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440 Forums _ Monitoring _ Big Knob Vs Central Station

Posted by: Mac-Dee Wed 18 Aug 2004, 13:53

HEY Well i am looking at getting either of these for my setup but i wanted to hear everyones views, Pros and cons , Adv and Dis Adv of each of the products

Mackies Big knob or Presonus central station

Posted by: terrywil Wed 18 Aug 2004, 14:54

I've been using the Central Station for about 3 months. I run 2 monitor systems with it - a pair of Genelec 1029A, and a pair of Mackie HR824. It's a great device! And a dream come true for the digital work station. Many options, good sound. I looked at the Big Knob - (and I like Mackie gear). Unfortunately, the Big Knob is not a rack mount unit, which is what I needed. I recommend you go with the Central Station. It costs a bit more ($499) compared to the Big Knob ($329), but the added features and rack mountability make it more than worth it.

Posted by: Mac-Dee Thu 19 Aug 2004, 02:34

Hi Terry thanks , were did you get that price from ?

Posted by: Mac-Dee Thu 19 Aug 2004, 02:35

terry one more thing what are the extra features ?

Posted by: terrywil Thu 19 Aug 2004, 05:23

Those prices are from Musician's Friend (www.musiciansfriend.com). If you check out the descriptions on the website, you can get a pretty good idea of the individual features. Probably the biggest feature of both units is that they are low priced. One of the main features where I think the Central Station is better is that it has a bigger LED display. Here is a desription of each device from Mix Online at:

http://nav.440network.com/out.php?mmsc=forums&url=http://bg.mixonline.com/ar/audio_pump_volume

Central Station

A stereo device with a remote, plus talkback and cue circuit functions. It boasts three sets of analog stereo inputs (TRS) and two sets of digital inputs: one AES-S/PDIF, the other Toslink. These allow users to compare earlier analog or digital stereo mixes with workstation mixes in progress. Each of the three sets of stereo outs have passive trims, and all switches are passive. Also standard is a 30-segment LED L/R meter and great DAC specs.

Big Knob

A monitor switching, source and communications box called the Big Knob. Besides its level knob, controls include three buttons that switch between three sets of studio monitors, a built-in talkback mic, input source selection of up to four different stereo sources and dual headphone outputs. Additional switches include dim, mute and mono. Besides the trio of stereo inputs, Big Knob has a dedicated DAW mix input and a phono preamp.