I agree here pretty much. Having owned both an ATB and now, an R16, I will say hands down the ZED takes the cake. The two things the ATB still did better, at least in my mind's ear, was that the mixes has a little bit more 'open space' up top and more dimensionality...but that could be on account of the 2nd things...I still miss the EQ's on the Toft.
Having said that.. the ZED's Pre's are just amazing, and the EQ's, though different sounding, character wise, are PERFECT for the type/style of music I record (techno/house)...highly detailed, very 'up front'. The D/A on the R16, too, both my partner and I agree, is better sounding to our ears that EITHER the Apogee Ensemble and 2882 2D's conversion. The word "presense" comes to mind, by comparison. YMMV, but the second the R24 comes out, I don't think I will ever look for another console again the rest of my life. The 8 busses, meter bridges and extra I/O are *exactly* the only things 'missing' on my R16. I might buy another R16 to hold me over, since I think the R24 might take a little while to emerge...and the longer it takes the better, as far as this (very) loyal consumer is concerned!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurboJets  I love my ZED and am still wowed by the pre's, but it really is a shame the ATB didn't deliver the way it should have. There was an incredible opportunity there to produce a small console worthy of critical acclaim. The pre's seemed to fall short of expectations and of course everyone is aware by now of all the nightmare stories of component failures, feature failures, and quirks (in general).
A&H is fully capable of delivering dependability right out of the box and I feel the hype surrounding the advent of an R24 is well-deserved. Plus it shows commitment to the consumer...a lot of people stood up and said, "hey an R16 is cool but how's about some 24 channel love"...and A&H stepped up to the plate. That's the way I saw it anyway - I could be wrong.
Seems to me expectations were set a little low for the ZED, and A&H delivered above expectations. Expectations on the ATB were set high but failed to actually meet those expectations. |
The two best customer service focused company of 2009, as far as I'm concerned:
A&H, and Barefoot. Never, ever, could I have hoped for better customer service and customer *focus*!