This is a classic 4-track recording console which is beautifully constructed and sounds fantastic but which was not designed for a modern mixing workflow.

Two upgrades which can make this console more useful during mixdown are to bypass most of the passive matrix and control room monitoring circuitry for greater playback accuracy, and to reroute the “jukebox” passive return section so that it can serve as 8 additional inputs at mixdown instead.

Taking over for a colleague who abandoned this client and desk, Eisen Audio finished the job properly by adding some discrete fader buffer amplifiers, installing the equivalent of four more 1272 summing amplifiers inside the frame, adding 8 NOS Neve pan pots, adding relays for reliable source select, and carrying out some substantial internal rewiring. This was all done on-site without flipping over or disassembling the console, and with a minimum of studio downtime.

We have continued to service this desk through periodic recapping, cleaning, power supply replacement, calibration.

New patch bays were built and installed by our friends at Coral Sound. Phantom power switching was added by Carl Farrugia.