Question about Burl B2 Bomber

[imacgreg]

The level's indicated on the attenuator are referring to the calibration level of your system. For example, if your Pro Tools system is calibrated at -18dBFS (standard) then a 0VU sine wave signal present on an analog input will result in a -18dBFS signal within Pro Tools.

So if your digital system is calibrated at -18dBFS and your Burl is set to -18dBFS, then a 0VU analog signal into the Burl will result in a -18dBFS signal in pro tools. The Burl then lets you increase or decrease the level on the analog side of things. This can be useful if you happen to be at a different calibration (-14dBFS, -22dBFS) or if a mix is printing a bit too loud or a bit too low.

I've heard some talk about using the attenuator to "drive" the Burl harder, but without knowing where the attenuator is placed in the signal path (directly before ADC or before some buffer analog stage) it's hard to know exactly how that is working.

Ian

[Silver Sonya]

I have a hybrid Metric Halo ULN8 and Burl system. I love both equally.

With regards to printing to the B2, my general approach is not to think about it too much. I just aim for getting a healthy print level and keep moving.

The B2 is a fantastic thing and worth every penny, but I find the effect of its tone is generally exaggerated on the internet.

I don't find it to be transfigurative. People compare it to a tape machine and I find that is overstating matters. It's just a really well-built, robust, 3D converter with a deep soundstage and a very faint, pleasing girth. But mostly what you put in is exactly what you get out.

I love the sound of it at higher sampling rates too.

I have moved to defaulting to 88.2kHz, not for any scientific reason, just based on feel.

My advice is enjoy it and don't think too much about it. Just get a nice level and keep moving.

- c

[riffmachine]

Originally Posted by Silver Sonya

I have a hybrid Metric Halo ULN8 and Burl system. I love both equally.

With regards to printing to the B2, my general approach is not to think about it too much. I just aim for getting a healthy print level and keep moving.

The B2 is a fantastic thing and worth every penny, but I find the effect of its tone is generally exaggerated on the internet.

It's don't find it to be transfigurative. People compare it to a tape machine and I find that is overstating matters. It's just a really well-built, robust, 3D converter with a deep soundstage and a very faint, pleasing girth. But mostly what you get out is exactly what you get out.

I love the sound of it at higher sampling rates too.

I have moved to defaulting to 88.2kHz, not for any scientific reason, just based on feel.

My advice is enjoy it and don't think too much about it. Just get a nice level and keep moving.

- c

+1. I love my Bomber. It's been at the end of my 2bus on every mix since I've gotten it. - paul

[shelterr]

As a former B2 owner and now Mothership owner I will say that the attenuator has a lot do do with the sound of the unit.

Setting it to -22dBu my tracks sounded too compressed and kind of spitty. I thought -18dBu sounded a little boxy and lacked aggression for instrument tracking. I settled on -20 dBu for instrument tracking, and calibrated my Burl Mothership accordingly. For mastering, I though -16 dBu was the most soild for me. I even have two channels of my mothership calibrated this way just in case I feel the need to print a mix using the Burl. The setting of choice definitely affects the way the transformer saturates.

[Dayo]

I know there is a lot of hype about this unit but for my money it's every bit justified. Cream!

[paranoidandroid]

The attenuator setting and the program level coming into the converter are directly linked. It's not really that the attenuator's different settings have inherently different sounds, it's more like a gain knob in that the level you feed to the converter is paramount in the equation. If you want the converter to actually 'do' something to the signal, send it a hot signal first and then turn the knob counter-clockwise to just under clipping (or god forbid let it clip!) on the meter. I personally don't really like the way it sounds too hot, mixes feel sharp (not in a pitch way) or edgy after inevitably loud mastering. I think for the mothership or the B2 for tracking this pushing feature is more useful as doing it across individual tracks makes more sense from a recreating the tape machine perspective. But when converting full mixes from a board I've been tending toward peaks hitting -9 on the meters, maybe up to -7 sometimes. Whatever the setting on the atten knob it takes to get there is where I leave it. In the end, the genius of it for me is that it allows you to use your board at different levels of 'pushed' without having to recalibrate anything complicated. And of course it sounds very nice and is a totally wonderfully overbuilt machine.

[Silver Sonya]

That's kinda how I use it as well.

But mainly I want to emphasize the not-overthinking-it thing.

The chief advantage of the B2, as I see it, is it feels like a piece of musical gear, not a converter. As such, you should relax and address it musically and intuitively and in a relaxed manner. This is one of the nice things about stuff that's made as well as this thing is.

It's like the Lisson Grove: every setting is good.

- c

[Mr. Light]

Originally Posted by Silver Sonya

I have a hybrid Metric Halo ULN8 and Burl system. I love both equally.

With regards to printing to the B2, my general approach is not to think about it too much. I just aim for getting a healthy print level and keep moving.

The B2 is a fantastic thing and worth every penny, but I find the effect of its tone is generally exaggerated on the internet.

It's don't find it to be transfigurative. People compare it to a tape machine and I find that is overstating matters. It's just a really well-built, robust, 3D converter with a deep soundstage and a very faint, pleasing girth. But mostly what you put in is exactly what you get out.

I love the sound of it at higher sampling rates too.

I have moved to defaulting to 88.2kHz, not for any scientific reason, just based on feel.

My advice is enjoy it and don't think too much about it. Just get a nice level and keep moving.

- c

Couldn't agree with this more.