Applied Research Technology (ART) products

[Tim JacksonParticipant]

Hi All,

What do you guys think about ART products? I have a bunch a bought in a lot at auction. 2 x pro channel II's, MPA II's, MPA II digital, VLA II. I don't know if it is just me but I am having real trouble gain staging them, particularly with the Pro channels which have input - preamp gain - compressor - eq - output gain. I can't seem to get enough gain without really driving the preamp. This makes the sound extremely coloured which is fine for some stuff but not others.

I'm also having trouble getting a good monitor mix when I use these pre's. I have to drive the feed from the input really high and turn all the outputs from the daw right down. To get enough volume I then have to drive the headphone amp really high.

When I want a really colour sound the pre sounds pretty good, particularly since it has new tubes but has anybody else had these kinds of issues with ART gear or do you have any suggestions?

[Tim WatersParticipant]

I have an ART VLA PRO II stereo comp and I use it on the mix buss, especially on loud rock tracks. It gives the mix lots of analog crunch when the output gain is driven hard but can also be used subtly to add some analog "vibe". I also have an ART Voice Channel tube preamp I've been using as my primary mic preamp for 6 years. I love it and it works great on everything I put through it, especially an SM7B.

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