Let's talk abour monitor controler

Mikaël-ange

Mikaël-ange

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Nov 7, 2008
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I'm on the the market for a new monitor controler.
Budget max 1k euros ( since i have more vital purchase to do i can't afford an avocet/dbus...).
Right now my choice is between spl 2control, ubk main gain+ the junction or a coleman.
Anyone have compared this 3 units?
Any others choice to consider ( i need 2 stereo out and one headphone out minimum).
Thanks
 
Dangerous Music D-Box gets a lot of praise. I considered the UBK, but the fact that it looks like a huge nipple from the 70's didn't exactly help. I ended up getting a Presonus Central Station and so far I'm really happy with it.

The thing about monitor controllers is, every single unit except the boutique controllers made by whichever company/person that happens to be in trendy at the moment get very mixed reviews about their sonics. I chose the CS because it's affordable, has great features and a shitload of big guys still use it.
 
I bought the 2Control.

No problems to speak of beyond the common stereo image drift at low levels. Otherwise clean, no pot-noise since it's an active path, and for all intents and purposes transparent.
 
i owned a big knob, central station and the SPL thing, all of them were ok but...big knob had the
uneven volume on left/right channel problem. the central station had the same problem an dit was very pooly build, not worth the price.
the SPL thing was ok but it also had the l/r issue and it felt kinda cheap for tha tmoney. plastic jacks, wobble pots etc.

using a coleamn m3ph mk2 atm and very happy with it, very clean and built like a tank+awesome retro vntage whatever look,
i love the bif white buttons, ratch, ratch, old casette recorder feeling! :lol:

cheers
S.
 
wutzington said:
What is better about a monitor controller than the volume control on your interface? Better DA?
Click to expand...

Depends on the controller, but generally more features (the ability of switching between different sources and speakers seamlessly, talkback etc.), often sonical superiority (the CS has a purely passive signal path) and overall more accurate volume control (I absolutely hate the stepped volume control on the Profire, and the CS offers level trim for each pair of monitors, which is handy).
 
Jarkko Mattheiszen said:
Dangerous Music D-Box gets a lot of praise. I considered the UBK, but the fact that it looks like a huge nipple from the 70's didn't exactly help. I ended up getting a Presonus Central Station and so far I'm really happy with it.

The thing about monitor controllers is, every single unit except the boutique controllers made by whichever company/person that happens to be in trendy at the moment get very mixed reviews about their sonics. I chose the CS because it's affordable, has great features and a shitload of big guys still use it.
Click to expand...

D-box look great but as writed before, no way I spend this amount of money in controler right now (need to buy more AD/DA converter, several patchbays, new monitors...etc).
I understand about UBK main gain look since I feel the same:lol:
But for that price, spec look awesome (Main gain+the junction).

CS color the signal path in a way I didn't like for my monitoring chain in analog. And the build in DA is far inferior to what I have and will upgrade.
My chain is actually PT>Digi96>monitor controler>monitor
And I will buy a mytek 96 DA just for monitoring so PT>digi AES out>mytek>monitor controler>monitor


Ermz said:
I bought the 2Control.

No problems to speak of beyond the common stereo image drift at low levels. Otherwise clean, no pot-noise since it's an active path, and for all intents and purposes transparent.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the imput Ermin.
I have to admit, I decided to add the SPL on my list after reading your comment about it...

Soultrash said:
using a coleamn m3ph mk2 atm and very happy with it, very clean and built like a tank+awesome retro vntage whatever look,
i love the bif white buttons, ratch, ratch, old casette recorder feeling! :lol:

cheers
S.
Click to expand...

I eared nothing but great review about Coleman. But find one in France is just a PITA.
Where have you order your, Mercenary?

wutzington said:
What is better about a monitor controller than the volume control on your interface? Better DA?
Click to expand...

DA is out of question in this price range because we speak about analog controler (except for CS).
But for me: multiple out switching, headphone out and volume control.
All this units are mostly designed for use with AD/DA converter than interface.
 
analgrinder333 said:
D-box look great but as writed before, no way I spend this amount of money in controler right now (need to buy more AD/DA converter, several patchbays, new monitors...etc).
Click to expand...

It's not that far off, actually. If you're a business you can get it brand new for around 1100€, and apparently the D/A's are pretty damn good, so you wouldn't need the Mytek for monitoring.
 
Yannick (St amans) use the dangerous controler and feel happy with it visibly. Same for Jens Bogren. But if you add remote price is going crazy...
 
I use a TC Electronic BMC-2 which is very nice, might not quite be what you are looking for as only one pair of outs are analogue the rest are digital but it takes digital input and works as a DAC which i like.
 
I've been pretty happy with the Central Station, you can't really beat the features unless you spend a lot more money. The digital input is a great thing to have and it sounds fine (can't say how the audio compares to the Coleman or SPL).

I agree that the build quality is not the greatest, but it's better than the Big Knob.
 
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