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Presonus Studio Studio Channel Preamp

#161
mikeddd said:
Good luck, Riis and please do let us know what you think. Even if it doesn't work for you, you should be able to unload it for what you paid for it. It's worth the test drive. :)

Thanks for the reply, Supertanker; glad to hear that it's still working out for you. Also, I appreciate your thoughts on the Art Prochannel. Did you swap the tube in the Presonus? If so, what tube did you use? Don't want to go back and reread all 150+ posts of this thread. LOL! Thanks!

Mike

ps
Riis/SuperT: Not to derail the thread but...Did either of you use the BBE BMax-T? What did you think of it?
Click to expand...

Never used the BBE. Check with dcr / Doug...I think he has one and will give you an honest opinion.

Riis
 
#162
mikeddd said:
Thanks for the reply, Supertanker; glad to hear that it's still working out for you. Also, I appreciate your thoughts on the Art Prochannel. Did you swap the tube in the Presonus? If so, what tube did you use? Don't want to go back and reread all 150+ posts of this thread. LOL! Thanks!

Mike
Click to expand...

I did swap the tube in the Presonus.

It currently has a NOS Sylvania in it.
I would have to look at to give you more detail.
But the tube sounds very, very good.
Thick, lush, and very 3-d sounding.
 
#164
Thanks guys; you're great. :) I'm reading up on everything I can concerning the pre's we're talking about. So much info to digest! I'm just glad I'm in the under-$500 market. If I had $1K+ to spend on a pre, my head would probably explode from reading all the info out there and I still wouldn't be able to decide. Just like now, ironically enough. LOL! :D Decisions, decisions. /paces room while seated at computer chair
 
#165
No I didn't get mine fixed yet. In fact I'm sending it in this week.

Dunno what went wrong, but I suppose I could still recommend this preamp if you buy it used. Or even new at 300 it isn't a bad deal. Not like there are many channel strips around that price range...
 
#166
Thanks, Thudfromafar. I hope they fix it better than new for you. I'm still mulling over the Studio Channel vs. Art Prochannel vs. BBE Bmax-T. Not really sure where to go. Am a bit concerned that the Presonus and Art cannot drive a power amp sufficiently with the 1/4" output. I know that the XLR would be best for driving a power amp, but I want to save that for the DI to FOH. How did you have yours hooked up?
 
#167
Okay, here's the deal: Just picked it up...brand new blue face with the grad'd markings, original manuals, not a mark on it but missing the original box (big deal). I'm letting intuition be my guiding force; I'll refer to the manual when all is said and done.

I've already cheated. Had to look up the function of the bass & treble "Peak" buttons. Cool! They re-set the shelving functions to semiparametric EQ's with a fixed bandwidth of 0.7. IMO, this function provides a more "musical" response than the default shelving function.

More to come!

Riis
 
#168
mikeddd said:
Thanks, Thudfromafar. I hope they fix it better than new for you. I'm still mulling over the Studio Channel vs. Art Prochannel vs. BBE Bmax-T. Not really sure where to go. Am a bit concerned that the Presonus and Art cannot drive a power amp sufficiently with the 1/4" output. I know that the XLR would be best for driving a power amp, but I want to save that for the DI to FOH. How did you have yours hooked up?
Click to expand...

This sounds better than the ART and has more than enough juice to feed a power amp. I have it hooked up to a Crest CA-6.

XLR's are not the best method to drive a power amp. A 1/4" T/S or T/R/S (balanced) output is your best bet; that's why they're there.

Riis
 
#169
Zooberwerx said:
Okay, here's the deal: Just picked it up...brand new blue face with the grad'd markings, original manuals, not a mark on it but missing the original box (big deal). I'm letting intuition be my guiding force; I'll refer to the manual when all is said and done.

I've already cheated. Had to look up the function of the bass & treble "Peak" buttons. Cool! They re-set the shelving functions to semiparametric EQ's with a fixed bandwidth of 0.7. IMO, this function provides a more "musical" response than the default shelving function.

More to come!

Riis
Click to expand...

/wringing hands excitedly :hyper: Cool! Looking forward to your assessment. Unfortunately, I've gotta hit the hay. Work in the morning. Will read this thread first thing! Rock on, Riis!
LOL! You replied to my reply to Thud whilst I was typing. Gotta love that. So the 1/4" out has enough juice AND this sounds better than the Art? WELL, that narrows things down quite a bit! :D I"ll be driving a QSC PLX3602; not sure on it's sensitivity vs. the Crest CA6's, but they are both very good, pro amps so they must be comparable, input-signal-wise. Thanks much! Now go play!
 
#170
mikeddd said:
Am a bit concerned that the Presonus and Art cannot drive a power amp sufficiently with the 1/4" output. I know that the XLR would be best for driving a power amp, but I want to save that for the DI to FOH. How did you have yours hooked up?
Click to expand...

Huh?
Where'd you hear that?

I've had both amps and had no problem driving a power amp with 1/4 outputs.

I do it everyday with the Presonus.

The preamp would be virtually useless if it couldn't drive an amp with any output...
 
#171
I haven't had the best of luck taking outputs from things like effects loop sends and trying to drive an amp to a usable level with them. :( Being that the Studio Channel is mostly meant as a studio rack piece, I figured it's outputs would be low-ish. I'm glad to hear I'm mistaken, believe me. I appreciate the good info, Supertanker.
 
#173
Just chiming in with general thoughts...how I use mine, etc.

I've been using the Studio Channel for 4-5 months now - taken it on a lot of gigs. I've had some time to check it out in some detail. I really like it - I use it as the primary preamp in my signal chain before hitting the front end of a SansAmp RBI. I love the RBI, but it's no secret that keeping a delicate balance of your mids/original signal can be a tricky dance since the SansAmp can eat mids really quickly. The Studio Channel is outstanding with its light compression keeping things in check & balance, with the 3-band parametric I have no problem keeping my mids selectively precise & very strong before hitting the RBI - it's just a wonderfully functional pre-amp. Extremely useful for my needs.

I also like the transparency of it. I have on occasion, bypassed it a couple of times, leaving just my RBI/power amp, at which point it becomes apparent very, very quickly just how much it is carrying my fundamental clean tones & improving any RBI overdriven tones I might dial in. It sculpts tone really well, but in a very musical way. Doesn't sound uber-hyped I guess is what I'm trying to say. Sounds like a very nice channel strip should - EQ'ing, compressing, to whatever you dial up while staying clean & quiet about it. My tone is much better with it in my rack & signal path than simply the RBI alone.

On some gigs and in some recording scenarios, I feel like running just the Studio Channel by itself. When I do, it has always delivered me very nice clean tones - warm & round, punchy and strong, modern, etc. I haven't had any problems pulling an impressive range of clean tones from it. I just can't ask any more than that from a piece of gear, it's great.

Here it is in a rack (before the RBI had arrived/been installed yet):

103_1980-2.gif
 
#174
mikeddd said:
I haven't had the best of luck taking outputs from things like effects loop sends and trying to drive an amp to a usable level with them. :( Being that the Studio Channel is mostly meant as a studio rack piece, I figured it's outputs would be low-ish. I'm glad to hear I'm mistaken, believe me. I appreciate the good info, Supertanker.
Click to expand...

In my experience the output is relatively low. It should drive any poweramp fully, but you may have to crank it more than you expect. With my QSC there wasn't a lot of headroom.
 
#175
Thank you for the very detailed reply, Stingray69. That's exactly the kind of info I need to know. Funny you should mention using the StudioChannel with the RBI; I was thinking about using it with a RPM or a BMAX-T or possibly, with my existing pedalboard. I have a VT Bass and an Agro pedal; should be more than enough to get some additional "quick switchable" grit/grind in there should I need it. I do wonder what kind of sound(s) I could get from running Bass-->StudioChan-->BMax-T (RPM) or if the StudioChan would be enough by itself w/my pedalboard?

@Thud: Seems to be like QSC amps have a lower sensitivity than other amps in their price/performance range. Just my seat of the pants observation as opposed to a scientifically measured one. Awesome amps, but they like a hot signal, it seems.
 
#176
mikeddd said:
@Thud: Seems to be like QSC amps have a lower sensitivity than other amps in their price/performance range. Just my seat of the pants observation as opposed to a scientifically measured one. Awesome amps, but they like a hot signal, it seems.
Click to expand...

Depends. I think it's more somewhere in the middle with the QSC amps (1.2v). I believe crowns are 1.5v, peaveys are .75v...

I do know I have 2 more preamps that easily have more headroom than the studio channel (studio projects vtb-1 and ART Tube PAC). But it should be fine still. :)
 
#177
mikeddd said:
Thank you for the very detailed reply, Stingray69. That's exactly the kind of info I need to know. Funny you should mention using the StudioChannel with the RBI; I was thinking about using it with a RPM or a BMAX-T or possibly, with my existing pedalboard. I have a VT Bass and an Agro pedal; should be more than enough to get some additional "quick switchable" grit/grind in there should I need it. I do wonder what kind of sound(s) I could get from running Bass-->StudioChan-->BMax-T (RPM) or if the StudioChan would be enough by itself w/my pedalboard?
Click to expand...

In the pic, you may have noticed the little Behringer BDDI clone sitting up top on the rack. I usually only take that to rehearsals where I want the "quick switchable" grit without dragging around a big rack. But that day, it had to suffice for the grit tone for that particular gig. But yeah, the Studio Channel definitely plays well with others so to speak. Whether that be with your pedal board or in tandem with another preamp (BMax-T, RPM, etc).
 
#178
Great! Thanks again, Stingray69. I was wondering what that little box up top was...figured it was a tuner. I'll be ordering a StudioChan tonight. Can't wait to dig in! I think I'll try it by itself/with my pedals first. Then maybe I'll add a RPM/RBI. Hmmm, I wonder what it would sound like Bass-->StudioChan-->Shuttle 6.0? Ah, it's a good time to play bass! :D

ps
In your picture, what's in the rack under the Studio Chan?
 
#179
thudfromafar said:
In my experience the output is relatively low. It should drive any poweramp fully, but you may have to crank it more than you expect. With my QSC there wasn't a lot of headroom.
Click to expand...

Couple quirks I noticed...

*Per the manual, active instruments should be plugged in the rear input jack, not the instrument jack on front of the console.

*I have the gain jacked to 2:00, the master output @ 12:00 and was able to achieve nominal volumes while occas'ly kicking the compressor threshold.

I A/B'd TS and TRS output cables and heard no discernible change in ouput. Some components, such as the Demeter HBP-1, tout a 3-6 dB increase in output when using balanced cables. I really need to go on-line for some additional set-up assistance.

Before spending money on both a Presonus and RPM, I'd see what the Studio Channel can do on its on and go from there.

Riis
 

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