TL Audio in liquidation...

[LeMauce]

Sad news for a company that stayed for 22years in the bizzz. We well see what happen, but I think they really going closing the doors...

TL Audio In

TL Audio’s Tony Larking comments on plans to undergo brand restructure as company ceases trading | Pro Audio industry news | Audio Pro International

[jac]

Sorry to read it. TLAudio made great products, solid buit and affordable.

[l.sicilian]

Originally Posted by jac

Sorry to read it. TLAudio made great products, solid buit and affordable.

Rockefeller is going to buy the company.

F@cking ELLE, I hope it's not the end of hardware, and the beginning of "but" plugs.

Who is next?

[Tejan]

It's interesting that I dont see much discussion of tl around here. They certainly seem well regarded, but don't get much hype. I was interested in their ebony summing mixer, but couldn't find any reviews of it. I'm guessing it's a solid piece of gear....

[work2do]

I never liked anything I tried from them but going out of biz is sad for any audio company.

[leaper]

They were the first company i knew that chopped up old Neve's and racked the pre, eq sections. This was in the 90's. They then went on to produce a pentode pre amp that offered something different from Focusrite (one of the only companies at that time to offer a racked pre). Then their valve EQ's and compressors, which were useful pieces.
(edit.. I see that their EQ predated the pre amp)
They even went bananas and produced an all valve 24 channel mixing desk! It involved valves on every mix channel, groups and output.
The above mentioned were all items you could find in so called 'high end' studios.
They seemed to gradually switch production to more affordable, perhaps compromised, units.
They deserve to be remembered with respect, if not for pioneering outboard, then for that crazily ambitious VTC console.

[l.sicilian]

I'll take a "starved plate" TL EQ or compressor over any plugs ANYTIME.
Of course, in parallel, I would also be using the Logic's EQs and dynamics and be happy with it all.

Each his/her own.

Let's face it, TL has been bashed and pissed on... we all know that, but I couldn't care less what people think, do, buy, sell or mock about with!
These guys don't make music --- they just buy gear. Oh, well, if they do music, it never get heard. Sorry if sounds harsh, but I have met too many FULL TIME dreamers, who think the gear will take them top. The top of the full time dreamers.

If you still don't understand that the plugins "game" is the biggest f@ck that ever happened to the music industry, than, sure enough, you well deserve to use plugins

Today, I fell like saying that, I didn't mean no harm, didn't mean to offend anyone either.

[sscannon]

Originally Posted by l.sicilian

I'll take a "starved plate" TL EQ or compressor over any plugs ANYTIME.

I have a couple rebranded units, HHB Radius, and I like them.

Originally Posted by l.sicilian

If you still don't understand that the plugins "game" is the biggest f@ck that ever happened to the music industry, than, sure enough, you well deserve to use plugins.

I'll stop using plugins the minute I can do Vocalign, Melodyne, Reason, and Drumagog with outboard.

[l.sicilian]

Originally Posted by sscannon

I have a couple rebranded units, HHB Radius, and I like them.

I'll stop using plugins the minute I can do Vocalign, Melodyne, Reason, and Drumagog with outboard.

Fair enough, these are more like "tools" to me.

What I am talking about is people buying tones of virtual EQ and compressor plugins... AND they want more...

[LeMauce]

The older stuff from TL Audio was really solid gear with all there own "color" defaults... The VTC was and still is a beast. Love the cheaper EQ's in parralel setups. And the first pentode black pre-amps...

[FilmNMusicman]

NOW WHERE CAN I GET IT ON SALE??????

[l.sicilian]

Originally Posted by FilmNMusicman

NOW WHERE CAN I GET IT ON SALE??????

Hey, I was thinking just that I don't think it's gonna happen though.

[superwack]

Originally Posted by sscannon

I'll stop using plugins the minute I can do Vocalign, Melodyne, Reason, and Drumagog with outboard.

Sure you can...

Instead of VocAlign or Reason try better technique, singing in key and doing multiple takes!

Reason? get some old synths, samplers and drum machines

Drumagog? how about recording a good drummer?

I assure you, great results CAN be had thinking "out of the box!"

[LeMauce]

Originally Posted by l.sicilian

Hey, I was thinking just that I don't think it's gonna happen though.

Well I just see at a "local" audio dealer here in Paris that ALL TL Audio products are "limited stock" and that the prices are dropping a bit.
I say... watch out for the secondhand market also! They will drop before going sky high..

[Fletcher]

Originally Posted by sscannon

I'll stop using plugins the minute I can do Vocalign, Melodyne, Reason, and Drumagog with outboard.

...and I'll start using plug-ins when I start recording musicians that are talentless enough to need Melodyne, Reason and Drumagog... until then I'll continue to record people who are worthy of being recorded and leave the hacks who have no business being recorded to the punques that live on plug-ins...

Peace

[TapeOpAl]

Originally Posted by LeMauce

Sad news for a company that stayed for 22years in the bizzz. We well see what happen, but I think they really going closing the doors...

TL Audio In

TL Audio’s Tony Larking comments on plans to undergo brand restructure as company ceases trading | Pro Audio industry news | Audio Pro International

Sad news for their creditors who they will leave thousands of pounds out of pocket. "Products available again next year" will probably be from a separate TL Audio MKII company that isn't accountable to the people they screwed out of money.

[Slikjmuzik]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

...and I'll start using plug-ins when I start recording musicians that are talentless enough to need Melodyne, Reason and Drumagog... until then I'll continue to record people who are worthy of being recorded and leave the hacks who have no business being recorded to the punques that live on plug-ins...

Peace

I wish I could take that stance, believe me. Unfortunately, I doubt I'd be able to put food on the table if I sat around and waited for only what I consider great musicians to come by wanting to be recorded.

As for the tools, I use Autotune...a lot. I would consider both myself and my girlfriend solid singers who make most of their living with their voices. I still use at the very least, minimal pitch correction when the delivery is that good. It's just a tool to me.

Reason. There are things Reason is capable of doing while staying in the box and making things incredibly convenient that no hardware synth will ever be able to do, not to mention the fact that you have routing options and a variety of adjustable parameters for every instrument you load. You're not going to get even close to that for $399 hardware...sorry.

As for Drumagog. It's useful when you're still building your mic collection. I now have what I consider a good offering of mics for any drumset and I have my own drumset that I keep fresh heads on. As long as the drummer listens to me, he'll get a good sound. I've run into entirely too many drummers who are good players, but have no concept of what would sound good on record as they tend to mostly play live. 2 different thing. Last metal project I did asked if I could use samples for kick, snare and tom. I told them 'no, tune your drums right'. The project came out fine.

I wish that I could record purely for fun and take the stance Fletcher has. I'm unfortunately not so fortunate....however, I still love my AR-51!!!

[leaper]

Originally Posted by l.sicilian

I'll take a "starved plate" TL EQ or compressor over any plugs ANYTIME.

actually did they use starved plate tech?
i've got a feeling that their tubes run at high voltages..
i might be wrong, but we don't want to mistakenly spread untruths.

and don't worry.. with a name like yours, i'm not going to take offense at your posts.. no matter how pluggophobic they get!

[rob S]

Wow i tried using Vocalalign on a record and it sounded terrible.
I would never use it on a vocal again.
Artifacts all over the place.
If it really needs to get aligned that bad have the singer sing it
And pay attention.
Or if its an aft the fact match it up by hand.

Too bad about TL.
Never a huge fan but id take it over avalon and focuswrong anyday.

[work2do]

lol! leave it to GS to turn this into an anti-plug thread when TL Audio is going out of business.

I'm as old school as anyone and more hardware than software but the plug genie has been out of the bottle for years. If you don't want to use them. Who cares. Good for you.

Wow i tried using Vocalalign on a record and it sounded terrible.
I would never use it on a vocal again.
Artifacts all over the place.

Serious user error here.

[Tejan]

Originally Posted by work2do

lol! leave it to GS to turn this into an anti-plug thread when TL Audio is going out of business.

I'm as old school as anyone and more hardware than software but the plug genie has been out of the bottle for years. If you don't want to use them. Who cares. Good for you.

I wish there were an Emoticon for "rising to my feet and clapping slowly as 'America the Beautiful' swells in the background".

Well said!

[adrianww]

Originally Posted by TapeOpAl

Sad news for their creditors who they will leave thousands of pounds out of pocket. "Products available again next year" will probably be from a separate TL Audio MKII company that isn't accountable to the people they screwed out of money.

For reasons too long and complicated to go into, I know quite a lot about this kind of thing.

Yes, it's true. Sometimes the people running companies will drop the company into liquidation to get out of paying a pile of debts and then waltz away with a pile of cash to start up again elsewhere the next day.

However, although that scenario isn't unheard of, it's just as common (if not more common) for a company just to be unable to continue in its current form, particularly during times of recession or economic turmoil like we have at the moment. When that happens, the company either needs enough cash in the bank to pay everyone off and close down (or undergo a radical restructure) or it is more or less incumbent upon the directors to pull the plug - certainly under UK company law, not sure about the position in the US or elsewhere. And if they don't do that and circumstances don't change, it's probably just a matter of time before the plug gets pulled anyway by a creditor who can't be paid (or by the bank or by the government or whoever).

At times like that, the financial truth can often be that the people who lose the most money are the company directors and shareholders. I've known company liquidations where the amount of money owing to the directors and shareholders added up to more than all of the company's trading creditors combined. I've known company liquidations where, in the months preceding administration, the directors pumped in their own money to ensure that the business kept trading and paying its suppliers and staff in the hope that the situation would be turned around before all of their money ran out. In those kind of cases, I've even seen company directors and shareholders left with significant levels of personal debt as a result of trying to keep things afloat, but ultimately failing.

And, when something like this happens, what are the owners or directors supposed to do once the brown has hit the fan? They've got to earn a living somehow and, in many cases, starting another business - and often a similar one - will be the only realistic option left to them that will allow them to pay their bills at home. It might be years, or even decades, since they last had a "normal" job. For some folks, setting up and running businesses is the only "profession" they have or line of work they know. If a dentist has a practice fail, no-one usually has a problem with them setting up again and continuing to work as a dentist (assuming there are no malpractice or fraud issues or whatever). The same should be true in other areas.

Lots of people seem to have this belief that a company administration or liquidation is always just a way for the owners to swan off with all the cash, while stiffing everyone else. And yes, sometimes that can happen and there will pretty much always be some creditors who don't get paid. Hell, I once watched one guy waltz away with a half-a-million pound yacht and a pile of cash in his bank account while stiffing the stock market for several million. But it certainly isn't always like that and, in the case of smaller concerns, it's very often the owners who end up screwed the most.

Anyway, I don't know the details of the situation with TL Audio, but they certainly have my sympathy. I've seen enough people go through this that I know it's never nice.

[RonGherkins]

Originally Posted by work2do

I never liked anything I tried from them but going out of biz is sad for any audio company.

x2.

[l.sicilian]

Originally Posted by LeMauce

Well I just see at a "local" audio dealer here in Paris that ALL TL Audio products are "limited stock" and that the prices are dropping a bit.
I say... watch out for the secondhand market also! They will drop before going sky high..

I really like the EQ, use to have one years ago.

Originally Posted by leaper

actually did they use starved plate tech?
i've got a feeling that their tubes run at high voltages..
i might be wrong, but we don't want to mistakenly spread untruths.

The Ivory series do not run at high voltage, the cream units. The classic range is a different story. Anyway, whoever came up with that name; "starved plate".

PS: sorry guys, talking about drums, I am not into drumagog myself or whatever it's called, I have just received brand new Remo heads, some will go to my Rogers Dynasonics wooops... not a bad snare Tuning time this weekend!

[nobtwiddler]

Many years ago I was looking for something a bit different.
I had already ordered my custom Daking console, (I owned #1 the prototype) but Geoff and I had some problems getting that all together by the time I needed a replacement Desk.
So once I (we) realized the Daking console was going to take a few years longer then expected, I went out on a limb.
I had recently sold my Neotek, and was searching for something that had a vibe, was affordable, and new!
The only thing that caught my eye was this new console TL was developing.
At the time it was just in the planning stages.
Long story short, I took the plunge, and never looked back.

The picture below is the first VTC delivered to a studio in the US!

Although its not number one, as there were a few sold in the UK before they came over here, I do think its about 12-14 years old now, give or take.
Been working beautifully ever since it was delivered.

And I got to tell ya, you can change the tubes to a few different types, thus creating a different sound from the desk.
Pretty cool~!

I read all the bullshit posted about this desk, here on this site!
Never bothered me, as I managed to get great sounds from it from day one.
And funny enough my clients kept coming back for the sound.
Who knew?
Haha

Needless to say, Ive done it all on this console, just about every style of music.
For an example of its diversity, heres a few of the clients whose records were done on this console.

Blue Oyster Cult,
Foghat,
The Cars,
Big Bill Morganfield,
Anthrax,
Ill Nino,
Jesse Malin,
Cradle of Filth,
Riot,
Immolation,
Ahmad Jamal,
Golden Earring,
Daryl Hall,
John Hammond,
Rod Price,

Its a terrible thing when a company has to close its doors...
If they are indeed gone for good, I for one will miss them!

[kevbrowne]

I feel sad that they have gone bust,but I do feel they threw away any prestige
they had by making so much "blah" gear.
They became a stepping stone gear company
Shame because when they got it right it was great
The first piece I ever used was one of the original vocal channel strips thay made and it blew me away. Tracked an album with it,beautiful tone.

I have used the Ivory comp thing a lot and the weird thing with that is the whole selling point is the "tube" sat/drive part was the worst thing about it.
So long as the valves arent driven it will give a perectly decent and functional compressed signal

Those Tubetracker desks were waaaaay overpriced though,for that kind of money you can get a serious 8 ch preamp rack that you can keep for life

[Voyage.One]

By the looks of things it's temporary but I'm not holding my breath.

[rob S]

Originally Posted by work2do

Serious user error here.

I wish.
It wouldve made my life alot easier.

[You_Father_Sky]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

...and I'll start using plug-ins when I start recording musicians that are talentless enough to need Melodyne, Reason and Drumagog... until then I'll continue to record people who are worthy of being recorded and leave the hacks who have no business being recorded to the punques that live on plug-ins...

Peace

And I, along with many other professional engineers, will continue making great records using plugs, outboard, and anything in between.

[LeMauce]

Originally Posted by nobtwiddler

Many years ago I was looking for something a bit different.
I had already ordered my custom Daking console, (I owned #1 the prototype) but Geoff and I had some problems getting that all together by the time I needed a replacement Desk.
So once I (we) realized the Daking console was going to take a few years longer then expected, I went out on a limb.
I had recently sold my Neotek, and was searching for something that had a vibe, was affordable, and new!
The only thing that caught my eye was this new console TL was developing.
At the time it was just in the planning stages.
Long story short, I took the plunge, and never looked back.

The picture below is the first VTC delivered to a studio in the US!

Although its not number one, as there were a few sold in the UK before they came over here, I do think its about 12-14 years old now, give or take.
Been working beautifully ever since it was delivered.

And I got to tell ya, you can change the tubes to a few different types, thus creating a different sound from the desk.
Pretty cool~!

I read all the bullshit posted about this desk, here on this site!
Never bothered me, as I managed to get great sounds from it from day one.
And funny enough my clients kept coming back for the sound.
Who knew?
Haha

Needless to say, Ive done it all on this console, just about every style of music.
For an example of its diversity, heres a few of the clients whose records were done on this console.

Blue Oyster Cult,
Foghat,
The Cars,
Big Bill Morganfield,
Anthrax,
Ill Nino,
Jesse Malin,
Cradle of Filth,
Riot,
Immolation,
Ahmad Jamal,
Golden Earring,
Daryl Hall,
John Hammond,
Rod Price,

Its a terrible thing when a company has to close its doors...
If they are indeed gone for good, I for one will miss them!

First thing when I finished reading the article I had to think to your VTC console Paul... I used one in UK and always love it. No the most brilliant mix desk but boy it has attitude and balls.
She looks gorgeous men!