Hi all

Just registered. Thanks to Steve et al for the site, and thanks (again) for ATP 2002. not sure I will ever go to another gig that good. 3 days of bliss

Now then......

The Sytek MPX-4AII

The price is looking too tempting to refuse right now, especially with exchange rates as they are. Unfortunately im having difficulty finding somewhere in the Uk to lend me one to try in my studio, so thought id ask for some advice.

I track all sorts of styles from punk to hip-hop and anything you want to put a name on between them.

A lot of the work that comes this way is fairly bass-dominant.

I am thinking about getting Sytek MPX-4AII, and using channels 3&4 with BB op-amps as alternative vocal tracking front ends, but my real interest is in using channels 1&2 as make-up gain directly after a custom built passive summing mixer.

Ive read many glowing reviews of this unit (on this site and otherwise), but also comments regarding it losing a little on the low end.

Since the low end will be pretty important to much of the source material Im working with right now, I'd like to get a feel for just what this pre does to the low end, and whether or not it would be suitable as a gain stage post passive summing.

Any feedback / comments greatly appreciated.

Ben

PS: Steve - Hassle the Grabers to do another album !

anyone ?

Are you using the Folcrom? Or something else?

I'm planning on picking up one of those myself by the year's end. I also own a sytek, and while I'll test all my pre's for the make-up gain, I tend to think that won't be the one I'll use. It'll probably be my Focusrite isa pre's, which so far seem to do better with the bass frequencies than the sytek.

While I have no idea which pre would sound best, and this is to a degree subjective, I would imagine that a John Hardy M1 or something similar would be best for this purpose. The Sytek's are great pre's...amazing for the price..but I just can't imagine them carrying an entire mix.

But then again, I have yet to try this myself, so my opinion is still speculation. See if you can demo a unit from somewhere to test it out. I don't know if Mike will let you do that or not.

Hope this helps some!

Hi there.

Thanks for the response - yes it does help - even if its probably not what I wanted to hear !

My PSM is much like the Folcrom, but custom built.

Thanks again for the reply.

Ben

hey, no prob.

I too would like to know if anyone here uses outboard summing for a daw, and whether or not they think it provides an advantage in sound over doing mixes ITB.

specifically i would like to know about passive summing, although any input is welcome!

Without a doubt I think it makes a difference - particularly (to my ears at least) I find it easier to achieve better depth and spacial clarity in a mix.
Not that I work any less hard to get there - its just that i sseem able to get better results in a shorter time. I find it easier to make louder, better balanced mixes, and I suppose my final advantage is that it reduces the loap on your CPU, but thats of little concern to me.