PIcs of your cribs..

JVC wrote:To vinyl_junkie_1620,

I want that Bozak mixer! What did you have to fix on the mixer? did you have to replace pots (did you just clean up the pots), etc? I don't think the those pots are manufactured anymore. Please tell us about the restoring process.

Hi mate, nothing to fix on the mixer but it does need a bit of a service.

It's a early silver one with the original mainboard without the FX loop, I could of had a later revision board but it's not a feature I need and can always later modify it.
It has 3x later version phono boards with the newer transistors, mic and output boards are original early ones as is the summing amp board.
It also has a rare true booth out board (newer type transistors) but at the moment I have not modified it to have a booth out so it's only acting as a Tape Booster.

The pots are original Allen & Bradly, early Bozak's had these fitted whilst later ones came with ALPS RK-40's also known as Black Beauty's (Urei 1620 and original Rane MP-2016 also used these but not the Urei 1620LE as by that time you couldn't get them any more so that uses RK-27's which are not as good)

I brought 8 New Old stock ALPS RK-40 to fit as the original pots are totally shot due to age.

I'm having it serviced by Justin at Isonoe, he's going to replace the PSU with a external one making the mixer almost silent (As standard it's already much more quiet than the Urei!)
He's going to replace all the pots, re-cap the whole mixer as they are all veery old and also fix a little weird issue I have with it... The tape out is 180 degrees out of phase!

After the service it should sound sweeeett and have a dynamic range close to that of a CD.

Any way... here is what it sounds like at the moment (I used something every one will know) Recorded with a very worn Grado DJ-200i
http://www.sendspace.com/file/utroga

Some more info on the external PSU
http://www.isonoe.com/custom-equipment.html

Here is a quick video of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vEJYo12 ... ature=plcp

Thank you for the info. I wish I could afford that.

I'm having it serviced by Justin at Isonoe, he's going to replace the PSU with a external one making the mixer almost silent (As standard it's already much more quiet than the Urei!)

How, that's amazing, an Urei mixer would be already good enough for me, LOL! I even miss Numark mixers (they used to make good inexpensive mixers) and GLi PMX-9000 that were made in Japan (it was used to be called "poor man's Urei", but it was a good mixer too). I miss electronics in 70s' and 80s', they were generally better made than today's pro-sumer products.

Now, I'm more interested to those isolation system for turntables (Isonoe sounds very Japanese, but I guess they are not?)
My Ikea desk (my SL-1200 Mk II is on the desk) is not very solid, so needle would skip even I just put my hands on the desk. I guess an easy solution would be to put something heavy and soild (like granite stone, not quite cheap though) under the turntable, but does anyone know any other cheap solutions?

JVC wrote:Thank you for the info. I wish I could afford that.

Now, I'm more interested to those isolation system for turntables (Isonoe sounds very Japanese, but I guess they are not?)
My Ikea desk (my SL-1200 Mk II is on the desk) is not very solid, so needle would skip even I just put my hands on the desk. I guess an easy solution would be to put something heavy and soild (like granite stone, not quite cheap though) under the turntable, but does anyone know any other cheap solutions?

How about an L bracket screwed to the desk and the wall? That should stop the desk from moving when you are using the turntable.

JVC wrote:Thank you for the info. I wish I could afford that.

I'm having it serviced by Justin at Isonoe, he's going to replace the PSU with a external one making the mixer almost silent (As standard it's already much more quiet than the Urei!)

How, that's amazing, an Urei mixer would be already good enough for me, LOL! I even miss Numark mixers (they used to make good inexpensive mixers) and GLi PMX-9000 that were made in Japan (it was used to be called "poor man's Urei", but it was a good mixer too). I miss electronics in 70s' and 80s', they were generally better made than today's pro-sumer products.

Now, I'm more interested to those isolation system for turntables (Isonoe sounds very Japanese, but I guess they are not?)
My Ikea desk (my SL-1200 Mk II is on the desk) is not very solid, so needle would skip even I just put my hands on the desk. I guess an easy solution would be to put something heavy and soild (like granite stone, not quite cheap though) under the turntable, but does anyone know any other cheap solutions?

Yea he's from the UK Those isolation feet are available from most DJ and hi-fi shops here but they are quite expensive albeit good, most clubs who are serious have them.

One cheap classic option is ashtrays with a load of stretched rubber bands


Stone is also good or also tennis balls cut in two

Numark was wicked in the day First mixer I mixed on was Numark, also had one my self later on... What was funny is that my cheapy Numark sounded better than the Pioneer DJM-600 which sounded like trash back then and still does now

2001 setup



Numark TT-100's, DM-3000x mixer, Stanton 680EL mk2 carts, Marantz PM-6010 OSE and Tannoy M1 speakers... ahhh the good ol' days

This was quite a step up from my KAM setup, the Numark's did me well

vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:...
One cheap classic option is ashtrays with a load of stretched rubber bands

Ahh, that's good idea, why I didn't know this before, LOL! I got to try that, I have to get the ashtrays!

vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:...
Numark was wicked in the day First mixer I mixed on was Numark, also had one my self later on... What was funny is that my cheapy Numark sounded better than the Pioneer DJM-600 which sounded like trash back then and still does now

Which Numark mixer did you have? those old Numark mixer looked good. Although those were manufactured in Japan, (which I didn't know back in the day) it was hard to find resellers in Japan. I believe those Numark mixers were available as imported products in late 80s' in Japan (I could be wrong though.)
Back in the days, I wanted to get a GLi PMX-9000, which was shown on DJ Red Alert's "We Can Do This" LP. But, I didn't know that the mixer was so big! (I'd still buy it if I see it in decent condition in used market.)

Jibber.....beautiful space man...I would never leave!!! It's clean without being TOO clean....just right...wow.

Thanks man! Actually i do rarely leave the place... well, i have to for work, and family visits, occasional parties, etc... but it's hard to get me out of there sometimes... ^

JVC wrote:To Jibber,

Damn, your room is classy... with all the dope samplers, your room looks like a sampling machine museum. By the way, do you have any of E-Mu ESI series? Is it good?

Actually you have a point with the museum... While i use the hardware i have, some of it has also sentimental/collectors value for me, like the MPC60, turntable, S950, tape machine, amp, the KX88 keyboard, etc... i enjoy looking at them and having them around, as much as i enjoy using them. So yeah, it's half living room studio, half museum...

The E-Mu sampler i have is an E4X (not the turbo version, but it's running 64MB RAM and the latest OS version). I use it mainly as a sound module. When i bought it, i got a few of the original E-Mu sound libraries on CDs, the instruments on there sound quite good. It's my first E-Mu sampler, all i can say is... the sound quality when sampling is the best i've heard yet (from all the samplers i tried), simply no comparison to the others... really good (but i prefer the coloration i get with the ASR, the E-Mu sounds very clean)! The stories about the filters in the E-Mu series is true by the way... the low pass filter is out of this world, very impressive! I once read a comment from some dude on a forum who wrote something like "I don't know what it is that they did at the E-Mu factories, but i suspect they sprinkled some fairy dust over the circuit boards", and i would agree with that now...

jibber,

I've been wanting to try those E-Mu samplers. I know I cannot afford SP-1200 or Emax, but ESI series seems to be good sampler and not expensive in used market. Despite good review (especially the sound), Akai S series samplers are much more in demand than those 16 bit E-mu rack mount samplers.

I can't speak for the ESI series to be honest since i don't have any experience with those.

I don't know if they'd make a good alternative for something like an SP (i'm saving money for one) or EMAX. If the ESI series is anything like the E4/6400 series, they will sound super clean. The E4X that i have doesn't add any colour to the sound when i sample into it... it's just very nice quality and super clean (like a really good pc soundcard), that's why i prefer the ASR. The thing i would buy the Emu for is the filters... from all the hardware i have, the filters in the E4X are by far the best... really really good!

Hope this helps, peace!

jibber, thank you for the info.

I don't think E-mu ESI series sound like Emax (which is totally OK with me) but I've read many user reviews that it sound warm (unlike MPC-2000XL) and the filter sounds great. If anything, ESI should be sound similar or almost identical to E4X or E6400, I think they share the same sound engine (please correct me if I'm wrong.)
E-mu E4X was more expensive than ESI samplers, and I don't know how it differs sonic wise. However, I've never seen anyone complaining about the sound quality of those samplers.

From what i understand (info taken from vintagesynth.com), the ESI series is much the same as the E4X/E6400/etc. but the ESI 32 model doesn't have the same filters unless you get one with the turbo expansion. It also has less memory.

I think if you can find an ESI 2000 or 4000, that would be a better buy. Those have the turbo expansion already installed.

I know what you mean about the prices, over here in switzerland the ESI series can be bought for very little money at the moment (i recently saw two ESI2000 sold together for less than 100 bucks).

I don't know about warm sound... i wouldn't say my E4X sounds like that, it's just that you don't lose anything like it seems to be happening with the akai samplers i've tried (2KXL is really the worst example). If i record a sample from vinyl directly into the machines, the 2KXL sounds thin, the newer MPCs sound much fuller, the E-mu on the other hand almost sounds as nice and clean as when i record something into Logic using an Apogee Duet. I've read comments like "they sound warm" about the E-mu sampler as well before, but honestly, it wasn't something that i noticed in particular... to me it's not warm sounding, but rather high quality, phat (ok, this could be perceived as warm too), clean, etc.

In comparison: The ASR has kind of a warm sound... it definitely colors the sound and seems to work very well on samples recorded from vinyl. My old tape machine adds warmth too (beside the natural compression) in my opinion.

I think an E-Mu sampler is nice if you're looking for something that will not degrade the sound quality of the samples you're recording, and most of all, if you want sweet sounding filters.

jibber wrote:...
I think if you can find an ESI 2000 or 4000, that would be a better buy. Those have the turbo expansion already installed.

I thought ESI 2000 and ESI 4000's turbo extension were optional board. Did they come with Turbo extension as standard?

jibber wrote:...
I don't know about warm sound... i wouldn't say my E4X sounds like that, it's just that you don't lose anything like it seems to be happening with the akai samplers i've tried (2KXL is really the worst example). If i record a sample from vinyl directly into the machines, the 2KXL sounds thin, the newer MPCs sound much fuller, the E-mu on the other hand almost sounds as nice and clean as when i record something into Logic using an Apogee Duet.
...

To me, MPC-2000's "cold" sound ("thin sounding" is right description I think, but I'd say "cold") can be interesting sound. At least It definitely sounds different than other non-Akai samplers.

Initially, I was totally underwhelmed by the 2000's "cold" sound, but now, I kind of like the way it is. To me, 2000XL's sounds like old FM synth like DX7. It may not necessary be a bad thing, but for hip hop production, it is not really desirable sound coloring... (as far as I know, 2000 Classic and XL sounds the same, I owned MPC-2000 classic before too.)

Who knows, one day, it is possible that many people will want that cold 2000XL sound, LOL!

That's what happened to Roland TR-909 and TB-303, initially people hated the sound.

Yes, from what i've gathered, the ESI2000 and 4000 have the expansion as standard, but don't quote me on this... it's just something i've read on the internet after all, not first hand experience.

I didn't want to say the 2KXL sounds bad necessairly, it's just that i was a bit shocked when i finally made a comparison for myself. Looking back, i made some nice beats on that machine, and it has the best pads ever and a really nice workflow! Maybe one day i will sample into it again, it's not like i hate it or anything... i still have two of them after all (one for parts if the other should ever show any problems).

jibber wrote:Yes, from what i've gathered, the ESI2000 and 4000 have the expansion as standard, but don't quote me on this... it's just something i've read on the internet after all, not first hand experience.

I didn't want to say the 2KXL sounds bad necessairly, it's just that i was a bit shocked when i finally made a comparison for myself. Looking back, i made some nice beats on that machine, and it has the best pads ever and a really nice workflow! Maybe one day i will sample into it again, it's not like i hate it or anything... i still have two of them after all (one for parts if the other should ever show any problems).

Nah say it man it sounds balls lol I know others love it but personally I don't

I got one my self and really don't like the sound but the workflow and price does it for me so it's a keeper.
I had my friends MPC-60 round mine for a few months whilst he was moving and fell in love with that machine.

I also have a EPS-16+ that again sounds wonderful.. I tried comparing my S-3200XL to the MPC-2000XL but could barely hear a difference meh lol
Whilst the S-1000 and 1100 are the best sounding old racks imo but this is discussed elsewhere on this board on why they are better... cost cutting ruined the 3x sound imo... Still wicked work horses though! I couldn't live without em'

I did a video with the MPC-2000XL and 3200XL comparing the sound then I later realized the sound difference was down to my mixer being errm broken hahah
Regardless on that broken input the 3200XL sounds nicer than the MPC hahah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGPVNHtGjfw

The EPS I hate to say it has that lovely warm sound... http://soundcloud.com/martin_bell/epsamerica2
That's all from the stereo out of my 16+, sequenced on it too and just recorded to cassette. Sampled all the synths and drums into it my self too.

Errm seeing as this is a gear pics might as well add this from last year when I was round my mates... some of my gear, some of his gear.. It's Mark Andrew's from this forum