If you had to pick a console for your studio, what are you picking??

Because I wanted to Play assassins creed.

I haven't purchased one yet but I had one from 1979 to 1989. To me it makes the recording experience more personal and actually feels like you are the extra band member. Something about being hands on versus clicking a mouse. Same with outboard gear. Touching the real thing is just what I prefer.

"As much as you work on technical skills, work on personal development, look at things outside of music for that" that's been my moto for years, what a gent of a geezer, great video man

Thanks so much for this awesome video Andrew, I enjoy your content a whole lot 😎🙌 I absolutely love working on a console, it feels more musical to me and as I come from analog-land (yes, I'm old lol) there's a feeling of comfort and familiarity that for me can't be replaced when working in the box. Recall can be a bit of a pain, but I'd still choose a physical console every time.

Wow love these kinds of conversations so much! More stuff like this would be so cool every now and again. Very insightful!

Quite literally the best, most useful audio channel I’ve ever come across. And I’ve gone deep down the rabbit hole. Impressive

27 yrs ago I picked up a 1987 DDA DMR12 32 mic pres 12 bus channels, 8 aux , onboard patchbay plus inserts on every channel and direct outs for every channel via patch. 32 IO via Antelope Orion 32+ and I love the sound. Sleeper desk highly recommend I will never have a studio with out a recording console in it.

Old school is the school to me. Its like they jumped to far ahead to fast. Thats why you see Hybrid systems so popular right now. take anold board and keepinf the good appointments while adding some digital control sounds like a really good route, I am glad companies are seeing this and doin it.Kinda like thw new tube amps with di outs with cab sim. mixing old with new, soon as they knew they could go all digital they did. Bypassing the things that give us the magical tones we are use to,but being hands on with no mouse clicking is to me alot better experience. thanks for all the work, love this content..

Nice! Thanks Andrew. Definitely a good solid perspective on getting a console.

Getting a console is like getting a boat! Two best days in a Console owner's life are the day they buy a Console and the day they sell it! Do what I do... Just make friends with Console owner . lol and boat owners too

Your studio is really looking good. lots of improvements over time. congratulations. weldon

This was a lot of fun. Thanks for the hang. Coming from bouncing between two cassette decks as a kid, to a 4 track, 1/4 tape machine, then a 1/2 inch eight track tape machine, to adats, then to logic, using basically toys as mixers, a Teac AX-20, Tascam, M-35, then a studiomaster trackmix 32, I came to appreciate how clean digital is. I have Neve, and Tegeler channels/pres, and then missing the tape machine I picked up a Tascam MS-16, one inch last year. I was using an Allen & Heath GL-2200. I kept desiring a semi-pro board. I love the buttons and knobs and switches so I love hybrid as crazy and as unnecessary it is, It's fun and it enhances my life. So concerned about upkeep of too old, noisy power supplies, and big electric bills, I jumped on a used Audient 4816. The hush of the noise floor is stupendous and it's great fun to play with a console again. I kept my logic setup separate so I have the best of both worlds and everything in between.

Great interview and a look a into a growing music business. Awesome stuff for us who are just beginning the journey...I love that couch!!!

It's a no brainer. As an owner of a 20 channel 80's Ramsa board I picked up for 500$ then cabling and converter for an additional let's say 1500$, it is a no brainer. You get useful EQ on all channels, you get inserts, and you get 20 quality preamps. On better desks you get more routing, compression, better EQ's. You work all in one place and patch in the outboard you want. You just need to convert out and back in to your DAW. Forces you to make decisions, is more forgiving in that it gels more on the board and does sound wider. A bit noisier but who cares if you have drums and bass in there. It looks cool, it's fun and it's cheaper. Now that said, many people end up shelling out thousands more on outboard comps and pres but you def. come out ahead on a board. Plus the obvious summing advantages I already mentioned with the "gel" factor. Let's face it, hybrid is also a pain in the ass! run it in, print it, make sure it time aligns. Bahumbug! Give it to me right here with no clickety clicking. If my board goes down, I am picking up a Big SiX board. I think we will start to see more boards come back with conversion built in. Maybe some 24 channel boards with more options for around 12-18k.

Awesome. And great insight from the conversation too.

I've got a 70's era console and I use it for summing and I love it. It is an Auditronics 110 "the grandson" - 18 in 4 bus out. The EQs are so simple, but so smooth. It's made such a difference in final mixes and definitely hasn't made the overall mixing process more difficult. If anything, you can get to the best result more quickly.

I have an X-Desk and I love it. Sounds like an SSL. But to fully connect it with a patchbay is a lot of time and money. It took me two years to get it fully connected. It’s only a 8 channel tracker with 16 channels during the mix. I couldn’t imagine setting up a 64 channel console lol!

If I had to pick, it'd be a 5088, hands down. The versatility is proven to fit the range of music I work on for myself and my clients.

This episode interested me because I purchased and installed an ssl e/g+ about 3 years ago…then I realized around 27min Andrew used one of the first songs I mixed on my ssl when I got it. If I had any suggestions, I would say looking into the THD automation system is a great idea if you are coming from mixing or automating in the computer. Having console is awesome for tracking and mixing and I regularly use the recall system for both tracking and mixing.

Love the open talk about the money side. This is something that’s never spoken about in videos.

some times I feel like the tubes should have the double like button. great vid and cool convo.

SSL 4k is wonderful - nothing better than walking into the control room and rolling up to the desk. A great way to start the day and WAYYY better than tracking/mixing in the box. We bought ours in new in 1995 and still love it! We have mixed countless records and audio for picture - using 2" recorders, Lexicon 480L and 300L, AMS etc. Since 1995 we have recapped twice and dropped the G+ and updated to Tangerine - however over the past 7 years I confess we are primarily using automation in Pro Tools or Logic - but the front end and summing in the 4k makes a great final product - good luck on your venture

I have a friend who has an SSL 6048e. I can honestly say that for tracking, once you work on a console like that, there's no turning back. The large/small fader work flow makes things easier and fun.

I have 4 full size recording consoles. The main one I mix on was custom built for me. I have 2” multitrack and a 1/2” mixdown machine so I’m recording a lot of analog. Digital for a lot of projects. But projects that I am personally funding here I am doing full analog. I’m not a fan of working ITB but I will but I personally love analog.

Andrew, you ask all the right questions and it never sounds intrusive. Well done.

I must say Duncan Rowe, formerly of Primal Gear, now of Sphere, is the man. I bought two consoles from him, at Primal Gear, back in the mid-2000's, and definitely couldn't have done it without his support. He made sure I had someone to commission the console, made sure I had all the cables I needed, and helped me understand everything I needed to know. I don't know if I'll ever go that direction again. If I decided to track to 2" tape again, I'd get a console, but that's about the only scenario. It's more important for me to have full and complete recall of everything in both a tracking and mixing setting. I use outboard on the 2 mix, because that's easy enough to recall. Recalling massive amounts of outboard, and large mixes is just too much of a hassle, and a productivity killer. Now for someone who does a lot of full band live tracking, it can make sense. For someone who doesn't have to worry about recalling complex mixes, it also can make sense.

I got a Soundcraft Series 1600 from a friend that passed away, 24 channels, 8 buss, and a built in tt patchbay with i/o for 32 channels of FX. I only use half the FX i/o so the other 16 go to an interface to a mac mini running reaper. The board was designed for hi-end home studios back in the 80s. I spent a summer refurbishing it, really well laid out and easy to work on. The 24 i/o go to an old Fostex D2424DV rack mount hard disk recorder that basically replaces a tape machine and I mostly work out of the box now for live tracking and mix down to Reaper or bounce it in there if I need to do edits. Really easy to run hybrid at any step, just route it on the patchbay. Since I got it and started researching it, it's pretty cool the number of hits that have been recorded and mixed on the 1600, Eurythmics, Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers, Traveling Wilburies, ZZ Top, U2, Chili Peppers, and I'm sure many more. I listened to Last Dance with Mary Jane while I was fixing it up to keep me motivated. If you ever see an interview with Mike Campbell you'll see his 1600 sitting right next to his Neve desk and sidecar for extra channels. Richard Dodd, Rick Ruben, Mike Campbell, Terry Manning and others have used them, sometimes along side and interchangably with Neve desks. Highly reccomended, there's got to be a few of them floating around Nashville.

Does anyone else have absolutely no idea what this does but still loves watching it

Freaking awesome!!!!! Beautiful board! I’m on the fence as well.

I'll represent the little guys here, I bought a Soundcraft Ghost for my studio mainly because I wanted to have the recording studio "look" when clients came in. It's been nothing short of fantastic. It's got great EQ's and the preamps sound great when driven, not to mention summing everything into it helps glue my mixes together. It's a blast using it and I couldn't imagine my workflow without it

Great advice!

great interview really enjoyable thanks man

I agree with him a million percent. I love the ssl board. Watching engineers mix and master on them for years and being able to fine tune vocals and instruments. Being able to access the nobs and switches manually. Its awesome.

I would be interested in a follow-up video, how it is hooked up and connected into the DAW. And how that workflow works between the DAW and console. This is something that has me intrigued too!

A neve/ssl/api console sounds amazing, however you need to remember that you'll need a LOT of cables !!! A machine room for the old ones (psu and comp), you'll need someone to take care of it and a lot of spare parts, power consumption and heat release are crazy, so AC on 24/7, and the big big part is recalls, when you need to recall a 64 ssl 4000, let say 45 minutes minimum..... Ok it sounds amazing but a big controller (s4 or s6) will give you the felling and analog outboard with digital control (WesAudio, bettermaker, tegeler audio) and summing mixer will give you something very close without all the cons

Just random scowling though you tube. Found this this guy is genuine love the studio love the set up. I went with focal treo 6. I love them.

I have a 48 input console and there is nothing like it .. it speeds up your workflow and allows you to do things you wouldn't otherwise and I've been making records with and without one at different points in my career for over 20 years.

Excellent interview!

Congrats on 100k Andrew! I was here on 16k!

The best two-three years of my life were spent at the MCI console in my brother's Tallahassee, Florida recording studio in the early-to-mid '70s.

I have a console. It's not a huge, noteworthy, or a super "talk-about-it" desk but it works really well for what I need. What do I need? I need preamps. I need EQs. I need routing options. The Allen & Heath GL4 I got from a church does a pretty good job of that. 4-band EQ with sweepable frequencies plus a high pass filter. 8 group outs and 10 Aux sends (I use 12 of those to feed signal to my interfaces). Sounds clean with a little softening as we approach the limit of our headroom. It's good and super useful. All that said, I'd probably get rid of it if I could get all capabilities covered: another 16 i/o interface plus the preamps/EQs to support all those input/output options (I often combine multiple console channels to one signal). The outs of that interface would support all the "send these things here and these things here and this thing here" the console supports for me. My control room isn't big so making a little extra space available by removing the console would be killer...but the costs to get to where I'd need to go are a little bonkers! So I plan to rock some kind of console as long as I can find some kind of console to do so. At some point this is going to be beyond repair (it's a console from 30 years ago already and it was - quickly after release - replaced by an upgraded version with a different power supply!) and I'll have to look into something else. I dig those smaller newer Tridents and (like everyone else) the newer API stuff!

32 ch Neve 5088. Soon I hope. Why? Because I want to. Nothing like sitting behind a console with everything right there and focus on the music.

I purchased a Yamaha RM 2408, I record through it for the analog aspect. I mix in the box. Just my work flow

Great interview. In a word "tactile" and regardless of what people say, the sound of an analog console on mix down and tracking. When I first started out, didn't take long before I got a D-bus for summing. The whole "in the box" thing wasn't for me. A lot of great stuff done, not for me. Then to RND 5059 for the channel count, then to a 5060 for the faders and center section. I tracked a ton thru that thing. Then one day I messed around and ran a stem out into a couple 512v's and heard the API thing on heavy guitars. Went to a 3124 MV, and that was all she wrote. I have a API Box II now and cherish that thing in my home studio. The sound of being to push the pre's when tracking is incredible, and I can't imagine tracking guitars without a API. The end to end sound of tracking and out thru in a 2 bus in analog. There's a connection there you just don't get any other way when your writing, playing and mixing thru a console. At least not for me.

Amazing. I’m looking at a Rupert Neve Designs Console 5088 right now.

I have a 32 channel Soundcraft Ghost with Creative Audio Labs rebuild. 72 inputs and very small footprint. Fast workflow. I mainly use it for summing but also some nice EQ and fast level tweaking. I plan to add a pair of CAPI audio bacons on after the main bus.

Yes and will when I can. I use Cubase and use it from the mixer view and I use the Abby Roads stuff.

So much great info in this video. My day gig is the audio guy for a TV station, but I've got a music back ground. There's no replacing the joy of working on a good console, but I understand the drawbacks of space and money. This vid does a great job of covering the debate of all the options. Keep up the great work.

@30:45 "Buy everything used that's practical" Console work flow is unequaled.

I got a console because of ergonomics (carpal tunnel makes itb suck for me) and the fact going hybrid I will have less option paralysis and there won't be any paywalled updates stopping it from working. I also have the knowledge and capability to repair analog gear. My console was 20 grand new, got it for 300 bucks with 3 working channels. Pulled each channel out and now everything is working other than 1 finicky fader and the meter bridge needs a little TLC still. This was far cheaper than a motorized fader setup. I also got several broke converters and repaired them and that's how I get it into the computer. I buy nearly everything used and potentially broken. I got 32x30 IO, a 26u rack of outboard gear, and the console with converters and I've spent maybe as much as a couple warm audio 1176s cost new.

Thats some great philosophy all over this episode, from gear buying to life.

I used to work on a Trident, which was since replaced with an SSL AWS. My full-time mixing days at a commercial studio are behind me and my home studio gets plenty of business and my overhead is practically zero. With the energy prices I wouldn't want to start up a console at home. I miss recording through a console, but recording through outboard stand-alone pre's or channel strips is more than enough. For mixing a decent controller with 8 or 16 faders is plenty. I have a lot of love for consoles - but I honestly wouldn't want to want to power it, let alone buy and maintain it, on my own dime.

I'd love to buy a console for real! The Audient consoles have been in my list of interest for quite a while. Not only the larger 8024 but also the smaller ones. I'd use them to record and mix but mainly for mixing.

A good desk glues your mixes and gives your audio a consist feel IMO

Got a 80's 16 channels Allen & Heath for tracking, works great so far. I should give it a try to mix with it

I’d love to have a 24 channel API but I’ll never have that kind of money lol. This day in age a hybrid setup with some 500 series gear and bus compressors will get you pretty close to that sound and feel. I was gonna go with outboard summing but watched a bunch of videos and did some research and Dan Worrall really opened my eyes that I don’t need it.

I have a console and I use a Tascam DM4800, which integrates beautifully with Pro Tools. I still have all my effects units from my tape days and a patch bay connects to the board. If I could own any mixing console it would be a 24 or 36 channel Neve Genesys console, I love the flexibility to mix in the box and to mix outside of the box. I also find that having a console makes complicated recording sessions with multiple musicians playing easier to manage, and your not popping into menus when things go wrong. My wish list!

cant afford socks anymore, but the mix should go hard. Win.

What do you know about the sterling sp30 condenser mic. I saw one used at my local music go round and want to get it for my friend? What your opinion

I finished the video, and now I want a console even more now! Soon!

Why did I watch this? Now I want a console and definitely can't afford one, nor do I have a way to ever justify owning one lol Love these videos, man, thanks for letting me live vicariously through you and your friends

we have an SSL G+ 4000 at my school and working on it the last few years has been a blast, if i could buy any console i would definitely want to try and find one of those

We can do so much in the box with outboard gear and a DAW, but there's still something hauntingly attractive and "contained" in a console. If I could afford one, I'd go for the Audient ASP4816- Heritage Edition for its price and versatility. A Neve or SSL would be delicious, but their price is too rich for my bank account.

Its a very expensive investment. Its beautiful and the sound is amazing. I would definitely get one if I was running a recording studio. No doubt about it...

Wow that’s literally the model console I learned on and loved it. I wish I could work with one again

I think the most important thing to think about when trying to invest in a console... is the amount of work that the price you spend or the loan you make to invest in something like a console is going to pay you back... more than evident in that it is a tool of the best... but is it worth it for the flow of clients? Successes always for all! Keep up the great work and all you do Andrew... Regards!

Well done . Can see your face and expression. Pure joy . Still I would have got a neve. Best to you

I would get Audient’s compact ASP4816: Heritage Edition console. Have to imagine that since its new it would be supported/warrantied for future maintenance and repairs.

I own a console! It is sooo much easier and faster to get sounds and get a balance on a console. And I just realized this dude is in Utah. I use their stuff all the time for soundtrack music. Great stuff. This guy knows his sht.

I’ve got a 28 channel (~60 input) MCI JH-528 coming in a week or so for my home project studio. Yes, it’s overkill- but it should sound really interesting. SSL’s grandfather

I had split 52 channel soundtrac console from 1980s in my recording studio but last year the right side went down so it went from 52 channel to 34 then this week i took last bit of the console out to clean it but dont know if i will put it back in when im done

I have a Neve 5060. It’s a small format console and has the same master section as the 5088. I absolutely love it for workflow, summing, and sound. It’s the bees knees. Highly recommend.

Garrett take a look at Ferrofish A32. Quality Pro Gear, A big bang for your buck. Many different configurations. The secret is out... Andrew awesome job keep up the good work.

Love your videos man keep it up your a inspection 😜

I always had some type of board for my production gear but my dream board is the SSL 4000

I once wanted a console but the repairs is a thing I don't want to deal with. I've been more interested in 500 series pieces especially with the Cranborne Audio Chassis where I can do a mixture of 500 preamps from any manufacturer. I'm working from home and I'm getting a studio next year along with I do mobile recordings so it's cooler to be able to take your 500 rack anywhere to record. Another thing that inspired me was the way your setup is where you have the Warm Audio as if you had a Neve console so that's dope!!!! I wish maybe I could've had a Neve or a MCI if I could/would have a console!!!

I bought a Rupert Neve 5088 that I’ve had for a year and a half now. I love it. It doesn’t have automation and it’s a pain to switch between recording and mixing, and it’s not practical to mix more than one song at a time. But, 30 minutes of re-rerouting the patch bay and setting console eq/comp based on iPhone pics is worth it to me. I don’t have deadlines, I’m doing this for fun, mainly for my own music and a few friends and local bands. The sound is amazing, it’s fun. I’ve recorded since the early 90’s a little bit before DAW’s were on the scene. So, I guess I’m mid-old school anyway. I’ve been obsessed with analog. The same way guitar amp modeling doesn’t work for me, I feel like outboard gear gives the mix imperfections and time that I don’t hear in the box alone. A console might be overkill, and I’ve stopped myself from expanding an extra 16 channels as it just doesn’t make sense for as good as DAW and plug ins really are. Those extra channels can be dealt with by mix downs on the box, especially as those tracks aren’t key. Running a full Drum kit through the console is amazing. Maybe route the snare to two busses, but parallel crush compression on the full kit just isn’t needed. The console and a little bit of bus compression is enough and there’s more clarity but still glue. I get that a console is not necessary these days, and it sounds like a lot of pro’s have moved away from them largely for the sake of faster workflow, saving settings, and ability to switch between songs, come back and make 100’s of tiny adjustments, cost, portability, etc… But, if you have the money and you like ‘real’ sound a console feels so good. .

Hi I bought a Studer 962 14x4 console. Killer for the money easy to work on Great EQ , tone and air to audio...

I’ve been obsessed by the idea of strapping a Louder Than Liftoff Silver Bullet mkII to SSL Big Six in an attempt to get console-like recording and sum/mix/master with maximum versatility and flavor (and actual portability) for well under $7k. I don’t need more channels, since I work in Eurorack with Expert Sleepers and UA Arrow as Aggregate, but if I did I would love to add Cranborne 500 ADAT to grow over the years. I can’t really justify any of that except by believing I love making music enough to deserve to hear world-class quality sound.

Last console I had was a yamaha dm2000 vcm. I know its not an analog beauty, but it was truly able to be fully recalled in every way in less than a second. And until they can do that on an SSL or a Never well I have no interest in going back out of the box.

SSL NEVE…. I am definitely a fan of tape too…. I had a live sound company I loved sound craft and Mackie but had an Allen Heath because of the long throw faders and better EQ.

Hey Jared, what do you think about SSL Big Six? Is it a great option? Thank you and congrats for your console!!!

I somehow ended up with Scott McMicken's (Dr. Dog) class A Yamaha PM-2000 that was the main showroom console at Mercenary Sound for many years. It's an incredible desk. Think API preamps with Neve EQs and a Telefunken summing matrix. Fletcher, the longest running owner of this desk, did some amazing work turning an already great sounding desk into this bigger than life sounding machine. I'm currently using it for tracking everything. Drums, grand piano, guitars, vocals, bass, literally everything. And I'm also summing my mixes through it, passing the insert point on the master out to my rack of master buss processing, and then printing it all back in the box with a great mastering converter. Funny enough, after the headache of getting it all together, it actually has made production... easier? Everything just sounds like a record so easily. And that's ultimately what I'm trying to do with anything I'm making for myself and other artists.

I want an SSL AWS 948. Personally, I wouldn’t want a full size console, 4000E/G or 9000. Just too big and too much time needed for recall. I grew up on a G (first 6 years of my career) and love it to death, but the efficiency of the AWS wins me over.

I ultimately want a high end project studio so if I were to get a console, I really think 24 channels is enough. Recording can be supplemented by 500 series pres and 24 should be enough for summing from a DAW with some thoughtful bussing in the box. Honestly right now my goal is a BigSix.

I would love own a console. But I would only record with it. I never used one for mixing and buying one to learn it is a bit big of step to take. So that’s why I could not justify the purchase. It’s a money versus time thing at this point.

I would buy a 64 channel SSL 4000 console because I need something to plug my MPC into. Seriously if I could, I would - fully knowing the responsibility. All the reasons - sound, workflow, preserving and advancing a tradition. The same reason I buy and restore motorcycles. They are badass.

awesome man!

Great viewpoint: I don't produce records, I produce people.

I have a Tascam M520 and it's a console. 20 channel 8 Bus, has a separate PSU, meter bridge, wood trim, endless routing. And I paid $400 for it. You don't need to buy an ssl to try out having a bunch of channels and eqs.

I actually own a 48 channel console Allen and Heath, Also use the Behringer MX8000 console in my smal studio setup. I own a 16 digital yamaha console as well. I am old school and would not set up my studio with out one

I have a Presonus Studiolive Series 3 mixer and I'm running Cubase 12 Pro. Right now it's my input interface but I'm hoping to get it to work for mixing on one day. I'm still having a lot of problems getting it to do this but if anybody has any way of miking it work, I"d love to learn how you do it.

Man I def want that new Audient ASP4816 HE. Compact and simple to use. Saving up for it now.

I.m the same just wait and the bargains will come

Patience and managing debt= maturity and success

21:43 Just give them some hope lol thanks bro real vibes

Which power Supply Did you end up picking up for the SSL?

I could only dream of having the space and ability to own a 48 channel ssl console....

11:42 Thats why analog will always sound better