Opinions on the Yamaha 01V

[Super 8]

This mixer seems to have a nice rep, but it has been on the market for a while now. Also, I've read that the 03D is a way better mixer for not much more $$$. Thoughts??? I'm considering using one as a mobile work-horse: Manual (hands on) mixing, mixdowns, front-end for digital recording. I [i]had[/i] been considering that new Behringer digital mixer, but a number of the posts I've read about Behringer have kinda cured me of that... Even though it looks like a really good deal... P.S. Please address my question BEFORE you rant about Behringer. -I know how you people can get. :mad:

[Valkyrie Sound]

What's your budget again? If you've got $2000 you can get a new Panasonic DA7 MK2 with a meter bridge from [url=http://www.fullcompass.com]www.fullcompass.com[/url] They only had a few left when I last heard anything... If not, go to [url=http://www.da7.com]www.da7.com[/url] and someone will know where you can find one. I HIGHLY recommend this board. A GREAT deal at 3 times the price. Heck... ask Craig. :) He loves his "7" too. :D Remember it also has motorized faders and HUI DAW control emulation as well! :) Sounds great... great converters, great sounding EQ and Dynamics. I use it on most of my classical recordings: [url=http://www.vsoundinc.com]www.vsoundinc.com[/url] I personally can't stand the O1V. I've done A/B listening tests on it and the analog input section sounds bad.... I don't mean "colored" in a "possibily" OK way... I mean bad. IMHO Folks here know I don't say gear sounds "bad" very often... I personally like a clean sound... but I know there's a place for "colored" sounding gear as well. The O1V can take a great sounding orchestra and make it sound like it went through some sort of modern "tin can" transmission system. As a digital router/patchbay/etc... I'm sure it's a great bang for the buck. Not my cup of tea.... ;) I'm sure it was a GREAT deal when it was first introduced a couple of years ago... These days you can get an older model higher quality/more features board at the same price. Valky

[Rog]

[quote]Originally posted by Valkyrie Sound: [b] I personally can't stand the O1V. I've done A/B listening tests on it and the analog input section sounds bad.... I don't mean "colored" in a "possibily" OK way... I mean bad. IMHO Folks here know I don't say gear sounds "bad" very often... I personally like a clean sound... but I know there's a place for "colored" sounding gear as well. The O1V can take a great sounding orchestra and make it sound like it went through some sort of modern "tin can" transmission system. [/b][/quote]I agree 100%. Shite desk at any price.

[Mr Darling]

I own an O3D and I can tell you that it does very well with inputs from outboard synths and stuff. But I've never use it as a front end. Anything remotly live (vocals, guitars etc...) goes through a dedicated preamp A/D into the Mac. Luckily we don't do drums here - but I'll never use the O3D for that. It is true though - the O3D have more inputs, more effects and lets face it - back in the days many people (including Roger) have came with quality mixes using the O2R (same quality jut bigger) Of course, now a days - they seem old, but they still work. And you can find very cheap second hands.. HTH Danny

[Super 8]

[quote]Originally posted by Rog: [b] [quote]Originally posted by Valkyrie Sound: [b] I personally can't stand the O1V. [/b][/quote]I agree 100%. Shite desk at any price.[/b][/quote]Wow! I'll say "Ouch" for Yamaha! I appreciate the referal for the Panasonic, Valky. I hadn't even considered that one. Full Compass seems to be drawing a blank on that one. They do offer a DA7 by Ramsa. By any chance is it the same one with a different name? My experience with Panasonic is limited to 3 DAT decks, about 4 or 5 years ago. They were for commercial use. I didn't own them. I was VERY pleased with their performance on the job. I indexed like crazy on those machines, and was their responsiveness was commendable. I was however, less then impressed with how often the decks required repair work. They were down far more often than seemed necessary. To be fair, I expected a lot from their shuttle mechanisms. I was doing things on them that would have been more suited to a DAW. So, I don't know. They worked so well. I just wish they would have worked 'so well' for longer periods of time... I only mention this because of the mechanics involved in the motorized faders on the DA7. What sort of reliability issues are we faced with? And repair-wise, how realistic is it to replace the parts that are likely to break or wear-out (fader motors, inputs)? These things aren't just soldered to a PC board are they??? Finally, I'm concerned about the DA7's road worthiness. Honestly, it's a bigger board than I wanted. That would be GREAT for a more permanent install, but this board is gonna be moving around. One day it may be running a PA, another day it may be providing D/A conversion for a laptop-based DAW. As such, I need lots of flexibility, and sturdiness. For the sake of ergonomics and to protect it, I really wanted to rackmount it into one large rack that would wheel around and hold the board, and my outboard gear. This is what appealed to me about the 01V and the Behringer, but NOW ya got me all hot-n-bothered about this DA7 with a nice meter bridge and all! Agh!!! Here's an idea someone should try: a modular digital mixer. A 1 or 2 space rackmounted black-box containing the brains that connects to your choice of patchbay connectors, and or choice of controller surfaces, plus a VGA monitor output, and connection to a computer. This way you can bring a nice full mixer wherever you go, with plenty of inputs, but the control surface (which is what makes up the footprint of any mixer) could be very large and comprehensive -if needed-, or as small as an EZBus. I could make great use of something like this. If we're going digital now, why adhere to old design conventions? This is why I play a Zendrum! Anymore thoughts/recommendations/smart remarks???

[Dan South]

For my two cents I think the 01V sounds fine. If you can clock it externally, it will sound three times as fine. It's a nice mixer if you want something compact and programmable. If you need a larger board, the WR-DA7 deal that Valky mentioned sounds like a steal. I haven't used an 03D, but I doubt that there's much difference. Keep in mind that the 03D is an older design than the 01V. I've heard some quirky stuff about the 03D, but I don't remember the specifics. The trick to getting a good sound out of a Yamaha mixer is to clock it externally. I can't stress that enough. With the 01V, you'll need an expansion card to do so, as it does NOT have a word clock input (bummer).

[RaGe]

Dan, how about clocking it thru SPFID or Lightpipe? Does that help much?

[Ed A.]

[quote]Originally posted by Valkyrie Sound: [b] I personally can't stand the O1V. I've done A/B listening tests on it and the analog input section sounds bad.... I don't mean "colored" in a "possibily" OK way... I mean bad. IMHO Folks here know I don't say gear sounds "bad" very often... I personally like a clean sound... but I know there's a place for "colored" sounding gear as well. The O1V can take a great sounding orchestra and make it sound like it went through some sort of modern "tin can" transmission system. [/b][/quote]I couldn't agree more. I used an 01V for several months and your description of its sound is right on the money. It made everything sound cold and metallic. Not to mention that its OS is the typical cryptic user un-friendly Yamaha design. I would have to say that the 01V is probably the worse sounding mixer I've ever used.

[Valkyrie Sound]

[quote]Originally posted by Super 8: I appreciate the referal for the Panasonic, Valky. I hadn't even considered that one. Full Compass seems to be drawing a blank on that one. They do offer a DA7 by Ramsa. By any chance is it the same one with a different name?[/quote]Ugh... yeah.... RAMSA is the pro audio division of Panasonic... it's the same thing... Full Compass didn't know that? :eek: OK... :rolleyes: [quote] I was however, less then impressed with how often the decks required repair work. They were down far more often than seemed necessary. To be fair, I expected a lot from their shuttle mechanisms. I was doing things on them that would have been more suited to a DAW. So, I don't know. They worked so well. I just wish they would have worked 'so well' for longer periods of time... [/quote]A DAT deck is a DAT deck. The DAT format itself was never designed as a professional format. It was designed as a consumer format. 2 tracks each less the the width of your hair wide... causes all sorts of alignment issues! DAT decks are always in need of repair... no matter the brand but if I had to buy one I'd probably buy the Panasonic. [quote]I only mention this because of the mechanics involved in the motorized faders on the DA7. What sort of reliability issues are we faced with? And repair-wise, how realistic is it to replace the parts that are likely to break or wear-out (fader motors, inputs)? These things aren't just soldered to a PC board are they??? [/quote]From my own experience from 3 different boards: 1. My new MK2 is only about 6 months old... no problems 2. One original DA7 I work with 4 years old... clean studio enviroment... no problems. 3. Another original DA7 I work with all the time... 4 years old... somewhat dusty recording/FOH loft.... no problems. I've never had to replace or repair a fader...so I guess I don't know! :) You can ask over at [url=http://www.da7.com]www.da7.com[/url] to see if anyone else has had a problem. Really... just keep it clean. [quote]Finally, I'm concerned about the DA7's road worthiness. Honestly, it's a bigger board than I wanted. That would be GREAT for a more permanent install, but this board is gonna be moving around. One day it may be running a PA, another day it may be providing D/A conversion for a laptop-based DAW. As such, I need lots of flexibility, and sturdiness. For the sake of ergonomics and to protect it, I really wanted to rackmount it into one large rack that would wheel around and hold the board, and my outboard gear. This is what appealed to me about the 01V and the Behringer, but NOW ya got me all hot-n-bothered about this DA7 with a nice meter bridge and all! [/quote]Well.... We used about 20 of the DA7 MKIIs at the Winter Olympics (Panasonic being a big sponsor).... They got moved around through freezing temperatures for about 3 months... no problems. They didn't get moved around a lot out of their road cases... but they did have to ship them in to SLC, to each venue, and back out. You'll need a good road case for this board... no digital mixer is going to be as tough as something DESIGNED only for FOH and road gigs. So... it's moderatly rugged..... It will need a little extra care. Is there a reason you are only looking at digital consoles right now? You can get something big like the DA7 for your studio and get a Soundcraft analog for the road (12 channel versions with direct outputs for recording start at $700). Otherwise, have you looked at the Tascam DM24? I don't know of many digital mixers that might be rack mountable.... [quote]Anymore thoughts/recommendations/smart remarks???[/QB][/quote]Always a smart remark! :D Valky

[DC]

[quote]Originally posted by Super 8: [b][QUOTE]Here's an idea someone should try: a modular digital mixer. A 1 or 2 space rackmounted black-box containing the brains that connects to your choice of patchbay connectors, and or choice of controller surfaces, plus a VGA monitor output, and connection to a computer. This way you can bring a nice full mixer wherever you go, with plenty of inputs, but the control surface (which is what makes up the footprint of any mixer) could be very large and comprehensive -if needed-, or as small as an EZBus. I could make great use of something like this. If we're going digital now, why adhere to old design conventions? This is why I play a Zendrum! Anymore thoughts/recommendations/smart remarks???[/b][/quote]I haven't heard them, but you might check the Roland stuff. They make several digital mixers that interface with a large black box with all the connectors. I'm pretty sure you can get different sized boards that connect to the box via R-bus.

[Valkyrie Sound]

BUMP: Super 8 I just wanted to make sure you saw this... Valky