BIG STUDIO UPGRADE | 500 series mic preamps: Neve, SSL, API & more with the Cranborne Audio 500ADAT

Compass Box Studio is FINALLY getting some amazing outboard micpres!
We are replacing our existing setup of the Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 and the ADAT Octopre MK II with the Universal Audio Apollo x8p and the ‪@cranborneaudio‬ 500ADAT.
The Cranborne 500ADAT is basically a 500 series rack with AD/DA conversion, so acts just like any other ADAT expander, the beauty of course is that we can populate it with any 500 series micpre. As part of the selection of micpres we went ahead with a pair of ‪@RupertNeveDesigns‬ 511 for stereo applications, the ‪@SSLvideos‬ VHD, the legendary Neve 1073LB, another pair of the Camden 500, the ‪@APIAudioOfficial‬ 312, and finishing the colour palette with the ‪@FocusriteProTV‬ Red 1. Now we have 16 of possibly the best mic pres in the world, including the unison emulation of the Apollo.
Now we can try and hear the differences between each of these pres, do sample recordings with the same source, and a lot more! Comment below on what YOU want to see with this gear!
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0:00 - Intro
1:32 - The interface upgrade
2:46 - Cranborne 500ADAT
3:45 - RND 511
4:25 - SSL VHD
4:57 - Neve 1073LB
5:38 - Camden 500
6:14 - API 312
6:40 - Focusrite Red 1
7:05 - Building the rack!
7:51 - What it looks like

[@ParijatWarbeast]

The excitement on your face in this video is almost contagious. xD. looking forward to getting my grubby fingers on them knobs!!

[@coreybautistaaudio]

The quality of this video is absolutely amazing Definitely considering the 500ADAT and this was super informative!

[@CompassBoxStudio]

:)

[@cranborneaudio]

🔥🔥🔥 Amazing choice of modules! Looks (and most definitely sounds) incredible! 💪

[@CompassBoxStudio]

All thanks to that ADAT500 :)

[@alexanderfamily]

Congrats! Nice set of preamps!

[@ralphy3393]

Thank you so much for this video! I will eventually be building a home studio for myself, and this was perfect for me! Thank you!

[@riktascale4]

Wonderful stuff. Can't wait to get my expander.

[@gabet3754]

Looks really cool. Congrats.

[@sinuous1]

Awesome video and setup! I get my Cranborne 500 R8 on Tuesday. I'm excited!. I already have alot of outboard preamp gear, so I bought a pair of the Neve EQs the Wes Audio Dione bus compressor, a Great River pre, and a Bereich03 limiter and Bax Eq from from a engineer in Germany.

[@kiransethi8906]

What an upgrade!!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@thegodsrockstar]

Great gear & great vid!

[@manikacharya]

Ok this is incredible. There is simply no reason musicians shouldn’t reach out to you. This is the way forward, being particular about the process from conception to release. I cannot wait to record here someday.

[@raagsethi1]

You have a slot ready ma man :)

[@parassssssingh]

DAT SOME GOOD GOOD!

[@nunoandradebluesdrive]

looks super nice. Great video.

[@hbrookes]

DUDE, I am drooling,lol...what a lineup of hi end modules! Enjoy..Harlin

[@CompassBoxStudio]

🤤🤤🤤

[@diyrecordingstudio]

What an awesome upgrade. 500 series gear is awesome. The DI on the neve is really something special. Run a bass guitar straight into it, and you'll be impressed .

[@CompassBoxStudio]

That Neve is quite something!

[@BrijeshSarin]

Super SWEET!

[@producermind9030]

Impressive!!!

[@Steviee8]

Well, whatever you read and studied or learned about recording, you’re doing it great. So glad I found your channel, (was looking at the Audient ASP and found you.). I would love to come to India and record with you guys. Keep up the great work. I’m subscribed!

[@CompassBoxStudio]

Thank you so much for the support! And do let us know if you ever want to come by the studio to record!

[@dwithathi3596]

Game changer!

[@ky7676]

Before I saw this video, I was thinking about almost the same mic pres selections too. We have similar mindset. Neve, SSL, API are the way to go. :)

[@CompassBoxStudio]

Cant go wrong with that!

[@lisouspacecakes]

Good video editing. smooooth

[@CompassBoxStudio]

Appreciate it!

[@protyay]

New snare thru that SSL do be sounding PHAT tho

[@ashleyozmond]

Great video. Can you, please share comparison videos for these preamps specially for focusrite Red 1. Thanks

[@CompassBoxStudio]

We are actually going to be doing some testing on those mic pres soon!

[@christopherdragone8621]

lovelyyyyyyyy

[@noemartinez9010]

This is almost exactly what I want to upgrade to lol. I have a saffire pro 40 and want to upgrade to an 8p. Execpt that I want a grace design and crane. And a channel strip but I havent decided yet. Good mic pre selection

[@CompassBoxStudio]

The Grace Design stuff is also amazing!

[@charliestewart5528]

Awesome stuff man.. how's the imaging/dimensional improvement to your digital mixes with only the summing mixer? (if you've A/B'd that is..)

[@TheThortoy]

Have you try to use Cranborne as master clock ? Just would like to know how difference from clock of UA

[@bharathj63]

Looks Awesome! Where did you source all this hardware?

[@kiransethi8906]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🥳🥳🥳🥳

[@sealp3241]

This is a really nice upgrade! What is that rackmount you're using for the cranborne 500 and apollo x8 at 8:16? Looks pretty nice

[@CompassBoxStudio]

Thats actually a regular server rack that I just mounted on some wooden supports!

[@SheilSagar]

Damn

[@ryanshook8284]

Ok but after an 8 hour day of tracking, how hot is the cranborne? Want to know before I purchase.

[@CompassBoxStudio]

Quite hot tbh

[@Benprogfuse]

I just got a 500 series chassis with the RND 511, API 505-DI and I own a Focusrite ISA One. I’m curious what your impression is of the RED1 compared to the other Neves. Also the SSL. I am considering getting that SSL VHD.

[@CompassBoxStudio]

The Red 1 is super clean, and you can really push them before they start to saturate and has a slightly less mid-forward sound than the 1073

[@Benprogfuse]

@@CompassBoxStudio That is how I would describe my ISA One. I believe they should be the same circuit, other than the Red1 having an output transformer.

[@thekeyroads]

I have 511? Is API lunch box compatible with it?

[@CompassBoxStudio]

Yup should be!

[@Mixedbymisha]

Idk bout the adat for pres i like adat to send out from or if u run out of 8 analog channels and need 8 more (16) if u got 8 channel apollo id use 8 analog outs and use adat only if u run out of analog

[@CompassBoxStudio]

The Apollo x8p has 16 in/out, however, 8 in/outs are analogue and 8 in/out are digital through adat. We already have our analogue inputs and outputs full, which is why adat is a great way to expand the I/O of an interface. The pre's are not 'adat', they are the Neve, API etc. the adat is only the protocol for extending the I/O. Hope that helps!

[@nicholasflores8100]

Any books you'd care to recommend ?

[@CompassBoxStudio]

The Recording Engineers Handbook is a good place to start!

[@desijankari2674]

I need some knowledge from u....but how to contact u sir

[@desijankari2674]

@@CompassBoxStudio i want loudness in my condenser mic

[@desijankari2674]

Sir i want to buy preamp but i,m confused

[@desijankari2674]

@@CompassBoxStudio for condenser mic

[@desijankari2674]

@@CompassBoxStudio need your contact number

[@daidipyasheth1811]

*drool face emoji*

[@TribalHead]

Just sell it for me 😊 focusrite sapire

[@gretamcconkey3459]

Should have just bought the cranborne audio interface. It’s 28 in 30 out and the conversion is much better. Plus ua is going downhill and think about this. You bought it for the unison preamps but if you had just purchased the cranborne you could have just added any vintage sound by purchasing module preamps like the neve you mentioned . I don’t know just kinda backwards to me. Plus the conversion on the Apollo doesn’t touch Cranborne.

[@CompassBoxStudio]

The Unisons are quite great, and significantly cheaper than loading up 8 Neve 1073s for example. Plus we got the ADAT expander since we already had the Apollo from before, it was not a fresh build :)

[@WeSuckAsHumans]

Ballin’ with the originals! I have a couple knock offs and lovin’ them; GAP 573 and Stam 312. Did you record that rockin song that was playing? Sounded great.

[@CompassBoxStudio]

Thank you!!! Love the Stam stuff, and CAPI makes great API clones too!