Absolutely. QSC amps have proven to be an excellent performer and unsurpassed value. I use them in a horizontally tri-amped active system. Only drawback is the fan noise, but since I'm using them for home audio, and not continuous high level output as with DJ or stage use, the fans have been disabled. Simple convection cooling (like most home audio amps) has yet to cause any overheating.
studio equipment that makes it into home hifi
In recent years I have begun to take more notice of professional/studio hifi gear. Really ever since i got the Yamaha NS1000 my attention turned. Amongst other well known studio products that have managed to cross over into home audio is the Technics Sp-10 turntable rogers ls3/5a, revox equipment, etc. And hey a lot of these ended up being classics!
What's more they often seem to cost a lot less than home audio and sound very accurate and neutral. For example I picked up the Yamaha P3200 power amp for $150. Built like a tank, I was not expecting much from this warhorse. What the hell at 500w per channel they were only to be used to drive subwoofers. I put it into my smaller second home rig replacing the Jadis DA7 and driven by a valve preamp. Was I in for a surprise. It was subtle fast had good transparency and soundstaging and equal detail to the Jadis. Its bottom end as you would imagine was wonderfully taut deep and powerful. I was very pleasantly surprised. Only let down was a raggedness at the top end and it missed the last few ounces of tonal purity. BUT in no way did it sound cold sterile or hard, quite the opposite it was emotionally very engaging.
Has anyone any other studio products that can be used in home hifi systems even high end systems and look good???
What's more they often seem to cost a lot less than home audio and sound very accurate and neutral. For example I picked up the Yamaha P3200 power amp for $150. Built like a tank, I was not expecting much from this warhorse. What the hell at 500w per channel they were only to be used to drive subwoofers. I put it into my smaller second home rig replacing the Jadis DA7 and driven by a valve preamp. Was I in for a surprise. It was subtle fast had good transparency and soundstaging and equal detail to the Jadis. Its bottom end as you would imagine was wonderfully taut deep and powerful. I was very pleasantly surprised. Only let down was a raggedness at the top end and it missed the last few ounces of tonal purity. BUT in no way did it sound cold sterile or hard, quite the opposite it was emotionally very engaging.
Has anyone any other studio products that can be used in home hifi systems even high end systems and look good???
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For someone into reel-to-reel tape, the Otari MX-5050 series will beat consumer decks sonically and every other way. Only problem is that many of these workhorse studio and radio station decks were beat to death. But if you can find a good one, you've got a real winner. And Otari still sells the latest version (MX 5050 BIII), which can be had with a quarter-track playback head as well as half-track record/playback. Dave |
Apogee Digital's BigBen digital clock was a unit I was introduced to by a friend, at the time I had a Zanden Dac and it took that dac up several notches. I have since sold the Zanden Dac and BigBen clock and now use an RME Fireface 400 for digital AD/DA conversion. It also doubles as a headphone amp as well in my system. If I want to do surround sound, it will also accommodate that as well. It is a 'digital Swiss Army Knife'. |
mackie SA1521 powered speakers. heavy wood cabinets (not plastic, like the popular SRM450s). 2-way: 15" driver and a very un-horn-sounding horn. top-to-bottom, natural, powerful (these will go LOUD) sound. you can get them used for about $800 each. the downsides would be that they aren't pretty furniture and they're not good for near-field listening, having been designed for live events. if you don't need phono, you could get an older Mackie mixer for a pre-amp ($150 used) - absolutely clean and neutral sound, and, of course, a perfect match for the speakers. |
ATC, PMC, Harbeth, JBL, Dynaudio, NHT in speakers Bryston, Crown, Chord, Manley, Meitner in amps Meitner, Apogee, Alesis, Denon, Marantz in sources Behringer ( popular low cost choice in PEQ for room modes ) Seinnheiser, AKG in Headphones Monster, Shunyata, Van den Hull, Mogami, MIT in cables ...to name just a few. |
I agree, and I have been delighted using both ATC speakers and Behringer gear. At some point, however, this thread will no doubt prompt a rash of complaints disclosing reliability issues, ear bleeding distortion, fire hazards, and the ruin of the US economy. In the meantime, I have had no complaints or problems despite daily use at home and in my office. |
Shadorne in the Uk most of the professional studio engineers would apart from the first four speakers and the bryston and the behringer probably wouldn't have a clue what the other makes were! A lot of them dont even know much about the Linn sondek let alone about the fact that cables have actual makers names on them. Also i was thinking in terms of equipment purely designed for studio use and not tweaked for home use. Do a lot of the makers you mention actually build to differing standards for home use or studio use - different designers etc? |
The thing to remember is just like domestic hifi studio gear comes in a different price levels. Just to say studio engineers use this or that can be misleading. A studio engineer in a project or budget studio uses this or that, but would much rather be using XXX if the studio could afford it! The famous Yamaha NS10 studio monitors and 100m monitors were used at the time (late 80s & 90s) by everyone because it was a sound everyone knew. It was rubbish, and everyone hated them, but if you could get a mix to sound good on them it usually meant it would sound good on anything else. They were impossible to judge low bass on though. You still see them everywhere but not many people use them as a first choice now. |
ATC is the most wide-reaching pro gear not usually found in homes. They rarely court the home market. Bryston of Canada is the most wide reaching home gear found in studios. Chord of the UK is a close second. Harbeth and Tannoy are other consumer oriented brands found in a lot of pro studios in the English market. |
Do a lot of the makers you mention actually build to differing standards for home use or studio use - different designers etc? Most of what I mention is the same for home or studio. Although any pro speaker maker needs to add grills and veneer for home use but that is about the extent of it (so the drivers will be the same on the models that have crossed over) . Studios also like clipping indicators so they know when they are definitely over driviong something. Otherwise the stuff is not so very different for most of the items I mention. Consumer ref = -10 dBV = 0.316 V rms. Professional ref = +4 dBu = 1.228 V rms. Some designers have a built in switch but older pro gear may not be compatible and a pro pre amp or mixer will overdrive consumer gear. That is a 12 db higher signal level....just another reason why pro gear is general better for S/N. |
My main point really was to hint at the fact that there may potentially be a lot of purely studio designed gear (often from unrecognised manufacturers) that we would never hear about in hifi magazines/internet forums. There may be products from this category just waiting to be discovered. Gems that would not ordinarily be considered suitable for home use ( i belive that to be an entirely unfounded assumption on the part of the audio press) |
My main point really was to hint at the fact that there may potentially be a lot of purely studio designed gear (often from unrecognised manufacturers) that we would never hear about in hifi magazines/internet forums For sure they have some stuff a see this The Way Studio Custom Neve 8078 and this Blackbird Studios. Both places have awesome virtual tours and some amazing gear. (mega mega bucks though) |
Hi Shadorne, Much of the monitoring in the studios in your link, are relatively cheap, but sound good. They are just in well designed and treated rooms, placed carefully, and fed a clean signal. The genelec active monitors sound really nice and are easy to listen to for long periods near field. The ATCs are used for higher SPL listening usually and to check on deep bass levels. These will also be used when the people paying for the music being created come to visit! The Neve 8078 is a beautiful mixing desk. My favorite. |
Really, isn't Revox the home line of what Studer was building for the stuido? Teac incorporated many features found in its Tascam line. What studio doesn't include a reel to reel made by SONY? Crown amps, Yamaha, McIntosh, Akai, even Pioneer had a professional line of reel to reels that crossed over into the home market. So did Phase Linear, Carver, ADS, Denon, Technics. I think the point being is that the Pro gear is very well made. And I have never found Pro gear to sound objectionable or inferior to its 'home hi-fi' counter part. |
Much of the monitoring in the studios in your link, are relatively cheap, but sound good. I agree they are extremely good value if you can accept the awful and purely functional aesthetics (no nice elegant shapes and no nice veneers). Much of the expense in consumer speakers goes to expensive cabinet work and veneers - the goal of most designers is an eye catching piece (typical manifestation: tweeter on top like a cadillac hood ornament, and cool looking shiny metal drivers rule) - designers are often the cheapest possible drivers that still sound good enough (better than best buy) at modest levels. However, most consumers are looking for something they can be proud to own (WAF happy too) and are therefore not overly concerned about the sound quality, which is often secondary to the aesthetic desirability of the component. By aesthetic measures, pro gear is EXPENSIVE and rather poor value... |
My Bag End TA15's! I have used them for recording and they double as my bands PA system on the weekends. Great speakers and they are VERY good in the near field. They are also designed for long throw when needed. Combine them with a sweet SET amp or some facsimile and things could be a lot worse. I've heard some so called HIGH END speakers that cost much more that i just shook my head at after listening to and owning these. Not very good on the WAF situation however unless you have a special,great and understanding W : ) that being said, i'm single....hah |
