Need 1U Rack gear. What should I get?

[thecontrolcentre]

The last 1U rack unit I got (partly to fill an 8U rack) was a Samson SM10 Line Mixer. It has 8 stereo line inputs with stereo effects/monitor send & returns. When my main desk ran out of inputs it turned out to be great little sub-mixer for everything in my SKB case (as well as my hi-fi and Elektron desktops). In this photo it's 3rd from the top in the case


tcc_studio_2022.jpg

Another excellent suggestion. Having compact submixers in your system is incredibly useful. How does it act when overdriving the inputs?

There are no gains on the SM10's channels, just volume, balance and 2 aux sends. I haven't tried to overdrive the inputs ... altho' inputs 1 & 2 do have XLR/line combo inputs with a button to switch the input gain, so maybe they could be set to mic in and sent a strong line level signal (?)

[DrGonzo]

Thank you all for all the valuable suggestions and for keeping the thread constructive and inspirational. You guys are legends.

I settled with a TC Electronics Fireworx!
It will be my first TC and I am really excited to try a new flavour of effects outside the world of Lexicon and Eventide.

/Carl

[thecontrolcentre]

TC Electronics Fireworx

Awesome. Have fun.

[Big Mouth Strikes Again]

How about a Yamaha TX81Z
https://reverb.com/c/keyboards-and-synt ... unt-synths

or some other like an Oberheim Matrix 1000 there on first page.

Or just get a black rack plate panel to fill the void....

i hadn't thought of the TX81Z even though I used to own one back in the day. There are so many DX-7 software emulations that include all of the additional waveforms in the TX81Z that I think you would be better off with a software FM synth.

But the Matrix-1000 is a solid choice.

Although the single rack space Dave Smith Poly Evolver Rack has gotten REALLY expensive, it's a one of a kind synth that sounds super aggressive but in a very musical way.

The Roland MKS-50 sounds great and is more affordable. It's basically the rack mount version of the Alpha Juno 2.

If you want an FX unit rather than a synth, you can't go wrong with a Lexicon PCM70 reverb. It's an absolute classic that sounds amazing. This is something that you will hang on to for the rest of your life.

You could also buy two BOSS half rack multi-FX, the SE-70 and the VF-1. Both of these units are very characterful with a bit of a lo-fi vibe to them. The SE-70 includes real analog distortion circuits, an awesome digital phasor, and a lo-fi reverb that oozes character. The VF-1 is a bit more hi-fi. It includes some really nice FX algorithms including Roland COSM amp modeling technology. The reverb sounds much better than the one in the SE-70.

[DrGonzo]

You could also buy two BOSS half rack multi-FX, the SE-70 and the VF-1. Both of these units are very characterful with a bit of a lo-fi vibe to them. The SE-70 includes real analog analog distortion circuits, an awesome digital phasor, and a lo-fi reverb that oozes character. The VF-1 is a bit more hi-fi that includes some really nice FX algorithms including Roland COSM amp modeling technology. The reverb sounds much better than the one in the SE-70.

I used to own a BOSS SE50 when it was new, but I never tried the SE70. Fun multi effects is pretty much all I remember from it. And it had a vocoder, which was a bit rare at the time

[Big Mouth Strikes Again]

I used to own a BOSS SE50 when it was new, but I never tried the SE70. Fun multi effects is pretty much all I remember from it. And it had a vocoder, which was a bit rare at the time

I also had a BOSS SE-50. However, I quickly sold it after I purchased my SE-70. As I mentioned in my earlier post, the SE-70 features analog distortion circuits that provide multiple types of distortion. It sounds rad.

The SE-70 was one of the last multi-FX units to include analog distortion. Overall, the SE-70 has better sounding FX than the SE-50. The reverb in both units is pretty awful by modern standards. But the reverb in the SE-70 seems to have more character. It's still crap. But an oddly pleasing pile of crap.

[DrGonzo]

The SE-70 was one of the last multi-FX units to include analog distortion. Overall, the SE-70 has better sounding FX than the SE-50. The reverb in both units is pretty awful by modern standards. But the reverb in the SE-70 seems to have more character. It's still crap. But an oddly pleasing pile of crap.

Back then I didn't know anything about anything, but even at that time the reverbs didn't interest me at all. But maybe today they would - I'm starting to really appreciate old crappy reverbs. Unless of course they are crappy crappy reverbs

[ghettosynth]

The SE-70 was one of the last multi-FX units to include analog distortion. Overall, the SE-70 has better sounding FX than the SE-50. The reverb in both units is pretty awful by modern standards. But the reverb in the SE-70 seems to have more character. It's still crap. But an oddly pleasing pile of crap.

Back then I didn't know anything about anything, but even at that time the reverbs didn't interest me at all. But maybe today they would - I'm starting to really appreciate old crappy reverbs. Unless of course they are crappy crappy reverbs

I still ow both an SE-50 and an SE-70. They're ok. The SE-70 guitar tones sound like what you'd expect. I don't prefer them over my Alesis Q2 or Wedge from the era. I'd put three micro-limiters, or, two micro-limiters and a micro-verb in the space.

[Big Mouth Strikes Again]

Back then I didn't know anything about anything, but even at that time the reverbs didn't interest me at all. But maybe today they would - I'm starting to really appreciate old crappy reverbs. Unless of course they are crappy crappy reverbs

They're pretty crappy.

[Big Mouth Strikes Again]

I still ow both an SE-50 and an SE-70. They're ok. The SE-70 guitar tones sound like what you'd expect. I don't prefer them over my Alesis Q2 or Wedge from the era. I'd put three micro-limiters, or, two micro-limiters and a micro-verb in the space.

The SE-50 is crappy crap. I bought mine because of the vocoder which was surprisingly usable.

With the exception of the artificial sounding reverb, the multi FX in the SE-70 have a pleasing lo-fi charm. The chorus is decent, the phasor is excellent, from what I can remember the delays sounded good if I rolled off the top end, and the compressor is serviceable at best.

Having said that, I think the SE-70 is greater than the sum of its parts. If you use one of its multi FX chains, you can create a complex chain of FX that will add a lot of character to any input signal.

[Uncle E]

i hadn't thought of the TX81Z even though I used to own one back in the day. There are so many DX-7 software emulations that include all of the additional waveforms in the TX81Z that I think you would be better off with a software FM synth.

Plus, doesn't sound as good as the early DX100's.

But the Matrix-1000 is a solid choice.

Tauntek firmware upgrade is incredibly cheap and easy to install. It fixes everything wrong with the Matrix-1000. Awesome choice.

Although the single rack space Dave Smith Poly Evolver Rack has gotten REALLY expensive, it's a one of a kind synth that sounds super aggressive but in a very musical way.

Poly Evolver is difficult to program even with the knobs.

The Roland MKS-50 sounds great and is more affordable. It's basically the rack mount version of the Alpha Juno 2.

Alpha Juno 1 is the one to get for hoover/dominator sounds. MKS-50 doesn't have the same sound.

If you want an FX unit rather than a synth, you can't go wrong with a Lexicon PCM70 reverb. It's an absolute classic that sounds amazing. This is something that you will hang on to for the rest of your life.

Or PCM60! Great reverbs, both.

[Uncle E]

I still ow both an SE-50 and an SE-70. They're ok. The SE-70 guitar tones sound like what you'd expect. I don't prefer them over my Alesis Q2 or Wedge from the era. I'd put three micro-limiters, or, two micro-limiters and a micro-verb in the space.

Les Claypool recorded vocals on early Primus records through a Micro Limiter.

[DrGonzo]

Tauntek firmware upgrade is incredibly cheap and easy to install. It fixes everything wrong with the Matrix-1000. Awesome choice.

I just checked the prices for the Matrix 1000 and damn! Total shocker. Last time it was on my radar people where throwing them out for 200-300 bucks.

[ghettosynth]

Tauntek firmware upgrade is incredibly cheap and easy to install. It fixes everything wrong with the Matrix-1000. Awesome choice.

I just checked the prices for the Matrix 1000 and damn! Total shocker. Last time it was on my radar people where throwing them out for 200-300 bucks.

Right? I've got some gear hanging around that I was going to ...eventually... get around to modding for this or that. Seems like some of it is now worth too much to mod.

[Big Mouth Strikes Again]

The Matrix-1000 is a solid choice.

Tauntek firmware upgrade is incredibly cheap and easy to install. It fixes everything wrong with the Matrix-1000. Awesome choice.

I have a different firmware upgrade in my Matrix-1000 that I installed over 10 years ago. It only fixes a few of the bugs. I will definitely check out the Tauntek upgrade. Thanks for the heads up!

Although the single rack space Dave Smith Poly Evolver Rack has gotten REALLY expensive, it's a one of a kind synth that sounds super aggressive but in a very musical way.

Poly Evolver is difficult to program even with the knobs.

Trying to program the Poly Evolver Rack from the front panel is pure torture. That's why I sold mine and bought a Mono Evolver Keyboard. I like the size of it. And mine is the encoder version which I greatly prefer to the pots edition.

The Roland MKS-50 sounds great and is more affordable. It's basically the rack mount version of the Alpha Juno 2.

Alpha Juno 1 is the one to get for hoover/dominator sounds. MKS-50 doesn't have the same sound.

I was never into that hoover sound. Plus, I have a Virus T12 keyboard that includes at least 100 hoover patches.

If you want an FX unit rather than a synth, you can't go wrong with a Lexicon PCM70 reverb. It's an absolute classic that sounds amazing. This is something that you will hang on to for the rest of your life.

Or PCM60! Great reverbs, both.