New Electrodyne 500 series...

[Silvertone]

I've been beta testing these EQ's and mic pre's for a couple months now and I have to say that I'm very impressed. I think that Ken Hirsch and Peter Montessi did a fantastic job of keeping the Electrodyne sound in tact in these new modules.

The EQ's are fantastic and just a click or two in either direction usually handles just what you are looking for. They kill on kick, snare, bass and vocals. I do wish for program material that the gain was switchable to 1dB or even a 1/2dB steps (they are 2dB like the originals) but then again these were never intended to be stereo buss EQ's.

The mic pre... what can I say... the mic pre smokes! They nailed it. It's right up there with my best Electrodyne and Quad Eight mic pre's. I'd put this thing up against any Neve or API any day of the week. It is solid sounding, more toward the Neve side of things but with clarity in the mids and highs like the API has. Did I mention that they nailed it... congrats guys!!!

One thing I need on the pre is more information on the gain structure. It has a pre-amp gain adjustment (0 to 10) and an output (concentric) knob. The output knob at least needs a little white dot on it so you can line the thing up (it's all black). So with my feeble old eyes I had to keep getting right down in front of the thing to see where the output was at. The good part to that is it forces you to use your ears rather than your eyes!

Haven't tried the DI yet but I will tomorrow... good thing is right now I have an Evil Twin here as well as the Retrospec and my custom built Edyne 602 mic pre/DI with Cinemag x-formers so I can really compare that with the new edyne.

Anyway, thanks to Ken and Peter for putting the effort into bring these beauties back. I looked into this myself but really when you see how low the profit margins are for boutique gear like this I just could not justify the effort. Thank God there are guys out there like Ken and Peter who will take the time to "get it right" no matter how long it take or little the profit. Thanks guys!

[RoundBadge]

Cosign w Larry
i had the pre and eq here
outstanding job
I'm in for 2 eqs and at least one pre

[FredrikCarno]

hello

Just finished a session with u67 and CM7 into the good 'ol electrodyne 711.. Haven't used them for awhile.. but man do they smoke..

Havn't heard about the new ones but I'm really interested in the eq's if they're similar I might pick up a few

[ELI-173]

Great review, Larry! Ken's been passionately working on these for a long time!

[Keith Moore]

Any prices on these yet?

[orphanaudio]

Thank you all for your hard work making sure our new Electrodyne gear is all it was designed to be.
I am always happy to hear that the extra months of testing, tweaking, tuning sweating and not compromising on parts and design seem to have paid off even better than we could have hoped for.
The comments from engineer/producers and testers on the West Coast have been the same as Larry (Silvertone), RoundBadge and Fredrik (FredrikCarno).. (Wow !).
All your comments have been written down for future product designs and product improvement.
Just remember, we expect you guys to kick the next designs just as hard when we send them out for testing. (you don't want us to get lazy, do you?)

Once again, thanks to everyone who contributed to bringing Electrodyne back in style, you really made a difference.


BTW: Larry,..... Are you suggesting a custom precision/mastering/bus eq(???).....

[Kiljoy]

Originally Posted by orphanaudio

BTW: Larry,..... Are you suggesting a custom precision/mastering/bus eq(???).....

Yes please.

[BLueROom]

I've used my 511 EQ extensively over the past couple months! I choose it over EQs that look to be more versatile all the time. This thing is remarkably versatile for a 2 freakin knob EQ I've used it to add weight to kick, snare, electric guitar, bass etc... it never fails. The top end is really special too... there is not an ounce of harsh in there anywhere. I'm not sure I'm able to coax a bad sound out of it. You have done an amazing job! I look forward to hearing the PRE.

[Silvertone]

Originally Posted by orphanaudio

BTW: Larry,..... Are you suggesting a custom precision/mastering/bus eq(???).....

Well Ken, I really didn't want to come out and ask for one but since you brought it up... all I can say is that I've used the EQ's on a couple projects that needed some serious help and these things solved the problem in two seconds.

On the small output knob of the mic pre could you put a white arrow pointer that are on the bigger edyne knobs? Also a manula would be helpful since the legend isn't the same as the older edynes (I can't tell if I'm -10, -20, -30, etc...) mic gain section.

[Silvertone]

Originally Posted by FredrikCarno

hello

Just finished a session with u67 and CM7 into the good 'ol electrodyne 711.. Haven't used them for awhile.. but man do they smoke..

Havn't heard about the new ones but I'm really interested in the eq's if they're similar I might pick up a few

I think that the EQ's are spot on the money, they capture the same tone and are a bit more true to the source material. I've found some difference when comparing them to other ones I have, probably due to re-capping, age of components and such. I have one pair of 710 that sound a bit more hi-fi but I don't know why. My other 710 and 711's EQ's sound just like these.

I do wish they had 1dB steps but I know Ken was building them to original spec which means 2dB steps.

[TRW]

I'm sure the small non skirted knob comes with a dot option!

These look great!

-T

[Silvertone]

Originally Posted by BLueROom

I've used my 511 EQ extensively over the past couple months! I choose it over EQs that look to be more versatile all the time. This thing is remarkably versatile for a 2 freakin knob EQ I've used it to add weight to kick, snare, electric guitar, bass etc... it never fails. The top end is really special too... there is not an ounce of harsh in there anywhere. I'm not sure I'm able to coax a bad sound out of it. You have done an amazing job! I look forward to hearing the PRE.

I can't say enough wonderful things about the mic pre... except again that they nailed it! But with even more features than the original, mainly phantom power and phase reverse plus a DI jack on the front... now you talkin baby...

(Nice added features with the EQ as well, the addition of a switch in the hi and low EQ bands to shelving is a very nice touch)

[Upfront2K]

Originally Posted by Silvertone

I think that the EQ's are spot on the money, they capture the same tone and are a bit more true to the source material. I've found some difference when comparing them to other ones I have, probably due to re-capping, age of components and such. I have one pair of 710 that sound a bit more hi-fi but I don't know why. My other 710 and 711's EQ's sound just like these.

I do wish they had 1dB steps but I know Ken was building them to original spec which means 2dB steps.

Well if Pete Montessi is on board you can put me down for two.

On the design note though I don't know why they would need or want to adhere to the old design 2 dB increments when nearly everyone prefers 1/2 or 1 dB gain adjustments. Api got the message with 5500. In many instances 2dB adjustments are to much and I'm sure there are many others who feel the same way. Who cares about sticking to the original design most people who will buy them never even worked with these pre's or Eq's so who cares about nostalgia. Makes absolutely no sense to me what so ever. Make them 1/2 or 1 dB gain adjustment increments and they will generate more sales. Hell if I know that why don't they.
Don't mean to rant but again it makes no sense.

[warhead]

My local tech owns a few original Electrodyne modules and I've LOVE to compare.

War

[ToneRanger]

Could someone educate me a bit on the "color" and "character" of the Electrodyne eq? Some classic records I might have heard it (i love 60's and 70's stuff and am very familiar with it)?

I only own one hardware eq, the Avedis E27, which I'm very happy about. I'd love to have another eq with different type of mojo, been thinking about a pultec type, how does the electrodyne compare to pultec type of eq?

[jeep]

do a search, i remember reading a thread on what albums were recorded through electrodyne desks..

i only remember "Young Americans" by David Bowie

[chrisso]

Originally Posted by Upfront2K

Who cares about sticking to the original design most people who will buy them never even worked with these pre's or Eq's so who cares about nostalgia. Makes absolutely no sense to me what so ever.

But in this topic alone people are comparing the new Electrodyne to the old.
If the old is so good, why change the design?
Far too often a product comes out looking like a desirable vintage model, but sounding nothing close.
If you are going to make a Mic/Pre or EQ module that deviates from the original design philosophies, you might as well call it a different thing and forget the E710/711 connection.

When are these going to ship?
I desperately need a good DI and I wouldn't mind it coming with a good Mic/Pre attached in 500 format.

[Silvertone]

Originally Posted by ToneRanger

Could someone educate me a bit on the "color" and "character" of the Electrodyne eq? Some classic records I might have heard it (i love 60's and 70's stuff and am very familiar with it)?

I only own one hardware eq, the Avedis E27, which I'm very happy about. I'd love to have another eq with different type of mojo, been thinking about a pultec type, how does the electrodyne compare to pultec type of eq?

This list was given to me from Joe and Mike Tarsia who owned Sigma Sound in Philly (and NYC)...

Electrodyne console recordings:
off the top of my head, artists,,and some songs i remember..a couple were*recordings during live broadcast* ..phase coherent stereo over 2 phone lines , radio concerts

Trammps -Disco Inferno
Robert Palmer-- double fun
Bowie -Young Americans
Grace Jones
Edgar Winter
Lou rawles
Stylistics*
Spinners
Ojays
Dusty Springfield
Laura Nero
Lola Falana
Charo
Todd rundgreen
Flying Burrito Brothers
Billy Joel
Billy Paul-me and mrs jones*
Labelle
Patti Labelle
Three Degeees
Intruders
Joe Simon
Teddy Pendergrass
MFSB


And here are some that were done with Sphere consoles (same sonic signature), this list was from Mike Tarsia along with a note of a couple albums done on Quad Eights (again pretty much same signature sound)...

the electrodynes

we had 2 a 12 channel board for when we had hte 8 track Scully recorder and then a 24 channel


i never engineered on the electrodynes..i assisted..by the time i engineered it was the sphere.. i did 5 Star,* Loose Ends,* Sheena Easton, Phylis Hyman, Lou Rawles, Ojays..early levert, Temptations,* and then mainly club/dance remixes for artists like George Benson, Jermain Jackson, Yellow Jackets etc etc..then we got the neve


Quad Studios: 24 Channel Quad Eight, later expanded to 32 channels by Gene Eichelberger and a young Denny Purcell.

Dobie Gray: Drify Away
Neil Young: Harvest



Hope this helps. I've been compiling a list for a while and will have to get them on my Electrodyne site...

Just a ton of movies done through these consoles as well since every major movie production company in LA pretty much used these boards... Warner, MGM, etc...

[Bradahman]

How do these compare to the P-1???

[lmontessi]

Larry,
Thanks for the great history lesson! We hope to have the EQs ready in about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks.

[ToneRanger]

Larry, thanks a lot for that!

Lisa, any idea on the pricing already?

[Silvertone]

Originally Posted by ToneRanger

Larry, thanks a lot for that!

Lisa, any idea on the pricing already?

You're welcome.

There is more to come... a lot of classic albums were done on these consoles.

We are currently restoring the Judds old Sphere console and let me tell you I'd put this up against any Neve console for sonics any day of the week... it's fat and so much easier to EQ on the Sphere. Everyone in the room including the tech were so impressed.. so I had to yell at all of them for doubting me... they said the same thing when we fired up the Daking comps on the two buss... again I had to yell at everybody (it's just the Italian in me).

Mike Tarsia said the same thing about the EQ's... that he and his Dad found it much easier to pull a mix on the Sphere than the Neve that came into the studio after the Sphere... that says a lot coming from these guys.

I bring up the Sphere because it's the same sonic signature as the Edynes and early Q8's.

Now go build a console around the Edyne remakes and you'd have something that will rival the sonic signature of a Neve or API at a fraction of the cost!

[Sigma]

yeah the sphere eclipse C prob has the hands down best console EQ i ever worked on....those parametrics were sweet!!! and they weren't mini knobs for child size hands..they had a great feel to ..i hate pots that have a loose feel


God the console was HOT...i think everything was built to theoretical tolerance limits LOL ..you could literally keep sandwiches WARM on the console surface [and we did] DBL LOL

i liked tracking on the NEVE [it was custom a cousin to the 8078] , but to me it wasn't the optimum mix console

[lmontessi]

Larry, I live with one.
We've already started on a console. You could fill it all with Quad 8 Electrodyne if you desire. We are working on this to have it ready for AES.
Petes Place Audio

Hopefully we will see you there. We will have the 511s and 501s in the Mark VIII.

[lmontessi]

Originally Posted by ToneRanger

Larry, thanks a lot for that!

Lisa, any idea on the pricing already?

Hi, Tone Ranger!

Right now we are looking at $1050.00usd for the EQ and $895.00 for the pre. These prices, of course are subject to change.

[Silvertone]

Originally Posted by lmontessi

Larry, I live with one.
We've already started on a console. You could fill it all with Quad 8 Electrodyne if you desire. We are working on this to have it ready for AES.
Petes Place Audio

Hopefully we will see you there. We will have the 511s and 501s in the Mark VIII.

Anybody that wants a rocking console, the edyne re-makes would smoke for tracking and stem mixing!

I look forward to seeing everybody (and the mini console) at AES...

[Silvertone]

Originally Posted by Sigma

yeah the sphere eclipse C prob has the hands down best console EQ i ever worked on....those parametrics were sweet!!! and they weren't mini knobs for child size hands..they had a great feel to ..i hate pots that have a loose feel


God the console was HOT...i think everything was built to theoretical tolerance limits LOL ..you could literally keep sandwiches WARM on the console surface [and we did] DBL LOL

i liked tracking on the NEVE [it was custom a cousin to the 8078] , but to me it wasn't the optimum mix console

I know what you mean by hot. When you assign 16 channels or greater at once on all the subgroups (during testing) you cannot turn them all off before you burn your fingertips... and I have 30 years worth of callouses from playing bass on my fingertips! Ouch!!!

[Sigma]

Originally Posted by Silvertone

I know what you mean by hot. When you assign 16 channels or greater at once on all the subgroups (during testing) you cannot turn them all off before you burn your fingertips... and I have 30 years worth of callouses from playing bass on my fingertips! Ouch!!!

yeah!! that ACN rail LOL


see you at AES!

[pan60]

awesome to read Larry DeVivo!
i am love the 511, i will have more of these for sure!!!!!
i can hardly stand-it it that i have not got my hand on the pre just yet: (~
but soon: )~

[Silvertone]

Originally Posted by pan60

awesome to read Larry DeVivo!
i am love the 511, i will have more of these for sure!!!!!
i can hardly stand-it it that i have not got my hand on the pre just yet: (~
but soon: )~

You're gonna love it Pan and the added features to the pre are just what the doctor ordered.

Solid as a Neve with the top end of an API... it doesn't get much better than this!