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moosers
Published on 01/02/11 at 10:32
The Crane Song STC-8 is a high end stereo compressor/limiter for mixing and mastering purposes. It's an analog piece of equipment that has XLR connections for it's inputs and outputs. I don't really know the rest of the connections as I just know that we have it hooked in via XLR our studio's mastering room. It is rack mountable and will take up two spaces in a traditional casing.
UTILIZATION
There are a ton of parameters with the Crane Song STC-8! Each channel gives you control over the following parameters: peak threshold (for limiting), threshold, attack, release, shape, metering, gain make up, and preset, which gives you a variety of different types of compression and is the area that really makes the STC-8 versatile. You can use the channels separately or on there own. The manual is pretty complete and should be able to answer any questions you might have about the STC-8.
SOUND QUALITY
I've never heard anything quite like the Crane Song STC-8. It simply sounds that good! I've only used it for mastering purposes since the studio that I work at has it set up in our mastering room, but it's certainly useful for mixing as well. The problem is that it's so expensive that it's really not worth having unless it's for mastering. Either way, this thing really sounds incredible and is perfect for giving your mixes a major boost in clarity, volume, and for limiting purposes. I don't do too much mastering myself, but if I do I'll try to get in there to use the STC-8 since it can give you an almost instant boost.
OVERALL OPINION
The Crane Song STC-8 is about as expensive as you'll find any piece of outboard gear. Of course, mastering gear is usually going to cost more since it's made cleaner and it's more imperative to have absolutely no noise. You can actually get this in a few different versions, with detented outputs for further output clarity. If you're a professional mastering engineer putting together a studio, there's no better place to start than with a Crane Song STC-8.
UTILIZATION
There are a ton of parameters with the Crane Song STC-8! Each channel gives you control over the following parameters: peak threshold (for limiting), threshold, attack, release, shape, metering, gain make up, and preset, which gives you a variety of different types of compression and is the area that really makes the STC-8 versatile. You can use the channels separately or on there own. The manual is pretty complete and should be able to answer any questions you might have about the STC-8.
SOUND QUALITY
I've never heard anything quite like the Crane Song STC-8. It simply sounds that good! I've only used it for mastering purposes since the studio that I work at has it set up in our mastering room, but it's certainly useful for mixing as well. The problem is that it's so expensive that it's really not worth having unless it's for mastering. Either way, this thing really sounds incredible and is perfect for giving your mixes a major boost in clarity, volume, and for limiting purposes. I don't do too much mastering myself, but if I do I'll try to get in there to use the STC-8 since it can give you an almost instant boost.
OVERALL OPINION
The Crane Song STC-8 is about as expensive as you'll find any piece of outboard gear. Of course, mastering gear is usually going to cost more since it's made cleaner and it's more imperative to have absolutely no noise. You can actually get this in a few different versions, with detented outputs for further output clarity. If you're a professional mastering engineer putting together a studio, there's no better place to start than with a Crane Song STC-8.