EUPHONIX?

[sacha love]

Hi guys
help me with this
I think about improving the fonctionality of my studio.
3 engineers work in 2 control rooms. one eqipped with pyramix and the other with a DDA dcm 224 and nuendo and apogge converters. I building some new rooms and a 3rd control room and I want to put the DDA in the new control room for tracking( with the addition of some preamps) and buy another desk for mixing. I thought that a second hand EUPHONIX would be great.

I need something versatile with total recall and I would like keeping mixing with a console.
Please don't tell me protools and Icon...
Do you have some experiences with EUPHONIX to share with me?
cheers
S

[raal]

Originally Posted by sacha love

Do you have some experiences with EUPHONIX to share with me?

i do but it's not a very positive experience i'm afraid. it seems the software for the different sections was witten by different people so IMHO the learning curve was not an intuitive process. the sound isn't bad but nothing to write home about, again only one man's opnion. i do remember liking the dynamics though. as you may have guessed i ended up selling it.

i won't suggest an Icon (which i'm considering) because you mentioned Pyramix and Nuendo. what did come to mind was a Euphonix 5-MC controller, an AWS 900 or a Duality, depending on clientele and budget. all of these have total recall, and control your DAWs. for a lower a budget, maybe Yamaha DM2000, or Sony DMX-R100.

BTW the CS2000 was far from lame, it just never really did it for me. if you're hell bent on an analog, recallable console, and your budget isn't huge, the Euphonix could work nicely. don't know how hard it would be to maintain after all these years though. i can think of at least two fellow sluts that currently own one so maybe they can pipe in.

hope this helps some.

[gainreduction]

I have mostly good, although somewhat mixed experiences from CS2000/3000. I've spent some time on a CS2000 with software upgraded to 3000, whatever that means.

First time, I was warned that the learning curve is very steep so I was prepared for a slow start but I didn't find the board hard to operate. I had a basic mix up quite fast. When it came to automation and the likes I had to ask some questions but when you see it done once it's quite simple. I agree with the previous poster that the different sections in the board doesn't really speak the same language.

Recall and automation would be the two main reasons to buy a Euphonix. These are certainly impressive.

Another cool thing about Euphonix is there are lots of inputs on every channel. If memory serves me there are 2 line ins on one channel (or 4 if you make it a stereo fader) and you can sum the line ins on the channel to the fader. Parallel processing on every channel, anyone ? You can even patch in the boards dynamics in parallel on the fader.

You aslo get the possibility to copy settings to another channel which of course is slick on an analog console.

Another good thing is that the control surface is just a remote control. That means, no heat, no scratchy pots or switches. Just keep the audio tower in a cooled machine room and you're good to go. This means you can have a quite big console in a fairly small control room.

On the downside a Euphonix will likely scare away clients rather than bring them to the studio. I see it happen a lot, there is a Euphonix room next door from me.

It took a couple of mixes for me before I got rid of the feeling that I was on a digital console. The layout feels digital, not analog. I had this haunting feeling... when does it run out of processing power...can it handle another compressor...one more eq...let's see.... Crazy, I know but I couldn't help it. It just felt like an DAW extension.

I found the sound to be quite neutral. Not bad but not "holy s**t this board sounds incredible" either. What you feed it comes out, I guess. My mixes came out good, though and I wouldn't hesitate to mix on one again. If you get one you probably want the cube aswell for extra routing flexibility.

FWIW, a friend of mine swears by his CS3000.

Hope this makes sense and helps in any way.

[sacha love]

thanks for the infos

I really do not want to go digital with my console because having an analogue desk brought me a lot of clients.

I dont have the kind of money to buy a duality...

The thing is I don't want to make a step backward soundwise because I like the sound of my DDA . ( I know its not an SSL....)
But I need the flexibility of the recall
Most of my clients don't care about the equipment I got. They only want their records sounding good with a reasonable price.
Of course I would love having a real hogh end console but I need to watch my expenses.

[gainreduction]

Originally Posted by sacha love

The thing is I don't want to make a step backward soundwise because I like the sound of my DDA . ( I know its not an SSL....)
But I need the flexibility of the recall
Most of my clients don't care about the equipment I got. They only want their records sounding good with a reasonable price.
Of course I would love having a real hogh end console but I need to watch my expenses.

I would say a used, good condition Euphonix is one of the best deals out there at the moment. These consoles were expensive as hell when new.

If flexibility and recall are major concerns it's as good as it gets.

And no, you're not taking a step back soundwise from DDA, you're taking a step to the side, a different flavour (or lack of).

[sacha love]

that helps !

what would you consider a "good deal" on a used euphonix. Do you know how much it was new?
s

[gainreduction]

I've seen loaded CS2000's for 20.000 euro. Might be even cheaper in the US and you get the benefit of the low $ exchange rate.

I don't know exactly what the list price was when they were new but on SSL-level for sure.

[Tony Shepperd]

Definitely buy a used Euphonix.
I agree it's one of the best values out there right now.
The console is sonically neutral, so make sure you have some great outboard gear there to carve your sound with.
I have mixed between 300 and 400 hundred songs on a CS2000 and 3000.
Great boards. Never had a maintenance problem on them and loved the recall of the console.

[chadly]

Just my $.02:

I'm not a huge fan of the CS2000 (having worked on one for a year or so). It's very, very neutral. No mojo at all. Instant recall is great, though.

I never got real comfortable with it though; some functions of the board just didn't seem intuitive, and a few of the commands (to back out of certain menus, turn off the mic pre pad, that sort of thing) didn't make sense. (The comment about different people doing different sections of the UI clear that up a lot, though. Thanks!)

If you HAVE to have instant recall, it's pretty neat. And it's pretty cheap. I believe a 24 fader CS2000 ran for $80,000 when it came out, (though I might be off a bit)

Pray to the outboard gods if you get that console. You'll need it.

[raal]

Originally Posted by sacha love

The thing is I don't want to make a step backward soundwise because I like the sound of my DDA . ( I know its not an SSL....)
But I need the flexibility of the recall

if memory serves, DDAs sound very nice. you may want to listen to a CS2000 or 3000 before making up your mind. they don't sound bad at all as i said before, but they certainly don't sound 'british' if you now what i mean.

Originally Posted by sacha love

what would you consider a "good deal" on a used euphonix. Do you know how much it was new?

i think mine was around a 20 or 24 channel one, and it cost around $120K US when i got it + importation tax and shipping. dynamics were separate, so they weren't cheap.

just googled and found this http://www.kitmondo.com/ViewListing....uphonix_cs2000, which would have cost over $300K new in the US if i remember correctly.

[AMIEL]

I think Euphonix are consoles with just a clean sound with great flexiility routing and great recall power.
I agree you would need great outboard gear

[sacha love]

When you guys say that I would need a lot of outboard gear, do you mean dynamics and EQ's ? That would be ok for the comps since my DDA hasn't got any but are the EQs that bad ?

[Tony Shepperd]

Originally Posted by sacha love

When you guys say that I would need a lot of outboard gear, do you mean dynamics and EQ's ? That would be ok for the comps since my DDA hasn't got any but are the EQs that bad ?

It really depends on a few things.
What is your source coming from?
If it's analog tape, that already has a lot of character.
If it's RADAR on the digital side, that too has a lot of great sonic character.
But if it's something that is sonically neutral like Pro Tools.
IMO, that would not be a good combination.

If that's the case, some Pultec's and a few other toys would be the order of the day.

[David Brown]

I have and use the Euphonix. Because the mixer is in a tower away from the desk, the signal path is short and sounds "analog and clean". Because the desk is just a controller, it doesn't add any heat to the control room, but you will need serious AC in the machine room. Some say it has a steep learning curve, but if you have any large format console experience you will be up to speed in one day. I'm in the camp that believes that you want your console to be neutral and the color coming from outboard, so 3dB down at 100k sounds good to me. The automation is easy to learn. There are 6 inputs per strip, so lots of possibilities. I have a local tech that can service it and so far no major issues.

David Brown

[delcosmos]

I absolutely love my Euphonix, I can mix fast because I know very well how to use it, I learned how it work in 2 days mixing a song with the manual on my lap.

The sound is CLEAN, so good converters and outboard are great complement to this console, as some guys stated before, their input options are great, also automation and recall, I don't know why Euphonix had stopped making this consoles, because this is what people want these days from an analogue console.

Humberto Gatica still mix on a Euphonix owned by David Foster, the best Seal and Alanis Morriset work was mixed on a Euphonix.

The AC might be a PITA because it demands A LOT of power.
I'm gonna change it because I want more color and CS2000's eq and dynamics are so-so, but I don't want to sell my baby, Im gonna put it on my B room because I think these consoles are amazing and once you learn how to use them, it's a pleasure to mix on them.

Best regards.

Armando Avila.

[Pepe Ortega]

Many people don´t like the fact that Euphonix sound it´s too CLEAN.
If you own external gear, you can put any other compresor or eq´s , to obtain "mojo" or another colours..
As Armando says, Once you learn to use it, It´ll be very easy to mix. I really loved total recall and automation..
too bad I sold mine. I really miss my CS2000.

[AMIEL]

Originally Posted by sacha love

When you guys say that I would need a lot of outboard gear, do you mean dynamics and EQ's ? That would be ok for the comps since my DDA hasn't got any but are the EQs that bad ?

I think Euphonix are the type of consoles that you can build your sound around it...yes they are just clean..I mean very clean!! but great quality....so you really can feel the reality of your outboard gear and use the great Euphonix capabilities for your benefit....I may say that Euphonix have the best o one of the best recall!

[AMIEL]

Armando which Euphonix do u have?
are you gonna get the Duality?

[delcosmos]

Originally Posted by AMIEL

Armando which Euphonix do u have?

I have Euphonix CS2000, I can't remember what software version comes with mine but I've never had a problem.

Best regards.

Armando Avila.