SONY MXP2000 How does it sound?

[Providence]

anyone?

[turing]

i used one for about 3 years, and was very fond of it. you have to really mash something through the preamps to get anything other than 'smooth', and the eq polishes and tucks rather than anything more exciting, but that needn't be a fault of course.
the compressors are mental. everything you run through them sounds exactly like talk radio, but again, that needn't be a negative.
basically it was a great tracking desk if a little on the reserved side sonically. fully featured as a console with an incredibly small footprint. transformer girth on the sound even if it was never quite as raunchy as i'd have liked. a pig to service.
overall very fond memories though. we've switched to a tlaudio m4, which while definitely quirky, and much more pro-sumer than the mxp, gets you into all kinds of interesting distort-y places when you turn everything up to much. (which i regard as definitely not a negative).
i say buy the sony, somehow surmount the enormous ball-ache of not having the power supply, and record smooth jazz through it, to be broadcast at sedate volumes on radio 3.

[Providence]

Originally Posted by turing

i used one for about 3 years, and was very fond of it. you have to really mash something through the preamps to get anything other than 'smooth', and the eq polishes and tucks rather than anything more exciting, but that needn't be a fault of course.
the compressors are mental. everything you run through them sounds exactly like talk radio, but again, that needn't be a negative.
basically it was a great tracking desk if a little on the reserved side sonically. fully featured as a console with an incredibly small footprint. transformer girth on the sound even if it was never quite as raunchy as i'd have liked. a pig to service.
overall very fond memories though. we've switched to a tlaudio m4, which while definitely quirky, and much more pro-sumer than the mxp, gets you into all kinds of interesting distort-y places when you turn everything up to much. (which i regard as definitely not a negative).
i say buy the sony, somehow surmount the enormous ball-ache of not having the power supply, and record smooth jazz through it, to be broadcast at sedate volumes on radio 3.

Thanks much! I know this a hairy question but what would you compare the preamps to? I already have preamps that can get great distortion.

[E.rOk.stA]

We have a 3000 in our tracking room. Don't know if it sounds the same but I would assume so. It has a smooth, slightly darker character. Ours came from Jane's Addiction's personal studio.

We swapped out 8 of the preamps with API 212L's and 2 with John Hardy ones. The other 22 are stock and they sound fine. The EQ's are like described above.

[Providence]

Anyone else?

[Providence]

Bump?

[Providence]

Ok now can anyone tell where I might be able to find a PSU for this thing? Thanks

[ddageek]

These were found in lots of local TV control rooms, Alwasys found them Blah, thats what the TV folks wanted.
They and parts can be found at most used broadcast dealers and EBay.

[Providence]

Originally Posted by ddageek

These were found in lots of local TV control rooms, Alwasys found them Blah, thats what the TV folks wanted.
They and parts can be found at most used broadcast dealers and EBay.

Ha. I find it funny that this little console gets so much love and hate all at the same time. I think this is just going to turn into a "i have to try it scenario". Thanks for all the input though. I will be keeping an eye out on all the things everyone has warned me about.

BTW for what it's worth I have lots of other great pres (API, NEVE, GATES, ECT...) so I don't think this is going to be a need for pres. I am actually interested in the eqs and routing (even if it is limited). Thanks

[Providence]

Does anyone know if the MXP 3000 power supply will work for the 2000?

[turing]

Originally Posted by Providence

Thanks much! I know this a hairy question but what would you compare the preamps to? I already have preamps that can get great distortion.

i've racked the brain, and i think the isa 428. the sony doesn't have as much gain, but they share that character of basically staying refined and hi-fi however much you twist them to the right.

[Providence]

Ok so I got this thing in. It's kinda dirty. I'm going to be cleaning for a little while. Looks like I have three things to get to start getting this thing up and running. I need a power supply, a cable for the meter bridge, and those pin connectors on the back. Anybody know where I might be able to find any of those?

BTW this sucker is HEAVY!! I've never felt a console that weighed so much for it's size. That said there are a ton of transformers inside. I noticed that some of the strips have two transformers and some don't. Can anyone explain this?

[Providence]

BUMP Can anyone help me find a place for a power supply?

[turing]

can't help on the power supply i'm afraid - that was always going to be the real embuggerance. you may have to pony up for a tech to build you something.

there are indeed transformers by the tonne on these things, even on the insert points. are you saying that similar channel strips don't have the same number? are you comparing like with like?

[Providence]

Originally Posted by turing

can't help on the power supply i'm afraid - that was always going to be the real embuggerance. you may have to pony up for a tech to build you something.

there are indeed transformers by the tonne on these things, even on the insert points. are you saying that similar channel strips don't have the same number? are you comparing like with like?

Yeah I made sure they were the same type of strip. Some have two larger transformers beside each other and some just have one with what looks like a smaller "transformer" (silver). Not sure.

[Providence]

bump

[Ross Orton]

I did a comparison between the sony mxp 2000 mic pre and one of my api 512's...
the api (not surprisingly) won, api had bottom end that would sink a ship and the sony needs tying down so it doesn't float away on the breeze... saying that, I like the console, it has some nice features.
I need the schematic and circuit board diagram for the mic pre if anybody has the manual....

[Providence]

Originally Posted by Ross Orton

I did a comparison between the sony mxp 2000 mic pre and one of my api 512's...
the api (not surprisingly) won, api had bottom end that would sink a ship and the sony needs tying down so it doesn't float away on the breeze... saying that, I like the console, it has some nice features.
I need the schematic and circuit board diagram for the mic pre if anybody has the manual....

You say it has nice features. What features do you like? Do you like the eq?

[Chemicald]

I use the mxp 2000 for mixing out of the box and love it.
I like the Eq, low and hi shelf are nice to sweet up sounds and the mid can get pretty nasty when cranked all up. One point I don't like is that I can't figure insert point on channels.
I havent mess much with the preamp.
I think it sound big, really give a sound compare to mixs in the box.
Just craking the eq in, makes big difference.
There's transformer on every channel and on the master section too.
Mine is dead quiet.
I had the psu recap few months ago (150$)

And, I do have the complete manual !

@Providence, I don't know where you can get those connectors... But I can find the pin out for you if u need.

@ Ross I'll try to find the mic pre schematics, as I'm thinking on input upgrade too !

I'm away from home for a week, keep you guy's posted

cheers!

[Providence]

Originally Posted by Chemicald

I use the mxp 2000 for mixing out of the box and love it.
I like the Eq, low and hi shelf are nice to sweet up sounds and the mid can get pretty nasty when cranked all up. One point I don't like is that I can't figure insert point on channels.
I havent mess much with the preamp.
I think it sound big, really give a sound compare to mixs in the box.
Just craking the eq in, makes big difference.
There's transformer on every channel and on the master section too.
Mine is dead quiet.
I had the psu recap few months ago (150$)

And, I do have the complete manual !

@Providence, I don't know where you can get those connectors... But I can find the pin out for you if u need.

@ Ross I'll try to find the mic pre schematics, as I'm thinking on input upgrade too !

I'm away from home for a week, keep you guy's posted

cheers!

Dude thanks for all the info! What else have you used that you would compare the eq and comp to? I finally have mine up and running but don't have it patched yet. That is my goal next week since I am in the middle of sessions right now.

[Providence]

WOW! I finally got a chance to run some audio through this mixer and all I can say is WOW!! What a great sleeper console. It is very clean sounding but still has a very big transformer sound to it. The comps are kinda cool too. Very squishy. I might try some parallel drum busing through them. EQ is great too! Thanks guys

[Chemicald]

Nice, good job !
Mine dont have comps...
Did you find a powersupply?

[Providence]

I did find a power supply. What's really cool is that I was wanting some really clean (but big) sounding preamps before I got this. I was thinking about the ISA.

We actually tested this thing today against an ISA1 and it the pres were far better in my opinion. So much so in fact that my buddy is going to buy a couple channel strips and rack them up. If anyone knows where we could find some more let me know. LOVE THEM!

[Electroslut]

Good thread! does anybody really know the dif between the 2000 and 2900?
can they be modded over? and would it be worth it? I have both coming,
I just installed a mxp-3036 and was blown away by how freaking sweet
it was, it made all the ssl's I have been working on seem way over priced.
that being said I think the only thing the 2000/2900 have in common
with the 3000 are the potted and hybrid opamps.

[NeilTDeal]

This thread makes me excited to get my 2000 up and running. But first I need a manual, does anyone know where I can get one? I know this has been asked by others but the associated threads are all quite old and the posted links are dead.

[androgine]

Hello Mxp users! I just got a 12 channel MXP in a custom made desk that looks awsome. I'm really eager to try it out and compare it to my previous setups mixing ITB, with digital mixer and through a neve 8816. I still have lots of cabling to do though.

I bumped thus all thread to ask a question. Although i have not been able to run any audio through the console yet, I did turn it on just to see how cool those lights looked! One thing i inmediately noticed is how noisy the power supply is. Some years ago i worked with another model of the MXP series, the power supply was similar to the one in my 2900, but i don't remember it beeing so noisy. Are your power supplies so noisy? Do you need to have them in a machine room? This is a big problem for me, since mine is a home based studio and i don't have a machine room!

Thanks a lot for your help. And by the way, i have a service manual i Pdf that I wouldn't mind sharing if anybody needs it!

[ray_subsonic]

Years since I've been near one of these desks, and I don't remember the Power supply being noisy. Is the noise from a Fan, or is it the sound of a Transformer humming?

[androgine]

It seems like its the fan. I worked with a MXP 700 years ago, and the power supply was very silent... The thing is that i wanted to confirm if these is usual or if there's something wrong since the mixer was supposed to be fully serviced...