Alan Steinberger

Hi Dave, and will do. That's actually where we did the double-blind shootout. There's a young Pilates trainer who was quite baffled when I asked her to position the two Spacestations while my back was turned (so that I wouldn't know which was the older/heavier one). By the way I gave out your name just last week for what was likely a dreadful rehearsal band. Sorry about that.

When testing I kept all the SSv3 settings on both units at noon, and only brightened up the Rhodes sound a bit via the Nord front panel. Didn't touch the Royal Grand piano EQ. Other than manufacturing variance or severe quality control issues, which seems unlikely, the only thing I can figure is that my needs (using this primarily as a stage monitor with large orchestras) generally top out at lower volume levels than those of you commenting on a big difference between original and Lite versions. Testing up to about 100 dB, I found effectively no difference between the two units, and my new one sounds the same as well. (Side note: my friend Chris, who helped with my testing, is a very happy CP4 owner. But he was blown away by the Nord/SSv3 combo, and the Royal Grand sample in particular.)

Oh, and fourth winner is that Nord Royal Grand 3D dummy head piano sample, first mentioned here by cphollis. That makes for an excellent pairing with the Spacestation's M/S reproduction.

Purchased a Spacestation Lite today. Same conclusion as with the unit I tested a week or so ago: the sound is either identical to or slightly brighter and clearer than my original. And 30.8 pounds is a winner. Second winner is that On-Stage RS4000 folding tiltback amp stand. Wish I had bought one at least a year ago, and not wasted so much time trying to make their tripod model suffice. Third winner is the suggestion (Aspen's, as I recall) that in small venues one should try aiming the Spacestation towards the back wall. What a difference!

It was only after Chris and I decided that any difference between the two Spacestations was a wank, or that we had an ever so slight preference for the sound of what turned out to be the new one. I then added a B1 bass module from my Bose L1 Model II system, powered by a PackLite Model A1 amp. I had it sitting several inches away from the front of the side speaker (stage left of the SSv3). I plugged the left side of the Nord into the A1, then came out its pass thru into the left input on the Spacestation. (The levels were a better match doing it this way rather than using the sub out.) Chris, sitting at the keyboard, didn't immediately notice the difference when I switched it on, but then missed the extra warmth the moment I switched it off. I'm going to play around, perhaps in a few days, with sending the bass module a groomed signal by way of a mixer send into an EQ, or a separate out from MainStage with a low pass filter inserted. Clearly there are better, certainly more versatile choices for use as a sub in a non-Bose setup; it's just what I had handy.

I had an opportunity to spend a few days testing the new slimmed down version of the Spacestation, and putting it up against my unit made nearly 2½ years ago. Long story short: in a double-blind shootout both I and a golden ears friend and colleague, keyboardist/composer Chris Rhyne, had a very slight preference for the sound of the new one as compared to mine. The new one has a fractionally clearer sound, the fact that it's about 9 pounds lighter is a huge benefit, and I love that the knobs no longer stick out slightly. In our testing the variables which made far more of a difference in sound, rather than the composition of the cabinet or difference in power supplies, were proximity to a wall, addition of a sub, or simply making minor adjustments to the onboard EQ on my Nord. Chris commented that he'd be delighted to take either Spacestation home with him.

I'm using the Spacestation as my stage monitor with the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl this evening for Back to the Future, and it's working great! Our golden ears FOH engineer came by before this morning's rehearsal and was blown away by the box. Cameras aren't allowed on stage, but if any YouTube videos surface later, I'm downstage right (behind the 1st violins), with the Spacestation directly behind me. http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets/back-future-concert-30th-anniversary/2015-06-30

Earlier this evening I had the pleasure of hearing Dave Ferris on my Nord/SSv3 setup in a 1000+ seat auditorium. I walked around the room as he was playing some jazz standards, and found that both tone and volume were remarkably consistent regardless of where I stood, not unlike what I've been used to with the Bose L1 (but in stereo). That was a nice sound check, and a lovely opportunity to hear a talented artist...

Dave, I've done several concerts on the Hall of Liberty stage at Forest Lawn. That room is so dead it's almost an anechoic chamber. (Fill in your own joke about playing in a funeral parlor.) I've added fairly liberal amounts of room reverb to my Nord piano, and while it's certainly not nearly as dramatic as a stereo Rhodes or swirly B3, at least the SSv3 manages to add back a bit of life to the sound. We have another concert coming up in a week and a half. You're welcome to swing by one of the rehearsals if you want to try my rig in that unforgiving space.

+1 to the Nord Electro. I have a gig coming up that specifically requires DX-style Rhodes. It's painful revisiting 1985 while auditioning those 6 operator FM synthesis samples.

A really good example of that would be the remote from the first generation of Bose L1 systems. It connected via 7 pin MIDI cable, and offered only tone and volume controls. I think I might still have one kicking around - I'll bring it and, for contrast, a Bose T1 (far more elaborate remote) over to Aspen's shop one day. In the meantime, has anyone experimented with varying the send to the two SSv3 inputs? I wonder if increasing or decreasing the right side relative to the left (or simply panning one's mixer output) would affect the perceived width.

Boy, did I misread that post. Amazing how one's mind tries to fill in missing letters...

Yes, it's stereo, hence "duplex". Radial makes several with Jensen transformers, but only one JDI Duplex. [Actually, upon looking at their site more closely they may be using duplex to refer to multiple inputs with summing, since they also have a JDI Stereo.] Always smart to use passive DIs even if your mixer has XLR outs and switchable output level...

Yes, I'm then reliant on the monitor's volume control unless I add another piece of gear post-DI. But when someone from the sound crew comes up and says "we're only getting one side of the keys", by monitoring off the DIs I know instantly if it's a problem on their end, not mine. But as you can tell by the scratched out bit in my previous post, I am considering changing things around. The MOTU UltraLite AVB has some awfully nice features, like being able to run the mixer from my iPhone or having a built-in high pass filter, and I want to incorporate more of them this summer.