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Digital Drive Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it. |
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Digital Drive Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it. |
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In Reply to: When is it time to call it quits posted by digepix on January 9, 2015 at 14:12:27:
Some s/s gear from the 80's and even back to the late 70's are very competitive with today's latest and greatest. Quite a bit of that gear is still in full time service in the studios that are putting out some great recordings. True, early 70's Mac s/s gear sounded pretty dull and lifeless, but their build quality and cosmetics keep all their gear in pretty high demand. (The MC-50 amp used for talkback in our studio saw pretty much continuous service from new until 2012. It's now sitting on a shelf in a closet but I'm sure it could provide another forty years of service.)
I wouldn't classify old gear as accidents waiting to happen. If the design and build quality are good, especially with regard to heat dissipation, and if electrolytics are replaced every 15-20 years, they can go on pretty much indefinitely. The biggest obstacle to keeping old s/s gear running can be finding transistor equivalents when one fails. As there were tens of thousands of transistor types used over the years, there are some transistors for which there just aren't any real equivalents available now. It's not common, but it happens.
Consider this: there are probably tens of thousands of Neve mic preamps, now 30 and 40 years old, in use 24/7. There are new competitors to them, but the old stuff is still in the game because it sounds good. Neve, API, Trident, and MCI consoles from the 70's and 80's do sound different from current offerings, but those differences don't necessarily mean they are not as good; they're just different. The electronics in 40-year-old Studer A80 tape decks are sometimes put into the recording chain even if tape isn't being used. (Not all color is bad, and that oh-so-clean Studer sound can sometimes really help.)
There is great old gear, and there is great new gear. When is it time to call it quits? It's time when you hear something better, regardless of age.
WW
"Put on your high heeled sneakers. Baby, we''re goin'' out tonight.
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Follow Ups
- RE: When is it time to call it quits - Bill Way 01/13/1515:23:08 01/13/15 (0)
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