Neve 8078 for sale. We are asking $350,000 for this HIGHLY customized perfect vintage gem.

The console is located at Threshold Sound in Santa Monica CA. Please contact me from my contact page if you would like to make an offer and/or an appointment to view this very rare and gorgeous sounding console. Please do not contact Threshold studios as I solely represent the owners of this 8078. Only serious inquiries please. Contact -> http://songworx.com/contact-songworx/

Thank you,

CJ deVillar

Vintage NEVE 8078 Specs:

* (40) 31105 input channels with (8) Aux Sends per channel
* (16) 32425 monitor input modules (32 channels) with an additional (2) Aux Sends
* (40) Channel and (8) Group Flying Faders automated faders
* (16) Dual monitor Flying Faders
* (8) API 512 Mic Pres (in-board, patchable)
* (16) API 550 EQ’s (in-board, patchable)
* In-Board 5.1 monitoring control
* In-Board LYNX Console Control Unit
* Outboard LYNX System Supervisor for Flying Faders Machine Control
* In-Board Moss and Mitchell TT patchbay with all wiring to 56 pin elco, set-up for 96 chnls
* (48) VU meters can select Buss, line in, Monitor In (All meters actively Buffered)
* (8) Cue/Aux Send VU Meters
* (4) Quad Buss Meters
* (2) Shep Model 32264 Compressors, (2) Each Neve 1084, 1070, 1079

Patchbay is currently on the left side of the console. See current pic below.

History:

This NEVE 8078 was originally built for Ronnie Milsap in about 1977. It was sold to A&R
Recording after that and many sessions by Phil Ramone where done on the console. After
A&R it Wound up at Cove Sound on Long Island. It eventually found it’s way into Sony
Music Studios NY’s Studio D. Prior to installation in Sony NY all capacitors where replaced,
all send and aux pots in all channels where replaced with new clarostats, balanced meter
amps and a new Moss and Mitchell TT Patchbay where added. After a few years of use in
that facility, it was de-commissioned, packed and crated for shipping to the West Coast.
Once on location at Sony Music Studios in Santa Monica is spent 4 months in pieces being
meticulously cleaned, mod’ed and restored by Peter Barker, Sony’s Director Of
Engineering, and Geoff Tanner of Phoenix Audio (not to mention a member of the original
8078 design team). It was re-commissioned in the summer of 1999 to rave reviews. A
party held in its “honor” attracted the likes of Bob Clearmountian, Ed Cherney and Steve
Churchyard among others. Among the artists that recorded on it at Sony Santa Monica
were Elton John, Pink, Journey, Ozzy Osbourne, Jennifer Lopez, Train, and Destiny’s
Child.This Console performed dutifully until the closing of Sony Music’s west coast studio
operation before and then it’s current location at Threshold studio’s in Santa Monica.

Features / Mods:

In addition to the cosmetic re-fitting done in the spring of 1999 which included fabrication of
a new leather bolster, new red oak trim and re-screening the panels, a complete hardware
inspection and extensive re-furb were performed under the watchful eyes of Barker and
Tanner. This re-furb encompassed all aspects of the console with a focus on the utmost
signal integrity without losing that vintage “Neve” sound for which these consoles are so
vastly sought after. Every module was removed, cleaned
and upgraded. The monitor section was modified with balanced output drivers on each
channel to allow recording directly to tape from the monitor section. This facilitated an
increase in headroom from +18 to +26dB as well. A custom “Producers Desk” was built
into a bucket containing (8) Channels of API 512 Pre’s and (16) channels of API 550 EQ’s
(normalled to the monitor section while fully patchable), 5.1 monitoring control, Lynx
System Supervisor Control unit (allows control of up to four Lynx synchronizers), (8) 2-
Track Playback selectors and an additional (4) Shep 31105 modules, bringing the total
number of Mic inputs to 52.

Modification Summary:

* All monitor channels headroom increased from +18dbv clipping to +26dbv clipping
* All monitor channels have balanced output amp which allows send to tape
* 4T2 to 4t1 fold-down, which allows 72 channels for mixdown
* Frequency response improvement mod.
* Active meter amps with Line in, Buss, or Monitor selector
* API EQ’s with Balanced +26dbv headroom in and out
* 5.1 Monitor Control
* Lynx System Supervisor
* 4t1 Stereo Buss Insert Send/Return Circuit
* Phoenix Audio class A output stage on mix out

Included Accessories:

All Manuals, schematics and service documents, power supplies and related wiring. spare
parts, spare power supply, extra 31105, extra API EQ.

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Low end bass build up = weak bass

Take a kick drum and a bass line for instance. The kick is typically a consistent quick low note stab over and over again, and it is a note btw. But the bass synth/guitar line lows are always moving around because the notes change. E1 is deeper and fatter than G1, the lower the “note”, the more low-end. Right, it’s obvious, but a loose basic rule of thumb would be to keep your kik drum not as fat as the bass line. Disclaimer: this depends on what you want to accomplish with your music since music rules are meant to be broken, but lets go with the popular end of the music universe here. A flabby kick and a loose bass is a common problem.

Bass power is also dependent on tempo. Slow tempos give room to lower, therefore slower bass notes. The deeper the note, the longer it takes for the bass note to complete. By the same token, a very low note can run into itself in faster tempo songs with definition and power being reduced.

Ever wonder why the kik and bass drop out a bit or get a little louder in a few spots in your song? It’s a safe bet they are phase canceling and/or summing, which also makes it a timing issue. If you add second bass lines, 808 subs and all kinds of low end carnage playing together, you’ll have to manipulate the arrangement and/or automate the mix more to pull bass elements in and out so they are not conflicting with each other. EQ is helpful but it won’t really do the job of gaining definition with too many bass elements. The more definition, the more bass power.

Keep the low end simple and give it room to breath, you will end up with phatter and more powerful results. The best way to get that is in your writing and recording arrangements. Cheers – CJ

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I have received many questions over the last few months asking how to achieve a warm analog mix in the digital domain and how to reduce high-end harshness. I do have a couple cures for that but let me first reply that I make no distinction between digital and analog formats anymore. As a matter of fact it’s never really one or the other since most recording and mix engineers are using a hybrid system of both formats. “D vs. A” is a dead argument these days since “D and A” is the reality. Now I love my analog boxes but they don’t make for automatic warmth.

The analog tag is misleading too. I’ve heard many cold, sterile mixes and recordings from many mix engineers using the best analog consoles, tube Pultec EQ’s and properly setup 2″ tape machines. Consequently, I’ve heard many others and myself mix gorgeous warmth completely in the digital domain. So lets remove the analog tag as a warm metaphor since bad practices can cause problems in any mix format.

Warm from the start is the best place to begin.

If you haven’t recorded your song yet, the best start for a warm mix is in your arrangement. The instruments and sounds you choose including the key and chord voicing have a direct impact on the amount of high-end in the finished mix. Higher key, higher notes = higher high-end harmonics, but just be aware of it. 90% of the time a key is considered for the singers range and their sweet-spot as it should. Basically, if you record many layers of intruments in the same high octaves, you’ll end up with a lot of high-end energy. It’s not a bad thing if that’s the intention, but you may find difficulty mixing with competing sounds in the same octave and every other element needing space for those frequencies.

With instruments, the tone, timbre and chord voicing matter a bunch. A mistake made by many engineers/producers is to always look for an instrument sound, mic or EQ that “cuts” through the mix. Well, if they record all the sounds to cut through the mix, then nothing will cut through because you’ll end up with a bunch of high-end hash that you’ll be removing from the mix. Kind of backwards and definitely a pain in the butt. Generally, pick your instruments and chord voicing as if they were EQ choices for your final product.

Warm Recording.

A simple rule for microphones if you have the option; if the sound you want to record is too bright use a warm mic. If a sound is too warm, use a bright mic. If it is a “softsynth” or VSTi choose the tone and timbre carefully. Do not add high-end EQ to the sound if it’s too muddy, simply cut the mud “a bit”, but under-EQ the record-side input to leave the deeper tweaking EQ for the mix.

Warm Mixing.

As far as my mix EQ’s, my weapon of choice is the “Low Pass Filter” (LPF) This EQ filter is your best friend for getting things warm. I would get familiar with it if you’re not already. Many avoid this filter but it’s very good for putting warmth to your mix. I’ll tell ya right now, I use it on almost every channel I mix if instruments are too bright and they usually are. Check this “Low Pass Filter” link for a deep look. I’ll tell you how I use the LPF for achieving warmth in a follow-up post but check it out on your own, I bet you figure it out.

Cheers!

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Here’s a simple trick I use occasionally when I’m having trouble dialing in a tricky mix with lots of tracks.

Simply get your mix close enough in mono and “then” spread your pans and continue to tweak. Be aware that you may have cut a little more lows and low mids than needed. Just sneak those freqs back in a little if needed. When you begin panning after getting it close, you’ll hear an amazing amount of space and clarity that would have been more difficult to achieve by panning very early in the mix.

The technique will force you to work your frequencies, dynamics and FX in a more disciplined way and will make your pan position choices a little easier to make. Remember that records up until the late 50’s were in mono, so this is not a difficult thing to do especially if you consider Count Basie’s Orchestra and the great bands sounded HUGE in mono.

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I mix a lot of home recorded material and the number one most difficult problem that I have the most trouble dealing with is over compressed tracks. You must know that recording engineer professionals use no compression or very little compression when they record even for the biggest recording artists. If you’re doing it just to do it, don’t do it. You simply don’t need it on the recording side. Save the dynamics control for the mix and know that over-compressed tracks cannot be uncompressed or reversed. Many cool songs are rendered limp because of record side compression. Lay it down raw my friends and give us mix engineers an aggressive dynamic foundation to shape with….. Let me add that of course flavor can be added with some compressors and limiters that have character without adding compression. Set your attacks to long and realeases to short and threshold gain to barely touching. But,… I also have to say that compression fx on the record side is cool when it’s the right call and the right box. Sure, go ahead, mash stuff with a compressor, It’s fun when it works. But, my observation is that too much material is coming in with vocal, acoustic guitar and bass over-compressed. One more thing, there is rarely a time to compress drums on the record side unless you buss> then compress> to a different> track. I don’t want to take the fun out of experimenting, but get it as dynamically as you can on a separate track at least.

I get a lot of hurt tracks.

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Is there a guide on How To Become A Mixing Engineer? Can becoming a professional mixing engineer be fun? Where do the best mixing engineers come from? These are a few of the questions I’ve received this month on the subject.

First, is there a “how to become a mix engineer” guide ? No, I don’t think so. What I mean is that any book or audio education would be a beginning to the beginning and simply a very first step. Truth is, there are tons of materials to understand and it really never ends. Progress will keep you busy with that forever. Let me put it this way, your not gonna pop out of an audio school or a book with the competitive working knowledge you’ll need. It takes a long time.

Can becoming a mix engineer be fun ? If you like your fun with many tough lessons, a dog-eat-dog business model and a super long never-ending learning-curve, then yes :)

Where do the best mix engineers come from ? They come from a place of serious persistence and luck :) But they mostly come from working studios, “and” from being “ready” to be in the right place at the right time. They may even be so lucky as to have had a great mentor who leads them straight to the good habits and away from the career sucking mistakes.

I have a simple guide on how to become a mixing engineer: Get a Pro Tools Le system if you don’t have one, mix a lot, mix everything, local bands. Mix foh for bands at live clubs to get fast and mentally strong, in studios (rare), in homes (common), mix under any challenging circumstance. Read everything, understand basic electronics, befriend professionals so they can show you, sit in on as many sessions as you can, set-up for A/B listening and hear the difference between thousands of different records…. All that and lots of tenacity will get you there.

As you may have already figured out, 99.9% of a good mix education is from the experience of doing it and meeting the right people. If you have a chill and confident social style, it’s only a matter of time.

What about an audio education ala recording schools?

Recording schools can give a great all around education, but don’t show up to them without any experience. You’ll get twice the education when you show up to sound engineering schools with some initial experience. An audio education won’t make you good at mixing, but they’ll show you just about everything involved at least once, so get your recording/mix system first and hit it long before you show up to class. Simply start mixing now. You’ll only get good from doing it.

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1. How to prepare your tracks for mixing

2. How to deliver your mix audio files w FTP

3. How to use the online remote mix system

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