Topic: Who all's got the V3 optical mod?

[Nick Graham]

SSIA

Got mine back from Grace last week...absolutely loving it. The ability to go V3>JB3 with no other boxes in between is priceless...

[Tyler McGhee]

man i want to upgrade!!

[Brian Skalinder]

Got mine modded just before RockyGrass this year.  Loving it!

[F.O.Bean]

called today to setup an appointment, mine will be done this coming tuesday hopefully

i cant freakin wait

then onto some new caps and  stuff

[caymanreview]

il be joining the team here n the next 2 weeks or so hopefully

[Ed.]

i got mine last week.  still haven't used it tho

[deadheaded]

got mine in july with the optical mod and i love it!

[Brian]

waiting on the firewire mod.  me no likey optical cables

[muj]

i'm going for the opti mod too,though the thought of going medialess recording is a bit intimidating.

[tadjblack]

ran mine for the first time on Saturday-
I'm lovin it

[grider]

I had one and found it was great in that I could use the coax out for my DAP1 and the optical out for either a JB3 or another dat deck, then if one deck failed for any reason the other just kept right on rolling, which is crucual for those important shows or for those shows where I was the only taper, and on several occasions I kept the dat from my DAP1 for myself and just handed over the dat from my D7 run out of the optical out (with a 7 pin to optical cable) to the bands which they absolutely loved

[John Kelly]

I bought mine new a while ago.  Best.  Purchase.  Ever.

[keepongoin]

how long does it take to get this mod done?

[F.O.Bean]

get it to them by monday, they do the mod tuesday, bench test till thursday when they ship it, then they ship it fedex ground i believe

so prolly about 8-10 day turmnaround

[keepongoin]

damn, that is fast.  i hope i can get that one spoken of in the yardsale.

[F.O.Bean]

yeah, i sent mine friday priority, so hopefully it makes it there on time, i should have it back mon/tues of next week id think

[Brian Skalinder]

get it to them by monday, they do the mod tuesday, bench test till thursday when they ship it, then they ship it fedex ground i believe

To clarify, they actually perform the mods ON Tuesdays (maybe rolling into Wed), it isn't a one day turnaround from whenever you happen to get your V3 to the shop.  So, for example, my understanding is if your V3 shows up on a Wed, it'll wait til next Tue before it gets modded.

[jcaledun]

i'm gonna call them this week and have mine done

[F.O.Bean]

im so happy, i sent mine out friday from wash, pa and it got to boulder today

[caymanreview]

mine is officially in the mail for the mod! im excited to ditch the hosa box!

[sickrick43]

Made my appointment the day the mod was announced.  Picked it up while in Co.  Tour of Grace Facility on my website.

Works great, never looked back.  Didn't sell the Hosa's, in case I ever have to patch (like an SBD Daisy-Chain situation, though I usually get folks to let me run the V3 at the head of the chain anyway).

Creative has a new(er) PCMCIA Soundcard (Audigy 2 ZS Notebook) that has an optical in and does 24/96.  Thinking of picking one up to check out.  Is considerably cheeper than my CoreSound CFAudio card (that has NEVER WORKED), and puts me in the V3->Lappy zone with the Opti-Mod V3...

Rick

[Craig T]

Is that creative pcmcia card available yet?  haven't seen it fs anywhere.

[sickrick43]

Is that creative pcmcia card available yet?  haven't seen it fs anywhere.

CDW is showing 4-6 Days, TechData (wholesale distro) is showing arrival on the 24th...

This place sez they have them, not a bad price either: http://www.nextwarehouse.com/prod.cfm/138596/CREATIVE_LABS/70SB053000000/2_NOTEBOOK

Rick

[F.O.Bean]

JUST opened my v3 box w/ the opti mod, damn this thing is suite, the optical mod fits tightly w/ my optical cables which means its not movin when the cable is placed in there

[caymanreview]

JUST opened my v3 box w/ the opti mod, damn this thing is suite, the optical mod fits tightly w/ my optical cables which means its not movin when the cable is placed in there

so it was mod'd tuesday,a nd you have it back at your place all the way across the u.s. by saturday... sweet

mine should have arrived there at grace today to be mod'd this tuesday... im in no rush to get it back, cause my new stand, shock, kwon bar arent here, so its impossible for me to tape as of yet

[F.O.Bean]

JUST opened my v3 box w/ the opti mod, damn this thing is suite, the optical mod fits tightly w/ my optical cables which means its not movin when the cable is placed in there

so it was mod'd tuesday,a nd you have it back at your place all the way across the u.s. by saturday... sweet

mine should have arrived there at grace today to be mod'd this tuesday... im in no rush to get it back, cause my new stand, shock, kwon bar arent here, so its impossible for me to tape as of yet

dustin, if you thought the v3 was cool before, you just wait, its a whole nother coolness level now

i have my rt angle sp optical in there, and i nylon tied it to my cage so it isnt coming out of the v3 anytime soon

i may forget about the phoenix gold cable and buy another sp rt angle one, because the nicest thing about the sp ones is, on the toslink end, the head of it rotates 360 to fit your/my needs perfectly

[krebsy]

I just figured out a few weeks ago that the ra toslink on that cable rotates.  I thought I had broken it at first.  That was my cool discovery of the week.     Makes a great cable that much better.

[F.O.Bean]

I just figured out a few weeks ago that the ra toslink on that cable rotates.  I thought I had broken it at first.  That was my cool discovery of the week.     Makes a great cable that much better.

agreed

[Brian Skalinder]

the nicest thing about the sp ones is, on the toslink end, the head of it rotates 360 to fit your/my needs perfectly

Huh.  Whaddya know.  I had no idea.  Thanks, Bean!

[F.O.Bean]

the nicest thing about the sp ones is, on the toslink end, the head of it rotates 360 to fit your/my needs perfectly

Huh.  Whaddya know.  I had no idea.  Thanks, Bean!

no problem

[caymanreview]

i guess im gonna have to take a closer look at my cable. had no idea it rotated

[F.O.Bean]

i guess im gonna have to take a closer look at my cable. had no idea it rotated

yep, i thought i broke mine, but my setup was setup so i put the headphones on, rotated it, and no noise or anything, just a steady signal

[caymanreview]

i guess im gonna have to take a closer look at my cable. had no idea it rotated

yep, i thought i broke mine, but my setup was setup so i put the headphones on, rotated it, and no noise or anything, just a steady signal

thats good to hear. i finally got mine all setup.a nd all cables basically permanantly connected. all i gotta do it hook up the bodies and fly my kwon bar and im all set. dont even have to mess with mic angles of configs anymore

[F.O.Bean]

i guess im gonna have to take a closer look at my cable. had no idea it rotated

yep, i thought i broke mine, but my setup was setup so i put the headphones on, rotated it, and no noise or anything, just a steady signal

dont even have to mess with mic angles of configs anymore

nice, thats what its all about

i plan to be there one of these days

[JackoRoses]

just ordered one today, as I mentioned over in Team AKG...
Sales rep says that they will ship me a new one, with the mod already done.
No having to ship it back to grace or anything
So you guys are pretty happy with the SP toslink and the adapter?
Or are you using the toslink>mini cable with no adapter?
I was reading more and that one sound professionals cable is supposedly medical
grade fiber and not real glass. that is mentioned in the robust optical cable thread.
So no microscopic cracks to stress over.
Glad to be part of Team V3

[caymanreview]

me and bean both use the SP right angle toslink > right angle mini cable. i cant see myself using anything else unless i could find a decent priced glass with the right angles and mini on one end

im not a fan of toslink > mini adapters at all

[Todd R]

me and bean both use the SP right angle toslink > right angle mini cable. i cant see myself using anything else unless i could find a decent priced glass with the right angles and mini on one end

im not a fan of toslink > mini adapters at all

Exactly.  My cable didn't come from SP, but is the same thing:  RA toslink > RA mini.  Works far better than using toslink>mini adapters.  I tried like hell to be careful with these, but over the years I still broke 6-8 of those adapters in the field before I moved to the RA cable.

[John Kelly]

me and bean both use the SP right angle toslink > right angle mini cable. i cant see myself using anything else unless i could find a decent priced glass with the right angles and mini on one end

im not a fan of toslink > mini adapters at all

Exactly.  My cable didn't come from SP, but is the same thing:  RA toslink > RA mini.  Works far better than using toslink>mini adapters.  I tried like hell to be careful with these, but over the years I still broke 6-8 of those adapters in the field before I moved to the RA cable.

You broke the adapters?  I use a Monster optical cable with a rat shack toslink > mini adapter.  The adapter may as well be permanent, cuz I sure as hell can't pull it off the cable...

[Todd R]

Yep, all too often.  I finally went toslink cable>toslink right angle adapter>mini-adapter and then taped down the cable around my JB3.  Which finally helped stop with the adapters breaking, but I didn't like that many adapters in the chain.

I would strongly recommend the use of the RA toslink to RA mini cable and dispense with the adapters all together.

[John Kelly]

Yep, all too often.  I finally went toslink cable>toslink right angle adapter>mini-adapter and then taped down the cable around my JB3.  Which finally helped stop with the adapters breaking, but I didn't like that many adapters in the chain.

I would strongly recommend the use of the RA toslink to RA mini cable and dispense with the adapters all together.

Why tape down the cable?  How would it break?  Snapping in half?

My adapter seems very strong, almost as if it's part of the cable...

[Todd R]

The cable wasn't the problem, it was the adapter.  The little mini plug is small and not that robust -- easy to snap off when you have a straight cable and a lot of torque placing stress on that small diameter of plastic.  I taped about 125 shows with my JB3 so far, and my experience has been that a straight cable with straight mini plug adapters leads to problems occasionally, whereas I have not had any problems with the RA cable.  I'm not saying you absolutely shouldn't use a straight cable with an adapter, but my experience has been that it does not work so well.  I'm sure it also has a lot to do with how things are layed out in your taping bag.

[Ed.]

i currently use a $7 toslink cable and a 99 cent mini adapter.  so far no problems whatsoever.  however, i think in time when i feel like buying taping stuff and don't know what to get, i'll probably get that ra cable.

[F.O.Bean]

love my sp rt angle toslink to rt angle mini, wouldnt trade it for any more expensive cable

[sickrick43]

Yep, all too often.  I finally went toslink cable>toslink right angle adapter>mini-adapter and then taped down the cable around my JB3.  Which finally helped stop with the adapters breaking, but I didn't like that many adapters in the chain.

I would strongly recommend the use of the RA toslink to RA mini cable and dispense with the adapters all together.

Why tape down the cable?  How would it break?  Snapping in half?

My adapter seems very strong, almost as if it's part of the cable...

Settting up for the Dead in Atlanta this summer, got the rig all wired, went to put it in my camera bag, and snapped the connector if INSIDE the JB3 input connector (in the process breaking 2 solder joints connecting the connector to the mainboard in the JB3).  Needless to say, I didn't record that show, and had to repair the JB3 (after prying the broken piece out of it).

RA connector, plus I stuck a piece of velcro above and below the connector and have a velcro "strap" (the cable-minder that comes with APC battery backups) that holds the connector in, and in-place and takes the stress off the input jack.

Rick

[F.O.Bean]

Yep, all too often.  I finally went toslink cable>toslink right angle adapter>mini-adapter and then taped down the cable around my JB3.  Which finally helped stop with the adapters breaking, but I didn't like that many adapters in the chain.

I would strongly recommend the use of the RA toslink to RA mini cable and dispense with the adapters all together.

Why tape down the cable?  How would it break?  Snapping in half?

My adapter seems very strong, almost as if it's part of the cable...

Settting up for the Dead in Atlanta this summer, got the rig all wired, went to put it in my camera bag, and snapped the connector if INSIDE the JB3 input connector (in the process breaking 2 solder joints connecting the connector to the mainboard in the JB3).  Needless to say, I didn't record that show, and had to repair the JB3 (after prying the broken piece out of it).

RA connector, plus I stuck a piece of velcro above and below the connector and have a velcro "strap" (the cable-minder that comes with APC battery backups) that holds the connector in, and in-place and takes the stress off the input jack.

Rick

that sux rick, sorry to hear that, needless to say, it doesnt sound like a 5-minute fix

thank god for the rt angle cables

[CQBert]

Got mine new a little while back...  borrow a buddy's JB3 and cable..  He has the best cable I have seen...  It is a Sony Factory Cable and had a plastic holder the keeps an adaptor safe and sound and still attached. 

Sound is pristine - we did Gomez in Philly and there is no difference between my DAT master and the JB3.  But the DAT took 1.5 hours to upload on DDS drive and the JB3 file only a few minutes via fire wire.

Still waiting for 733 to be real so I can move into 1 Box full digital.

[F.O.Bean]

Still waiting for 733 to be real so I can move into 1 Box full digital.

dont hold your breath

[CQBert]

I know...  want one box... not reality.  will check back for the ACL show in late summer and hopefully be with a new toy by then.

[Gordon]

so if I were to buy a new V3 with opti mod how much am I looking at??  and I assume I buy directly from grace??  santa was good too me

[Crumbo]

so if I wear to buy a new V3 with opti mod how much am I looking at??  and I assume I buy directly from grace??  santa was good too me

sent you a PM

[Govt Mule]

so if I were to buy a new V3 with opti mod how much am I looking at??  and I assume I buy directly from grace??  santa was good too me

Did you ever get a price? I think I will go the V3 route if I ever get my travel reimbursement.

[caymanreview]

o hear they can be had new from a certain retailer for like 1395 w/ the optical mod

[Gordon]

I got a very good quote   

[caymanreview]

I got a very good quote

good. i ended up having as much in my stock v3 and then getting the optical mod, as i would have had in a new opti mod!

[Gordon]

and I'll be placing my order today   

[Ed.]

if you buy it today you should be eligible for the $35 mail in rebate from grace too.

[John Kelly]

if you buy it today you should be eligible for the $35 mail in rebate from grace too.

WOW  $35?!?!?!  That's like a 2.5% rebate!!! 

[JackoRoses]

That's a ticket to the next show to tape
Well it might cover part of it depending on who you are seeing and where..
I sent my rebate form in on Monday, money is money...
I am loving my V3, I freaked a bit the other night hooking the battery up for the first time to it.
I put the darn adapter on reverse.. It powered up after I did it right, so I take that as a good sign.
I did not try a signal through it with the battery yet either... I probably will try everything out tonight again. My first run with mics and v3 is thursday night.

[Tyler McGhee]

i just got a quote from cascade media for 1399 for a new v3 with optical mod.
not too shabby.

[Ed.]

if you buy it today you should be eligible for the $35 mail in rebate from grace too.

WOW $35?!?!?! That's like a 2.5% rebate!!!

yeah, its not super awesome, but its still $35 - better than nothing.

i got mine for $1395 shipped.  i never tried for lower tho.

[JackoRoses]

I paid too much  1570 shipped..
Yet on the other hand, it is 2 years no interest instore credit.
I figure it will be paid off well before the 2 years and just write the extra I paid off
as interest anyway.

[John Kelly]

if you buy it today you should be eligible for the $35 mail in rebate from grace too.

WOW $35?!?!?! That's like a 2.5% rebate!!!

yeah, its not super awesome, but its still $35 - better than nothing.

i got mine for $1395 shipped.  i never tried for lower tho.

Seems like the price that's been floating around lately.  I think mine was a little cheaper, but I didn't have a rebate at the time.  So it all works itself out.

[Ed.]

yeah, its hard to believe i dropped that much money on taping gear...i still am astonished everytime i look at it. 

[Tyler McGhee]

yeah, its hard to believe i dropped that much money on taping gear...i still am astonished everytime i look at it. 

the good thing is that most of this equipment holds it's value for the most part.

[Tim]

i just got a quote from cascade media for 1399 for a new v3 with optical mod.
not too shabby

I'll gladly pay a few bucks more to support Cascade

[Gordon]

I paid too much  1570 shipped..
Yet on the other hand, it is 2 years no interest instore credit.
I figure it will be paid off well before the 2 years and just write the extra I paid off
as interest anyway.

where the hell did you buy from??  I got quotes from cascade, dale pro audio and SS.  and all were much lower than that.

[JackoRoses]

Do any of those places offer in house credit though?
I did not see any mention of that on those sites.
www.sweetwater.com
and for 170 more, it is not like I was raped.

[F.O.Bean]

i paid new in dec 03, 1325+195 for optimod=1520

[caymanreview]

ive got 1395 in mine, 1200 used, and 195 for the optical mod, so i did pretty good, but i would rather have the same thing new for the same price tho. there is nothing like having new gear

[Tyler McGhee]

yah but after they do the mod, it's basically new again.  with a new warranty as well!

[John Kelly]

yah but after they do the mod, it's basically new again. with a new warranty as well!

Still, it's always better to be the first one to open the box.

[Todd R]

i paid new in dec 03, 1325+195 for optimod=1520

I paid $1475 new in October 02 + 195 for the optimod = $1670      Well worth every penny.  My favorite piece of taping gear out of everything I've ever owned.

[caymanreview]

as one of the biggest sluts  in the past year or two, i can happily say i love my V3 and havent considered selling it even once. worth every fucking penny, and i would have happily paid more

[barrettphisher]

Just sent the V3 out this morning for the mod....Can't wait to run the JB3....
Barrett

[F.O.Bean]

Just sent the V3 out this morning for the mod....Can't wait to run the JB3....
Barrett

+T barrett

setup/teardown is soooo quick now, youre gonna think youre forgetting something

[Simp-Dawg]

i'm getting ready to pull the trigger...sick of having 3 boxes and so many variables.  plus i think the v3 can handle the types of recording situations i'm in much better...and i can do it spending only a little cash after selling my gear.  so do i get the optimod used for 1250, or non-mod w/ battery and hosa for 1100 then take it over to grace right after to get modded (they're here in town)??  i'm thinking the optimod if i can get a battery with it...

[Tyler McGhee]

you'll love it!

[Todd R]

Do it, Josh!  Either way you decide to go, just make sure you get the opti-mod.  No sense running a hosa box if you don't need to.

[F.O.Bean]

opti-mod vote here too

best thing since sliced butter

[Tim]

Do it, Josh! Either way you decide to go, just make sure you get the opti-mod. No sense running a hosa box if you don't need to.

what he said