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Re: Mixer with MIDI scene recall
At 8:43 AM -0500 10/30/06, Bill Fox wrote:
>mech wrote:
>>
>>Well, I think I've posted about it previously (check the archives
>>for full details) but there's the old Simmons SPM 8:2 from circa
>>1987.
>
>This unit is not universally appreciated:
><http://www.cassiel.com/space/Gearhead/Simmons+SPM+8:2>
Yeah Bill, I've seen that review previously. Some parts are spot-on,
but others are way off in left field.
Starting at the end and moving up, I'll agree completely that the
user interface leaves a good deal to be desired. Although I've done
the exact same button-pushing error and lost edits in exactly the
same manner... exactly twice in ~20 years. Honestly, it's a pain and
I was screaming at the little @#$%!'s when it did it -- make no
mistake. But after you've been burned by it, you don't do it again.
You punch the button with two fingers *hard* and wonder if you're
going to actually break the front panel (I've not yet; yes, I'm
shocked) but you bloody well don't lose edits from that point forward.
And I've never really had problems with tweaking the knobs unless I
mounted the unit sandwiched between two other larger units (and I've
got pretty big hands). What *is* a problem is adjusting the channel
gain attenuation on the SPM's rear panel if you've already mounted it
in a rack wired up all the 1/4" jacks. It's a little easier if you
unplug the channel next to the one you're setting up though. Luckily
the gain attenuation is pretty much "set & forget" once you've
finally(!) gotten it right.
However, I'll readily admit the UI is *not* the high point on the box.
The 'rumble' problem I've no clue about. Generally, any noise from
the unit is a sign of improper gain staging (I think I might've gone
into this in some detail in a previous post). But we're mostly
talking about channel hiss, not 'rumble' (???). Not feeding it
enough signal is also going to exacerbate the frequency curve problem
I mentioned previously. And zipper noise? I could understand zipper
noise were there any way to control it via MIDI continuous
controller, but MIDI CC isn't supported. I thought I remembered
hearing there were some small problems with software revision 1
(maybe there was some zipper noise on its initial release?). All
mine are on revs 2, 3, or 4, though, so no problems here. Otherwise,
that's a new one.
Also, I've never experienced overheating on any of the four units
I've got. Sure, they get warm, but I've left 'em on for days at a
time and they don't get warmer than any other unit -- about as warm
as our old Eventide H3000 used to get, IIRC.
I really think Nick got hold of a defective unit (is this the same
Nick from the Different Skies list?). I mean, the SPM 8:2 ain't
perfect by any means. Otherwise, they'd still be in my
front-of-house setup, rather than a couple of my supporting racks.
However, its typical problems -- and, as I mentioned previously, it's
not without some problems -- are rather different from what he seems
to have run into here.
--m.
--
_______
"No more building up; it is time to dissolve..."