Black Lion Audio

[thisisntglen]

Has anyone had any experience with them? I own a Delta 1010, and I'm thinking of having the mod done. It would be great if someone who has a Black Lion 1010 could elaborate on how it sounds and the difference it makes, but also if anyone has had anything modded by them, that would be helpful as well.

[AlexLakis]

Why not try the search function? You'll find a lot of people's opinions are all ready there for your reading pleasure.

I just had my 002 modified by BLA, and it sounds great! Still have to do more tests, but it's definately clearer and punchier, no doubt.

[Gear Tramp]

Just do it.

It's worth it.

-Signed,

Your Conscience

[superkev07]

You're gonna want to look here: black lion audio mod for DIGI 002

[thisisntglen]

Yeah, I'd read the other posts on the Delta, but they were a bit inconclusive, alot of "oh that'd be cool, someone should chime in and say so, I HEAR they're great."

Thanks for the link to the 002 thread

[Chris]

Originally Posted by thisisntglen

Yeah, I'd read the other posts on the Delta, but they were a bit inconclusive, alot of "oh that'd be cool, someone should chime in and say so, I HEAR they're great."

Thanks for the link to the 002 thread

The analog stage mod made a huge difference. Better stereo imaging as well as cleaning up the fuzz and making everything more crisp and clear.

The clock mod I haven't had long enough to tell, but it didn't give me the same "holy crap" factor.


Get them both.

[dkelley]

don't know about the 1010 mods (haven't bothered myself, my 1010 is plenty good enough for professional use and blows away what was available for non-hd protools systems 5 years ago - if you think about it like that, kind of makes you wonder what all the fuss is about with trying to improve everything a few percent, but that's another topic).

I bought black lions plans to mod my 3630 myself (rather than buying a full kit or having them do it), back when they sold that option. I did it, the unit went from tragic to magic. It's my best compressor/limiter now, and the gate is really really good now too. I prefer it to my dbx 903s on most things and use it on the mix as often as I use the drawmer (either the dl221 or the 1968 depending on the music) on the mix (actually use both alesis and drawmer on the mix sometimes as they work quite differently now).

so what I'm saying is, it took a famously crappy piece of junk and turned it into an oddly high end sounding and functioning unit that really just doesn't seem fair somehow for the price.

So they certainly know what they're doing with that stuff. I have no doubt the improvements exist for the 1010, but I just doubt it would be nearly as noticeable as my 3630 mods were, which makes me question the cost, especially since I only paid $150 for plans plus my own sourced parts for my mod, labour was free (me!), where you'd be paying a LOT more for their no doubt top quality labour and warranty etc, for an item that already performs really well. so just think about it for a while, if I were you, I'd see if maybe you had some other gear you'd want modded too and send it all off to them at the same time and see if you could get a package deal or something, certainly having it all done at once will be a bigger audible difference in the end and more exciting, since you're picky about your 1010's sound already which is fine, might as well get lots of other stuff done. any compressors, eqs etc there that you wish could sound a little different?

Cheers,
Don

[Gear Tramp]

Originally Posted by Chris

The analog stage mod made a huge difference. Better stereo imaging as well as cleaning up the fuzz and making everything more crisp and clear.

The clock mod has something to do with that, too. It isn't just the analog upgrade that provides that imaging and clarity.

Just one listen to a previous mix on a BLA unit reveals a lot of mixing mistakes previously made.

[thisisntglen]

Originally Posted by dkelley

don't know about the 1010 mods (haven't bothered myself, my 1010 is plenty good enough for professional use and blows away what was available for non-hd protools systems 5 years ago - if you think about it like that, kind of makes you wonder what all the fuss is about with trying to improve everything a few percent, but that's another topic).

I bought black lions plans to mod my 3630 myself (rather than buying a full kit or having them do it), back when they sold that option. I did it, the unit went from tragic to magic. It's my best compressor/limiter now, and the gate is really really good now too. I prefer it to my dbx 903s on most things and use it on the mix as often as I use the drawmer (either the dl221 or the 1968 depending on the music) on the mix (actually use both alesis and drawmer on the mix sometimes as they work quite differently now).

so what I'm saying is, it took a famously crappy piece of junk and turned it into an oddly high end sounding and functioning unit that really just doesn't seem fair somehow for the price.

So they certainly know what they're doing with that stuff. I have no doubt the improvements exist for the 1010, but I just doubt it would be nearly as noticeable as my 3630 mods were, which makes me question the cost, especially since I only paid $150 for plans plus my own sourced parts for my mod, labour was free (me!), where you'd be paying a LOT more for their no doubt top quality labour and warranty etc, for an item that already performs really well. so just think about it for a while, if I were you, I'd see if maybe you had some other gear you'd want modded too and send it all off to them at the same time and see if you could get a package deal or something, certainly having it all done at once will be a bigger audible difference in the end and more exciting, since you're picky about your 1010's sound already which is fine, might as well get lots of other stuff done. any compressors, eqs etc there that you wish could sound a little different?

Cheers,
Don

You know, it's not that I have any problems with my 1010, I actually love it and, honestly, would use it any day over a 002 (for so many obvious reasons). The thing has an insane amount of headroom for a $350 box.

However, when something enticing like making my 1010 EVEN better, I must investigate :) I would love to do the mod myself, I wish they still offered it. I'm pretty happy with all my other gear, just heard from a friend that the mod is nice.

I'm really curious, what did they change on the 3630?

[dkelley]

Originally Posted by Gear Tramp

The clock mod has something to do with that, too. It isn't just the analog upgrade that provides that imaging and clarity.

Just one listen to a previous mix on a BLA unit reveals a lot of mixing mistakes previously made.

I don't have clock issues with mine due to the outboard clock I use. But the originally poster might very well benefit a bit from such an upgrade (either external clock or the fixes from black lion). Yes I know, argue the point about external vs internal clocks, but it does make scientific sense that a delayed clock signal will be consistently delayed and still therefore be more accurate with a high end external clock than a sub par internal clock.

sorry, had to get that off my chest, re: another thread.

Cheers,
Don

[thisisntglen]

Originally Posted by dkelley

I don't have clock issues with mine due to the outboard clock I use. But the originally poster might very well benefit a bit from such an upgrade (either external clock or the fixes from black lion). Yes I know, argue the point about external vs internal clocks, but it does make scientific sense that a delayed clock signal will be consistently delayed and still therefore be more accurate with a high end external clock than a sub par internal clock.

sorry, had to get that off my chest, re: another thread.

Cheers,
Don

no you're entirely correct. a clock that jitters and is inconsistent vs. a clock that is dead on but a few picoseconds late is a clear choice?

who says otherwise?

[billgennaro]

if its a "new" mod they are offering i would wait until others have tried it and can put their stamp of approval on it. my experience with black lion was terrible. i was the first to have my mbox2 modded by them and they screwed it up so badly that they had to replace it. then it took me about a month of phone calls to get my money back. i think that, professionally, they are a lousy company. because of me i think that they no longer offer an mbox2 mod. however, other people say they are great for the 002 mod.

bill