Pendulum Quartet

[Tim L]

I have the MDP-1a which (if IIRC) the Quartet uses as the preamp section. Wonderful tube pre... it can go from really rich, detailed, and dimensional to a very cool 'tube -o- tude' driven sound. Can't speak to the rest of the piece but I'd bet it's a tad bit more than useable... Pendulum stuff rocks, I wan't more!

I've never used the Requisite stuff so I can't offer any kind of a comparison on them.

[BattleAngel]

Thanks Tim! Good seeing you last saturday :-)

[NathanEldred]

The Pendulum is like silk...used ones are very rare, go for it!!

[BattleAngel]

yeah, I will. Whatever, price is great, I have the cash, why not? I'm sure one you bastards will buy it off me for a 2-3 hundred loss if I don't want it so I'll go ahead. Nathan, how is 2k for a used quartet in mint?

[Coldsnow]

Does the eq give you enough to do much with?

[NathanEldred]

Originally posted by BattleAngel
Nathan, how is 2k for a used quartet in mint?

$2K is about right, it's even on the 'better deal' side in your favor for a used item that is mint. Generally used gear goes from 20%-40% off the new street price, depending on age, condition, availability, lemming factor, boutique perception, etc.

[NathanEldred]

Coldsnow wrote:

Does the eq give you enough to do much with?

It really depends on your expectations of what you want it to do...fine tuned parametric work for heavy repairing or mastering, nope. A very hi-fi simple EQ for tone shaping, yes.

Here is a hi-res shot of the Quartet :

http://www.pendulumaudio.com/QuartetHiRes.html

I've used the EQ for adding air to the top, pulling out harsh frequencies or adding intelligibility in the mids, or pulling out mud in the lows or adding some low end roundness.

[Coldsnow]

Is that midband continuesly variable?

[NathanEldred]

From the Pendulum site:

"Our new 3 band tube EQ, a modifed Baxandall design, is simple but very effective. The HI and LO bands have up to ±10dB of shelving at 15, 10 and 7 kHz, and 50, 100 and 200 Hz respectively. The MID band has a broad ±10dB peaking response centered at 0.7, 1.6, 2.2, 3.3, 5.0 and 6.5 kHz. The EQ can be placed before or after the compressor with the flip of a switch."

[BattleAngel]

Simple is what I want. I only track and mix my own stuff, and don't need to get too detailed. I go for a very raw, "this is what I sound like doing everything myself" sound and want high quality but nothing scientific ;-) Nothing I do generally requires the gear to make it sound much different from the source.

[studjo]

All I can say is go for it

The pre is wonderful. You can shape your signal just at the beginning of your recording chain.
The EQ is very simple, but it sounds good. Not for surgical eqing but for tone-shaping. Sometimes I wish I had more control over the EQ (is there a full parmetric eq from Pendulum?)
What I really love is the comp (I'm a comp-addicted). Check it out. I love those presets (vintage kick major ass ).

Nothing but high praise from my side of the ocean Note to myself buy a second Pendulum

Jo

[littledog]

it's on the short list of stuff i plan to get (someday)...

Pendulum is like Cranesong and a few other elite manufacturers, in that i would buy anything with their name on it if i saw a good deal on a used one without thinking twice.

[jflush]

I don't know what I'd do without the DI INPUT on the MDP-1! Very nice for recording bass guitar direct. The pre's kill. The Royer R-121 seems to like it. What a tough ass machine! The Quartet looks super cool.

[Tim L]

Originally posted by BattleAngel
Thanks Tim! Good seeing you last saturday :-)

Me too... had a great time at the GS/NYC shindig!

Originally posted by jflush
I don't know what I'd do without the DI INPUT on the MDP-1! Very nice for recording bass guitar direct. The pre's kill. The Royer R-121 seems to like it. What a tough ass machine!...

The R-121 works great and my Sank-tified M160DX as well. I use the DI's for bass also but my favorite thing is running my entire mix through it... shhh, don't tell anyone!... tutt

[BattleAngel]

you run your mix through a mic preamp?

[Fletcher]

Originally posted by BattleAngel you run your mix through a mic preamp?

With the Pendulum MDP-1 you have the option of taking a +4 line input into the unit via the 'DI input' connectors [there is a switch that designates the input for this assignment].

This can come in exceptionally helpful for things like Mackie desks [and other 'no headroom' pieces of shite].

When I've had to work on Mackies, I usually follow the path of running the 2 buss fader as high as it'll go, taking the line input trims down as far as they'll go, then mixing with the faders... but keeping the 2 buss level "out of the yellow" [which is way below a normal output].

This seems to almost give the thing the ability to pass a bass tone, and almost resemble something with some headroom... the audio tends to suck a bit less.

I'll then run the output of the Mackie into the MDP-1, pick it up to a useable level [sometimes driving the front of it a tad hard to give the tubes in the MDP-1 a chances to add their $.02]... then into the mix storage medium [usually to an A/D converter]... it's not a bad working program.

[mdbeh]

In Tape Op, Alan Douches from West West Side mentioned running mixes through the stereo Pendulum pre just to give them some color. (Trying not to use the "W" word here...)

[Tim L]

Originally posted by BattleAngel

you run your mix through a mic preamp?

Yea... it works great! Sorry it took me so long to answer, I was down at the Jersey shore for the 4th... my head still (kilo)hurtz!


Originally posted by mdbeh

In Tape Op, Alan Douches from West West Side mentioned running mixes through the stereo Pendulum pre just to give them some color. (Trying not to use the "W" word here...)

Sometimes I'll drive the input for the color thing as well but mostly I dig the way it seems to clear things up and open up the sound stage, front to back especially.

I originally used this "trick" (which Fletcher outlined earlier and turned me onto when I got the piece from Mercenary a couple of years ago... thanks again. thumbsup) with the Muckie 8 I had at the time. It works amazingly well strapped across my S65 but I don't worry about running the board "cold" like I had to with the Muckie.

[BevvyB]

It's on my list

[Bernd G]

When I've had to work on Mackies, I usually follow the path of running the 2 buss fader as high as it'll go, taking the line input trims down as far as they'll go, then mixing with the faders... but keeping the 2 buss level "out of the yellow" [which is way below a normal output].

Fletcher, isn't this the exact opposite way of using the gain structure as suggested by MACKIE (ie. unit gain) ?? Does this mean that you are avoiding reaching any of the extremes of the line amps? Sorry to be so inquisitive, but it is always fascinating to me how people use equipment AGAINST all manufacturer suggestions and IN FAVOR of better sound.

Cheers

[Fletcher]

Mackie's suggestion is the "right" way of doing things... however, their hardware can't handle doing things the "right" way so a 'workaround' had to be devised... the idea is to have the thiing work as little as possible, to require the absolute least amount of current draw... by doing this you are kind of getting yourself into a 'noise floor jackpot'... but at least for my work, once you hit the 'standby switch' on the thing that says "Marshall" on the front... allmost all of the 'noise specs' are entirely irrelevant.

As always, YMMV

[HiFi Yeah]

Anyone experimented with replacing the stock tubes with vintage stuff? Any good combinations found?

[Fletcher]

8 1/2 years later... no, I have never experimented with changing the tubes... the ones Greg puts in seem perfectly fine to me. If you decide to play with the tubes I hope you plan to keep us informed about your findings!!

Peace

[HiFi Yeah]

I've got some 1960s GE 6072 in my OCL2; as nice as it sounded stock sounds even more musical now.

Going to try some stuff in the Quartet too...