Planning a 500 series rack from scratch, help appreciated.

herecomesyourman · 6th November 2007

So...

I've been reading that the new Purple Audio rack is coming out...and it's ten slots at $750 about...

I'm really convinced the Action FET's when they come out will be for me since they'll be cheaper than MC77's and have similar properties.

But what would you get if you were going to fill all ten slots up at once? (I'm curious)

Dave Slevin · 6th November 2007

easy,
512c x 2
chandler x2
Great River x 2
e-mp eq x 2
525 compressor. x 2

hmm maybe not so easy...

Fletcher · 7th November 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by herecomesyourman

I'm really convinced the Action FET's when they come out will be for me since they'll be cheaper than MC77's and have similar properties.

This says more than you can imagine... "similar properties"? What does that mean? That the gain reduction cell will be based on a FET circuit? That it'll have two knobs, 8 buttons and a meter?

Why will it be "cheaper"?

Will it use inferior components?

Labor from China? [not that I find anything wrong with that as long as the components and quality control are up to snuff... I'm pretty apolitical about where my stuff's built as long as it is a quality tool].

If it's because of cost cutting on components then it will indeed be "cheaper" [as in "cheap" because it's not as well built or good sounding]... if it's "cheaper" because some of the features have been omitted from the design there by reducing the cost to produce the unit while the quality doesn't suffer... then it's not really "cheaper", then it is "inexpensive"... and "inexpensive" is good!!

If you look at the FMR "RNC" it's a very inexpensive but very high quality unit. When Mark designed that he purposely left out a bunch of "infrastructure" features [it's not balanced, it has one set of controls... runs on a wall wart, etc.]... but the at heart of the beast is a great compression device... my point, he didn't "cut corners" he omitted things that weren't absolutely necessary to obtain the sound though some of those 'comforts' and 'features' would have been nice to have... they would have added to the price to build the unit which would have made the sale price of the unit far higher.

Quote:

But what would you get if you were going to fill all ten slots up at once? (I'm curious)

Well since you probably already think I'm a complete asshole... lemme finish the picture for you...

I wouldn't fill up 10 slots at once.

I would get a couple of pre's and maybe a couple of EQ's and work with them for a while. I would then try to determine where my holes are in terms of the equipment I'm using in terms of the music on which I'm working... then I would add another unit or two in an attempt to plug the holes I perceived.

I would also ask myself about my requirements... would I be doing mostly live band tracking... and if I were, would it be 4 piece rock band or 7 piece jazz ensemble? Would I be mixing hip-hop records or would I be tracking live drums? What other pieces of kit are in my studio that I should supplement with some of the tools that are available for the Purple 10 slot $750 module frame?

While it's like really cool to play "fantasy equipment acquisition" [which is sorta like fantasy football except you can't win an office pool by playing it]... the fact of the matter is that we're [hopefully] talking about real tools that will be used for real recordings that suit both the artist's as well as the engineer [and producer if applicable]'s sense of aesthetic for the presentation of the music.

... and at the end of the day... shouldn't this still be about the music and not the fashion of what you have in your rack?

Hint... at the end of it all... Allan Sides has the most toys... he wins.

Peace.

herecomesyourman · 7th November 2007

Haha...you're so not an asshole, don't worry about it!

Fletcher I have never thought ill of you, you always say what you mean without pause and without a filter and I really respect that. So don't worry about hurting my "feelings" I don't have any of those anyways.

I just mean that for my rig something that works on similar principals to an MC77 or an 1176 that's small enough to fit in a 500 space would be cool for me. (less money overall to aquire, same quality build, less stuff to lug around, easier to fit in one rack space, since I'm mobile, etc. I'm not saying it's not a professional tool!!!) I do think there will be some tonal similarities between the two since that's why they designed the unit from what I read. I like the MC77's, I've used them in a few different spaces, but 4U in my rack won't fit without having to take something out. So I've been excited ever since reading about the action and calling Mercenary to get some dirt on it a few weeks ago.

This whole thread is just waxing psuedointellectual , it's not going to make me pull the trigger on anything.

There's just new 500 series pieces coming out all the time, I figure this way people might jog my memory or make me read and investigate other units I've overlooked. (I never said I could afford 10 at once!!! I just wanted to know what you'd pick)

Also I have had an RNP & RNLA for a very long time...and I don't consider them cheap!!! Great products!

6th November 2007	#1
herecomesyourman Lives for gear Join Date: May 2007 Location: Phoenix AZ. Posts: 561 Thread Starter	Planning a 500 series rack from scratch, help appreciated. So... I've been reading that the new Purple Audio rack is coming out...and it's ten slots at $750 about... I'm really convinced the Action FET's when they come out will be for me since they'll be cheaper than MC77's and have similar properties. But what would you get if you were going to fill all ten slots up at once? (I'm curious)

6th November 2007	#2
Dave Slevin Gear nut Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 142	easy, 512c x 2 chandler x2 Great River x 2 e-mp eq x 2 525 compressor. x 2 hmm maybe not so easy... __________________ http://www.myspace.com/virtustudios

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7th November 2007	#4
herecomesyourman Lives for gear Join Date: May 2007 Location: Phoenix AZ. Posts: 561 Thread Starter	Haha...you're so not an asshole, don't worry about it! Fletcher I have never thought ill of you, you always say what you mean without pause and without a filter and I really respect that. So don't worry about hurting my "feelings" I don't have any of those anyways. I just mean that for my rig something that works on similar principals to an MC77 or an 1176 that's small enough to fit in a 500 space would be cool for me. (less money overall to aquire, same quality build, less stuff to lug around, easier to fit in one rack space, since I'm mobile, etc. I'm not saying it's not a professional tool!!!) I do think there will be some tonal similarities between the two since that's why they designed the unit from what I read. I like the MC77's, I've used them in a few different spaces, but 4U in my rack won't fit without having to take something out. So I've been excited ever since reading about the action and calling Mercenary to get some dirt on it a few weeks ago. This whole thread is just waxing psuedointellectual , it's not going to make me pull the trigger on anything. There's just new 500 series pieces coming out all the time, I figure this way people might jog my memory or make me read and investigate other units I've overlooked. (I never said I could afford 10 at once!!! I just wanted to know what you'd pick) Also I have had an RNP & RNLA for a very long time...and I don't consider them cheap!!! Great products!