Pro Control vs Little Brother

[tomhartman]

I know the Control 24 or whatever it's called has mic pres, but what are the exact differences between a Pro Control and this little sibling? Faders? More control over more variables? Thanks in advance....

[Jan Folkson]

They both do essentially the same thing, provide a control surface for PT. The way that they do it is mostly the same using different controls. Aside from the fader expandability and ability to add the edit pack there isn't anything I've found that you can do with PC that you can't do with C24.

Pro Control Pros:

The feel of the unit is first rate.
Expandable with fader packs and edit pack
Edit pack has qwerty keyboard and automated joysticks for panning in surround
2 8 character scribble strips per channel
Plug Ins have dedicated editing section

Pro Control Cons:

Expensive
Main unit only has 8 faders

Control 24 Pros:

Much more affordable than PC
24 automated faders
16 Class A mic pres with submixer and 2 DIs
Excellent control room/monitoring section
More dedicated buttons for PT editing
The unit feels very solid

Control 24 Cons:

Faders feel very rough although function great
Not expandable
This thing is HUGE, very tall design
1 4 character scribble strip per channel (same as HUI)

The plug in editing doesn't have a dedicated section on C24. You need to use the rotary encoders (pan pots) to adjust PI parameters. You choose the track that you want to edit and then are given a list of inserts on that track. You then choose the plug to edit and the parameters of that plug are displayed from L-R across all 24 rotary encoders. At first this sounded really weird and complicated. But in use it makes perfect sense and is really quick to get around. Plus you have 24 parameters at a time there for you to grab and 24 more are only a bank away.

Tom, I hope that answered your question. I just got my C24 and I'm very happy with it. I'm sure there's more stuff I'm leaving out and I would definitely not call the C24 a "little sibling".

HTH.

- Jan

[tomhartman]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jan Folkson:
[B]They both do essentially the same thing, provide a control surface for PT. The way that they do it is mostly the same using different controls. Aside from the fader expandability and ability to add the edit pack there isn't anything I've found that you can do with PC that you can't do with C24." (SNIIP)

Jan,

Thank you so much for taking time to write out such a detailed response. That's what makes user groups such a helpful place...there's always someone who takes time to help someone else. We'll probably go with the Control 24, due to price and the pres. Thanks again!

[Jan Folkson]

Hey Tom,

One more thing. I really haven't had the opportunity to use the mic pres yet (I've got a pair of Neves that use for everything), but one thing that's definitely missing is a 'phase invert' switch. It would have come in handy when tracking a drum kit <g>. You can work around it by using plug ins.

I was originally going to get a PC but my dealer, B&H in NYC let me try the C24 out first and I wound up keeping it. They're good guys over there especially Al Spinelli, the audio manager.

- Jan