14:35 while they could be used as backups, I’m pretty sure that the A/B mic preamps were often used for setups involving one control room attached to two different broadcast studio setups eg: the morning & evening news

Used to use a couple of these at Berklee back in like 2000. Loved these consoles.

Like I said in your first video, we had two of these at Reflection Sound Studios packed full of John Hardy Mic Pres, and some of the very rare Avalon pres, yes Avalon made a mic pre plug in for this console. Also, there were 4 different mic pres made by Sony for these and three different EQs. Loved these desks and for certain kinds of music much better than our Neve V Series. Just a really fun desk to track on.

The recording workshop in Ohio has a couple of Sony MCI consoles. Or at least they did when I was there in the late 90s. Many students learned signal flow on that desk.

The previous owners of my console used the original Sony automation daily! Tons of their old mixes are still stored on the computer. It may be archaic and overly complicated by today’s standards, but it did work back in the day! Glad to see you made all of these videos. I’m sure you’ll be a huge help to people starting their Sony journeys!

Thank you John. So much fantastic info as I'm in the process of putting my MXP3036 back together 🙂

One of the things that drew me into this series of videos was that in the Spring of 2022, I bought a Sony APR-24 24-track machine that was being sold at auction by a place called Trod Nossel Studios in Wallingford, CT. In the same auction was an MXP-3036, and I could have gotten it pretty cheaply. But I just could not figure out the logistics of getting it here to SW Ohio where I live. The APR-24 was hard enough. But I have thought more than a few times that I wish I'd gotten the console at the same time.

I have the MCI predecessor (JH618) that I’m about to restore. Great video.

I grew up working in a studio that had 2 rooms the expensive room was all MCI gear, we had the JH-636 console and 2 MCI JH24 2-inch tape Machines and mixed down to a JH-110 1/2 inch, I worked in the cheaper B-room with 48 channel Yamaha PM-4000 with the Transformer package which recorded to a Foster G24S 24 track 1 inch machine and mixed down to a Otari MX5050 1/4 inch machine and later to DAT. I always loved working in the MCI room I felt like a real engineer and to just the house engineer for the demo room LOL. MCI were huge in Nashville and most of studios outside of LA and New York. Artists who had home studios had a ton of MCI gear because it was built well and was cheaper than the alternatives from API or Harrison at the time. I always liked the MCI EQs. I have 4 of the Sony MCI 3000 EQs in my rack still today 2 are the state variable EQ32 and 2 of the passive inductor EQ34s. The passive EQs are the last great passive console EQ ever made and all 4 are the quietest 90s analog gear I have ever used. MCI really was the pinnacle of hi-fi audio meets pro audio without the snake oil. I now work on a ATI paragon 2 console which was API's live version of an SSL 4000E but with better mic preamps a fully parametric EQ and API thrust VCA compressors on every channel. I always wanted an SSL but couldn't justify dropping 100K on a mixer so I found a pair of the ATI paragons that were used in a megachurch in Memphis Tennessee for less than 10K so I have a working console and a complete spare. Congrats on finally getting the console up and fully restored I have been watching every update!!

I produced a band in the late 80's and 90's called Roachford, there is a track called "Kathleen" off the first album that I recorded and mixed at Hit Factory London in eight hours! on an MCI 3000 series console and two-inch machine, and to this day it's still one of my favourite sounding recordings 👌🏾

My mentor and I did some recording in a studio in NYC that had an MCI desk back in the 80's. I believe it was at Secret Sound Studios if I'm not mistaken. Some of our best sessions were done on it!

Great video. I used to work in French audio dubbing company with these consoles for recording, in a smaller frame format. Great sound indeed.

I've got an MCI JH-528 at my home studio. Absolutely love it

tuchel clip madness

Amazing! Thank you so much for this super interesting breakdown! Love all the custom modules. For me probably the Automation would have been the dealbreaker…my ADT Console from Germany has this amazing VCA automation that works sooo good and I would never be able to pull a satisfying mix from the console without it. Then again I know Craig Silvey mixes on an analog Neve 80 series without any automation on board and he just does all the automation pre board in protools… All the best from Berlin, Tobi

I've heard of it! :D I learned audio engineering on a Sony MXP3036 at San Jacinto Community College, Pasadena TX from 1991-93. It had the flourescent meter bridge and VCA automation. We were recording on a Tascam ATR60 2" 24 track with Dolby SR at the time. have fond memories of learning audio and recording on the Sony/MCI. thanks for the history lesson.

Great great great console. Had one in our studio for 8 years!

This was great! I feel sad that the series is over but I'm excited to see whatever is next!

In the mid 80's I was working as an assistant and the studio had a nice large MCI console. We tracked to 2" 24 track. It was a beast!

I loved and miss my MCI 428! With a JH-24, the 80s were a blast!

A whole pile of Expo86 gear found it's way into the former Museum of Civilization here in Ottawa. CD80 dimmer packs, Bryston, Turbosound, all sorts of "museum" quality gear 🙂 IIRC that gear was well taken care of and lasted forever tucked away in that place and was only removed in the last decade or so...

Great rap albums made on the MCI.

I have done a couple of sessions at Sear Sound in NYC. They have one of these desks fitted with the Avalon mic pre's and eq's. It has a moving fader system, by Martinson. I liked working on it. It was a little "controversial" when it was first installed, as their other studio has a Neve 8048....

Berklee had a few of these in the 90s when I was there. IIRC E, F, and G had them. It was a nice console for learning signal flow, and it sounded pretty good. I have an API in my studio. I wouldn't take the MCI for free these days unless it was loaded with the API modules, which were made for these consoles. Most I've seen working have been in broadcast.

That's the console I learned on! They have one at Sear Sound that's been hot rodded with Avalon pres and eqs. Its sounds like glass.

Hey! I just moved to Vancouver. I didn’t know you were here as well. I brought all my MCI equipment up with me from the states. 😅 2 desks, a 24 track, and 3 110 decks. 🙄

i have no idea what you are talking about or why this was recommended to me but I am hanging in until the end

I did some great work on the MCI 636. The only MCI console I really liked. ( did not like the 400 or 500)

Oh man I haven't seen a Dragonfly in years! Nice!

love a great mix console

No way i have just purchased one in an auction from an old school thats getting knocked down. I got the desk and all the othet audio equipment, still need to go through it all to see what i got.

Shout out to Greg Norman!

you ended up selling it? did you not enjoy the sound of it in the end?

How difficult is to repair? Some people say that the "hybrid" amps are not available and no data exists to make replacements?

I'm very interested in acquiring your Sony/MCI...!...What are you asking for it...?

MCI - Sony right? From a time normal people could not afford a console like this.

i'll take it... how?

Makes for good content though.

Underrated? Hahahah. Oh dear! Power supply on these things were terrible, quite weak and underpowered - definitely the weak link in the console. The hybrid op amps had many issues from memory and the "sealed" EQ's kinda howl with some weird resonance feedback when certain frequencies are boosted, also the line out amps aren't exactly reliable, the inductor EQ's were very soft and mushy too, just made everything sound like you were running it through a cheese cloth. I know a few guys who gutted the channels on their MXP and wacked in some forsell strips and some others went with API. Apparently Animal Collective's record 'Merriweather Post Pavilion' was mixed on an MXP 3000. It's a decent board if you find one in fully working condition without issues for around 2K and skip the EQ.

The MCIs were dreadful! This is revisionistic! No one EVER used the word amazing in connection with one .(Was stuck with a 636 for 10 years, and mixed 100 records on it, I am not inventing this;-)

How much??