Biamp Legend Console 20x16. Anyone know anything about this?

[Jake]

Hello all,
I've been using one of these in my studio for about a year now. It
works and sounds awesome but I was just wondering if anyone out there
knew anything about it.
-jake

[Mike Rivers]

Jake wrote:

> I've been using one of these in my studio for about a year now. It
> works and sounds awesome but I was just wondering if anyone out there
> knew anything about it.

It's a legend. A large format console made by this early maker of
"budget" consoles. The company no longer exists, you can't send it
back for warranty repairs, and you won't find parts for it easily.
Biamp consoles sounded pretty good for their day, but they had a
tendency to blow out preamp input stages if you plugged or unplugged
mics with the phantom power switched on.

Cal Perkins, who had a finger in several of the Mackie mixers in
recent years was one of the Biamp design engineers. He's a smart guy.

[Jake]

Mike Rivers wrote:
> Mike Rivers (that's me) wrote:
>
>> A large format console . . . .
>
> OK, so yours isn't so large. I just noticed the message header again.
> The Bimix was the usual 16-bus version and most Legends were 24-bus.
> I'm not sure what differences there are between the inner workings of
> the two models. But if you've been using it for a year, you probably
> know as much as you need to know about it.
>
Thanks mike. Good to know about the phantom power thing. I guess my
main concern about the mixer is getting replacement faders for it. A
couple of them have broken guides and one has a dead spot. Probably
won't be an issue for a couple more years if i'm still using it. It's a
great tool for gluing my pro-tools studio together though. It's mainly
the master section and the cue sends that see the most work.
-jake

[Mike Rivers]

Mike Rivers (that's me) wrote:

> A large format console . . . .

OK, so yours isn't so large. I just noticed the message header again.
The Bimix was the usual 16-bus version and most Legends were 24-bus.
I'm not sure what differences there are between the inner workings of
the two models. But if you've been using it for a year, you probably
know as much as you need to know about it.

[Jay Kadis]

In article >,
Jake > wrote:

> Hello all,
> I've been using one of these in my studio for about a year now. It
> works and sounds awesome but I was just wondering if anyone out there
> knew anything about it.
> -jake

Yes. We had one for several years and I share your enthusiasm. Biamp
also provided help long after the board was discontinued. We sold it
because the faders finally wore out and replacing them wasn't economical.

We never encountered a problem with phantom power and the board was in
use 24/7 by students.

-Jay

--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x ---- Jay's Attic Studio ----x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x---------- http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jay/ ------------x

[thepaulthomas]

On Jan 30, 5:29 am, "Mike Rivers" > wrote:
> The company no longer exists...

They're still around but I don't see the Legend among the free
downloads of pdf manuals available on thier site...

http://www.biamp.com/

[thisgoesto1]

Biamp is still in business, they just dont make consoles anymore. The last I heard they were still servicing these boards. Their support and service has always been very good. You can reach them via website www.biamp.com

[Jay Kadis]

In article . com>,
"thepaulthomas" > wrote:

> On Jan 30, 5:29 am, "Mike Rivers" > wrote:
> > The company no longer exists...
>
> They're still around but I don't see the Legend among the free
> downloads of pdf manuals available on thier site...
>
> http://www.biamp.com/

If you call them, they'll send you copies of the schematics. Not sure
about the manual.

-Jay

--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x ---- Jay's Attic Studio ----x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x---------- http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jay/ ------------x

[Jake]

Jay Kadis wrote:
> In article >,
> Jake > wrote:
>
>> Hello all,
>> I've been using one of these in my studio for about a year now. It
>> works and sounds awesome but I was just wondering if anyone out there
>> knew anything about it.
>> -jake
>
> Yes. We had one for several years and I share your enthusiasm. Biamp
> also provided help long after the board was discontinued. We sold it
> because the faders finally wore out and replacing them wasn't economical.
>
> We never encountered a problem with phantom power and the board was in
> use 24/7 by students.
>
> -Jay
>
Thanks Jay. Sounds like I'm doing alright then. But, a couple of my
faders are starting to go. Any idea where I could get replacements?
are all 100mm alps the same? I'm guessing there's different tapers and
resistance.
-jake

[Jay Kadis]

In article >,
Jake > wrote:

> Jay Kadis wrote:
> > In article >,
> > Jake > wrote:
> >
> >> Hello all,
> >> I've been using one of these in my studio for about a year now. It
> >> works and sounds awesome but I was just wondering if anyone out there
> >> knew anything about it.
> >> -jake
> >
> > Yes. We had one for several years and I share your enthusiasm. Biamp
> > also provided help long after the board was discontinued. We sold it
> > because the faders finally wore out and replacing them wasn't economical.
> >
> > We never encountered a problem with phantom power and the board was in
> > use 24/7 by students.
> >
> > -Jay
> >
> Thanks Jay. Sounds like I'm doing alright then. But, a couple of my
> faders are starting to go. Any idea where I could get replacements?
> are all 100mm alps the same? I'm guessing there's different tapers and
> resistance.
> -jake

When we asked Biamp about that a couple of years back, they told me that
Alps no longer made that particular fader and we could get some if we
ordered 10,000. We settled on some similar ones but the feel was
decidedly sloppier and we never bothered putting them in.

-Jay

--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x ---- Jay's Attic Studio ----x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x---------- http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jay/ ------------x

[Scott Dorsey]

Jake > wrote:
>>
>Thanks Jay. Sounds like I'm doing alright then. But, a couple of my
>faders are starting to go. Any idea where I could get replacements?
>are all 100mm alps the same? I'm guessing there's different tapers and
>resistance.

There are pretty much only two tapers, linear and "audio" that you'll have
to deal with. There are actually a bunch of different audio tapers out
there, but for the most part they don't vary too much. And there are a
very narrow range of values out there... almost all console faders you see
are 10K or 600 ohm log taper, with the occasional oddity now and then.

The problem is making them mechanically fit, especially if they are PC-board
mounted. Getting something that will fit in the correct position can be
a real nightmare, even for rotary pots.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Jay Kadis]

In article >,
(Scott Dorsey) wrote:

> Jake > wrote:
> >>
> >Thanks Jay. Sounds like I'm doing alright then. But, a couple of my
> >faders are starting to go. Any idea where I could get replacements?
> >are all 100mm alps the same? I'm guessing there's different tapers and
> >resistance.
>
> There are pretty much only two tapers, linear and "audio" that you'll have
> to deal with. There are actually a bunch of different audio tapers out
> there, but for the most part they don't vary too much. And there are a
> very narrow range of values out there... almost all console faders you see
> are 10K or 600 ohm log taper, with the occasional oddity now and then.
>
> The problem is making them mechanically fit, especially if they are PC-board
> mounted. Getting something that will fit in the correct position can be
> a real nightmare, even for rotary pots.
> --scott

The Legend was modular in construction so the faders were not PC-board
mounted. The replacement ones we got had very long tabs that didn't
exactly fit the knobs and had a much looser feel than the originals.
You really don't want to mix faders of different feel if you can avoid
it.

They were 10K audio-taper as I recall.

-Jay

--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x ---- Jay's Attic Studio ----x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x---------- http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jay/ ------------x

[[email protected]]

Hey Jake,

I have been using one of these consoles for about a year too. I think
it sounds pretty great, especially for the price. The master section
is really fantastic, especially coming from having used a Digi002r
with some crappy outboard pres to track. It's a very flexible console
and I have the 16 group sends hooked up to my DAW and love being able
to easily send any of the channels to any of my DAW inputs. It is a
fantastic tracking console, but is my first real one so perhaps I'm
biased.

I have had no problem with the faders. The problem I have is the
cable from the power supply to the board is not great. It doesn't
secure tightly and if jostled causes the board to freak out. Lots of
popping and occasionally the meters will go out for a little while if
you wiggle the cable. I've also experience some slight ground hum
issues with it but I'm working on doing all my cables properly and it
has improved.

I was in contact with Biamp because there was supposedly an input
transformer modification. They said none were sold with this done and
they had no transformers in stock, nor info on what would work as a
substitute. I was obsessed with adding transformers for some reason.
Probably all the gushing about neve and api stuff you read all the
time on the internet.

I've been considering selling the board to upgrade to a Soundcraft
1600 my friend is selling. At times, I think I would like the biamp
better because of the flexiblity and ease of operation with the 16
group sends, but the Soundcraft looks more pro, which is important for
impressing people, right?! I'm not convinced yet the Soundcraft will
be a sonic improvement over the Biamp, so I'm trying to do a mic pre
shoot out to see if I can notice a difference.

The Biamp Legend is rare and everyone who sees mine is surprised that
Biamp made a recording console. Also I think people are suspicious of
it because Biamp doesn't have much of a reputation amongst recordists
and band dudes. After they hear the results though they are usually
quite happy. Plus it puts on quite a light show with the meter bridge
to dazzle the easily entertained.

Jeff