presonus central station needed??

[Shadowdog]

to clarify, i guess what i am asking is if I can use like 1/2 for my monitors, 3/4 for my other monitor source and 5/6 for a headphone amp?

[Crandall1]

There's no law that says you can't. I used to do something similar. The problem is that if you want to switch to different speakers or whatever and you're not in your main DAW, some shucking and jibing is in order, which is a PITA.

However I just (yesterday) got a Central Station, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it is worth the money. Really nice all-metal construction, and it does what it says. I got the remote too, which is quite handy. I've only had it for about 24 hours, but I can't see how I ever lived without the damned thing.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I did some contract work for Presonus, and this was part of the payment. So, technically speaking, this is a shill, but believe me, if you knew me you know I'd have no problem talking shit about them if I didn't like it. They make lots of stuff I don't like.)

[Shadowdog]

darn it, I almost had myself talked out of it, now you make me want it again Can you tell I am easily persuaded?

[Revelation]

Originally Posted by Crandall1

There's no law that says you can't. I used to do something similar. The problem is that if you want to switch to different speakers or whatever and you're not in your main DAW, some shucking and jibing is in order, which is a PITA.

However I just (yesterday) got a Central Station, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it is worth the money. Really nice all-metal construction, and it does what it says. I got the remote too, which is quite handy. I've only had it for about 24 hours, but I can't see how I ever lived without the damned thing.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I did some contract work for Presonus, and this was part of the payment. So, technically speaking, this is a shill, but believe me, if you knew me you know I'd have no problem talking shit about them if I didn't like it. They make lots of stuff I don't like.)

Presonus is offering the Remote for free. Send back your remote! I just filled out my form and will be sending it out today. Ask Presonus to email you the rebate. You had to have paid $499 or more for the unit and needed to buy it in October - December 2005.

The Central Station is a better unit than the Mackie Big Knob, however if you don't need the D/A Converter and are tight on money, the Big Knob would do a great job. I just don't prefer all the wires going to the Big Knob. You desk looks cleaner with the CS remote since all wires go to the main unit.

[Shadowdog]

well that is one thing I was wondering about. From what I understand my RME has good D/A converters so why would I want to introduce another to the system??

[Revelation]

Originally Posted by Shadowdog

well that is one thing I was wondering about. From what I understand my RME has good D/A converters so why would I want to introduce another to the system??

If you have RME converters stay with it. It will be better than the Presonus converter in the CS.

[JSVice]

Originally Posted by Shadowdog

well that is one thing I was wondering about. From what I understand my RME has good D/A converters so why would I want to introduce another to the system??

Just curious why you aren't considering the Mackie Big Knob. I was debating between it and the Presonus when I bought the Mackie. I had just got in a Digimax, and was severely disappointed. That, coupled with the higher price, and added cost of the remote control, was enough to steer me away from the CS. It seems to be a better deal now if they're including the remote, which they most certainly should have done all along!

[Shadowdog]

I'm not sure what steered me but maybe i should look at that agian if I want to remain utilizing my rme converters?

[Way Of The Heart]

Originally Posted by JSVice

Just curious why you aren't considering the Mackie Big Knob. I was debating between it and the Presonus when I bought the Mackie. I had just got in a Digimax, and was severely disappointed. That, coupled with the higher price, and added cost of the remote control, was enough to steer me away from the CS. It seems to be a better deal now if they're including the remote, which they most certainly should have done all along!

The Big Knob is active and colors the sound pretty drastically...not good for high-end monitoring. The 'sound' of the Mackie is why many folks won't use it.

BTW...the only converters in the Presonus are for the D/A for monitoring the single SPDIF in.

Cheers

[Shadowdog]

ok, but the rme has d/a converter too, so wouldn't running them to my monitors give me the most true sound?

[OVERNIGHT]

Originally Posted by Shadowdog

ok, but the rme has d/a converter too, so wouldn't running them to my monitors give me the most true sound?

I'm guessing you're not using the D/A converters on the Presonus unless you're coming in SPDIF. There are plain ol' line ins for running out of the RME's outs.

I'm having the same set of issues. I'm picking up the Fireface soon but I have to admit not having control over the monitor situation is a real drag. What's the easiest, transparent sounding solution?

I've heard now from a few sources that the Mackie screws with tone but I've heard some dispariging things about the Central Station as well. $500 is a big fat bummer and frankly, I'm having a hard time believing the unit is going to be 'transparent'. It's got to be pretty damn clean or what's the point??? You spend all this time and $$$ getting a great system together and a passive monitor router screws with your playback sound?!?! How could anybody accept that? Seems like that would be the single biggest job of the unit to not **** up, but hey, what do I know.

I'd gladly give up bells and whistles for 1 set of ins, 2 or 3 sets of outs, a speaker selecter and a volume knob. Phones would be nice but the Fireface has a phones jack w/ volume knob so not totally necessary.

What are other people who own the RME units doing?

[warhead]

The Hear Technologies "Talkback" is a great all in one solution for monitor control, A/B selection of monitors, dimming, and adding talkback to 6 AUX sends. It's way under $500 and clean! You can even get an infrared remote so you can A/B from the back of the room.

War

[Crandall1]

Originally Posted by OVERNIGHT

I've heard now from a few sources that the Mackie screws with tone but I've heard some dispariging things about the Central Station as well. $500 is a big fat bummer and frankly, I'm having a hard time believing the unit is going to be 'transparent'. It's got to be pretty damn clean or what's the point???

I don't know about the Mackie unit, but speaking strictly for the Presonus, it's supposed to be a straight relay-switched path with no circuitry in the signal at all. However, there's no question that it imparts a bit of sound to the signal. I a/b'd straight from my convertor to my speakers, then through the Central Station because I wasn't sure what I was hearing. It's hard to describe; it puts a little bit of... something. I don't have very good hearing in the highs, due to many years on stage. But I can definitely tell that the top end is a tiny bit wooley with this unit. It is extremely minor, but it is definitely there.

Sorry I couldn't be more descriptive, but I know what I hear, and I know my system.

[OVERNIGHT]

Originally Posted by Crandall1

I don't know about the Mackie unit, but speaking strictly for the Presonus, it's supposed to be a straight relay-switched path with no circuitry in the signal at all. However, there's no question that it imparts a bit of sound to the signal. I a/b'd straight from my convertor to my speakers, then through the Central Station because I wasn't sure what I was hearing. It's hard to describe; it puts a little bit of... something. I don't have very good hearing in the highs, due to many years on stage. But I can definitely tell that the top end is a tiny bit wooley with this unit. It is extremely minor, but it is definitely there.

Sorry I couldn't be more descriptive, but I know what I hear, and I know my system.

What about using something like this?
http://www.music123.com/Rolls-MX41S-...r-i11836.music
Seems painfully obvious. I'm no electical engineer and many of you forget more than I'm ever going to know about that stuff but it's probably as close to a direct, unimpeded signal as anything out there (?). I've heard complaints form people about the Presonus, Mackie et all not having "staged attenuation" and I don't know what that means. But dig, it's 4 ins and 1 out that can be flipped to 1 in and 4 outs with thier very own little volume-down knobs. Certainly it's feature free but it's $50, has no unessesary circuitry and I don't need D/A conversion with the RME anyway. My only worry is that it doesn't seem like it's balanced. Thoughts?

[Reggie Love]

I don't want to cloud the waters here, but the SPL MTC 2381 is a very nice solution for this and being all passive is pretty clean when all is said and done.

Nice inyerface knobs too! (However, that doesn't sound quite right!)

[OVERNIGHT]

Originally Posted by Reggie Love

I don't want to cloud the waters here, but the SPL MTC 2381 is a very nice solution for this and being all passive is pretty clean when all is said and done.

Nice inyerface knobs too! (However, that doesn't sound quite right!)

...and is $750.

[Reggie Love]

Originally Posted by OVERNIGHT

...and is $750.

I know... But I am a gearslut!

[bpatural]

I don't know how I every lived without my presonus....with all the switching and routing available it creates a streamlined workflow at an affordable price....my only complaint is that the knowbs and switches are a bit cheap, but if you're gental with it, it should work great.
-brian

[JSt0rm]

Originally Posted by Shadowdog

darn it, I almost had myself talked out of it, now you make me want it again Can you tell I am easily persuaded?

Your posting in the wrong forums if you want people to talk you out of buying gear

[rolo]

Originally Posted by JSVice

Just curious why you aren't considering the Mackie Big Knob. I was debating between it and the Presonus when I bought the Mackie. I had just got in a Digimax, and was severely disappointed. That, coupled with the higher price, and added cost of the remote control, was enough to steer me away from the CS. It seems to be a better deal now if they're including the remote, which they most certainly should have done all along!

dude... the central station is PASSIVE... the mackie is not. that in itself is a BIGGG difference, and justifies the price difference. go to a local cookie cutter music store, pull a snotty stooopid salesperson aside and have him/her set up both. play your favorite cd back to back... the difference is crystal clear. i have central stations for my mboxes they are great.

[rolo]

Originally Posted by OVERNIGHT

I'm guessing you're not using the D/A converters on the Presonus unless you're coming in SPDIF. There are plain ol' line ins for running out of the RME's outs.

I'm having the same set of issues. I'm picking up the Fireface soon but I have to admit not having control over the monitor situation is a real drag. What's the easiest, transparent sounding solution?

I've heard now from a few sources that the Mackie screws with tone but I've heard some dispariging things about the Central Station as well. $500 is a big fat bummer and frankly, I'm having a hard time believing the unit is going to be 'transparent'. It's got to be pretty damn clean or what's the point??? You spend all this time and $$$ getting a great system together and a passive monitor router screws with your playback sound?!?! How could anybody accept that? Seems like that would be the single biggest job of the unit to not **** up, but hey, what do I know.

I'd gladly give up bells and whistles for 1 set of ins, 2 or 3 sets of outs, a speaker selecter and a volume knob. Phones would be nice but the Fireface has a phones jack w/ volume knob so not totally necessary.

What are other people who own the RME units doing?

it's the cleanest thing you'll find under $900 for sure. it only gets better with a benchmark dac1

[Bruce Keen]

I have a central station and it's a very good tool. The DAC is actually pretty good. But the headphone amps are very soft and I don't like the dim curve. The image doesn't stay centered at low volume but even very high end desks have this. I like the 3 speaker sets that you can trim individually and the aux in level adjustment so you can compare cd's to your mix at the same level. It's a good clean solid piece of gear that every DAW needs. I didn't like the color of the mackie. But I want to hear the benchmark and the lavry or the cranesong avocet.

Cheers

[Revelation]

I have the Behringer 4 channel headphone amp, and when I compared the sound to the Central Station, there was a clear quality improvement with the CS. The Behringer sounds grainy in comparison.

[initialsBB]

While it's not as fully featured as many of the units mentioned here, I have an SM Pro Audio - M-patch that I'm quite happy with. You can switch between two sets of inputs and two sets of outputs with a volume control for each input plus switches to mute or mono the output. $99.

http://www.smproaudio.com/MPATCH.htm

[giles117]

Originally Posted by Bruce Keen

The image doesn't stay centered at low volume but even very high end desks have this.

I have a month old model and that issue seems to have been addressed.

[jbuzz]

Originally Posted by Revelation

Presonus is offering the Remote for free. Send back your remote! I just filled out my form and will be sending it out today. Ask Presonus to email you the rebate. You had to have paid $499 or more for the unit and needed to buy it in October - December 2005.

whre did u find this information?
I could not find it..

thnx

[giles117]

Seems false to me. I paid less than 499 for mine...

[pigpen]

I have been looking at this to replace the wondeful Control 24 monitoring section. My one question/concern as I have not seen it. Does it have a mono button so you can check out the phase?
Thanks
Daniel

Originally Posted by warhead

The Hear Technologies "Talkback" is a great all in one solution for monitor control, A/B selection of monitors, dimming, and adding talkback to 6 AUX sends. It's way under $500 and clean! You can even get an infrared remote so you can A/B from the back of the room.

War

[warhead]

Originally Posted by pigpen

I have been looking at this to replace the wondeful Control 24 monitoring section. My one question/concern as I have not seen it. Does it have a mono button so you can check out the phase?
Thanks
Daniel

No mono summing! By the way we're having a contest / giveaway on one of the 600 MV's away over at the forums linked off of our site (along with a 2 button remote control). Great monitor controller / A-B switcher / talkback device.

War