API 550b

[Michael]

Anyone using this unit?
What do you think of it?
I was going to use it in conjunction with an API 312 and a pair of LD condensors like the Neuman KM184's mostly on Grand Piano.

[nlc201]

A very solid EQ! I've never really been disappointed in this unit sound wise. It always has a nice edge and subtle API color that I like. The downside with it is that the frequency selection could be a bit better and you are limited to 2 dB increments. There have been many times where 1 dB or 3 dB would have been perfect for what I was running through it. A plus with this though is that settings are completely recallable in a matter of seconds.

Is the piano material solo? If so, then you might want to try mic selection and positioning over an EQ. The 184s are totally solid microphones for piano and if you take the time to really hone in on the positioning, you can probably get away with no EQ (why distort the phase and intorduce noise if you don't have too?). Even if you're recording piano to go with a track, I would move the mics before I moved an EQ knob.

Good luck!

[megajew]

Stay away from this one....Too much inherent tonal coloration....plastic and honky sounding by its own self....Nowhere near as rich and spanking as older API models....I have had these...Traded them for vintage 560's....great transformer sound....

[Knox]

yea, they are fine. some say they suck and to only get the old ones. to me that's bullshit. they are both great and highly usable, though they are somewhat different. i have four of the 'new ones' (6 or 7 years old). the older ones are probably a bit better for some things, but as i said, you will find they both work.

[MIKEHARRIS]

if you are buying these...make sure you have TWO 2520's (those black square things)..take off the cover and check

[Knox]

Mike . . . I'm SURE you checked to make sure all mine had two 2520s before you shipped out my API rack . . right? *smile*

It's good to see you.

[MIKEHARRIS]

the single 550 is actually a 550a-1....with a 5534 type opamp in place of 2520 .. to give some 'different' sound...supposedly preferred by the japanese market. The only mod which seems to have merit is to utilize the Millennia opamp in the APi circuit...but i would defer to others that have tried this for details

[Michael]

Hey listen, I appreciate all the helpful information.
I went ahead and picked one up, I'd like to add another one at some point.
It does have the two 2520 op amps in it.

Now, another question:
I have a BAE rack for the API 312 mic pres. It has phantom power.
Can I use this rack to power the 550b? The reason I ask is that the phantom power is of course 48 volts, and if I'm not mistaken, the 550b requires 16 volts. Or is the phantom power circuit something different altogether.

Thanks again.

[Fletcher]

Originally posted by MIKEHARRIS
the single 550 is actually a 550a-1....with a 5534 type opamp in place of 2520 .. to give some 'different' sound...supposedly preferred by the japanese market. The only mod which seems to have merit is to utilize the Millennia opamp in the APi circuit...but i would defer to others that have tried this for details

There really isn't shit you can do to make a 550A-1 sound like a 550A... the upside is that if you don't get fooled into buying a 550A-1 for the price of a 550A you're going to end up with what is still a pretty decent equalizer for a rather budget price.

In other events, if I'm not mistaken, the Millennia op-amp is a different version of the Jensen 990 op-amp... which runs on bi-polar 24vdc. An API 2520 runs on bi-polar 16vdc... so while a 990 style op-amp will indeed work, it will be underpowered and not performing to the peak of it's abilities.