Allen & Heath GS3 - Short Overview

[@FarewellOldFriends]

Hi - I've had no problems with any of the faders, except that they can get crackly with age, often due to electrolytic capacitors feeding them degrading. All components in the GS3 are pretty standard - you can get replacement 100mm ALPS or similar faders online for a few quid each. If there's no output at all, it may be the circuits driving them, and that's more messy to debug. I did need to replace one of the ribbon cables that linked the individual channel cards, due to poor contacts.

[@strakastudiosPT]

Hello there, liked very much your video. I have one GS3-24 (bought in second hand around 10 years ago) but never really used it to much in my studio, as I use computer interface. Now, I am starting to use it again, but I have problem with my left and right faders (not working). Did you had any problem with this? How did you fix it? Regards, Alex.

[@o2b312]

Hi there it is long ago that you made this video, but anyway would like to ask you some question about the GS3 because I have problems with the Midi Mute Funktion so do you know maybe a solution or where I could finde a complet Mute Micorprocessor board for a change?

[@FarewellOldFriends]

When I received my GS3, the MIDI muting wasn't working properly, but it took me about a year to realise it, as it was that long before I tried to use MIDI muting 'in anger' with my PC - all new concepts at the time! It 'sort-of' worked, but didn't seem logical, and didn't behave as the manual said it should. On closer inspection, it was obvious that the soldering on the MIDI muting board was terrible and full of dry joints (I'm an electronic engineer by profession, so I know the signs...) This was before A&H were doing automated flow soldering, so I guess the person doing the hand-soldering was having a bad day, or using a soldering iron with too low a temperature. I talked with A&H at the time, and convinced them I was capable of doing a board swap myself (which saved sending the whole mixer back - it's heavy - you will know that!), and they sent a replacement MIDI Mute Processor under warranty, which worked fine. However, that was a LONG time ago, and not much hope of a NOS board now. Have you decided it's beyond repair? There is a rechargeable NiCd battery on board, which may be dead, resulting in lost settings when you power-cycle the mixer. Any ex-equipment boards are likely to have batteries in the same state after this time, but I'm sure you could get an equivalent (NiMH?) replacement. Also look for poor solder joints ;-) - easy to reflow if there are. Most of the components are still available, and easy to swap out. I also had to replace one of the ribbon cable assemblies after a few years as the IDC connector contacts were getting dodgy. Although the GS3 was obsolete by then, A&H managed to dig out a replacement which they sold me for 30 quid. However, having so many connector pins in a mixer may make board replacement easier, but the huge pin-count is a serious hostage to fortune in terms of reliability. Good luck - I'd be interested to hear how you get on. (BTW I sold my GS3 a couple of years ago, so can't help you with comparative signal measurements, etc.)

[@o2b312]

FarewellOldFriends hy my Friend! first of all ist very kind of you to answer my request ;-) At the moment the mixer is at a professional repair service, but they charge 45€ p.15min.....s

[@o2b312]

FarewellOldFriends upp wrong button pressed! So as I bought the mixer for 100 I don't know if it is worth to invest in a old heavy big mixers, but I think it is a good one....also I made request at Allen & heat England, 14 days ago, but no answer till today........to explain a little more oft what is ms purpose for the mixer, I would like to integrate it with my Abelton Daw to listen back of my mix an integrate all my analog gear, to have hands on control.....do you think in your opinion that it is good for that, or should I go a other way.....Second solution I don't care and when the problem a cure I switch it on and off, and the problem is gone ;-) Waiting to your answer with interest kind regards, Chris from Vienna!

[@FarewellOldFriends]

Hi Chris - Ouch! E180 an hour sounds very expensive! Don't hold out any hope of assistance from Allen & Heath - they really won't be interested in the GS3 after all this time. It all depends on what equipment you are trying to bring together, but if you have a lot of MIDI synths being driven by Ableton (many of which will probably be stereo), and you don't need to apply EQ in the mixer, you may be better off getting a line mixer with lots of stereo inputs. Looking online, I see TASCAM's make a line mixer with 8 stereo line inputs with a couple of outputs in a 1U rack box (the LM-8ST), but it's quite expensive at ~E350. You don't say what your computer inerface is, but I have a Behringer XR-18 which will take up to 16 mic or 18 line inputs, and its virtual mixer allows inputs to be configured as mono or linked as stereo, and at E380 it's useful for lots of things including PA with live recording, and it's very small. The only limitation is 48kHz max sample rate, if that's an issue for you. The GS3 takes up a LOT of space in a small home studio, and has features you probably don't need with a DAW. It doesn't have individual input channel metering. It doesn't have MIDI control over anything except muting. It is also very heavy and an awkward shape to transport by car. Maybe you could sell the A&H on to a collector who wants it for its retro functions (and who is probably capable of fixing the mute problem themselves), and get a more modern line mixer to do the simple combining job you are looking to do. Whichever solution you choose, I wish you the best of luck. Cheers!

[@dobrepytanie828]

I just bought a GS3 and my 2 trk tape outputs are completely silent... I know it's probably some kind of rookie mistake, but I can't wrap my head around it. I've tried every possible combination and I can't seem to bounce the final mix. What components are necessary for sound to come out of "2 trk tape" outputs?

[@FarewellOldFriends]

Hi - First of all make sure you have the operator's manual - avalable as a PDF download from Allen&Heath. Look at Section 5, in particular the diagram on page 5-22. Note that there is provision for _two_ 2-track tape decks, and switches to allow you to select each deck for playback, and to dub from one 2-track recorder to the other. If you have either of the the '2 trk dubbing' switches pushed in, one 2-track machine will see the output from the other - so that will be nothing if you don't have a second machine plugged in. In normal operation both these switches should be out, so that the L-R mix bus is being sent to both tape machines. That may be the cause of your problem!

[@dobrepytanie828]

FarewellOldFriends Fixed. Thank you so much!!

[@Bassman403]

Hi could u tell me what the OHMS for the head phone socket are ??? I have an S2 16.......please

[@FarewellOldFriends]

Hi Michael - Interesting to hear you have the S2, made by Allen & Heath for Thatched Cottage Audio back in the '80s - a slightly cut-down spec from the GS3, but a good mixer nonetheless. Allen & Heath, bless them, still have the User and Service manuals for the S2 online, so I'd suggest grabbing them while you can! Here are the links: www.allen-heath.com/media/S2-USER-GUIDE.pdf www.allen-heath.com/media/S2-SERVICE-MANUAL.pdf Unfortunately neither document specifies an actual recommended headphone impedance, but looking at the headphone circuit, which has BC549 and ZTX109 transistors in push-pull across +-16V rails, with 22 Ohm resistors in series with each rail and 68 Ohms in series with each headphone channel output, I would say: (a) It can give quite a healthy voltage output (i.e. good for higher impedance phones), and (b) It has reasonable protection against short-circuit or very low-impedance phones. The driver is basically the same as the GS3, and I generally used 30 and 600 ohm phones on that mixer with no problem. That was a bit of a round-about answer, but I hope it helps!

[@Bassman403]

Thanks for your help...........cheers