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essexnexus « Fantastic piece of gear »
Published on 10/13/14 at 02:16I purchased this second-hand as an upgrade to my monitoring chain from my Mackie Big Knob. Buying it used, along with the money I got from the salie of the big knob, made this a fantastic purchase.
One thing that I truly loved and became accustomed to on the Big Knob was the 'dim knob' feature. With it, my workflow drastically improved. After long hours, I can help avoid fatigue by monitoring with my PMCs while using the dim knob feature in order to hear bass perfectly, even at low volumes. This key feature of the big knob was a must-have for me, and drastically narrowed my options for a higher end monitoring controller. SPL was one of the few controllers that made the cut and, ultimately, sold me.
Another feature I was aware of yet had little experience with until making this purchase was the Latency Free Cue Mix feature for tracking musicians. It's an extremely easy-to-use future that blends the musicians' track and the track mix with one knob, making it easy to accentuate the ideal blend for your tastes.
The build quality is truly top, with a robust and druable feel to the knobs. They truly addressed every possible feature. Everything is labled upside-down on the back so you can easily read it while peering over the top
. It comes complete with talk back, talkback remote switch, slave output, and headphone out.
One potential negative (or positive, depending on how you look at it), is the fact that the MTC doesn't use speaker trims. This is a negative because you have to use the trims on your monitors in order to properly set levels (which can get tricky). The positive spin to having to do this is that it helps the SPL dispense with additional circuitry in order to keep everything to a minimal sound path, maintaining a higher sound quality. Once it's all set up, the sound quality is fantastic.
The only other negative I could complain about is perhaps some scratchiness to a few of the switches and one knob. As mine came used, I don't know if this is a typical issue or unique to my specific unit. Regardless, I'm very impressed with the overall quality and ergonomics of the MTC. While I enjoyed the Big Knob, this was an upgrade that truly left me with no regrets. Highly recommend.
One thing that I truly loved and became accustomed to on the Big Knob was the 'dim knob' feature. With it, my workflow drastically improved. After long hours, I can help avoid fatigue by monitoring with my PMCs while using the dim knob feature in order to hear bass perfectly, even at low volumes. This key feature of the big knob was a must-have for me, and drastically narrowed my options for a higher end monitoring controller. SPL was one of the few controllers that made the cut and, ultimately, sold me.
Another feature I was aware of yet had little experience with until making this purchase was the Latency Free Cue Mix feature for tracking musicians. It's an extremely easy-to-use future that blends the musicians' track and the track mix with one knob, making it easy to accentuate the ideal blend for your tastes.
The build quality is truly top, with a robust and druable feel to the knobs. They truly addressed every possible feature. Everything is labled upside-down on the back so you can easily read it while peering over the top
. It comes complete with talk back, talkback remote switch, slave output, and headphone out.One potential negative (or positive, depending on how you look at it), is the fact that the MTC doesn't use speaker trims. This is a negative because you have to use the trims on your monitors in order to properly set levels (which can get tricky). The positive spin to having to do this is that it helps the SPL dispense with additional circuitry in order to keep everything to a minimal sound path, maintaining a higher sound quality. Once it's all set up, the sound quality is fantastic.
The only other negative I could complain about is perhaps some scratchiness to a few of the switches and one knob. As mine came used, I don't know if this is a typical issue or unique to my specific unit. Regardless, I'm very impressed with the overall quality and ergonomics of the MTC. While I enjoyed the Big Knob, this was an upgrade that truly left me with no regrets. Highly recommend.