Crane Song HEDD

[Aaron Smith]

Anyone used one of these? I read nothing but great things about them, especially the quality of the converters... I'm probably going to snag one of the Chamelon Labs bus compressors soon for use in my mastering chain (been thinking about it for a while), maybe one day upgrading to a Smart Research C2 or an SSL. If I'm going out to some analog gear with a whole mix, it would be nice to have good converters to do so, for many reasons, including the cleanest sounding clipping of snare transients on the way back in to the digital domain. The latest 192kHz versions of the HEDD are like $3,600 brand new, but since I record at 44.1, if I get lucky and find an older 48kHz HEDD, they go used for just over a grand or so...MUCH better!
Another question since I've already mentioned bus compressors... Does anyone have any experience with an Aphex Compellor, especially as a bus compressor? They go used for quite cheap and they sound very intriguing...

 

[Kazrog]

I've had the chance to check out the Crane Song Hedd while doing some assistant engineering and I will get the chance to again in a couple of days. I was very impressed with it, definitely go for the 48khz version if you can find it for a good price, well worth the investment!

 

[Aaron Smith]

Cool dude. If you have a chance to mess with it a little and report your thoughts, that would be much appreciated. I'm also curious as to how the triode, pentode and tape modeling on the HEDD would compare to using, say, the Massey Tape-Head saturation plug (which is supposed to sound cool on the master bus)...