V3 or ACM HD-P2 or Fostex FR2LE Transparent Mod?

[Rick]

I love my mics so they are staying put. Given that Beyers sound similar to Gefells, anyone have opinions on the following options?

- Beyerdynamic MC930 > V3 > MicroTrack II (assuming the new microtrack doesn't suck)
- Beyerdynamic MC930 > ACM HD-P2
- Beyerdynamic MC930 > Transparent Mod FR2LE

or should I just suck it up and stick with my Tmod R4? Any other options for under $1300?

Rick

[JasonSobel]

I run gefells > V3 and I love the sound, so that's what I would suggest.  Although I haven't heard either the ACM HD-P2 nor the Transparent Mod FR2LE.

[Tim]

I had a chance to use the busman R4 this weekend and came away very impressed. 4 clean channels for $1500 (give or take) seems like a pretty good deal to me.

the V3 is of course a great piece of gear but giving up those extra 2 channels would be tough

[JackoRoses]

I like the v3 in 24 bit but the real purpose of me posting is just a fyi on the HD-P2
I can't speak on how it sounds after the mod but if you plan on recording any higher resolution than 44/24 and you want to be able to not have many limits the P2 may not be for you.
The P2 is able to recognize 16gb cards but can not/will not record past 7.9 gbs on the cards.
For whatever reason the P2 will not do it. Us P2 users have emailed tascam and their response was disappointing to say the least.
Good luck in your decision all options are worthy of doing.

[JasonSobel]

while that's true about HD-P2's not being able to record past 8gigs on a single card (even though it will record up to 8 gig on a 12 or 16 gig card), 8 gigs will still get you 4 hours of 24/96, which is plenty for a "typical" show.

[spzkt]

Can't really comment personally on the sound of the HD-P2 as mine (a SuperMod) is in transit from Oade Bros at the moment. I did ask Doug about the difference in sound quality between the HD-P2 and the FR2-LE and his response was:

The HD-P2 has a better A/D chip than the LE. The difference is not significant at 16 bits but is at 24 bits. If you need the highest resolution with the lowest noise in a 24 bit file, the P2 is hands down the better machine.

hope this helps

cheers
Paul

[spzkt]

The P2 is able to recognize 16gb cards but can not/will not record past 7.9 gbs on the cards.
For whatever reason the P2 will not do it. Us P2 users have emailed tascam and their response was disappointing to say the least.
Good luck in your decision all options are worthy of doing.

That situation seems like it may have changed:

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,82308.msg1242451.html#msg1242451

[Brian Skalinder]

I've owned a V3, ACM HD-P2, and Oade MOD R4 (2-ch Warm, 2-ch Transparent).  Can't speak to the Fostex at all.  I thought they all sounded good, in their own way.  If I had to rank purely on sonic quality, I'd rank V3 > ACM HD-P2 > MOD-R4.  The ACM HD-P2 is a mighty fine sounding all-in-one, at a very reasonable price point.  The MOD-R4 sounded quite good, and I loved the flexibility of the MOD-R4, with the option to run Warm or Transparent, strictly 2-ch, or 4-ch (4 mics, or 2-ch mics + 2-ch SBD).  Tough call.  Do you find yourself wanting to do 4-ch, or are you more interested in 2-ch?

Keep in mind if you go V3, you still have the additional cost of a recorder / bit-bucket.

[Rick]

I think if the MicroTrackII pans out (seemless file spliting) as a bit-bucket I'll be keeping an eye out in the YS for a V3 

Thanks to everyone for their input!

[eric.B]

If you can be patient, I will have some results from the TCM fr2le in the future as an all in one..

[Tim]

Brian was your V3 and ACM mod?

I'm wondering how that stacks up to the standard V3 which I find to be a bit flat sounding.

[Brian Skalinder]

Brian was your V3 and ACM mod?

I'm wondering how that stacks up to the standard V3 which I find to be a bit flat sounding.

I've used both.  Some comments from a comp performed via PM, since the comp creator didn't want to make it public due to less than ideal recording environment (don't know if I ever heard back which sample was which, but I'm pretty certain ONE = stock, and TWO = ACM):

I found sample ONE exhibited the sound I've grown to love in the stock V3:  good detail throughout the range, very natural and un-hyped, coherent soundstage, wholly un-fatiguing.  I really struggle to understand and put into words what, exactly, makes V3 recordings so natural sounding and un-fatiguing to my ears.  But I know it when I hear it.

And then I listened to sample TWO.  I found it exhibited many of the same sonic characteristics as sample ONE, but added noticeably greater detail (especially in LF and MF) and maybe a bit wider, but definitely much deeper soundstage.  Overall, my initial reaction finds it a bit hyped, the HF a bit more pronounced, and simply not quite as natural sounding to my ears as ONE.  But I wonder if that's just the greater detail coming through and my ears are unaccustomed to it.  For example, maybe the greater detail reveals a sharper attack masked by less detail in ONE, and revealing that sharper attack is what my ears hear as "hyped".  Tough for me to explain.

At the moment, I'm torn as to which I prefer.  I love the HUGE soundstage in TWO, but I also find ONE sounds overall more natural to my ears.  I think only lots of further listening will reveal which I prefer.  Best news of all:  I think they both sound GREAT.

And some comments JasonSobel made about the stock V3 that really struck a chord with me, so to speak:

the V3's A/D (@ 24 bit) is very smooth and natural.  at first, its a bit underwhelming.  and then you realize why its underwhelming is because it's not adding anything (or taking anything away) from the signal.  just a very accurate representation of the original signal.

I frequently struggle to put into words what I hear and like in the V3's ADC.  I often get lost in trying to detail specific sonic characteristics, and at which I ultimately often fail.  Thanks for putting into words what I've so often failed to do in my own head (and by extension into words on TS).

[Tim]

thanks Brian

been doing some more critical listening lately and am still searching for the sound as it were

lots of good sounding options out there but nothing that has really knocked my socks off

[Nick's Picks]

*coughKORG*

[Tim]

*coughKORG*

yes, I am now fully intrigued by the Korg. I honestly didn't know they existed, I was on ts.com hiatus when they were announced and came out. I spent all last evening reading every Korg thread on here and I even pm'd Busman

thanks Nick

grabbing some of your sets off of LMA right now as well as some mr-1000 samples