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Looper's Delight
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At 8:43 AM -0500 10/30/06, Bill Fox wrote: >mech wrote: >> >>Well, I think I've posted about it previously (check the archives >>for full details) but there's the old Simmons SPM 8:2 from circa >>1987. > >This unit is not universally appreciated: ><http://www.cassiel.com/space/Gearhead/Simmons+SPM+8:2> Yeah Bill, I've seen that review previously. Some parts are spot-on, but others are way off in left field. Starting at the end and moving up, I'll agree completely that the user interface leaves a good deal to be desired. Although I've done the exact same button-pushing error and lost edits in exactly the same manner... exactly twice in ~20 years. Honestly, it's a pain and I was screaming at the little @#$%!'s when it did it -- make no mistake. But after you've been burned by it, you don't do it again. You punch the button with two fingers *hard* and wonder if you're going to actually break the front panel (I've not yet; yes, I'm shocked) but you bloody well don't lose edits from that point forward. And I've never really had problems with tweaking the knobs unless I mounted the unit sandwiched between two other larger units (and I've got pretty big hands). What *is* a problem is adjusting the channel gain attenuation on the SPM's rear panel if you've already mounted it in a rack wired up all the 1/4" jacks. It's a little easier if you unplug the channel next to the one you're setting up though. Luckily the gain attenuation is pretty much "set & forget" once you've finally(!) gotten it right. However, I'll readily admit the UI is *not* the high point on the box. The 'rumble' problem I've no clue about. Generally, any noise from the unit is a sign of improper gain staging (I think I might've gone into this in some detail in a previous post). But we're mostly talking about channel hiss, not 'rumble' (???). Not feeding it enough signal is also going to exacerbate the frequency curve problem I mentioned previously. And zipper noise? I could understand zipper noise were there any way to control it via MIDI continuous controller, but MIDI CC isn't supported. I thought I remembered hearing there were some small problems with software revision 1 (maybe there was some zipper noise on its initial release?). All mine are on revs 2, 3, or 4, though, so no problems here. Otherwise, that's a new one. Also, I've never experienced overheating on any of the four units I've got. Sure, they get warm, but I've left 'em on for days at a time and they don't get warmer than any other unit -- about as warm as our old Eventide H3000 used to get, IIRC. I really think Nick got hold of a defective unit (is this the same Nick from the Different Skies list?). I mean, the SPM 8:2 ain't perfect by any means. Otherwise, they'd still be in my front-of-house setup, rather than a couple of my supporting racks. However, its typical problems -- and, as I mentioned previously, it's not without some problems -- are rather different from what he seems to have run into here. --m. -- _______ "No more building up; it is time to dissolve..."