pyxis360 wrote:That's cooler than my job and way more exciting.

Shame because the Toft and Dream fit that small console niche so well without killer mula the other new contenders demand - API 1608, Wunderbar, Tonelux, Neve 5088's all top notch stuff but serious dosh.

I'm going to check out a demo of a Toft console this week. Will post my findings if anyone is interested....

casey_rice wrote:I'm going to check out a demo of a Toft console this week. Will post my findings if anyone is interested....

I'd be quite interested. If you've not read my other post about it, don't until then and see if you notice the same stuff we have...

tarandfeathers wrote:

casey_rice wrote:I'm going to check out a demo of a Toft console this week. Will post my findings if anyone is interested....

I'd be quite interested. If you've not read my other post about it, don't until then and see if you notice the same stuff we have...

i have not read your posts about it, but i will do my best to do some sort of basic evaluation of it tomorrow and see what i find. anecdotally, i had a friend who did a session recently in .nz who was using some poorly maintained 51 series neve thing and it was crapping out fairly often, and the only thing he could swap it out for was a toft console. he was very skeptical about it and is a bit of a gear snob, he was very impressed with the general sound of it, despite the cheap faders and general component quality. i'm quite interested to see what it's like....

I'd be interested in your findings for sure.

I don't think anyone can expect much from a $4000 console that's brand new. Solid manufacturing is just plain expensive.

pyxis360 wrote:I don't think anyone can expect much from a $4000 console that's brand new. Solid manufacturing is just plain expensive.

I don't want to get into an argument over it, but I do think there are some things you should be able expect from a brand new product, and in my opinion the Toft didn't deliver a lot of them. I am intrigued to see how Mr Rice finds the one he looks at...

tarandfeathers wrote: I am intrigued to see how Mr Rice finds the one he looks at...

i had a chance to have a play with the toft console today at a local music shop. i didn't have a chance to use the mic pre, which i would like to do a comparison with some favorite ones at a studio i use here a lot. i just took a protools session in and ran it out through a 16 out digi 003 setup they had running there. nothing too extensive in my test, just a bit of mixing to check out the eq and so on...

my observation initially was that just passing audio through the thing sounded pretty good, much better than i expected. it seems reasonably quiet. it distorts quite nicely when you overload the inputs. the eq is really nice, i was very surprised at how good it sounded. i'm not totally enamored of the trident style eq but it would be very usable after you got your head around it.

a few things i didn't like: no pfl. the vu meter didnt match what the led peak metering read when i fed tones through it. the thing seemed to have leakage from an all off kind of state. the monitor pot leaked audio through when it was all the way down. the markings on the knobs didn't line up correctly when in their center detent position. (this is allegedly being addressed in production run number 3, the next one). the cheapo plastic pc mounted jacks in the back of the master section seemed a bit wobbly, but you would expect this in something in this price range. which leads me to say that it sounds pretty great for a $4000 console and fills a very obvious need for something of its quality vs. price comparison. it is a bit of a gamble spending a few grand on something you dont know how long it would hold up for, but it is one i might take as it suits my project studio needs quite well. need to check it out a bit more though.

hope this is useful info for those considering purchasing one. oh, and about the 'cheap' factor, i checked out a mackie onyx console that was there too just to get an idea of what is happening in that price range and it felt like a total cheap piece of shit next to the toft. just the quality of the faders, pots, switches, etc.

Casey,

Did you eventually pick up an ATB?

I have read the forums on the Trident 8T vs ATB wars and I find them favouring the Toft, as I am. I hear it is more serviceable

Jon

busbus wrote:Casey,

Did you eventually pick up an ATB?

I have read the forums on the Trident 8T vs ATB wars and I find them favouring the Toft, as I am. I hear it is more serviceable

Jon

No, I haven't made up my mind what console I want yet. I'm looking at some second hand ones soon. The Toft is most definitely still a possibility though.