PreSonus Central Station

[jbuntz]

Just picked up one and I must say, this this is pretty damned cool. It's got the talkback mic, the monitor select, input select, headphone outs and even some pretty decent D/A's for the money thrown in. All passive circuitry and there's no "settling" on the attenutor that causes panning at lower volumes. My A-Designs ATTY is now going to be a dedicated mic or preamp pad.

I second this.

Huge upgrade to the 001 conversion as well.

David

[MASSIVE Master]

Hell yeah.

[jbuntz]

I A/B-ed the converters to a couple prosumer converters and it was the clear winner. I'd be curious to hear how it holds up to something like a DAC-1.

I would like to hear that comparison as well.

The DAC1 was on my short list and It would be nice to cross it off.

When I fist hear the CR, I immediately thought it was nicer sounding than my AD-8000 but, I do not have it anymore and am unable to do the A/B.

Anyone been able to compare this thing to something top shelf????

Going to that volume knob has been real nice too!!!
The Digi knob doesn't track right and the L/R image is always moving around at low volume. Also, having the extra travel is cool.

D

[Teacher]

someone said it ain't in the same league as the Lucid...but then again he assumed he didn't actually A/B

[Vaphoron]

I keep hearing nothing but great things about it and I can't wait to pick one up. This might be a dumb question, but does the audio pass through the remote if you add that?

[Red20Seven]

Has anyone compared this unit to the coleman? I was going to pick up the coleman version, but saw that the central station goes for about half the price.

Unable to tell from the manual.
It has a block diagram that suggest it does.
I do know that with the remote connected you
disable the local controls to make it work.

Call Presonus.

Good question.
Why does it matter?


David

[Vaphoron]

It doesn't really matter that much, I was just kinda curious because they didn't seem to explain it anywhere I looked. I guess I will know for sure when I buy it. Thanks...

I don't think so.

I have one and can't.

Something I am missing?


D

[jpaudio]

Question about the remote option... when it's connected and activated, does it void the front panel controls on the Central Station? In other words, let's say I'm sitting at my desk with the CS within reach, and my partner is across the room on the couch with the remote on his lap... can i still control volume, routing, and talkback from the main unit while my partner uses the remote for communication as well?

PS - just read the answer in a previous post, thanks anyway!

If you need that functionality this is not the unit for you.
The switch for changing between local/remote is on the rear.

D

[Gregg Sartiano]

The central station sounds great clocking to the Apogee.

I like the cue mix versatility and the talkback section,
but I was having trouble setting up a footswitchable
standalone mic -- I was trying to use a 57 on a stand
and a small synth-style footswitch.

Yes, that would be better. You know, we producers
take the communication factor for granted. You know,
vocalists & drummers get used to hearing us talking through
crappy talkback systems.

I kinda had the footswitch working once, but I had to
abandon it -- I forget what was wrong. But it was SO
convenient -- it definitely sped up vocal takes. I was
talking & cueing/editing on PT at the same time while
the vocalist was catching his/her breath (not for long!).
Way cool.

Incidentally, I'm using the S/PDIF input, and I'm looking
for a TOS-link out standalone CD player for it. This way,
reference CD's could be played through the same converters
"live" as my mix is running (usually, I have to extract them
onto the hard drive). BTW, I have another post looking
for a way to get DVD-A 24/96 mixes from hi-res masters
onto SDII files for A/B reference use, if anyone knows...

[Brad McGowan]

At Tape Op I stopped by and played with the CS for a bit. They had it set up so that you could A/B its D/A converters with a Benchmark DAC-1. They had a CD player, whose S/PDIF out was split into both the DAC-1 and the CS digital inputs. The analog outputs of the DAC-1 were then connected to the 2TRK analog in of the CS. You could then switch between DIG IN and 2TRK IN and hear the difference between the onboard D/A and the DAC-1. The differences listening through the headphone jack of the Central Station were very subtle. I was listening through Sennheiser HD280's by the way. It was difficult to tell the difference, but I felt like the DAC-1 was a tad more transparent. My friend couldn't tell a difference at all.

However, once I unplugged the headphones from the Central Station and plugged them into the DAC-1 headphone out the differences were much more audible and substantial...the sound of the DAC-1 playing through it's own headphone out killed the sound of the Central Station playing through its headphone amp. The DAC-1 was wider, deeper, bigger, sweeter, etc. No contest in my mind. The quality of the Central Station headphone amp really obscured the differences between the two. Headphone amps do make a big difference. I can't say whether I would have had the same impressions if the unit had been hooked up to nice monitors instead. That would have been a better apples to apples comparison probably.

Brad

[roughly]

how does this compare to the Big Knob?

Does the CS have seperate inputs for Head phone feeds or are you stuck with the control mix?


jeffrey

There are 2 HP jacks with seperate volume and independant choice of input.
Either Main or Cue.

Both Main and Cue have 4 options as well.
TRS1,TRS2,Digital (Spdif_OR_Toslink), and aux.

Go to the site and read up it is quite feature rich.
I had the budget to buy something much nicer but, nothing had the features I needed. This and my hearback system gave me back everything I missed not having a center section.


D

[atticus]

Originally posted by Brad McGowan
At Tape Op I stopped by and played with the CS for a bit. They had it set up so that you could A/B its D/A converters with a Benchmark DAC-1. They had a CD player, whose S/PDIF out was split into both the DAC-1 and the CS digital inputs. The analog outputs of the DAC-1 were then connected to the 2TRK analog in of the CS. You could then switch between DIG IN and 2TRK IN and hear the difference between the onboard D/A and the DAC-1. The differences listening through the headphone jack of the Central Station were very subtle. I was listening through Sennheiser HD280's by the way. It was difficult to tell the difference, but I felt like the DAC-1 was a tad more transparent. My friend couldn't tell a difference at all.

However, once I unplugged the headphones from the Central Station and plugged them into the DAC-1 headphone out the differences were much more audible and substantial...the sound of the DAC-1 playing through it's own headphone out killed the sound of the Central Station playing through its headphone amp. The DAC-1 was wider, deeper, bigger, sweeter, etc. No contest in my mind. The quality of the Central Station headphone amp really obscured the differences between the two. Headphone amps do make a big difference. I can't say whether I would have had the same impressions if the unit had been hooked up to nice monitors instead. That would have been a better apples to apples comparison probably.

Brad

Brad,

Thanks for your comment on this. Competition is a great thing and it's good to know that several companies have singled us out as the one to beat. I would have hoped that if Presonus was trying to show the differences between the two converters they would have made it a bit more scientific, but I guess not. The analog sections of a D/A converter make a huge difference and if ours sounded worse by going through their analog section I think that tells you a lot about the Presonus box overall. Not to mention that who knows how the DAC1 was set up or even if it was calibrated properly for the test. I wish that these types of trade show displays would stop as they do nothing but mislead the consumer, but I don't think that they will. Thanks for the objective response

[Duardo]

The analog sections of a D/A converter make a huge difference and if ours sounded worse by going through their analog section I think that tells you a lot about the Presonus box overall

The impression that I got was that the overall quality of the converters was close, but that PreSonus really skimped on the headphone amp.

-Duardo

[atticus]

Originally posted by Duardo
The impression that I got was that the overall quality of the converters was close, but that PreSonus really skimped on the headphone amp.

-Duardo

My point is that it's not an accurate comparison at all, and is very capable of being misleading. Thanks.

[drmad69]

A friend of mine and I tested a DA7, my HD24 and the control station about two weeks ago, all of those to our ears were very very close, which I found interesting. And I still own the DA7 and I just sold the HD24 and the control station I was just trying out mostly for the passive switching...

My DAC1 arrived today..

The same friend and I who both did blind tests because we could not beleive out ears, new in about 30 minutes that the DAC1 was kick the crap out of my DA7. Which was neck and neck with the other two. Now, I had considered the lavry, and am still trying the benchmark for other things, but right now I'm quite shocked.

BTW, atticus, my volume knob kind of grinds at the halfway point,
I've only had one other piece of gear ever do this, I suspect it's either my angle of reach or that it's my particular unit. It certainly ain't affecting the sound. Now I could go on and on, but things like a EQ in one of the mixes... shocking..

I am just pissed I waited a year and a half.
I lost out on price and a bunch of mixes.

[atticus]

I'm really glad you're digging the DAC1, and I'm sorry that the volume knob is having issues. We will get it fixed immdiately. Please e-mail rory@benchmarkmedia.com to arrange for a repair or call 800-262-4675 if you want to talk to someone. Sometimes the DAC1's can get banged around in shipping and damaged. It's only happened a couple of times but we can check yours out. Let me know how it turns out. Thanks.

[ricknaqvi]

Question about the remote option... when it's connected and activated, does it void the front panel controls on the Central Station? In other words, let's say I'm sitting at my desk with the CS within reach, and my partner is across the room on the couch with the remote on his lap... can i still control volume, routing, and talkback from the main unit while my partner uses the remote for communication as well?

Every function on the front panel of the Central Station works on either the remote or the main unit EXCEPT for the master volume pot. So both you and your partner can hit the talkback, switch input sources, switch speakers, mute, mono, dim etc.. but the guy with the remote has control over the volume.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Rick Naqvi
800.750.0323
www.presonus.com
rnaqvi@presonus.com

[gem]

Originally posted by Gregg Sartiano
The central station sounds great clocking to the Apogee.

I like the cue mix versatility and the talkback section,
but I was having trouble setting up a footswitchable
standalone mic -- I was trying to use a 57 on a stand
and a small synth-style footswitch.

Yes, that would be better. You know, we producers
take the communication factor for granted. You know,
vocalists & drummers get used to hearing us talking through
crappy talkback systems.

I kinda had the footswitch working once, but I had to
abandon it -- I forget what was wrong. But it was SO
convenient -- it definitely sped up vocal takes. I was
talking & cueing/editing on PT at the same time while
the vocalist was catching his/her breath (not for long!).
Way cool.

Incidentally, I'm using the S/PDIF input, and I'm looking
for a TOS-link out standalone CD player for it. This way,
reference CD's could be played through the same converters
"live" as my mix is running (usually, I have to extract them
onto the hard drive). BTW, I have another post looking
for a way to get DVD-A 24/96 mixes from hi-res masters
onto SDII files for A/B reference use, if anyone knows...

cant see no word clock input on cs?
gem

[Ruphus]

Originally posted by drmad69


BTW, atticus, my volume knob kind of grinds at the halfway point,
I've only had one other piece of gear ever do this, I suspect it's either my angle of reach or that it's my particular unit. It certainly ain't affecting the sound. Now I could go on and on, but things like a EQ in one of the mixes... shocking..

I am just pissed I waited a year and a half.
I lost out on price and a bunch of mixes.

I had the same thing with my volume knob. Do waht David recommended. I did and they treated me great despite the fact that I´m on the other side of the ocean. thumbsup

What the presonus is concerned, if it is worth to pass on thirds opinions, and if you have good D/A already; I read a couple times from people who thought it bad sounding and instead were pleased with the SPL MTC 2381 Monitor & Talkback Controller for its analog circuit. It seems to be around 650,00 €.



The reviews sounded intersting enough at least for me to bookmark the unit.

Ruphus

PS: When you make a handstand to read the connex of the rear side watch out not to shift into the workstation.

[Duardo]

cant see no word clock input on cs?

Why do you need one, with just a single digital input and no digital outputs?

-Duardo

[Real Talk Ent.]

Originally Posted by Gregg Sartiano

The central station sounds great clocking to the Apogee.

I like the cue mix versatility and the talkback section,
but I was having trouble setting up a footswitchable
standalone mic -- I was trying to use a 57 on a stand
and a small synth-style footswitch.

Yes, that would be better. You know, we producers
take the communication factor for granted. You know,
vocalists & drummers get used to hearing us talking through
crappy talkback systems.

I kinda had the footswitch working once, but I had to
abandon it -- I forget what was wrong. But it was SO
convenient -- it definitely sped up vocal takes. I was
talking & cueing/editing on PT at the same time while
the vocalist was catching his/her breath (not for long!).
Way cool.

Incidentally, I'm using the S/PDIF input, and I'm looking
for a TOS-link out standalone CD player for it. This way,
reference CD's could be played through the same converters
"live" as my mix is running (usually, I have to extract them
onto the hard drive). BTW, I have another post looking
for a way to get DVD-A 24/96 mixes from hi-res masters
onto SDII files for A/B reference use, if anyone knows...

how was it clocked the central station dont have word clock i/o

[Duardo]

how was it clocked the central station dont have word clock i/o

It will clock to whatever digital signal is receiving, so if it's connected to an Apogee converter it will be clocked to that same converter.

[hereticskeptic]

Originally Posted by Duardo

It will clock to whatever digital signal is receiving, so if it's connected to an Apogee converter it will be clocked to that same converter.

What does this mean?

I am leaning towards getting the Central Station, and am wondering why some are stating a preference for the DAC1?

I say this, because it seems to be that the DAC1 is an ad/da converter, while the Central Station is a mixing station. Can you switch between different monitors while mixing using the DAC1? From my observations of the device, i'm not seeing how this would be possible.

I've noticed a few people mentioning that the Central Station sounded better than their converters. I thought the device was passive, and would not change anything going on in the signal chain?? I am sure I'm just confused, as I am fairly new to technical language, but I need some clarification before making a purchase decision.

Anyway, I have nothing against the DAC1, but I am looking for something that will not color the signal chain and allow me to A/B different monitors during the mixing process. Will the Central Station do the trick? Is there something at or lower than this price point that won't color and will allow for A/B'ing?

[Duardo]

I am leaning towards getting the Central Station, and am wondering why some are stating a preference for the DAC1?

Because they think that the DAC1 sounds better than the converter in the Central Station.

I say this, because it seems to be that the DAC1 is an ad/da converter, while the Central Station is a mixing station.

The DAC1 is a D/A converter only (no A/D). The Central Station has a D/A converter in it, but does a lot of other stuff as well. I'm not sure I'd refer to it as a "mixing station" as it doesn't do any mixing, but it's essentially a monitor controller...with meters and a D/A converter.

Can you switch between different monitors while mixing using the DAC1?

No...you can switch between different inputs, but not outputs.

I've noticed a few people mentioning that the Central Station sounded better than their converters. I thought the device was passive, and would not change anything going on in the signal chain??

They'd be referring specifically to the D/A converter in the Central Station. If you go in and out analog then the signal path is passive...the device itself isn't passive as the converter, headphone amp and meters need power.

Will the Central Station do the trick? Is there something at or lower than this price point that won't color and will allow for A/B'ing?

I'm not aware of anything that's less expensive and as transparent as the Central Station, but I certainly haven't tried everything out there.