26 PM
Bennett -

I followed the link in the photos and perused the photos on the Campus PA Site... I have to ask - I've only seen Funk Logic gear is studio environments. Do you  find that the Digilog Dynamicator improves the "grunt", "oomph" and "Damping Factor" of your PA, and how would you compare it to the Galileo?

Laughing

index.php/fa/12677/0/

If it wasn't discontinued, I'd buy a pair right now.......
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Rob Spence on December 04, 2007, 10:51:41 PM
Ok, I got a question...

So, you may have a  C, Ci, T, or Ti console, does the expander have to be the same variant? Seems to me it wouldn't have to but I wanted to ask.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on December 06, 2007, 12:44:24 PM
The expander can be any version (C, Ci, T, Ti) that you desire and does not have to match the input and connector version of the master console.  Select what best matches your requirements (or budget).  It seems to me that intermixing insert types though would make things confusing so we do not recommend this but if you want to do this, there are no restrictions.

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Teri Hogan on December 15, 2007, 11:47:49 PM
Okay, so I'm a little late getting in here but I haven't been visiting the LAB too much since the new format went into effect (still on dial-up.....waaaay too slow!).

I'd like to respond to several questions/comments about the Spectra-T.  We have a 48+4 that was one of the very first off the production line.  I can honestly say that after 17 months of using Phil (we named it Phil Spectra), we are still falling in love with this console.  We also own a Verona and the two consoles simply don't compare in any way.

Someone early on asked if it was a two-man lift.  No way in hell!  Four hands or one EZ Tilt, your choice.  This is a really solid desk, built to take life on the road in aces.

An ideal roadcase for this desk can be had from Opti-Case (www.opticase.com) in Henderson, TX.  When we sell APB consoles (we are dealers), we have them shipped directly to Opti-Case where the desk is installed directly into the case.  The bottom of the Spectra has a threaded mounting hole which can be hard bolted to a seperate doghouse insert, which Opti-Case does provide.  Adds stability in the case.

I used Phil as monitor desk for a week last year and was absolutley delighted with the results.  The only short-coming was lack of output EQ, which most FOH consoles don't have.  I'm eagerly awaiting my Spectra M, hopefully this summer!

Devoted APB User,
Teri Hogan
Sound Services, Inc.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Keagan Corcoran on January 18, 2008, 12:42:51 PM
When the hell are we going to see them in australia.

These consoles look like just what we have been screaming for.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Jamie Taylor on February 14, 2008, 08:04:09 AM
Keagan:

They've been in Australia for ages now.  The great dudes at Production Audio are the distributors.  They were also pretty prominently on display at Entech.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Phil LaDue on February 14, 2008, 12:06:06 PM
Jamie Taylor wrote on Thu, 14 February 2008 08:04

Keagan:

They've been in Australia for ages now.  The great dudes at Production Audio are the distributors.
cough..http://www.productionaudio.com.au/apbdynasonics.html
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Show Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on March 30, 2009, 06:39:33 AM
Here is a link to see these connectors in use with a Spectra-Expander:

http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/43986/0/

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSOnics
Title: Re: Spectra in PAR
Post by: bo putnam on May 12, 2009, 09:47:49 PM
Steve Payne wrote on Sat, 24 March 2007 08:17

  This is the first "Ti" to roll out of  New Jersey.  Notice, I didn't say "China".  Cool


And it's sweet.

Here's a pic of Steve with one of his most recent recruits - Soundworks is THAT busy!   Laughing (btw - she's headed to one of my money faders!!  Shocked )

index.php/fa/22719/0/

If you ever get a chance to work with Steve and his talented crew, you are lucky indeed,  It is pure fun.  Pro.   Cool

Thanks again, Steve to you, Grant and the rest of the great Friday Cheers 2009 crew.  It was one of our high-points, and even tho early in the season, will definately remain so!  
Title: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Steve Payne on December 12, 2009, 02:28:19 PM
  I got an email from a friend and fellow sound guy that I hadn't talked with in a while.
One of the things he inquired about was how the APB was holding up and how rider acceptance has been, etc.  It got me to thinking that maybe an update, or sort of field report if you will, might be of interest to a segment of the LAB readership.
 First off, I can't be believe that I have just wrapped up my third season on the Spectra.  Time flies when your having fun.  It remains the favorite console in our shop.  As I have said before, it is just simply a joy to mix on.  It is fast, easy and intuitive. There is excellent audible correlation with any control movement.  It just plain rocks.
 Now then, on to the field report update as it were.  We have just completed our third busy season with the console.  Without counting the dates on my calendar I would guess we have logged 100+ dates.  90% of these have been outdoor festival type dates with multiple acts and frequent inclement weather.  We have probably had 200 +/- BEs
use the Spectra. We have not had ONE engineer behind the Spectra that did not like it.
The Spectra has held it's own as being an acceptable substitute for one offs that are spec-ing top tier analog desks on their riders.  This was my main hope for this console and it has passed this test with flying colors.  
 Regards, how it is holding up.  In short, it is built like a tank. Structurally and mechanically this thing is solid as a rock.  Silkscreening et al still looks perfect.  When I take the time to wipe the road scum off it every now and then it shines like new.  The faders all kind of lost their "silky smooth" feel after about a month's worth of use and just felt "smooth".  They have been living happily in the "smooth" realm for nearly three years with no sign of degradation.  Pots and switches all feel pretty much like new.  In a nutshell,  the console as a whole feels pretty much as solid and positive as the day we took delivery.  
 A new product as complex as a large frame analog console can't be expected not to have a few teething pains. My romance with the Spectra hasn't been without a couple of little spats.  Early on I had an issue in the Master Section.  It's been so long ago now that I can't remember exactly what it was-sorry.  Something wasn't assigning somewhere like it should.
Also, I had an issue with a couple of input channels buzzing intermittently  when the console was about a year old.  Switching phantom power on and off on the channel would cure things in the short term at the gig.  I think they determined that problem was the result of a faulty ribbon connector.  The important thing is that the few issues I have experienced have been minor and isolated -AND-most importantly that there support has been terrific.  JP has been readily available by phone in both instances to help me trouble shoot the gremlins.  Also, in both instances, the repair solution was simply to send me an advance replacement of the entire module where the problem resided.  The result was that each of my problems was solved and my console returned to 100% in about 48 hours.  I couldn't be happier with the way these support issues have been handled.
 So, there's my story and I'm sticking to it.  3 years and 100 dates into the Spectra and it's all thumbs up.  
 Happy mixing.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Davide_Bonetti on January 23, 2010, 02:26:36 PM
dear friends, I do not partecipate as much as I read these forums, and I wanna tell everybody that my Spectra 32Ti is on its way from England  Very Happy  (got a great deal with former APB distributor).

I was looking for an analog board to replace my GL4000 which was starting to show its 13 years... I decided to get this Spectra solely based on what I have read here and around.

this was sort of diving with no parachute... I have never seen this console for real and I suspect mine could be the first one entering Italy.

however, I have great faith in Spectra, at least it has all the features I was looking for.

will report back when the baby arrives.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Davide_Bonetti on February 02, 2010, 03:28:10 PM
here it comes!

arrived by truck this morning and immediately got its fan-out in the doghouse, which I made myself some days ago. I also put a powercon in/out on doghouse sides.

the console looks pretty new, and the case is almost new.

first show is friday night, at the moment I only checked some channels with a cd player and headphones.

sorry for the pictures on rapidshare but don't know how to share 6 megabytes...

http://rapidshare.com/files/344975782/Spectra_ITALY.zip.html
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Davide_Bonetti on February 05, 2010, 10:38:21 PM
so... I am home right now from the first Spectra gig, and I can say that I am satisfied!

there is a coverband of friends that live nearby, we made something like 60 gigs together last year, so I really know how I want it to sound in front of the PA. PA is always the same, mics are always the same, instruments, etc. everything the same Smile

let's say I made 45 gigs out of 60 with the GL4000, and 15 with the Verona.

well, I found tonite to the best chance for the first Spectra performance.

the first word that comes out to describe the Spectra is "warm".

the overall sound was certainly louder and warmer if comparing to the GL4000, and also "different" if comparing to the Verona. please consider that I state the Verona as SLIGHTLY louder and certainly better sounding over the GL4000.

I found the Spectra EQ to be much more responsive than the GL4000, as the Verona is too, but I also found myself to use less EQ on the Spectra in general, because every channel was basically sounding good even with flat EQ.

VCAs are really cool! I never had a VCA console before... it is very confortable to actually forget about channel faders and mix the whole show with the central section only of the console! I just had the bass DI and lead vox out of VCAs, because of already single fader subsections.

I am happy of my purchase and can't wait to mix the next gig with the Spectra to further test it, both again with my coverband friends and other bands.

the only bad thing about tonight was that we forgot the Verona tilt so we had to put the Spectra onto a big table... it is heavy to lift even if 32 channels. the Verona 40 is something more but we always use the tilt. we won't forget anymore!

more to come...
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Franz Francis on September 20, 2010, 09:40:30 AM
Would love to see them come out with a single or dual channel five (5) band paramatric equalizer for FOH which is just as musical as their consoles.

Franz
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on September 20, 2010, 11:50:32 AM
Are you suggesting a stand along rack-mount unit or a console model that includes the suggested output EQ?

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics

Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Franz Francis on September 20, 2010, 01:29:21 PM
Correct Chuck, I am refering to a stand along rack mounted unit.

I've come accross a few pros who don't like the limitation of ISO filters in  graphic equalizers for front of house EQ.

Probably a high & low shelf option in there as well.

Almost forgot, I love the transparency of the Spectra T 56 :}:} I think it’s the only one in my location.


Franz
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: ThomasDameron on September 20, 2010, 05:20:12 PM
+1

I'd take a serious look at some kind of Apb parametric.  I would be more likely to use it as a group insert for lav mics or podiums.  

Some things I'd like to see would be:
-the much beloved high pass filter.  Based on how it's made it's way on all of your other products I doubt that'll be a hard sell.
-at least 4 bands of fully parametric eq.  
-I like for all bands to have some facility for 20-20k operation. I'd prefer only one range selection button.  I bet you guys can come up with a better UI on this than me.
-Xlr and trx i/o since I would use it with single point inserts and consoles with varied output connectors.

While you're at it, I'd love to see you guys enter the fray with Midas and Cadac in the 2 channel strip department.  Don't forget to release that monitor console too.  Come on guys, get on with it!

thomas d.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Tom Young on September 20, 2010, 05:51:27 PM
Quote:

Some things I'd like to see would be:
-the much beloved high pass filter. Based on how it's made it's way on all of your other products I doubt that'll be a hard sell.
-at least 4 bands of fully parametric eq.
-I like for all bands to have some facility for 20-20k operation. I'd prefer only one range selection button. I bet you guys can come up with a better UI on this than me.
-Xlr and trx i/o since I would use it with single point inserts and consoles with varied output connectors.

While you're at it, I'd love to see you guys enter the fray with Midas and Cadac in the 2 channel strip department. Don't forget to release that monitor console too. Come on guys, get on with it!


Five bands is not too much more those pesky, doomed to fail mic applications. Like a soft-spoken talker, with a lavalier, who roves in and out of in front of the left or right mains or front fills (those rat bastards !).

And make the HPF variable up to perhaps 400Hz and with a steep slope. 18dB per octave is much more effective than 1st and 2nd order. 24dB might be pushing the (pot) cost. But it'd be appreciated Twisted Evil
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Jordan Wolf on September 21, 2010, 12:06:18 AM
Chuck,

How about a piece of kit similar to a Midas XL42 or a KT DN405/410 PEQ?  I'm sure some people would jump on that...
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on September 21, 2010, 10:24:42 AM
I think the first thing our engineers will have to do is design the device that will enable the day to last 28 Hours or longer.  They are currently preparing ProDesk-8 to start full production (Beta units are currently in the field) and we hope that most ProSpec products introduced at Infocomm will begin shipping by the end of this year.  And there are other projects.

But the new ProSpec chassis system is well developed by Olga, so these requests may not be that far out for we to do, but in the growing land of digital, would anyone really want to buy any new  analog EQ's and these other suggested devices to the levels necessary to make it profitable to a manufacturer like APB?

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Franz Francis on September 21, 2010, 10:49:47 AM
Will APB join the digital train anytime soon?

Franz
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Chuck Augustowski on September 21, 2010, 11:08:50 AM
Everyone will eventually join but the question is when and how.   But regardless, we will NOT leave analog behind and we do feel analog has not yet reached its full potential.  

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Ales Dravinec 'Alex' on September 21, 2010, 12:25:35 PM
Chuck Augustowski wrote on Tue, 21 September 2010 17:08

Everyone will eventually join but the question is when and how.   But regardless, we will NOT leave analog behind and we do feel analog has not yet reached its full potential.  

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics


... For a second I thought underlined text is a link ... Wink
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Tim McCulloch on September 21, 2010, 12:53:44 PM
Chuck Augustowski wrote on Tue, 21 September 2010 10:08

Everyone will eventually join but the question is when and how.   But regardless, we will NOT leave analog behind and we do feel analog has not yet reached its full potential.  

Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics


When you finally introduce the APB Digital Mixer, I suspect it will not only sound stellar but be an ergonomic joy to use, with a rational and intuitive UI.

I'd love to be a beta tester when this happens.

Have fun, good luck.

Tim Mc

ps.  Olga is one of the unsung wizards of APB.  It was a treat to meet her at the NYC Sub Shootout in '07.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Paul Bell on September 21, 2010, 10:45:11 PM
Tim McCulloch wrote on Tue, 21 September 2010 12:53


ps.  Olga is one of the unsung wizards of APB.  It was a treat to meet her at the NYC Sub Shootout in '07.


Has it been three years already?
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Jeff Wheeler on September 24, 2010, 03:56:47 AM
Chuck Augustowski wrote on Tue, 21 September 2010 09:24

in the growing land of digital, would anyone really want to buy any new  analog EQ's and these other suggested devices to the levels necessary to make it profitable to a manufacturer like APB?

Rane recently discontinued their PEQ55, which was really a digital product with almost all the features mentioned here, that happened to look like an analog device.  You can still buy them from some dealers, but I am pretty sure they aren't manufacturing any more.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on September 24, 2010, 09:42:12 AM
Jeff Wheeler wrote on Fri, 24 September 2010 02:56

Chuck Augustowski wrote on Tue, 21 September 2010 09:24

in the growing land of digital, would anyone really want to buy any new  analog EQ's and these other suggested devices to the levels necessary to make it profitable to a manufacturer like APB?

Rane recently discontinued their PEQ55, which was really a digital product with almost all the features mentioned here, that happened to look like an analog device.  You can still buy them from some dealers, but I am pretty sure they aren't manufacturing any more.


Sounds like the market has spoken...

JR
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Franz Francis on September 24, 2010, 11:01:02 AM
A friend of mine who is interested in their products told me the A.P.B (Analog) line is incomplete without those offerings.

Franz
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Tim McCulloch on September 24, 2010, 11:04:11 AM
Franz Francis wrote on Fri, 24 September 2010 10:01

A friend of mine who is interested in their products told me the A.P.B (Analog) line is incomplete without those offerings.

Franz

Perhaps for him, but I don't expect a console manufacturer to make and sell outboard EQ.  If APB did I think it would be very nice, but it's not something that is essential for a console maker.
Title: Re: APB Dynasonics Spectra-T - Field Report
Post by: Steve Payne on September 24, 2010, 06:05:21 PM
I can assure you that APB consoles interface with and compliment high end processing and eq from other manufacturers quite nicely. (I am personally a BSS fan, but that's totally just me.)  If APB chose to make processing such as discussed here, I am sure it would be exceptional.  It is certainly not critical that they do so in order to get great results from the tools they do choose to make, ie, primarily, great analog consoles.
I don't really quite grasp your friend's train of thought.
All the best!