Describe the Trident 80 sound.

[obostic]

This has been eating away at me for quite sometime now if fact, I feel pretty stupid asking, but here goes.

I feel pretty dumb asking because I am a Trident 80 owner, but I'm having trouble characterizing the sound of my board. I can clearly hear what the Neve thing is about with my 1073's and LTD-1s, I can clearly hear what my API 3124s and Neve Portico 5012 are about, and I can clearly here what my Avalon 737 pre is about, but for the life of me I can't not clearly hear what the Trident 80 sound is all about. I know the board is often characterized as a rock board, but what does that mean.

Please characterize as best you can the sound you hear with a Trident 80 console.

[soundeq]

I love the trident 80B's Kinda somewhere between an SSL and older neve for me...

Not quite as "crispy" as an SSL.
its very Smooth Sounding to me, and warm but not too much so...
Now that I come to think of it, I'm having a hard time clearly describing a trident 80B sound

Sorry not very descriptive hahaha....

[Surfkat]

We have a Trident 80C and I would have to say there are two unique characteristics of the sound. The first and most obvious is the sound of the stereo bus as you push it. It starts to breakup with a warm distortion that always seems kind of "Brown" sounding to me while maintaining the low punch ot the drums and bass. And this really helps glue the mix. Gotta be careful not to push too hard or it can turn mushy.

The other part that strikes me is the way you can EQ lots of tracks with similar frequencies and it still sounds very musical. I think the EQ and the way it stack up over all those channels (we have 56) is a BIG part of the sound.

To sum it up, warm distortion on the 2 bus with a big and punchly low end, and very musical (and forgiving) EQ. But then maybe our board is the only one that sounds like that. Important note, you must have a power supply with adequete headroom.

[drBill]

If I had to describe it as a food......I'd say marshmallow. Kind of poofy.

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by drBill

If I had to describe it as a food......I'd say marshmallow. Kind of poofy.

No, no, no....

Neopolitan Icecream with the strawberry taken out.

[dacart]

To paraphrase a famous comment that I cannot attribute right now: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

You must find a Trident 80 console and listen to it to know whether or not it's what what you are looking for. To depend on anyone here to satisfy your sonic curiosity is both dangerous and, I think, rather naive.

BTW there is a difference between having an opinion about a piece of gear and trying to describe how it ACTUALLY sounds. I hope that point is clear.

Dan Carter

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by dacart

You must find a Trident 80 console and listen to it to know whether or not it's what what you are looking for. To depend on anyone here to satisfy your sonic curiosity is both dangerous and, I think, rather naive.

To post a reply to a thread that that you didn't bother reading is both dangerous and, I think, rather naive... or just dumb....

Obostic said...

I am a Trident 80 owner

LOL

[obostic]

Originally Posted by dacart

To paraphrase a famous comment that I cannot attribute right now: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

You must find a Trident 80 console and listen to it to know whether or not it's what what you are looking for. To depend on anyone here to satisfy your sonic curiosity is both dangerous and, I think, rather naive.

BTW there is a difference between having an opinion about a piece of gear and trying to describe how it ACTUALLY sounds. I hope that point is clear.

Dan Carter

Learn to READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As they say, "Reading is fundamental!"

[absrec]

Originally Posted by Surfkat

We have a Trident 80C and I would have to say there are two unique characteristics of the sound. The first and most obvious is the sound of the stereo bus as you push it. It starts to breakup with a warm distortion that always seems kind of "Brown" sounding to me while maintaining the low punch ot the drums and bass. And this really helps glue the mix. Gotta be careful not to push too hard or it can turn mushy.

The other part that strikes me is the way you can EQ lots of tracks with similar frequencies and it still sounds very musical. I think the EQ and the way it stack up over all those channels (we have 56) is a BIG part of the sound.

To sum it up, warm distortion on the 2 bus with a big and punchly low end, and very musical (and forgiving) EQ. But then maybe our board is the only one that sounds like that. Important note, you must have a power supply with adequete headroom.

I agree with this. The first thing I noticed was the wolloping bottom end the thing had. They are also very "breathy" sounding. I use it everyday so I'm kinda used to it, but all of this was very apparent the first time I ever fired it up.

-Aaron

[imdrecordings]

kind of like a dirty Neve.thumbsup

[dacart]

Originally Posted by obostic

Learn to READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As they say, "Reading is fundamental!"

No excuses... I was tired, acting out and clearly not paying attention. Oh wait, those are excuses

Dumb, dumber, dumbest.

Thanks for keeping it real

For the record, however, I don't think my argument was wrong just incredibly and ineptly misplaced.

Dan Carter

[AllAboutTone]

the 80s series is the same as a s20 preamp, very warm but great detail, the only thing i really do not like is a bass guitar through one. As far as your API i think the Trident is a tad better but then again the API is better on other instruments, just depends. I really like Trident on drums and electric guitars.

[obostic]

Originally Posted by dacart

No excuses... I was tired, acting out and clearly not paying attention. Oh wait, those are excuses

Dumb, dumber, dumbest.

Thanks for keeping it real

For the record, however, I don't think my argument was wrong just incredibly and ineptly misplaced.

Dan Carter

[dan p]

I would say the 80b sounds warm,dark deep and big; all good !I am trying to compare my atb32 to the trident 80b.

[u b k]

80b's have a lot of the same tone as sound workshop desks, maybe a bit more girth and a little less crack.

mmm, crack.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

[jslstrat]

I Love my desk! I also have two B range modules.....They are awesome to! But the 80 B
Is pure magic for the kind of heavy music I do.....I think it has the best of both worlds in
the circuits that give it such a magical sound. But again...Depending on the ROOM,
up keep of the console, monitors ,power amps etc......It all makes a difference. I was tracking
at London Bridge on a Neve Loaded with 1081,s It sounded good but did not have the open
sound of the 80B. I do not think ALOT of iron in a console is always a good thing. Barry porter
even talked about the early Tridents. He mentioned to much phase problems with alot of
transformers in a circuit. Anyway its all about taste .....but I love the 80B and ALOT of big
records have been tracked on them........To describe the sound: open, wide stereo field ,eq
that really makes electric guitars stand out. And punchy as hell! Stack tracks forever.....If
you are using a late 80B or 80C It will not handle the stereo buss as well without the BD series
output transistors. Same ones that are used in UREI 1176.

[jslstrat]

Originally Posted by absrec

I agree with this. The first thing I noticed was the wolloping bottom end the thing had. They are also very "breathy" sounding. I use it everyday so I'm kinda used to it, but all of this was very apparent the first time I ever fired it up.

-Aaron

Yes Breathy! Is how the top end sounds......

[patrox247]

Originally Posted by obostic

I know the board is often characterized as a rock board, but what does that mean?

B A L L S

[softwareguy]

Yeah, I tracked and mixed on one of these a lot back in the 1980's. I remember that I liked it until we got to that moment in the mix when we started pushing every track simultaneously between 4k and 7k and it started to get kind of harsh sounding . . .

Hmmm. Wait now. Was that the sound of the 80B, or just the sound of the '80's?

[ray_subsonic]

Originally Posted by softwareguy

When we started pushing every track simultaneously between 4k and 7k it started to get kind of harsh sounding . . . Was that the sound of the 80B, or just the sound of the '80's?

You got me. A priceless quote. For anyone who was working in the 1980's . . Can you describe the Trident 80 sound? More Blow?

[jchadstopherhuez]

rock.

and.

roll.



best,

jchristopherhughes

[The MPCist]

To me, Tridents sound 1980's. That combined with MCI decks...

[davedarling]

Originally Posted by obostic

Please characterize as best you can the sound you hear with a Trident 80 console.

rakish.

dd

[dualflip]

Just one question, if im not mistaken the 80s use the TL070 opamp, am i right?

[FireMoon]

It sounds like Nigella Lawson... rather large but perfectly proportioned bottom end and articulate up top..

[jchadstopherhuez]

Originally Posted by davedarling

rakish.

dd

well done sir. well done.

my trident 80 was quite jaunty, but mostly...rock and roll...

and yes, rakish...as well.

best,

jchristopherhughes

[jslstrat]

Originally Posted by dualflip

Just one question, if im not mistaken the 80s use the TL070 opamp, am i right?

TLo71 and 5534 with Transformer inputs. And hand wired patch bays etc..to mother board.
And as Geoff Tanner says "I challenge anybody to hear the difference in a discrete op amp and a IC op amp used in the same circuit blind folded" IC is still a op amp..Its just smaller. And in the case of the 80/80B with BD series transistors driving the chips...They sound ****ing awesome!!!! As for the old timers using 80B back in the day....I think the linn drum machines and synths had more to do with a wooffy shitty sound then the console. And If you used a late 80B or 80C without the transistors...You may lack a bit of what could be.....

[dualflip]

Originally Posted by jslstrat

TLo71 and 5534 with Transformer inputs. And hand wired patch bays etc..to mother board.
And as Geoff Tanner says "I challenge anybody to hear the difference in a discrete op amp and a IC op amp used in the same circuit blind folded" IC is still a op amp..Its just smaller. And in the case of the 80/80B with BD series transistors driving the chips...They sound ****ing awesome!!!! As for the old timers using 80B back in the day....I think the linn drum machines and synths had more to do with a wooffy shitty sound then the console. And If you used a late 80B or 80C without the transistors...You may lack a bit of what could be.....

Naaa i dont have a problem with IC opamps, i have a 500 MCI with +/- 32v opamps and 5534s used in conjunction with transistors driving them, so it has Quasi discrete opamps and shitloads of headroom, did i mention it uses +/-32 volts??? hahaha,

Acutually i was just curious as to what was the heart of the Tridents....

[KrisMiller]

Very red, mixed with some purples. But not too purpley because the yellows still seems to come through when the 2 bus is pushed fairly high. To make it simple, it sounds like the number 462.22.

We're Slutz not mind readers....

[ray_subsonic]

I bought back this thread ... Just because ...

Firstly, this man deserves a Pint for this eloquent descriptor of the Series 80 sound. And I've noticed that she has gotten a bit rounder .. More Buxom even?

Originally Posted by FireMoon

It sounds like Nigella Lawson... rather large but perfectly proportioned bottom end and articulate up top..

To JSLStrat. I'm assuming you own/have owned or are working on an older model 80B. True? I was interested in a lot of your comments. I had a TS (65/75) Series desk for a number of years. I modded it up to a point. I don't have it anymore. I'm now looking around again at either Trident 80 or 70 Series, or TriMix desks. The problems with Power Supplies seems to be true across the board for all Trident consoles. It could also reflect the age of the components, particularly if recapping hasn't taken place.

Originally Posted by jslstrat

hand wired patch bays etc..to mother board ... if you used a late 80B or 80C without the transistors ...You may lack a bit of what could be .. As for the old timers using 80B back in the day....I think the linn drum machines and synths had more to do with a wooffy shitty sound then the console.

I'd imagine the patch bays could being a source of problems if they weren't in good condition, similar to Molex connectors in MCI's. Any experience with this? Fiddly from a fault/maintenance perspective? As to the differences between older 80's and later 80 B/C desks, any observations on this? Did you ever get the opportunity to compare mixes on them both in any way? I'd like to hear any comparisons you could make. Seems like Trident was on the slide of diminishing returns at the time that led to the "budget" design of the TS/65/75 Series desks. Unfortunately not their "Golden Hour" .. . The comment about the 80's is hilariously spot-on when reflecting on the avalanche of dreck crossover pop/dance music at the time.

Originally Posted by KrisMiller

We're Slutz not mind readers.

Dude, we're actually ALL Mind Readers. Fagedaboutit.

Cheers RAy