So who's got an Overstayer MAS in their arsenal? What are your thoughts? Any tips?

I just got one and been playing with it. It was a bit underwhelming at first but after really digging into it I made it sing on the stereo bus.

At first I kept trying to push it too hard and wasn't digging it. Then I started listening to it just barely tapping that meter and there it was. Everything sounded better.


It's got kind of that API mid range punch going on when used a certain way.


Another thing that made a big difference was bypassing the patch bay and routing it directly in and out of my ad/da converters with shorter cable runs.

can be great di for gtr and bass, try on vocals as well, on stereo bus try with emphasis in!!!

ej

Enjoying it on the mix bus here. Just as you mentioned, barely tapping the first stage of the meter, Mix button at 6-7, no eq, Emphasis and Dual engaged give enough color for what I do mostly (acoustic pop/jazz) and tame peaks enough to bring the average level up 1-2dB. Without emphasis engaged it mostly tends to mess with the bass content too much for my taste.

Yea it's a great box. Just adds something great on the mix buss. Saturation , bit of colour.

I think I'm the same as the others who commented, as I just have it tickling, with one led lit or two.

It's subtle but sounds worse wen you bypass

It's like a coat of laquer or wax that finishes a mix beautifully. Subtle but there's no turning back.....Love all my Overstayer gear.

Can you elaborate a bit? How big of a difference? And if any, that should also be the case with the rest of your gear, right?

i'd like confirmation on this as well. All my gear runs through patch bays (good quality TT bays) and at least 100' of wire (Mogami), and I can't hear the difference between hooking straight up to my converters, or going through the entire path through the bays.

Did you try to make an AB test though? Record the same file through all that and another directly? Or if you somehow could bypass the patchbay with a button or something?

I used to think there was minor difference between audio converters. Then I tried ABC testing 3 different brands through my 3 inputs on my monitor controller, and the difference was substantial, literally. But ok, thats another story.

Also in regards to Brads (Louder then liftoff) upcoming 500 rack tests, im looking forward to what he finds. Though in that situation I think there will be bigger differences then with patchbays, because on 500 racks the main issue seems to be the power supplies..

You are probably right that the difference is minor, but there might be some difference still, minor or not. Only way to find out is to do a real test side by side, ABing with a switch.

Bottom line though: If I cant hear the diference (while being rested and fully focused) on my 10k highend monitors in a great room with very good converters, then I dont care much to do blind tests either. Because if the difference is that small then I dont care about it.

Im looking forward to do some cable and patchbay AB tests myself sometime in the future, as I havent done that yet. If its even 10% as much differense as with my converters, that would still be noticable.

I'm at the tail end of mixing an album with MAS on acoustic gtr and mandolin. It's great on acoustic instruments. These are dense mixes and I need the acoustic stuff to be a solid part of the rhythm section so I'm able to be fairly aggressive. Two lights on on the meters.
It's also on bass...can't live without it there.

I like to run a little compression before the MAS so the distortion is more uniform...bigger peaks can get a little over cooked so I tame the peaks before I hit it.

I also love them in parallel on kick and snare. You can be aggressive here...3 lights on the meter.

Drum buss is a good place too. After compression to tame peaks a little and then into a 33609 or 10dc type compressor to get some pump is really think and juicy.

They're maybe 10' of cable run into a Neutrik TRS patch bay. May have been the cable I was using which were proco.

I didn't dive too deep into it but I heard a slight loss in definition in the low end and top end.

Cables do make a difference for sure...but it is a never ending rabbit hole. Everything we do to audio is some sort of trade off....warmth vs definition...etc....same with cables.

When it comes to cabling they all sound different and have their own vibe. My serious recommendation would be to find a cable that you like that is good...be it Mogami, canare, gothem or whatever, stick with, it learn, accept it and how to work with it and move on. There is no perfect cable, monitor or converter...they are just imperfect tools and mediums to get out the approximate vision in our heads.

I only dabble in those tiny details during downtime anyway. Most of my cabling is Mogami anyway. I just have some old cheap cables that sometimes I'll use when I'm out of the good stuff.

If it sounds good it's good and the Overstayer sounds brilliant. I have no idea what it does but I don't like bypassing it that's for sure!

I'm looking to add some saturation to my arsenal. If I currently track/mix through an API2500 would the MAS be redundant? Before coming across this I was mainly looking into a Culture Vulture but it seems many like the Overstayer Saturator more (and possibly the MAS too)

Perhaps take a look at the Overstayer Stereo Voltage Control or even the Modular Channel for a wide range from more options. When evaluating their units, I found the MAS a bit subtle for my needs, but interesting. I landed on the SVC, and the Modular Channel later the same year- either has subtle to aggresive.

The Black Box HG-2 slays the Culture Vulture. IMO

I also love the LTL Silver Bullet with the MAS. That's worth checking too.

So you use the silver bullet and the mas at the same time. Interesting. How would you describe the silver bullet and how are you using them together?

Is that comparing to the newer Super 15 or the old one?

I ended up ordering the Super 15 and looking forward to testing it out. Will keep an eye on the HG2 though too.

Sometimes if the track calls for it. The Silver Bullet is a great thickener, saturator, equaliser and preamp. I drive the Silver Bullet into the MAS for the ultimate glossy glue.

The Red anniversary one with the extra settings. It had a sweet spot of about 2 mm. The HG-2 can be wound backwards and forwards to taste. It's leagues ahead.

Interesting. What kind of genre/application was the sweet spot so small?

I checked some of the online examples of the HG2 and the overall tone I wasn't really feeling. Seemed a little edgy and fatiguing compared to the CV ones.

Cheers

Any source sound at all. If you prefer it then that's good right? We can all like different units and make different music.....

Thanks, guess I'll see how tough it is here to adjust, it's one of the caveats I heard about the device a few times.

Are there any good WAV demos of the HG2 online? What I saw was mainly their Youtube one which I'll take with a grain of salt due to the video compression.

But ya this is probably just down to taste.

The software demo is not bad. You really need to dial in your own sounds. Eric processed some drums loops for me which sold me.

If you're planning on using them both on your mixbus, I think it would be redundant. But the MAS is great individual channels and busses too. I even like to have it at the end of my recording chain to add a bit more color and round peaks of nicely without it sounding like there's a compressor or limiter.

Thanks. I got a CV Super 15 with me now and so far been loving it. Still wondering what the MAS sounds like but this will keep me busy for some time.

How do you like it? If you wanna send me something I can run it through the MAS when I have a minute. Would love to hear the CV Super 15.

Hi just had it a week so still early days. It's more refined and smooth than I expected. I thought it would be a little grittier but that's cool. It gives a wonderful sheen to full mixes in parallel. And tracking so far has been great too.

Operationally it's been ok so far. I was prepared for the worst given all the reviews and info I read on it first.

Build quality is solid and it seems to hold calibration well. Running a full mix through it is not too hard to do fairly transparently but even a 50/50 wet/dry seems to do the trick on that.

Thanks would love to hear some stuff through it. Have quite a bit on for the next week or so but will check back if you're still up for it to swap some examples.

Cheers

I use the Black Box plug on my mixbus and really gig it. Actually, Softube's saturation knob into the HG2. I'm interested in the Overstayer but I can not demo it. I've seen a used one for $1200 and thinking about jumping on it. How would the Overstayer compare to the HG2 software? Serious question.

Not badly but not well in the highs. Fares well in the mids, slays in the lows. Hardware ware wise he Silver Bullet is the best value. The HG-2 , most opulent and My Vertigo VSM the most noble of all.

Really *really* like this box. So much so, I picked up a second one. The first one is locked on my drum bus, pushing the input a little hard, but only blending in 20%. Gushy lows, full mids, and tastefully breaking-up highs. Dream box for my style.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the second one can play a role on the mix bus or possibly for lead vocals or guitar bus.