VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[Jeff McNeal]

I'm very curious to read comments from others who may have rushed out and purchased a new Aphex 230 voice processor. I'm always interested in staying on the cutting edge with this stuff, and was really impressed with what I was reading about it, but I was extremely disappointed in the performance of this product once I put it to the test and couldn't box it up to send it back for a refund quickly enough.

I spent a good two hours, in the booth, trying to coax some decent sound out of that box and could never come up with anything other than something that either sounded hollow and/or grossly distorted. I know my way around processors pretty good, and have tweaked many, but even with the input and output gain set all the way back to practically nothing, I found it very easy to overdrive and find distortion. I did get it to work fairly nicely, but only within an extremely tight parameter and only when I reduced my voice to practically a whisper, doing a Hal Douglas type of read. It actually sounded kind of good there, but I'm not going to spend $700 on a processor for one specific style of read.

I also had to resort to using a 3-2 ground eliminating plug adapter for the power cord in order to eliminate persistent, nasty ground hum from the unbalanced output that could not be quelled any other way.

Maybe I just got a bad unit or something, but I felt very let down by this new processor. I tried every conceivable setting and combination of settings. My mic is a Neumann TLM 103. I couldn't wait to get my Focusrite back into service. Whas I missing something here?

[banjo]

Jeff, I thouhgt my reply to your post made it to this BB, guess not.....so here it is again:

I too bought a new Aphex 230 only to return it for credit. No matter how much I tweaked it I couldn't get the sound I wanted...or thought it could produce. Hollow, bassy, dead. I tired every setting or variation there of I could come up with on the 230 with no luck. I used three different mics and got the same results. FedEx delivered the unit on a Monday and the store got it back Tuesday morning.

I finally went in an altogether different direction and bought a Empirical Labs EL-8 Distressor. I'm using this box in addition to my old mic-pre
(Valley 401) with some amazing results. My Neumann TLM-193, Rode NTG-2 and Marshall MXL 2001 sound great through this new combo.
The EL-8 costs almost twice as much as the Aphex 230 but in my opinion is well worth the $$'s.

[Jeff McNeal]

Thanks for the reply. One other member sent me a private message confirming my impressions as well. From what I'm hearing, sales of the Aphex 230 are going through the roof. I was so disappointed over how terrible this new box performed, that I just wanted to go out on a limb and see if my ears were deceiving me or I was otherwise missing the boat. I just had my first hearing test in about 25 years last week and the doctor told me that I had the hearing of a 10-year old, which pleased me to no end considering almost two decades as a CHR personality. So I don't think it's my ears playing tricks on me.

I think it's pretty funny how you had the exact same reaction I did. Box that sucker up and get that stink out of the studio as quickly as posslble. Having spent a lot of years in radio, I have a real respect for Aphex stuff. But this latest offering just doesn't live up to the hype, IMHO. Maybe it's designed for different vocal characteristics that I do not possess. I'm sure there is somebody who bought one and loves what it does for them.

[mcm]

[Jeff McNeal]

Funny... That's almost exactly what my wife said when I told her the news. "No wonder you never listen to a word I say! You hear like a 10-year-old!"

I'd prefer to think that I've preserved my hearing over the years with "selective listening".

[nick reed]

Man... that was a close call... the Aphex 230 was on my short list. I did find some good reviews on it and I came real close to buying one.

But I did notice that the advertising on their website focused on what the 230 could do for someone with a wimpy voice or however they stated it. That's when the thought crept in on me that this was more of an "effects" unit, than a serious voice channel. So, I didn't get one, thank goodness.