Aphex Systems 1788 전단

unable, in the heat 
of battle, to bypass 
the console pre’s.
The Allen & 
Heath GL4 we 
were using at 
FOH uses 1/4 
inch ins for its 
line inputs, and 
we didn’t have 
24
XLR-to-1/4-inch 
adapters. (Given 
our results, it is 
hard to believe 
that had we 
actu ally gone 
line-in, it might 
have sounded 
even better.)
     The monitor 
console was 
a    road-worn 
Soundcraft Series 
800B, and for 

What it is: Eight-channel 
remote controlled mic pre
Who it’s for: 
System owners 
with high sonic 
requirements and 
deep pockets
Pros: Stunning sound. 
Relatively easy to use. 
Makes recording    gigs a 
snap
Cons: Very expensive
How much:  SRP  $4,995  per        
eight channels plus $995 for 
the A/D and $1495 for the 
hardware remote, PC software 
free

recording the gig we used an 
Alesis HD24, running from the 
1788’s LightPipe out directly 
into the recorder. We ran into 
a small problem when we 
could not get one of the 1788s 
(we were using three units) 
to send data to the recorder. 
After spending some time 
trying to fi gure out why and 
confi rming that the other two 
units were sending good signal 
to the recorder, we opted to 
record from two units only 
with everything except vocals 
and keys, which could be 
over dubbed later.

I was at MON and Paul was 

at FOH as the band hit the 
stage. In very short order, Paul 
came
over to me at monitor world 
to tell me how amazing his 
system sounded. After I 
was sure all the mixes were 
together and the
band was happy, I stepped 
out to Front of House and 
was noth ing short of stunned. 
I have mixed on this system 
before, and Paul has put 
together a very nice sounding 
rig. It may not be shiny and 
new, but it is very well tuned 
(courtesy of Showco’s Howard 
Page) and well maintained, 
and generally sounds very 
good. But with the addition 
of the 1788s, it sounded like 
a totally different and much 
better system. Open and clear, 
with the kind of air the kind of 
air that we all strive for and 

The ideal set-up method 

is to completely bypass the 
mic pre’s on your console-a 
sticky subject to be sure. Mics 
go from the 1788 and split to 
FOH and MON, where they 
enter the console-ideally-via 
the line inputs. Input gain 
is set on the 1788. Here is 
where the limiter comes into 
play. Aphex has fi gured out 
a way to put the limiter 

in 

front of the mic pre, which 
allows you to run your inputs 
signifi cantly hotter than you 
might otherwise, especially 
if you are using the digital 
outs for recording. No more 
running your inputs at 1OdB 
down to avoid digital clip ping 
on loud transients.The 
patented limiter lets you get a 
big, full signal without having 
to worry about overload.

Another feature that sets 

the 1788 apart from other 
remote systems is that there 
are no
glitches, pops or zipper noise 
as the gain is adjusted. 
Adjusting the gain is as easy 
and painless as turning the 
gain pot on your traditional 
preamp.
Like I said, that is the ideal 
set-up method. For our gig 
withthe 1788s, we were 

(phantom power, etc.) Next is 
the control section, which 
switches between local control 
and remote via MIDI, a laptop 
or the optional remote unit.

The Digital section lets you 

choose internal or external 
word clock and digital output 
sampling rate.You get a built-
in headphone amp with a 
volume control a button for 
switch ing between channels, 
and fi nal ly, you get controls 
for the built  in test tones (one 
at -20dBfs and another at 
OdBfs)-a lifesaver for set-up 
and troubleshooting. Holding 
both test tone buttons down 
along with Channel 7 selector 
button turns the Gain knob to 
turn into an Adjust con trol for 
dialing in the brightness of the 
LEDs from merely visible to 
truly retina-burning (very nice 
for outdoor gigs).

mostly fail to achieve.

Drums-especially the 

snare and cymbals-punched 
through the mix without being 
strident. Acoustic guitars lost 
that piezo 

“

quack” and came 

through with the richness you 
would expect using a good 
condenser mic in a studio.The 
fi ddle (it was a coun try band) 
was a revelation for Paul, who 
mixes this band regu larly and 
says that the instru ment’s 
built-in pickup often “sounds 
like crap.” Again, it sounded 
like it was being recorded 
with a good mic. Vocals were 
particularly good. The band’s 
four singers all used stan dard 
issue Shure SM58s-a good 
mic that we all use all the 
time, but hardly the latest 
and great est thing out there. 
I have become something of 
a con denser slut in the past 
couple of years and now own 
six condens er mics (fi ve AKG 
C900s and one Audix VX10). 
Paul said he thought the 
1788 made the 58s sound 
like Neumann U47s. I don’t 
know if I’ll go that far, but 
they sounded better than my 
C900s (which I like a lot) and 
at least as good as the VX10. 
So how impressed were we? 
I called Marvin at Aphex on 
Monday after the gig and told 
him he was offi cially on my 
“shitlist, as I am now spoiled 

for life and there is no way my 
budget has a rack of 1788s 
in it. Paul, on the other hand, 
who does this for a living, is 
getting ready to upgrade to 
a more “rider-able” house 
console and move the Allen 
& Heath to monitor duties. 
He was impressed enough 
with the sonic difference that 
he is considering buying 24 
channels of 1788s instead of 
a new con sole. We were, in 
short, totally blown away.