Brand New
32 main channels with eq and as many aux sends as possible
Something g quiet and clean.
Silent power supply
2m wide max.
We have tons of good outboard so don’t need dynamics or a bus comp.
Whats out there that’s not crazy money.
SSL Origin
Harrison
???
Looking at investing in a console for Studio B.
To pair with my Studer 24 track 2 inch tape machine.

new or used? inline? features (stereo inputs, subgroups, vca's etc.)? patchbay? (semi-)automated? budget? - if you intend buying new, i can strongly recommend ark: https://www.arkconsole.com/

New
32 chs with eq
Mixing only
Lots of aux sends
Not crazy money (ie. not expensive)
Don’t need dynamics.
Silent power supply.

'not crazy money' is still a fairly wide range...

anyway, since it will be for mixing, you want a capable eq and lots of auxes, live desks come to mind - trouble is they don't make them anymore so you'd need to buy used; good news is that they've become very affordable...

(yamaha pm-4000/5000, klark/midas xl-3/4/heritage3000, maybe some newer soundcraft etc.)

32 channel live desk $1200

32 channel inline recording desk $20,000

What I'm about to say is not based on any personal experience with the item, so you may rightly take this with a grain of salt, but....the Daking recording console certainly seems impressively capable, and it appears to have gotten very positive assessments from those who have used it. Probably worth a look.

Here's a thread about it:

The DAKING MKII Review: By Skip Burrows

I think the SSL Origin is pretty nice..if you have the cash, but I'm kinda choked they got rid of the lpf in the eq. I guess you could always do that ITB.

The Dakings are awesome - but it's $100k Australian for 32 channels (at least it was around 5-6 years ago when I asked!).

what means crazy money?

Anyway the 3 best choices today for my personal taste would be:

1. Daking Console Mk2 (easy to fix and sounds great, routing is fantastic)... obviously not cheap BUT they include the patchbay which is a BIG deal indeed.

2. the new Harrison 32 Classic

3. the Ark console mentioned above

I'd still look for used ones honestly, or see if a well restored MCI 400 or 500 console (by Chris Mara) could be found somewhere.

howdy

Cheu

is this a commercial studio looking to attract outside clients?

if so, i would go with the SSL Origin, all else being equal. paraphrasing a honda commercial, it's the studio console that sells itself.

there are a lot of component circuits inside a large format console. buying a new Origin with brand-new components will hopefully keep service tech calls away for many years.

a good equalizer is going to be $500 or more per channel. 32 channels, and you are at $16000 or more just for the equalizers. if you price a good preamp at $500 each, that's another $16000 for the preamps. so you are at $32000 for 32 preamps/equalizers. then you add the power supply, probably $2000. add in the faders, the meter bridge, the bus compressor, the enclosure, all of the routing, engineering, etc. $55,000 for a 32 channel Origin is not outrageously priced when you factor all of the components that comprise it.

He did say "mixing only".

In which case, everyone knows my view - mixing on a console is dead unless you can 100% dictate terms, which is not the case for anyone working commercially.

As far as a versatile studio centrepiece - I totally agree with you. The Origin is a lot of money, but it's not necessarily "Expensive" for what you get.

The plan is to stay analog
Track to tape
Mix off tape thru an analog console
I chatted with a high end mate of mine last night
His words ‘don’t get caught up in the hype’
I’m seriously considering an A&H live desk
32 ch ML4000
12 x aux
8 x groups
8 x VCA
Quiet noise floor
Nice and clean.

If you're considering a live desk, while the A&H is a good desk, I'd probably look for a Midas XL3 or XL4 or a 3000 or Soundcraft MH4 or the Series 5, they are excellent.. depends if you can live or like the routing of the Midas (or A&H or Soundcraft).
The Soundcraft is somewhat "cleaner" than the Midas.. Midas has its own thing going on.

With that said routing and workflow was always GREAT with A&H live desks... they were well made too.

I had a Soundcraft 8000 in the studio, with tape machines too..

while the Soundcraft is a pretty decent sounding desks the big plus of the 8000 for me was its very simple and direct workflow that suited my way of working back then.. so the workflow IS a big deal, especially when working in an "old school" way..

Obviously with ANY analog desk in 2024, the condition and if it's been recapped and properly maintained is important to know, and you'll probably need a tech going through the desk anyway and check everything.. having a spare pwr supply might be also a good idea.

howdy

Cheu

Yeah
Ex touring FOH guy
My main issue is the size of the Studio B control room
So no big Midas etc
Eventually I’m building a large control room
7m x 9m (4.5m high)
But for now no huge analog desks sadly.
This is my little PM1200 in situ.

Edit. I hung out with a high end guy yesterday
Grammys, Arias, Dove etc.
He had an old AWS 900
And it was actually pretty darn cool.

look for "smaller" versions.. or cut them up..

All the analog boards from those years were quite large if you wanted a 32 channels..as I'm sure you know..

XL3 is a thing of beauty

howdy

Cheu

Brand new.
inexpensive
Brand new.
not crazy money
Brand new.
Not used.
inexpensive

I haven't figured out how to raise my hand on this one-

If second hand, cheap and decent: Soundcraft GB8 32.

If new, more expensive and underrated but actually a workhorse: Audient ASP 8024 (36 channels).

If you got money burning in your pocket and want the probably best and most unique clean analog mixer on today's market: Zähl AM1.

AWS is great but:

- only 24 "real" channels. So you'll be limited with FX returns, parallels or anything like that, or you'd need a submixer. I suppose as an "old school" solution, it'd be enough, if you're really just doing 24 track tape mixes.

- only 2 SSL compressors so for "true SSL" you need to add 8-16 rack compressors.

- they're...not cheap. Probably close to AUS$60k in the current market for a 2nd hand 924, more for a 948. You can get a brand new 32ch Origin for the same, so it really depends on how much you need OTB automation. It's a different league to the "old live desk" price point; if you can make that profitable in a B-room (or it doesn't need to make money) - I'd go for it!

Makes sense
Thankyou.

Since used things are coming up I’ll throw in the D&R Orion X.

I have a thing for the well equipped, super affordable Audient
ASP 8024 Heritage Edition. I'd then put a rack of Coils in and have the best of both worlds.

I can't see the point in that SSL Origin.

But I like 500 series desks for the real mixed bag.

The problem I have with 500 series…
Is when manf strip gear down to make it fit.
I like large high quality components.

https://www.wolffaudio.com/console/st

That thing looks awesome with all the different tone cards you can get for the master section.

Here's a 32 channel mix I just finished using a pseudo SSL 9000 console with a Neve master section...ITB.

32 channels of SSL 9000 channel strips (smacklabs logic channel)
Compex compressor on stereo bus
Lindell 80 bus plugin on stereo bus, with custom settings.

You just need to more selective with the 500 series, and not buy the last cheap “hyped” module (although there are some very few exceptions)..

Look at Avedis Audio MA5, MD7, E27, E12G.. VERY high quality, very FAIR prices.
There are not another manufacturers I know of (that build stuff in a “classic” way) with this ratio of very high quality, but still manageable prices.
Other 500 series that are really great sounding (although, obviously not cheap) Electrodyne 511 eq, Crane Song Insigna (and all their 500 series stuff is great!), Pulse Technique, Api 550a, Tree Audio Comp (IC Big Boy), Great River 32EQ and PWM compressor, SCA new 500 series, ADT Audio new Tonograf 500 series..

These are some of the very best modules on top of my head..

workflow should be your primary focus.. given that most options here are pretty good..
Wolff console might be an option.. but probably not cheap either..

howdy

Cheu

Thx Paul for chiming in. The Audient desks get little attention here and after having worked on the smaller 4816 for a while I deem them as highly underrated: clean, lots of headroom, the EQs are very capable. The pre's are actually good and we used them on everything. Best feature is the routing, which is very thought out. Also our experience with the Audient service was very positive - which is a factor to consider.

not really: fixed frequency/curves on lows and highs are sub-standard; for serious work, you'll want at least semi-parametric eq's on the outer bands...

It feels like you are describing the Ark :-)
- 32 inline channels with multi EQ
- Up to 16 auxes
- Quiet and clean / transparent and pristine
- Incredible headroom, dynamic range and frequency response
- Absolute silent power supply (no fans)
- 32 channel is 1.6m wide
- 32 channel + patchbay / 19" bucket is 2.09m wide

We can definitely build you one for NOT crazy money.
Actually, I don't think you can find any other console with similar sound quality and features for less money.

I'll happily have a chat if you like.

Best
Bruno
Interphase Audio
www.arkconsole.com

I'd get a used ADT, as they are pretty cheap over here.
They're basically broadcast quality SSL type consoles.

He did specify Brand New, regardless of if 2nd hand is a better choice!