So,
you’re thinking about a Manley Custom Mastering Console….
Manley Labs has been building custom mastering
consoles for over ten years
for such revered clients as Precision Mastering, Eddy Schreyer's Oasis
Mastering, Scott Hull at Classic Sound, Dave Shirk's Sonorous Mastering,
King Studios Malaysia, and Battery Mastering in NY. During the qualifying
year 2000, Custom Manley Mastering Consoles including Processor and Monitor
Controllers were delivered to Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, JK Mastermix
in Munich, Germany, Michael Au of iMusic Hong Kong, and Glenn Schick
Mastering in Atlanta. Each of these consoles feature-sets and complexity
evolved over each previous system culminating in the highly developed design
in our most advanced Manley Mastering Consoles to date, now stock in our
catalog, pictured here, and TEC award nominated. Both Masterdisk in NYC and
Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine took delivery of these near-twin Manley
Mastering Consoles complete with full-featured monitor and processor control
sections, sum/difference processing, external meter bridges, and dedicated
power supplies. Designed by 'Hutch' Hutchison, built with rugged, reliable,
time-proven techniques, Manley Mastering Consoles deliver audiophile sound
combined with truly professional performance for some of the world's most
demanding Mastering Engineers-- these guys keep us on our toes, and we thank
them for the privilege!
MONITORING:
Everybody needs a way to select from a number of sources, control volume, mono,
listen to each side individually and then send to a variety of speakers. Some
guys want a phase reverse (right side only), compare (source and
post-processing) dim & mute. With vinyl mastering we get requests for a
"preview" path too.
METERING:
Usually related to monitor source, usually VU meters but we often add meter
attenuation switches, digital meters, phase/polarity or M/S meters, extra jacks
for scopes etc.
SOURCE
SELECT:
Simple selection of which tape machine feeds the processing chain. Some want 1/2
dB gain adjust here, phase reverse (both channels), oscillator, elliptical EQ (mono's
the lows) and some unusual requests for special processors.
REMOTES:
Some clients need custom remote control of items like lathes, tape machines and
bypassing certain gear.
PATCHING:
We have used gold plated banana jacks because they offer the best connections
and allow stacking and phase reversing. We have added buttons to bypass certain
processors partially for convenience and partially to reduce signal path length
(rather than rely on each EQ or Compressor. In general we use very good quality
wire and are open to customer requests. The relationship between patching and
the console is often complex and is not always best to leave to the local tech.
DESK:
The furniture, Some of our clients have this already but some want us to build
it as part of the package. We have excellent carpenters and can build it as
fancy or utilitarian as desired.
SYSTEM
PLANNING:
This includes all audio and digital routing in the room. Attention is
particularly spent on reduction of ground problems, digital jitter and clean AC
power. Obviously this is related to the console performance and/or desk space.
MONITORS:
This includes topics from Manley amplifiers to known excellent speakers
and optimising the speaker/room interface. Needless to say, this is the most
critical and important subject in all great mastering rooms and can also be a
widely misunderstood field. If help is needed in the monitoring chain we are
well versed in amplifiers, speaker choice, acoustic considerations and room
tuning.
EQUIPMENT
PLANNING:
Having built several rooms from scratch, and worked with many mastering
facilities and well known engineers, we can provide suggestions with equipment
regardless of whether we make it. We can provide the "short list" of
selected gear known to be superb and often help arrange acquiring it at the best
price. We have done this before. Alternatively, you may just want to know what
gear to avoid and why.
How
can we help?
Back to consoles. Most
of the consoles we have built have been unbalanced. We can certainly build
balanced but we don't usually recommend going that way as it adds to the number
of electronic parts that can influence the sound. It also tends to increase the
price by about 50-75% as about everything gets doubled up (ie; an eight pole
switch instead of a four poler, four deck Greyhill instead of a two decker…
etc…). We have had no real problems interfacing to balanced gear with our
consoles. But hey! We can do what you need.
Multiple gain stages.
Some of our consoles have had amplifiers to boost gain (ie 1/2 dB steps before
processing or for certain monitor positions) Again, we believe the less
electronics, the truer the reproduction quality. Less is more. If gain is needed
we can use any of several technologies if there is a preference - tube, discrete
transistor, discrete FET or high performance ICs. We’re good at making it
sound good!
On some more esoteric
consoles we have provided such features as reverb mixing, smooth faders,
Vertical/Lateral (mid/side), special elliptical EQs that mono the low
frequencies, custom filters, insert switching, and others but probably anything
is possible. Let us know what your dream is!
Mixed analog and digital
in the same chassis - We have done this but also don't recommend it for reasons
of digital ground noise.
We can accommodate a fairly wide range of personal preferences from types of switches and knobs to details like "no relays", "all relays", particular wires, meters and cosmetics or special engraved plates. We are often requested to install and provide on-site repairs years after installation. No problem.
We
should point out a few more things to keep in mind....
1)
Custom work tends to seem expensive when compared to off-the-shelf mass produced
units. The buyer is covering the R&D time, drafting, troubleshooting etc
that normally gets spread out for non-custom products. It also takes time -
typically 3 months from Manley receiving a 50% deposit. Costs can range from
about $7,000 to $50,000 depending on what is needed. The custom consoles shown
on the previous Mastering page were in the $10K to $15K range.
2)
Most mastering consoles are unbalanced. Balanced I/O tends to require at least
twice as much electronics and difficult switches. This tends to raise the price,
delivery time and possibility of more amplifiers in the signal path when
conversions from balanced to unbalanced to balanced are required.
3)
Most of the consoles are rack mountable but we can have the woodwork done if you
have furniture in mind. We can also do patch bays, installation, etc depending
on the budget.
4) If
amplification is needed (such as +/- 6dB gain trims) we normally use high grade
audio op-amps, instrumentation amps and buffers but if you prefer, it can be
tubes, or discrete. The former is least expensive and the latter most expensive.
6) We like to see a rough drawing of what you want the panel to be like and what you want for signal flow. This is about the only way we can quickly give you an estimate.
Contact us with your requirements.
You’ve
come to the right place!
Sincerely Yours,
Craig (Hutch)
Hutchison & EveAnna Manley
I am new to mastering and want to build a Mastering Studio from Scratch. What's it all about, Alfie?
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