my first mixer

[David Terry]

After seeing pictures of beautifully preserved old mixers on Jeff’s site, I was compelled to retrieve my first mixer, an Interface 12 X 4 from its case in the basement.  I had not opened the case in more than a decade. Years of use and my humid Atlanta basement detract from the board’s original appearance.

I ordered this board sight-unseen from Louis Stevenson in Texas.  It was powered by 30V DC or mains.  Most of the time I used only one input, but the over the years its 10 outputs and 4 aux outs came in handy.  Com to boom and slate and track assignments worked well but there was no remote roll.  It lived on a custom made cart that an old German machinist built for me.  The cart was beautiful, until the road took its toll.  It costs $1,000 back then, and I think the board was $7K.  It is now my soldering station-repair cart. 

I am struck by how much has changed since I bought this board in the late 70’s or early 80’s…  There was no Internet or easy way for a guy in Atlanta to get info about equipment. I attended AES but it was 98% music gear at that time. 

In those pre Sonosax-Cooper days, I always wondered what the big Hollywood guys used, but never liked what I saw in magazines or on sets of movies that shot here.  I felt odd using a mixer that no one else did.  When I met Jim Webb on Long Riders, he was using a board like mine. That made me feel better.

David Terry

[Jeff Wexler]

In those pre Sonosax-Cooper days, I always wondered what the big Hollywood guys used, but never liked what I saw in magazines or on sets of movies that shot here.  I felt odd using a mixer that no one else did.  When I met Jim Webb on Long Riders, he was using a board like mine. That made me feel better.

David Terry

Beauty! You are right about Jim Webb and the Interface board. When Jim started with Robert Altman doing the now legendary multi-track recordings Altman is noted for, the Interface board was the only board out there that gave them a fighting chance at all the mixing, routing and monitoring that they required. Later, Jim Webb built a mixing panel of his own design to accommodate many of the things the Interface either could or couldn't do. Jim built 12 of the mixing panels, used 1 for himself and I believe sold only 1 other to someone else. It wasn't a big seller and I think Jim took a big beating on the development and manufacturing costs. I almost bought one of them from Jim but decided against it. I would love to find pictures of that board now.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

[Philip Perkins]

I thought that some of the Altman stuff was done on a modded Audio Developments.  I remember seeing a modded AD (with a custom meter overbridge for the direct outs for the Stephens tape deck) @ ASC in the early 1980s.  Perhaps that was the board Bob Gravenor used.  In any case, the ASC guys wouldn't sell it to me--they told me it was too beat for what I wanted to do w/ it (travel).  The Interface boards did a lot for the time, and were very reasonable in price.  However they were not tremendously great designs electronically.  Bill Ruck, the broadcast and maintainence engineer in SF modded a few of them and really opened up their sound.  When I asked if the results were worth getting an IE to replace the Audio Developments mixer I was using then, he told me that doing all his mods basically brought the sound of the IE up to what an early '80s AD sounded like.

I also remember the monitor board @ the Roxy on Sunset at the same time was an Interface.  That console actually sucked, but had been mega-abused by the time we got there.

Philip Perkins

[Jeff Wexler]

I thought that some of the Altman stuff was done on a modded Audio Developments.  I remember seeing a modded AD (with a custom meter overbridge for the direct outs for the Stephens tape deck) @ ASC in the early 1980s.  Perhaps that was the board Bob Gravenor used.Philip Perkins

You are right about the Audio Developments boards. When Jim Webb retired (from the Altman group) Bob Gravenor took over the whole multi-track thing and used the AD boards. Around the same time I had a highly modified AD PICO board that I used on 2 movies and it really wasn't my cup of tea. I thought about moving up to one of the larger models from AD but never did.

-  JW

[Guest tourtelot]

I had an AD145 "Pico" panel for a long, long time.  By the time I got rid of it (I may have even given it away!) I had modcded it to hell and back,  All new front-end ICs, trimmers, communcations and remote roll (for the Nagra of course) and I actually had it sounding pretty fair for what was a panel with serious headroom issues.  The great thing about it was that it was all discrete components on big, thich PC bosrds so even I could work on it.  The Sonbosax put and end to that, surface-mount tecnology was too daunting and the PC boards, some of the, had traces INDSIDE a board sandwich.  Forget about any work on the digi panel.  An AES/EBU slot card leaves for Yamaha service tomorrow AM<g>.

I also had a Sela for a while that I intended to use on insert cars but it never got the chance. 

[Philip Perkins]

I had an AD145 "Pico" panel for a long, long time.  By the time I got rid of it (I may have even given it away!) I had modcded it to hell and back,  All new front-end ICs, trimmers, communcations and remote roll (for the Nagra of course) and I actually had it sounding pretty fair for what was a panel with serious headroom issues.  The great thing about it was that it was all discrete components on big, thich PC bosrds so even I could work on it.  The Sonbosax put and end to that, surface-mount tecnology was too daunting and the PC boards, some of the, had traces INDSIDE a board sandwich.  Forget about any work on the digi panel.  An AES/EBU slot card leaves for Yamaha service tomorrow AM<g>.

I also had a Sela for a while that I intended to use on insert cars but it never got the chance. 

My Pico was also very modified and went all over the world.  It's cool you were able to replace the ICs, all the techs I spoke with (3, including Audio Upgrades) felt that the mixer's 12v rails prevented them from using a hipper IC that would make a big difference in the headroom.  My AD145 was finally given to Mills College.  Are the current AD's alot better than the old ones?  It is true that they were very easy to work on, partly because there wasn't that much going on inside them.

Philip Perkins