Urei / Jbl 7510A?

[Randall]

I just bought this guy for a great price, I'm thinkin she may be cool for tracking drums, UREI/JBL 7510A Automatic Mixer. This mixer has the extra modules installed making it 20 channels. Features include seperate XLR inputs and 1/4" outputs for each channel and one Master XLR output. Other features include an automatic or adjustable noise gate, phantom power, a gain knob and a 3 way Toggle switch for selecting 'on', 'auto' or 'priority' for each channel.
Anybody have any experience with one of these guys? I wonder how the pre's sound.. everything I found online says these things are very cool. Back in it's day the modules for this pup cost about 800 clams each... I'll be tickled if this thing is fat, quiet and clean and the gating works as described!!

[MIKEHARRIS]

not going to be fast enough...i believe engineered by HardyMartin for JBL...cool for church's...board rooms..later units had direct out from each mic in...give it a try

[Randall]

This thing has direct outs on every channel.. this unit apparently was designed for use in radio stations and for tracking drums specifically.. they call it "Broadcast Quality".. whatever that means.. they also claim the gates more than fast enough to track drums and the gates open and close absolutely silent..we'll see.. either way, I wouldn't have to use the gates I suppose... I'm hoping the pre's are sweet more than anything I guess.. if not... she's off to e-bay, I was hopin somebody around here had some real world experience with one.

here's a link to a PDF of the manual of it http://www.jblproservice.com/navigat...ectronics.html

They sure have this puppy sittin in with some awful fine company
....LOL

[jtienhaara]

Sorry to bump this ancient thread but... Randall did you ever try this JBL mixer out? Any impressions?

Thanks!

[OVERNIGHT]

OK, now I'm bumping this ancient thread. So, was there any conclusion? There's one for sale in a pawn shop near me for cheap. Yo Randall, did you try it on drums?

[jtienhaara]

Hopefully Randall checked it out. I never did. The last one I saw go on EBay was I think 24 channels for something stupid like $300. I didn't wanna bid though cuz it's either a state secret or they suck... Am still very curious though.

[Randall]

anybody miss me? ha!! 24 chanells for 300 bucks? should have jumped all over it... these pre's don't suck!!!... they are a well kept secret...

[jtienhaara]

Damn! Watch the prices skyrocket now. Thanks for the tip Randall.

[papapill]

I know this is a old thread but I just got the 7510b . It doesnt have XLR in but it has the 3 wires on brass screws for each moduals 4 channels inputs . It came with a snake you wire in. I cant wait to try it. I currently use my Yamaha MLA7 for my drums. I do my over heads with Aphex 207's. I am gonna compare to my Yamaha MLA7 (which I have alwways been more than satisfied with) I will post the my results here. If anyone else has any infoo I would appreciate it.
Are these Class A? Discrete?
Thanks,
Steve

[Chootzilla]

Hey Steve,
Have you tried out the pres on this guy? I have been looking at a 7510a, and I am curious what your impressions are.
Thanks.

[Duaneco]

Hey Randall...Im a newbie here...but see a jbl/urei 7510B for sale....are they vitually the same as the 7510A minus the xlr inputs? any word on their performance as compared to the A's? seems worth a try. Thanks

Originally Posted by jtienhaara

Hopefully Randall checked it out. I never did. The last one I saw go on EBay was I think 24 channels for something stupid like $300. I didn't wanna bid though cuz it's either a state secret or they suck... Am still very curious though.

[zulusound]

I picked up one of these 7510a's (with 8 channels) to use as a sidecar next to my drums. Been trying to get it set up this week.

Without pads, the thing distorts on input (with drums). I added some 220 ohm resistors to shave off 20 db on input, they still might be clipping a bit, as it seems to brick wall on the top level of dynamics (in other words, even if I'm not clipping on digital level, the analog level has a brick wall to the top of the level range). With the 20 db resistors in place, the level knob is at about 3 or 4. Maybe I should cut 30 or 40 db?

If anybody has used this to record drums, please chime in and tell how to get it up to snuff- I am thinking some in line XLR 30 db pads might work better than the resistors on the 15 pin connector on the back.

It's hard to tell by reading the manual if adding the resistors works as a pad or just lowers the gain range. I'm thinking it just lowers the gain range and I will still have to use pads so as not to distort on input.

Evan

[charlesaustin]

Hey the trick is with these on louder sources drums ect. you need to remove the pins on the back of each module. this removes 49 db, and still easily has enough gain to get converters red. Really great preamps, and the price is going up.

[cleantone]

I just won a bid on the 24 channel version of this. I am a little nervous about how it will sound. I'm not a wealthy man by any stretch and ended up going to about $450 with shipping. The seller wasn't exactly fully helpful in terms of answering questions. It took me some prying to get him to verify that all 24 preamps worked. He talked about them having equal noise.

The auction only stated that it turned on and lit up. Sold "as is" because of age.

I asked about functionality of the preamps and inherent noise. He said

Hi, Thing works fine on all 24 outputs. Hiss level and noise all about the same... a couple of the gains maybe a little off... but not much. Paul

I said

Okay. Thanks for checking that. What kind of noise floor are you talking about here? I assume you mean a lot of gain without any signal having some hiss. I have heard of these units being quiet. I'm a recording engineer and wouldn't be using this for live sound much if at all. Please describe as best as your able.

he said

Hi, they all seem about the same hiss. Unterminated there is a bit more. The gain is a little different at the same knob positions.. very little. These things are not new... but it works. :+)

He didn't get back to me after this to follow up when I asked for further detail on the inherent noise. There was an hour between this time and the auction closing. I fought a bidder at the last minute to go from $305 to $425. Was it one of you?

I haven't heard enough about these units. I'd love to hear any more info. Thanks thus far. Here is the unit I won this afternoon. I'm worried about his vague info mentioning the noise.

[charlesaustin]

i would not worry, even if there is a slight hum it is probably something in the power supply (cap ect) and would be cheap to fix, the difference in output levels is probably because the knobs attach with allen screws and might be off a hair. anyway for the price you paid you got maybe the biggest bang for the buck out there, they sound great,,,,,,,make sure you remove pins for drums

[cleantone]

Thanks for the reasurance Charles. I wonder how much a recapping would run me. I'd like it to be as quiet as Randall claims his unit is.

I have been reading the manual. I am not the most electronically brilliant person in the world. Those pins show in the d-sub's in the back are the jumpers. Obvious. I did find a guy on Harmony Central this morning and rapped for a second minutes before buying this unit. He said he got one and it was distorted on drums and he hasn't worked on the solution yet. I assume between different jumper settings or adding inline resistors instead of jumpers (as the manual states) this will not be much of an issue. I already talked to a drummer friend of mine about recording his kit next week for fun so I can play with this. Your saying just take the pins out all together right? Looks like there are two pins on each D-Sub. Any info?

I'd love to hear anything about this unit. I was scared to post before winning the bid. Blame me? ;)

the difference in output levels is probably because the knobs attach with allen screws and might be off a hair.

Yeah that is not an issue at all. There aren't meters on each channel so I don't care were the knob sits. I wish there was a PFL, or a meter solo option.

[Randall]

YOU STOLE THESE BRO! an 8 channel of these just sold for around 800 bucks!
You will love them, cheer up! you just got the deal of the century!
You really just wanted to come and rub our noses in it eh?

[cleantone]

Ha! So Randall what configuration or jumpers/resisters are you using for high SPL sources? I am anxious to hear different sources. Have you recorded vocals with a LDC? Like a u87 or something? Direct sources? Keyboards/Samplers? guitars or basses? Thanks mate!

[charlesaustin]

just take out the jumpers all together (on 12 channels for drums) i had a hard hitter in and it took it like a champ. even with pins out you could record quite stuff too. With the pins in you have enough gain to hear grass grow, have fun

[Randall]

My Favorite for these is to use them as the front end to my MS16 and transfer to Samplitude.... I swear, I haven't used them in any application that they didn't rise to the occasion.

Your going to love these.. especially at the price you got'em for.

[cleantone]

I really hope so. Does you unit look "just" like mine? I know there is a bit or variance. I cannot read Urei anywhere in the pics. I don't know if JBL made their own model as well. I can't wait to get it in my hands/rack.

So you pass loads of different signals though this box then huh? Cool. I do remote stuff and it would be awesome to be able to use just this with my 24 track. I have a bunch of other preamps but the 10 trip load in is getting to take a toll.

[Randall]

Yours has one more module than mine

Other than that.. they look the same.
The phantom power never worked on mine... no problem, got a dedicated one

[DamnYankee]

Originally Posted by cleantone

I really hope so. Does you unit look "just" like mine? I know there is a bit or variance. I cannot read Urei anywhere in the pics. I don't know if JBL made their own model as well. I can't wait to get it in my hands/rack.

So you pass loads of different signals though this box then huh? Cool. I do remote stuff and it would be awesome to be able to use just this with my 24 track. I have a bunch of other preamps but the 10 trip load in is getting to take a toll.

JBL bought out UREI and phased it out many years ago. UREI made top notch studio gear. Broadcast quality usually means studio quality - so if it's a piece of gear you need, get it - and the newer, sexy names be damned!

[cleantone]

Ah! It came today. A little banged up but seems pretty effing solid. I just got home from a late night and will fire it up soon. I have a drummer booked for tomorrow just to play with these and mics combo's. Hopefully it is good to go!

[cleantone]

So I finally powered this up. I didn't check the direct outputs yet. I ran the mono XLR to some powered monitors. Checked the phantom power and that works! I set the master at 12 O'Clock. I first just cranked the gain without any signal. A couple crackles here and there when turning the pots but that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Nor too surprising. There is a fair amount of noise floor when the pots are over half way up on all channels. I was hoping Randall may chime in to say whether or not his is the same way. It may have been quieter with the phantom off. I am not 100 sure. I only ran a quick quick test. I popped a mic on and tested the channels. They all seem to function fine. Also feels like a fair amount of gain. I don't think I will really ever need to go above 12 O'Clock. I have not routed it to my recorder nor checked the direct outputs yet though. I think I am gonna be stoked though.

[Randall]

the phantom power on mine never did work, I have dedicated anyhow... I've never noticed any unaxcetable noise.. I've never had to crank past 12 to get a nice signal either

[cleantone]

Thanks. If your able in the near future to power up your unit. Ideally out of the XLR just put the main at 12 and turn some knobs without any signal. I am very curious if they get noisy on the top.

I appreciate greatly your chiming in on this piece for me throughout the thread and via PM.

I still haven't fully figured out what will happen for the jumpers. Does your unit have the jumper intact? You can see them on mine in the pic below. Is that what yours has for jumpers? Do you run into clipping problems? I do almost exclusively live recording and don't usually have great monitoring abilities in the field. Also do you use the gates? Or have you?

[Randall]

Same Jumpers... no clipping problems to speak of... they will give you a rather pleasing distortion kind of effect if you drive them hard.

Take em for a test drive and share your experience.. I believe you are going to be very pleased with them... I certainley am.

Really the only time I have messed with the gates was when I first got the unit I took it over to Wageners place.. we were sending drum tracks to them... Michael was firing the gates in a crazy hip hop sounding kind of thing .. thats right, Wagener did "hip hop" I can testify actually, Michael turned me on to the whole concept of how the jumpers work.. at that time I didn't have a clue, We also compared these pre's to some of his big $$$ stuff and were both surprised at how well they stood up.

[cleantone]

well yesterday I had a drummer lined up to "play" with some comparisons and whatnot. He thought we were going to work in the day and I thought at night. He was booked to track for an ex band mates record last night. By the time we spoke it was too late to get together early. I know the other studio owner so we ended up all going over. Everyone was running late but it was pretty casual. I miced his kit.

1. kick (beta52)
2. snare (sm57)
3. hat (sm81)
4. rack (e604)
5. floor (e602)
6. oh (km184)
7. oh (km184)
8. room (u87)

It took longer to get going than it should have to get ready to roll. It was exactly what I was fearing. Put the 8 channels into the 7510. I had the unit for two day and had only fired it up and tested that the preamps on all channels worked. This was with a vocal mic on my voice.

So I start getting levels and low and behold the unit can't take the input gain. The overheads sounded good but I don't know if they would when he played loudly.

Since we were already running late and this was a session that had a goal, we went to some of his preamps and I didn't get to trouble shoot. I actually did pull the jumper out of the rack tom channel and it seemed to have no effect. I guess I need to try some resisters now.

edit: I actually now think that I pulled the jumper out for pins 7-8 that I thought would be effect module input A when in fact it effects B. CRAP. I hope that does the trick.

[cleantone]

alright. who just picked up the 20 channel for $565 on ebay?