Yamaha 1202 Mixer Mic Preamps vs. Class A Chilton QM3 - Part 1

[@Beatledave7]

Another good presentation well done Jamie! Makes you wonder how Akai didn’t get their mic pres & eq’s a little better on the MG series recorders…they cost enough. Then again Yamaha has always made great stuff of high quality, right thru from musical instruments to studio gear.

[@jamiedurrantmusician]

Cheers Dave! Appreciate your words

[@DarthPreamp]

Thanks for the video! Some of the older Yamahas are world class. I mix through a Yamaha M512. Incredible board. Beautiful circuitry. I even mixed my latest composition for string quartet through the M512.

[@jamiedurrantmusician]

Super cool looking board the M512, I assume same era, circuitry

[@DarthPreamp]

​@@jamiedurrantmusician The M512 is a bit earlier than the 1202. Mid 70's ? It and the 9 series proceeded the pm 1000 & 2000? The M512 channels are entirely discrete, and the main outputs have a chip each, if I remember correctly. All ins/outs have transformers on them. I cleaned mine up and wow.

[@jamiedurrantmusician]

@@DarthPreamp have you got a schematic for the M512, I’d like to compare this to the 1202.... maybe email me pls

[@DarthPreamp]

@@jamiedurrantmusician I emailed you the service manual which has some schematics :) It's a ridiculous board.

[@jamiedurrantmusician]

@@DarthPreamp thank you, I have the email... ridiculously good I assume... where are you based>?

[@dasczwo]

great vid! saw your reverb listing pics. beautiful modular servicable design. could you take a look what kind of tamuras are in there? been lookimf for a schematic but nothing, cheers!

[@jamiedurrantmusician]

I've sold this desk now, so cannot look them up ... however there may be specs floating about, I'll have a hunt

[@jovantrendmaker4722]

What about yamaha mc 1202?

[@jamiedurrantmusician]

I’m sorry to say that the newer MC desks have cheaper IC only based mic preamps - they are noisy, are know to have RF issues (picking up radio frequency interference) and also have cheap op amps in the master section. It is cheaper to find an older console than to rebuild an MC desk. I’ve used these in rehearsal spaces and feel the MC series is about the worst product Yamaha have ever made. A pile of crap. Sorry to say it, but I completely hate them!

[@jovantrendmaker4722]

@@jamiedurrantmusician good to know thats why i asked

[@wckoek]

Is the 1202 all discrete? I am looking at a PM1000 vs Toft ATB using it for tracking. I wondered if you have any experience with either of these board?

[@jamiedurrantmusician]

No it’s not, look up Yamaha M512

[@wckoek]

@@jamiedurrantmusician thanks for the suggestion! There's only one 512 on the market unmodded and in pretty bad shape. I will keep my eyes open for one of these as well

[@wckoek]

@@jamiedurrantmusician I've just found out that the M1516 is all discrete as well. Does the M512 and 1516 sounded the same or as good as Pm1000?

[@jamiedurrantmusician]

@@wckoek I’ve not used either console however I believe both are discrete - and have similar spec but note you’ll need to have them worked on, if they have bad leaking capacitors they’ll be noisy and therefore not worth recording with! Budget for a Re-cap and service.

[@wckoek]

@@jamiedurrantmusician I guess I'll spend more on the PM1000 which have done work on instead since I cannot say I am handy or have much time to do it (I read people spend months to service and modify the board) I see if I can negotiate further. Thanks for your insights!

[@russliquid4858]

well prob another reason why the home recording sounded better is due to limited channels = less chants for phase issues = more punch, clarity, thickness etc..

[@jamiedurrantmusician]

That’s if the source is great in the first place

[@leonardovalvassori]

personally prefer the Yamaha

[@jamiedurrantmusician]

there you go! So it proves that low cost old consoles are good and very musical

[@SimonAkopo]

Hoe can I learn it easly

[@jamiedurrantmusician]

Apologies for the very late reply! Nothing great comes easily in life, not that I'm super great lol