Yamaha 02R Digital Mixing Desk..

[VTypeV4]

To be fair, I'm all good wiith 'long in the tooth' Yamaha dgital consoles! Ha! An 03D looks comprehensive too as well as being cheap although I've never had a go on one of those either..

As for the people at TC, they were excellent being quick, friendly and very helpful. I asked about the license codes for my Unity cards because both came active but without the numbers written down but with the serial numbers from each, the chappy at TC happily gave me the info..

I saw a couple of the CD8 - MLan cards on ebay recently and was kinda tempted..

I have a gig coming up in July on a Qu-32 which I'm looking forward to as the 24 I did a couple of shows on was superb being both friiendly and quick.

[mike257]

I've seen a few cheap 03Ds about but they've only got 8 mic preamps so of limited use to me. Might get another old 01V as a spare and to cascade for extra inputs though.

Yeah, I've only used the QU on one gig but was happy enough with it. I prefer it to the Soundcraft stuff in the same price range but think it lacks a lot of the features of the X32, that's still my choice in that price range.

[VTypeV4]

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Both desks working as one late last week just as I'd hoped.. Winner!

Clearly there's not 24 channels on the go here, more like 12 but the concept is proven the and the capacity extended to a max of 24 live inputs / 26 recorded inputs. Total playback potential is scary!

[mike257]

Awesome! Glad it's working out well, cracking setup there

[mike257]

Believe there's some free training on the new A&H D-Live coming up over at Wigwam in Manchester - I'm not free on the dates I saw listed but thought it was worth a heads up to interested parties in this thread. Seems to be where all the audio geeks on BC are convening

EDIT: And Adlib are doing a Digico S21 day at Tour Supply, just behind Manc Apollo, too. Always on a day I'm bloody working!

Edited June 8, 2016 by mike257

[VTypeV4]

Thanks for the heads up Mike.

[VTypeV4]

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A show I did for Les Hunt in Leek yesterday - If you zoom on the band-stand you can just about see him. A slightly questionable setup PA wise but the Qu-32 was a pleasure to use as setup and soundcheck tiime was near zero! Isn't it always!

[EBS_freak]

What do you make of the QU? I did a show on one last weekend - great deal for the money - although I did miss my DCAs.

[VTypeV4]

I've now had a go of all three versions of the Qu range..

It seems that the 32 is the most advanced of the lot offering 8 audio subgroups as stereo pairs (the Qu-24 has four as two pairs and the 16 has none) and also 4 DCA groups (32 only) as well as comprehensive matrix outs. I had them configured as drums, instruments 1, instruments 2 and vocals but once I'd got the show running being honest, I didn't touch them much. Something that I didn't realise on the 32 is the larger touch screen display too which is beneficial.

Overall, I like the Qu range, they're both comprehensive and simple at the same time. Everything you need to get at is easilly accessed like EQ and gain but I particularly like the dedicated HPF with in/out controls. Even better is a threshold control for gate and compressor, an in/out switch as well as an LED to indicate the threshold status of each which is a great call. I've become very used to comprehensive metering at a glance wiith the easily viewed meter bridge on the Yamahas but the little 'signal, 0 and peak' on each channel is adequate for at a glance but to be fair it's no real hardship to PFL for a proper view of whats happening.

My only criticism of the range is the limited I/O via the USB facility. It doesn't matter for live use where all 32 channels were available via the partner digital stage box (I never even walked on stage so never saw that) or via traditional analogue XLR. I appreciate that the Qu range are aimed at live use rather than recording but only half (on the 32) of the inputs are available via USB which means you'd still need an interface to do more than 16 in/out.

Overall I think they're very capable and offer blisteringly good bang for buck. If I wasn't recording as well as live, I'd have one in a heartbeat.

[VTypeV4]

Some may think I have a problem but I'm going to look at a third 02R this week..

Not for daily use but something I can use at home or take with me for those odd live shows and recording. It's apparently in good condition complete with a meter briddge, an AES card and an ADAT card so we'll see..

If I do buy it, I'll have to look for another Unity card! Ha!

[VTypeV4]

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So the third one landed today..

[Dad3353]

...



...

[VTypeV4]

Ha, I know!

To be fair, I only put the three together for poser value but I feel it worked! I haven't any space for a third one at work (let alone the need!) so the purpose of this one is for those odd jobs, off site recording and just as a general purpose backup. I'm going to keep an eye out for a second ADAT card or possibly put a TDIF card in one at work and put that ADAT in this one.

The console seems to have been well cared for during it's life as its ex ITV so there's a number of sheets regarding service data as well as a spare fader and the card slot blankiing plates. Judging by the paperwork, it was purchased new in June 2001 and spent the first few years of it's life in an outside broadcast vehicle.

I've spent the day making a basic template to work with as well configuring some FX patches and dynamics configs so when it gets used for show, I don't have to spend forever setting it up. As I've said before, thats the key to making these consoles 'fast'..

[VTypeV4]

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A slightly 'arty' shot of my third console in use at a mini festival I've done for the last few years. It's normally done outside but we got rained off as the patch of land we use was like a bog so we found refuge inside!

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The PA performed faultlessly and using the 02R was a definite improvement over the Mackie DL1608 we've been using until recently. Some may see it as a backwards step especially having to reinstate the manual graphic EQs but I see it as a retrogressive move. I feel the sonics (and definately the FX) of the Yamaha to be better than the Mackie not to mention the speed I can get round the operating system makes me far more comfortable.

[VTypeV4]

I've purchased (cheap of course!) a pair of the CD8-AD cards for my 'odd job' 02R. They've come from eBay and thankfully arriived quickly whilst I was away lasy week so today I spent half an hour removing the AES and ADAT cards and installing them. Both worked perfectly first time so I'm happy.

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Strangely, both have a fan on the board for cooling that I've not seen on any of the other cards. I'm out with the desk on Sat and Sun so we'll see how it goes although chances are, I won't need the cards for this show.. Really need to get a case for it..

Oh, and I won a TDIF card (I'll explain about this when it lands) too for just 75p!

[mike257]

You're doing well with the bargain Yammy finds mate! I've just booked a few days in with Adlib next week out doing monitors on a Profile. Been doing loads of gigs on my own gear lately, looking forward to getting back on the big boy toys!

[VTypeV4]

Still waiting on my TDIF card but, yes, I've done well with some bargans of late. Ha!

I haven't used anything 'badass' since Christmas (SD8, Lab Gruppen and EAW) and an LS9 for even longer - it might even have been 2014. I've very much been in the land of the 02R this year with my pair at work and now the external PA gigs - I've given up on the Mackie DL..

When you go to Adlib, if you see Steve Angel, send him my regards (Matt at the Rigger - he'll know) as I've not seen him for a while.

[VTypeV4]

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The Nantwich 'Rory Gallagher' festival this weekend on the 'analogue card' 02R. A lovely weeked was had by all invollved including me. Needless to say, the yamaha performed faultlessly as did the rest of the system..

Edited August 29, 2016 by VTypeV4

[VTypeV4]

Now linked on TDIF format rather than ADAT meaning I now have two spare ADAT cards if need them. My 75 pence TDIF card worked without issue. Superb!

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All sorted.

[mike257]

Does that mean I can have the ADAT card for 75p to go in my 01V?

[VTypeV4]

[quote name='mike257' timestamp='1475060175' post='3142665']
Does that mean I can have the ADAT card for 75p to go in my 01V?
[/quote]

Ha!

On a similar note, I watched a 'double stack' analogue card same as the ones I bought do £84. There seems to be little rhyme or reason to the price these things go for as I didn't pay half that for two!

Edited September 29, 2016 by VTypeV4

[VTypeV4]

There's been 'trouble a'th mill' recently..

Using both desks the other week I noticed nasty glitch spiking on the master console so assumed it to be having a clock issue so did some fiddling to no avail. I then tried dropping the first console out and that seem to fix it so some repatching later, i put all my channels on one desk..

Restarting the desk the following day showed the Unity card had gone mad with the access page saying 'please upload valid software' so I've bought the appropriate cable, downloaded the software and I'm gonna have a crack re-flashing it tonight.. Fingers crossed!

Edited October 19, 2016 by VTypeV4

[mike257]

Eeek, how did it go? Hope all is working ok now.

In related Yamaha bargain news, I got another 01V for £100! They're a steal at the usual second hand prices, but that just seemed ridiculous.

[VTypeV4]

[quote name='mike257' timestamp='1477516961' post='3162799']
Eeek, how did it go? Hope all is working ok now.

In related Yamaha bargain news, I got another 01V for £100! They're a steal at the usual second hand prices, but that just seemed ridiculous.
[/quote]

Sadly it doesn't seem interested in coming back to life.. I've put it on eBay and I'll keep my out for a functional Unity when one appears. There's one on now in the US but he wants silly money for it.. Boo.

Good news on your side though Mike - £100 for any 24 channel desk is a bargain let alone a digi with flying faders! Nice one fella.

Have you seen the price of LS9s of late? I've seen more than a couple of 32 channel variants plus case for less than £1500.. I'm not ready to trade my 02Rs yet but certainly gives food for thought..

[mike257]

[quote name='VTypeV4' timestamp='1477524860' post='3162833']


Sadly it doesn't seem interested in coming back to life.. I've put it on eBay and I'll keep my out for a functional Unity when one appears. There's one on now in the US but he wants silly money for it.. Boo.

Good news on your side though Mike - £100 for any 24 channel desk is a bargain let alone a digi with flying faders! Nice one fella.

Have you seen the price of LS9s of late? I've seen more than a couple of 32 channel variants plus case for less than £1500.. I'm not ready to trade my 02Rs yet but certainly gives food for thought..
[/quote]

Ah, that's a shame. One is bound to pop up sooner or later though.

I'd honestly buy an X32 before I'd take an LS9, much more pleasant to work on. Endless poking of direction buttons and spinning of jog wheel is no fun on a desk with that much going on. The X32 does everything an LS9 can and more, and has a lot more physical controls to grab, along with a better screen and wider support for remote control options, 32x32 USB interface on board, all sorts of things that the LS9 won't give you.