#1683873 - 09/28/05 02:02 PM
Innertube Audio Atomic Squeezebox: yer kidding, right?
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J.J. Blair
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Registered: 07/22/05
Posts: 326
Loc: Hollywood, CA
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A friend of mine brought one of these over yesterday to demo. Without incriminating him, we'll just say that he's a very big time engineer and producer. We ran a few things through it: Different types of vocals, bass, kick, snare, drum buss, etc. All I'll say is that if I'm going to drop that much money on a piece of gear, it better have a 'sound'. I keep hearing how 'transparent' it is at -40db of reduction. Who the fuck wants that? In fact, even when we tried to get a 'sound' from it on vocals, it never materialized. (Mind you, these mono units list at $4500 dollars.) The only thing where I found it could really come in handy and did some rather cool things was on the kick drum, but I don't know that it did anything I couldn't achieve with a Urei a Neve or a vari-MU type of compressor. But that was the only instrument where I really satisfactorily really was able to change the sound of the signal. The drum buss came out nice, but nothing out of the ordinary. It just made the snare smaller and took away the transients. For a name like "Atomic Squeezebox" I was expecting some crazy shit.
But I figured, for $4500 for the mono unit, there must be something special going on inside, so we opened it up. All I can say is, you've GOT to be shitting me. The circuitry and wiring job really looked DIY. I wish I had taken a picture. I know techs who would be embarassed if their work looked like this. First off, one of the parameter switched made a horrible static surge type noise every time we clicked it. There was what appeared to be an A24 type output transformer, but I don't know if it was genuine UTC or something new. All NOS RCA tubes, which I didn't want to pull to find out which model numbers because the tube sockets did not seem to be mounted too sturdy. The only one I could plainly see was a 12SN7. But like I said, we were both kinda shocked at the assembly job. More bro than pro.
But our biggest objection? NO BYPASS SWITCH! Who the hell builds a $4500 mono comnpressor and forgets to put a bypass switch on, so you can hear what's happening?
I mean, with as much as people rave about this thing like it's the second coming, we were both shocked about how luke warm it left us feeling. For that price, I'll take a RCA BA6A or a Universal Audio 176, with a fraction of the parameters and ten times the character.
But that's just me. If I want colorless processing, I'd be buying Millenia boxes or mastering type processing. You might have a different opinion if you've used the thing, so feel free to speak up. I know Fletcher is a fan.
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Friends don't let friends act like rockstars.
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#1683874 - 09/28/05 09:02 PM
Re: Innertube Audio Atomic Squeezebox: yer kidding, right?
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J.J. Blair
Senior Member
Registered: 07/22/05
Posts: 326
Loc: Hollywood, CA
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It gets better. I was just told of an instance in which one of these units caught on fire while in use. I guess I forgot to notice there wasn't a UL sticker on the back! That heat disspation will get you everytime.
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#1683875 - 09/28/05 09:38 PM
Re: Innertube Audio Atomic Squeezebox: yer kidding, right?
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Kendrix
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 09/06/01
Posts: 2150
Loc: Rochester,NY,UNITED STATES
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There you go again - using your ears.
What a troublemaker.
Yeah it may not have a sound - but what a name for a product.
Isnt that worth something?
Folks need to get a return on their marketing hype - dont they?
Buyers beware or they'll grab you by the short hairs.
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#1683876 - 10/03/05 05:03 AM
Re: Innertube Audio Atomic Squeezebox: yer kidding, right?
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BrianK
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Registered: 12/17/00
Posts: 228
Loc: Los Angeles,CA,UNITED STATES
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Sounds like not the box for me either, but I know some people would love that. NO "sound"!
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#1683877 - 10/03/05 10:46 AM
Re: Innertube Audio Atomic Squeezebox: yer kidding, right?
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J.J. Blair
Senior Member
Registered: 07/22/05
Posts: 326
Loc: Hollywood, CA
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Somebody told me, "If I want it to sound transparent with -20 db of reduction, I'll just pull my fader down 20 db!
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