TOFT 16ch ATB versus SoundCraft24ch in line Console 

You are a very patient person.You deserve better.

I was thinking about buying a Toft, but not anymore, thanks for the info. Patrik

Man forget that Trident. Glad you went back to the Soundcraft! It sounds better and eq section is 10x better authentic!

10k AU$ board here in OZ, was considering for my studio to replace a Midas Verona 320, but after watching this I'm gonna hang on to the Midas, it does everything i need it to do. Thanks for sharing..:)

Also, i am really glad I stumbled on to this video, I never would of thought that a board built by Toft audio would be delivered with so many problems.

damn you Malcomn!!! I would not have been as patient as you!!! thanks for being an example to us all!

I've had similar and worse problems with my ATB 16. It is one of the first few hundred that were made. After 6 years of crosstalk, scratchy pots, noise, intermittent signals, broken EQs, and uneven stereo balance, I'm swapping to a Tascam m600. At least I'll be able to feel a kick drum again. The EQ is very nice and musical of course, but there's a lot of fundamentals this board fails on. Thank you for posting your experiences and documenting so well.

Very nice. What is right is what it feels right and natural.

Loved your theater video but love this too hope you will give a tour of your room

The Soundcraft Ghost is a legend . Looks great , feels great , sounds great.

WOW...I remember when the Oram board and this board was released and I considered the two and ultimately choose the Oram and glad I did.

Owned one for years and have had several issues from the channels shorting out to the knobs coming unglued. The company washes their hands of it. It sounds big and the EQ is amazing. So it's a mixed bag. I use it in a hybrid setup with outboard pres and high-end converters. Jim Williams can do upgrades also someone in Nashville does overhauls.

you have a lot of patience. I would have been cussing the whole time

08.48: Malcome. I really wanna to fall in love with this console. I´m having a hard time ;)

Absolutely inexcusable! Thanks for exposing Toft's complete incompetence.

Mate I am shocked to hear your experience with the toft. I have been looking for a quality affordable board for my studio and had been considering the toft atb32. Having listened to your story I will definitely be looking elsewhere. I can't believe that company send you a dodgy board and expect you to fix it yourself. Good thing your handy cause I would have fucked it up and probably had a massive warrantee issue. And it was ok for them to leave down for like 6 months. Your a better man than me cause I would have totally lost my shit. I almost have just listening

glad you shared this video was hearing about this toft even before it was developed. wanted them to make it 18db of eq but that not what needed for this console, like you said more gain for dynamic mics like the sm 7. didnt see that one comming at all.. pmi audio it is truly a family company that treat you like family. its time for me to start to build my studio i will check into other console that may feel my needs. thanks

Thank you for your review, will not be going with Toft Audio!

What a bummer you got a lemon! I'm considering a Toft board myself (the 32 channel from this series) and I appreciate your candidness. I can't help but feel that the lion's share of your well justified gripe against the board is probably related to a bunk board - dented facia, rust (???), damaged channel. My thoughts are that all it takes is one low-level grunt on the line having a bad day saying "fuckit let's box it" winds up with that. Shame for the brand. If I choose to go that route, I'm hoping the luck of the draw shines in my favor.

I'm really surprised about the bad experience that you had with the toft, I have the toft tab-24 and let me tell you, I love it!! The sound you get its so analog, the eq is super musical, the preamps are crystal water! But you're right sometimes they just don't have enough power for some pick ups, the versatility of use its super for an analog console, the power supply is super quiet and let me tell you I bought it used and it's really weird that I haven't had any kind of issues with it and you bought it brand new and between fedex and the people working for toft made you a rough experience with a beautiful board that I really love!! Just my 2 cents.

Dear God! The more I go back to watch this the more I cringe in pain, pain for you!!! Absolutely inexcusable!!! What you had to go through. The only thing that I find more amazing (unbelievable,) is the lack of response (or care,) from PMI!!! "May you live long, and prosper!" 🖖

Soundcraft just announced their new Signature Series consoles which looks really nice, you should look it up. Great vid btw :p

Really cool studio!

Wait, did that box state "Made in China"? For that kind of money?

I really felt your pain man....

This video is more than exactly what I was looking for. Perfectly unbiased and completely detailed. The holy grail. It would be like if you clicked on a porn thumbnail you finally like and then the chick pops out of the screen and blows you.

Wow! I am so sorry you went through all of this, they should have just swapped the console! I have had the Toft ATB 32 v2 I think for 5 to 6 yrs now and the only problem I ran into was the master volume knob. After a couple of yrs of use I notice sometimes I have to tap it to get it to work right. I am sure by now you know that Malcolm is no longer with Toft and has move on to Ocean Audio and produce boards that are based on the 500 series. There is an upgraded version of the ATB that I am thinking about getting, but a good customer like yourself should have not gone through what you have went though. When my 32 ATB came it was on a pilot and took 2 of us to unpack it and bring it up stairs into my studio. At the time, great price for what you get and to get 32 channels at $7k was hard to beat.

What did you go with another Toft or something else? this is your 4 year check up.

He means "I'm also tempted to go look at the Oram T-Series" :D

Cool vid & Studio!!.. Whose phone is interrupting the recording? :) You are a champion of patience and skills. .

Now thats in interesting comment on the condenser Mic.. I am at Gloucester College and we also have the Toft ATB16 and I personally have an SM7 which i got brand new.. we tried to use it and the gain was full up and we still didn't get a good signal.. Im wondering if I need an extra Pre amp.. what do you think. have thought of making Shure what i should do..and we also have the problem of the gain jumping up more than 10%. its sometime a huge jump. annoiyingliy is a tendancy to the drive the trip out and overload.. Im not too impressed so far and will look to a QU24 or Soundcraft desk. but will consider others. They also bought a console to mount it in and for all it was you might as well have a decent desk to sit it on..They didn't help by sending the wrong instructions. for the console.Shame we don't have a company making them in the UK

I had a 32 Channel once.. we had to replace every fader with in the year as they went scratchy.. Pretty bad, ended up selling it ok.. but was never a real fan...

Thanks for posting this. I personally went for the Midas Venice F32. I'm very happy with it so far. It's very detailed, wide and spacious. The EQ is smooth but not a lot of character but enough that it's not sterile. I read about to many problems with the Toft. I'm glad I didn't go with it.

Friggin' Turkeys roast 'em up! LOL........I really like that you did this video with such honesty, Cheers!

What a freakin' nightmare! We have a Toft 24 ATB and have also had issues. The pre's all have the dead spot and gain jump near the top that you spoke about. We've replace 6 pre's that have failed. And the pre's have no were near as much gain as they rated for...most dynamics are noisy as hell. And, yes the Master section is also noisy as hell.

Love the beagle.

Hey Sound Trap Studios, how has your situation played out since this video? Did you ever find a replacement console you liked or did you stick with the Soundcraft? Thanks for your honest opinion on this whole thing. Did PMI ever try to send something else to fix your situation? Thanks again!

saved me a lot of money.

Oh Jesus. I just bought a toft atb 24 mk2. I hope it's ok!

I know I'm a little late, but next time use UPS freight. I am a UPS man/ Musician, so I know what i am speaking about. Thanks for the great video.

The Toft isn’t really that much of an upgrade over the Soundcraft.

Its really hard to judge of the sound of the eqs when the signal is not connected directly in, but from what i was able to hear i think toft eq sounded way more superior. Who thinks what?

O'boy, am I glad I didn't buy a Toft console. Looks like a servicing nightmare. I'm gonna stick with my Soundcraft series 600. Get yourself an 80's Soundcraft with those black side panels. They are the real deal! Just make sure the switches aren't worn out. (common problem)

That board would have been sent back the following day it arrived.

i feel really sorry for you. i wanted to get same console..but know i also think about savong up more Money and getting me something better than this ....i would go crazy if i was you!!!

Very good Video. Regards from Portugal. What do you think the Midas M32 LIVE Its Digital, i love Analog but Digital every day is better . What do you think ?

I’ve heard criticisms about the noise floor on those things. It’s a good price range though, not sure if I’m willing to jump in and get it or not

Thank you. You've throughly convinced me that this console is a piece of shit and so is the company support.

The soundcraft board continues to serve me well. The area rep from Midas nearly had me talk into a 32 channel board. They were going to provide a loaner for me to check that out. There's a lot of reasons to consider it. When you look at the multiple headphone mix possibilities. Cat five instead of an analog snake and so on. Not at all the direction I thought I was going, but at the same price break Point I might still considerate. The Studio functions quite well with the current configuration of outboard preamps and the analog board. I am still glad under the circumstances that I did not keep a boy that was so problematic. Here is a link for more info on the Midas for what it's worth... www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/M32 Midas has a lot to say about the high quality of the faders and preamps, not to mention the plug-ins. Since the board in my setup is primarily for tracking drums I was interested in the possibility of virtual Distressor compression as an insert option on the mic channels. There was a conversation about the possible release of a thunderbolt card. But if I ever go this route probably be patched in via a Dante networks card option. Thank you to everyone who has commented and share their opinions. I didn't expect to get this much attention as a result of the video. Also my apologies for waiting so long to write anything..

You do realize the EQs on the Toft board do sound a thousand times more musically inspiring than the EQs on the Soundcraft board? I'm saying this solely based on comparing the two EQ tweaking minisessions you did on your video, I haven't actually touched either board in real life.

Oh man...making me wonder if I should cancel my order for the 08. This is crazy...

That's so fucked but it did come from China lol. Obviously the customer service is horrible when something comes damage to your home and they refused to fix it but the fact that they told you to do it yourself is another level seriously!

too much money for hassle makes me scared to purchase they are supposed to be one of the best crazy send it back ..refund please.... you are really patient ....too much money not a good product..

i was gonna buy a toft. now im rethinking it. but i cant stand the inputs being on the top of a console. I want them on the back

Had one ,same deal built like shit,moved to a api ,couldn't be happier.

Check out the small Audient Inline Console which is really great.

Hi maybe you can help me with this question , sadly on my TOFT the analog VU meters lights went out. Do I have to turn the mixer over just to replace them?

Hope you send it back for another

why wouldnt you just send that desk back man? thats bullshit

How Do you like your Toft Today, Two years later?

Why didn't you try another board? Surely they would have let you, no?

Made in China,... poor quality control + trying to cut costs + poor logistics in the parts ordering/ shipping department = THIS VIDEO! Have you sent PMI this video so they can use it for engineering and training purposes throughout the entire corporation? I would have demanded a new console that had been tested before shipping. I feel they took total advantage of your nice guy personality. Shame on you PMI !

They should have just sent a new board and refurb that one... Who ever the RMA manager is need to be fired.

What is that gear below the behringer and avalon that looks like vintage hi fi amp?

That model of soundcraft is?

That is ridiculous.

Is this Bob Katz?

Bran new,,, and your dealing with crap like that? Next!

Prob was an anomalie. Tridents have been used to make my favorite records. And no, I have no connection to Trident...haha.

Toft is what I expected.....expensive. That means: a lot of money for not getting quality.

you kinda lost me when you said your fingers get sore when turning the aluminium knobs

I am offered a 24 track with "name your price and take it" terms, it wasn't in an abusive studio yet it has 10 channels without working audio. Is it repairable in worst case or if the whole channel strip have to be replaced? It would be a lot costlier if I have to do the latter.

Screw that shit. Buy a Midas Venice F24 or F32. Blows the ATB crap out of the water and half the price.

had a toft as well ,nice looking ,but would need repairs way to much,pass

What a shame!!!...to put back the soundcraft when you've a Toft!!!...But its incredible not to be able to have a good quality controle!

What a total nightmare!

So disappointing. Everything I've come across about the Toft is negative.

Made in china is made in china .... it lowers the costs but, ... quality control has got it´s price If Toft made you replacing the fader you should send a bill for your work towards toft.... so they will know that there is not any profit left ....

made in china, jeez! they should have just replaced it. for the money that thing costs who wants to be tinkering with it.

You received a damaged board & they weren't keen on fixing it? I would have gift wrapped the board & sent it back that evening with a big F@CK YOU card.

God that Toft is uninspiring.

A video response and solution ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-A9T0h1on95k.html

what a f,in nightmare

Glad I didn't buy this.. Heck I think a Berhringer would have better quality than this...all that money and you get that..no thanks.....

this is so embarrassing...

Junk