Black Lion Audio mod on the SM Pro 8MKI

[RCM - Ronan]

There has been some chat on another forum about Black Lion Audio offering a mod on the SM Pro 8MKI that is supposed to be really good. I do not own these pre amps yet but it seems like a good way to get some extra channels of pretty good pres for cheap.

Has any one actually heard the results?

[kenm]

I am waiting for mine and will compare it to the RNP as soon as I get it.

I'll have to let you know.

I got the MOTU 828 mk2 mod, and it is great, so I have no doubt Matt will do a great job on this as well.

Ken

[kevinc]

I`ve got a couple of the 3630 mods he does.

He was talking about shutting down so I`m glad to see he`s still active with some projects.

[nathanvacha]

No, but you've gotten me interrested... if you do it, let us know. those 3630 mods look awefully intriguing also...

[giles117]

Originally Posted by kenm

I am waiting for mine and will compare it to the RNP as soon as I get it.

I'll have to let you know.

I got the MOTU 828 mk2 mod, and it is great, so I have no doubt Matt will do a great job on this as well.

Ken

So what is the verdict on your mod???

[kenm]

Sorry, I'm still waiting. Matt is doing this one for me partly as a favor, so I think a lot of other customers come first.

Ken

[nathanvacha]

No, but ( a little off topic ) I checked out your site and was wondering... do you not have a problem with incense in your studio? I used to love it, but have heard it wreaks havoc way worse on gear than cigarette smoke because it leaves some sort of waxy residue.... have you noticed any issues?

[celticrogues]

bump

Has anybody gotten this yet? Thanks!
-MIke

[Nu-tra]

I've contacted black lion about this. I asked if it was comparable to a sytek. I got a reply stating it was a step up. I wish there were samples.

V

[kenm]

Well, it has been 5 months since I paypaled Matt for my SM8 Pro. He has said on a few occasions that he was working on it and it would be done and in the mail the next day. I'm not sure what to do now. He doesn't return my phone calls. Any ideas?

Ken

[RockStarzUSA]

I too was wondering about this mod, look forward to hearing the results from any users......

It surprised me to hear about SM Pro. I was good friends with a large retailer downunder that had never ending headaches with the guys and their gear.

Also interested to know what is up with BLA, paying anyone and waiting 5 months doesn't sound encouraging by any stretch!! I hope yu get some resolution through all this soon

[RockStarzUSA]

Anyone got any comments about the sm pro mod yet? really interested to find out the deal on this..... Regards

[kenm]

I still haven't heard anything about mine.

Ken

[MasterTrax]

Well, now I don't feel so bad....Kenm, I sent Black Lion Audio a VLA compressor to be modded....BACK IN NOVEMBER

All I have ever gotten from Matt at Black Lion are promises and apologies

Six months (so far) to mod a compressor I could not really afford to do without for this long.

Maybe he reads the Slutz threads and will get it in gear....who knows.

I'm close to calling the BBB

M

[De chromium cob]

Originally Posted by MasterTrax

Well, now I don't feel so bad....Kenm, I sent Black Lion Audio a VLA compressor to be modded....BACK IN NOVEMBER

All I have ever gotten from Matt at Black Lion are promises and apologies

Six months (so far) to mod a compressor I could not really afford to do without for this long.

Maybe he reads the Slutz threads and will get it in gear....who knows.

I'm close to calling the BBB

M

Wow, a tech that takes a long time with equipment? WHAT A SHOCKER!

Ive found that the better the tech, the longer the wait and the more of a PITA it is to keep on them on time. Just deal with it or learn to mod the stuff yourself. It's a sad fact of pro audio life.

[Jonboy79]

Well not getting your gear back for 6 months has just convinced me not to mod my 002r. I hate for a guy to lose business but there's no way I could go 6 months without a means to record, I've got too many bands booked at this point to lose out for that long. Thanks for the heads up guys.

[Brad McGowan]

Originally Posted by De chromium cob

Wow, a tech that takes a long time with equipment? WHAT A SHOCKER!

Ive found that the better the tech, the longer the wait and the more of a PITA it is to keep on them on time. Just deal with it or learn to mod the stuff yourself. It's a sad fact of pro audio life.

There is no excuse for bad business practice. tutt If someone pays you for service and you promise to complete the service by a certain date then either complete the service or refund their money. It's rather unprofessional to avoid a customer. If we did this as studio owners then we surely wouldn't be in business for long.

Brad

[De chromium cob]

Originally Posted by Brad McGowan

There is no excuse for bad business practice. tutt If someone pays you for service and you promise to complete the service by a certain date then either complete the service or refund their money. It's rather unprofessional to avoid a customer.
Brad

Yeah, but shit happens and IMO its a fact of life. The best techs are few and far between. I'd rather wait a little longer for someone that does exceptional work than hand gear over to a hack that has a fast turn around time. Fast turn around times usually (not always) means lack of business and a questionable quality of work. What, do you think the tech is sitting there with his VLA comp laughing maniacally about how he is getting over on his customer or that just maybe some chips or whatever didn't get shipped because they're on back order unexpectedly?

Originally Posted by Brad McGowan

If we did this as studio owners then we surely wouldn't be in business for long.

There's a glut of studios throughout the world now and less and less very good techs I would trust with my gear so I don't think the two are comparable.

[astronmr20]

Originally Posted by De chromium cob

Wow, a tech that takes a long time with equipment? WHAT A SHOCKER!

Ive found that the better the tech, the longer the wait and the more of a PITA it is to keep on them on time. Just deal with it or learn to mod the stuff yourself. It's a sad fact of pro audio life.

The absolute truth.

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by De chromium cob

Yeah, but shit happens and IMO its a fact of life. The best techs are few and far between. I'd rather wait a little longer for someone that does exceptional work than hand gear over to a hack that has a fast turn around time. Fast turn around times usually (not always) means lack of business and a questionable quality of work. What, do you think the tech is sitting there with his VLA comp laughing maniacally about how he is getting over on his customer or that just maybe some chips or whatever didn't get shipped because they're on back order unexpectedly?

There's a glut of studios throughout the world now and less and less very good techs I would trust with my gear so I don't think the two are comparable.

I agree wholeheartedly with you.
I use a guy who is a fricken genius, but he suffers from severe time management issues and zero people skills- absolute zero, stories I could tell....
I kinda think they go hand in hand- hardware techs are often freaks- almost approaching autism in a way- completely focussed on the job and the rest of the world can go hang. That is fine by me, so long as it works when it is done.
I've seen this loads of times and learnt to live with it.

JR

[6strings]

Six months is ridiculous. To not be forthcoming about such long wait times should be a big red flag on the level of professionalism you'll be dealing with (at least IMHO)... Sure, I've heard of this happening with other techs and luthiers, but the person telling the story is usually very frustrated and pissed off...

Anyway, good luck with your mod. (and thanks for the warning!)

[edwinhurwitz]

Originally Posted by 6strings

Six months is ridiculous. To not be forthcoming about such long wait times should be a big red flag on the level of professionalism you'll be dealing with (at least IMHO)... Sure, I've heard of this happening with other techs and luthiers, but the person telling the story is usually very frustrated and pissed off...

It's a long wait, but not unprecedented. I've been waiting since January for an M88 to be fixed by Beyer, just a simple loose connection in there somewhere. I waited 18 months for Bartolini to make me some pickups, 14 of them with them telling me they would be shipped that week. It can get pretty ridiculous, indeed!

Edwin

[Brad McGowan]

C'mon guys...waiting on parts is one thing. If that's the case then tell your customer that. Most of us are reasonable and are willing to wait for quality products if the honest communication is there. But just flat out avoidance is poor form. There's no reason why anyone should refuse to return emails and phone calls. My mother certainly didn't raise me to treat people like that.

Matt is a nice guy and does really good work. However, a string of bad experiences propagated on online forums can really spread quickly and tarnish the reputation of otherwise good work.

Brad

[ozraves]

I can only attest to my dealings with Matt and he's been a decent gentleman.

[ben_allison]

So...any opinions?

I'm thinking about selling my RNP and going for it.

4x as many channels...

[Brad McGowan]

My buddy ended up doing just that...selling his RNP when he finally got the modded 8 channel SM Pro unit. I've heard some stuff he has done with it. It's got a similar vibe to the RNP. It's clean-ish and punchy.

Brad

[ben_allison]

It's been said that the modded version actually sounds a lot like some SSL stuff. Anyone here found that to be true?

[Chris]

Anybody got a review on this yet?