Focusrite isa428 questions

[rob morsberger]

I am very grateful for all the generous help here. Thank you.
I just spoke to Focusrite tech support, who confirmed what Peter and prismtheory have already observed. The meters are indeed calibrated at 0 dbfs=+22 dbu. That means that you have to be careful with the input level. Tech support tells me the sound is consistent through the input range, except for very low and very high gains, and there is no sonic benefit or coloration effect from driving the inputs harder than this callibration permits.
Honestly, this is all a bit odd and counterintuitive to me, but what do I know.
Additionally, when using the digital card the meters will then correlate properly with my motu box. Since most of you probably use the card, I'll bet that's why few have apparently noticed this issue.
Thanks so much for all the help. I hope I haven't in any way besmirched a great product. I'm psyched to use it on a session this afternoon.

[SoundUniverse]

That would be right for me at least. I have the A/D card and the only meters I look at are the A/D LEDS on the right side of the box. I guess I glance at the VU's once in a while, but only cause I like the show

[David@MVS]

Originally Posted by rob morsberger

Thank you David.
I'm not sure what you mean by an attenuator on the avalons outputs.
It seems odd that I would have to pad the 428, and don't know how that would be accomplished.

I think by talking to Focusrite, you have solved your issue.

But...what I meant by attenuator on the Avalon, is that it has an output knob to control the output level after any gain-staging the unit offers...delivering a more reasonable signal to your MOTU.

As far as accomplishing similar with the 428a, I would suggest Shure in-line pads or A-Designs' ATTY.

But like I wrote, it appears you have solved the issue.

Regards,
David

[the1Hub]

i have two of them w/one adc card. ive had both of them for at least 3 years now (both are british made) i have not had a problem with the pre itself but i have had the adc card over heat and give me some issues. i have had really good look with it as a bass di. but where i really like it is on toms with the peak meters topping out around -6. but at the same time if iam using the adc card, hitting it fairly hard wiht the soft limit circut engaged can capture some really great sounds. try killing the bottom snare mic for a really buzzy snare sound that is nice and warm at the same time.

[rob morsberger]

David-thank you very much for taking time to clarify. Much appreciated.
Aaron...cool, thanks. Just curious...when di-ing bass do you also compress going in?
Yeah, I've heard the soft limiter can be a nice thing...looking forward to trying that.

I used the 428 on a session yesterday and got some great results on a funky acoustic guitar track. As others have noted, the impedence buttons are a really neat way to capture different tones. The filter is nice too...the whole range of features is very appealing. Sound/features/price is hard to beat. I'll be getting the card also.

I am very happy to have it up and running. Since I do a wide variety of different styles of music including classical I thought this might be a better choice than, say, the api 3124, which sounds like it might be a bit edgier and present....ideal for some things but perhaps not for everything. But that's speculation on my part and probably any of the obvious contenders give fine results.

Anyway, thanks again for all the help. Great forum.

[vocalworld]

I have given back my 428 because I had rather strong crosstalk problems. You could see the crosstalk on the meters. This means: When there was a signal on channel 1 between -3 and 0dB one could see that the meter of channel 2 was moving.

When recording voices on channel 1 with a volume of nearly -3 to 0 dB these voices were also recorded with a level of nearly -55dB on channel 2. The amplification of channel 2 was +60dB in this case.

I made some choir recordings with the 428 by using 4 mics. You could here that the stereo image was not as good as with my cheap tascam mx-4 preamp.

I know that my measure procedure of crosstalk does not correspond to the standard measurement of crosstalk. However the crosstalk issue was checked by the official german focusrite service and they confirmed that crosstalk was bad. This is now nearly two years ago and I heard that focusrite had solved the problem.

But you should check it.

Mathias

[rob morsberger]

Thanks Mathias. I'll definately check that out. For now all seems groovy and I'm happy with the 428.

[studilaroche]

I had begun to wonder what was happening with my 428 repair, as I'd not heard anything at all. well, it turns out that one of the numbers in my phone number on the label was illegible, so Tony (at the repair shop) had been calling someone else (who, oddly enough, does something with music as well. weird). Tony tracked me down through gearslutz and sent me a PM. how cool is that? Thanks Tony!
Ben

[tmarra]

Originally Posted by studilaroche

I had begun to wonder what was happening with my 428 repair, as I'd not heard anything at all. well, it turns out that one of the numbers in my phone number on the label was illegible, so Tony (at the repair shop) had been calling someone else (who, oddly enough, does something with music as well. weird). Tony tracked me down through gearslutz and sent me a PM. how cool is that? Thanks Tony!
Ben

Awh shucks Ben we do that for all our customers.

-Tony