joemeek VC3Q rocks!

[dai h.]

latest impulse buy; the joemeek VC3Q:

from what I read before joemeek stuff was one of the better low end equipment in terms of the sound quality, so wanted to take a crack if I saw a reasonably priced used one and the other day I happened to stumble into one on the web and pretty much bought it "on the spot". Anyway, playing around with it a little bit and with a mic (vocals) yesterday it seemed okay. Pretty good. I wouldn't say super dramatic but probably should improve a lot with a higher quality mic (I was using a cheap dynamic). Today, tried gtr. and Sansamp (Classic) to VC3Q (basically the setting described in the User's guide). Much more impressive. Sansamp sounds better than by itself, and with it bypassed the gtr. sounds MUCH better than usual. Doesn't have that brittle crappy direct sound I usually get. The compression seems to help make it sound "right". You can "snap" strings really hard and it sounds good (bit of distortion for some notes but maybe the settings were not 100% optimized). Nice.

[dai h.]

tried it with my cheapass Fender Japan fretless Jazz bass (on the User's guide example setting for bass/drums) by itself (no sansamp) and it was still sounding really good. Clean, no annoying harshness (that seems to be there in greater or lesser degrees with typical solid state gear such as cheap mixers). With this app. I don't see any advantage in the SansAmp at all (well, maybe if you want more distortion). So it seems solid state is capable of clean sound (comparable to tubes) IF it's designed to be that way. I think I also blew up an opamp in the mixer I connected the output to (an old 4 track Tascam Portastudio which has been modded a bit with 5532 opamps). Too much output or something(?). Plugged into another input and went on.

[dai h.]

interesting. Using the cheapo dynamic, plugging the VC3Q out into the efx. return, the sound is better. Specifically there is noticably less sibilance. Got less volume so had to compensate by turning the VC3Q out level knob higher and cranking the efx. rtn. high. So the lesson is if going through crappy sounding stages, the less stages gone through the better?

Also had a peek inside. I could see one SSM2017, one photocell with an LED next to it, some 2N3904s, appears to be some stuff under the board(maybe surface mnt.). Alpha pots (looks like carbon).

[HTH]

I used one for years until I got a Mackie desk, the Joe Meek VC3 was a nice, clean and transparent preamp stage. The compressor was very transparent too and the exciter added a bit of sparkle back in when necessary.

On the whole I'd have liked the preamp to be more 'coloured' rather than being so transparent and the compressor could have squashed harder for my tastes.

For the price it was great overall though and the prices for them used now make them a bargain.

[dai h.]

hey Ian what do they typically go for now in the UK?

[HTH]

hey Ian what do they typically go for now in the UK?

I got 99GBP when I sold mine a couple of years back, but I think 50GBP is more in the ballpark now...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Joe-Meek-VC3-C...d=p3286.c0.m14

The VC3 I had (and the one in the link above) featured an exciter rather than the 3-band EQ in the VC3Q. I would rather have the 3-band EQ than the exciter as it was quite harsh imo and rarely got used.

[dai h.]

50GBP would be a pretty good price. I'd probably try to buy another one. Mine was around 85GBP.

The VC3 I had (and the one in the link above) featured an exciter rather than the 3-band EQ in the VC3Q. I would rather have the 3-band EQ than the exciter as it was quite harsh imo and rarely got used.

Seem to be a number of those that are pretty much the same--VC3, VC3Q, MQ3. What I understand is that the designer lost the company, and he was making some that appeared quite similar except in red. Thanks for the bit about the exciter, interesting to know.

[HTH]

btw, I've just remembered - the company name that was setup after Joe Meek was bought out was Hooter Sound. Same product, different colour...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hooter-Sound-B...d=p3286.c0.m14

You will get a better deal on the Hooter Sound stuff since the name was never as widely known.

[dai h.]

ha! "Hooter Sound" lol... So did TF have to stop making these (and the red ones)? Completely jonesing for more joemeek stuff but I'm trying to find a decent condenser microphone so I have to fight the urge to go on joemeek impulse buys.

[HTH]

Dai, the Groove Tube FET mics that came out around 1999/2000 are amazing for the money and now go really cheap on ebay.

I sold a matched pair (of GT55s) for ?250 recently and they were up there in quality with mics costing three times that price. Just needed the cash and they hadn't been used in years.

[dai h.]

thanks man, I'll definitely keep that in the mental database. I was thinking maybe a Rode since I've seen them for about 40 pounds on the low side which seems like a good deal if I can find one around there. Some of the mods for the more affordable Chinese made mics look inneresting too. There was one that even used a subminature tube .

[HTH]

just stay clear of the Rode NT1, I had one and thought it was crap - harsh top end and boomy low end. a lo-rolloff filter would've been a god-send on this mic.

[dai h.]

more intel... Can I call you Ian-07?

just stay clear of the Rode NT1, I had one and thought it was crap - harsh top end and boomy low end. a lo-rolloff filter would've been a god-send on this mic.

that's interesting since they seem to be quite popular. Differences between models or lots of hype or some herd mentality thing going on? Wonder.

[HTH]

more intel... Can I call you Ian-07?

that's interesting since they seem to be quite popular. Differences between models or lots of hype or some herd mentality thing going on? Wonder.

affirmative Dai08, ha ha

I think it was because there was no other large diaphragm condenser on the market at the time for the price (around ?120 typical on the street).

There was definately some herd mentality with the NT1 - it got me roped in, but let me down in a big way.

[dai h.]

I've been scoping out the used market for a couple of months, and (as far as lower end condenser mics) usually what seems to show up is Rode, Audio-Technica, Seide(not sure if this brand is sold outside of Japan), Marshall Electronics, AKG, Joemeek, (and possibly some others I'm not aware of).

For dynamics, any Shure SM57 or 58 appearing around 30 pounds seem to be snapped up very quickly.