Jackson RR3 Crimson Swirll

Len Pritchard
March 22, 2007

Rating: 10/10

Excellent piece of kit but a couple of things to watch out for if you're a Mac user. After 2 years of OSX 10.4 (Tiger) some boxes are STILL shipping with an out of date Cubase CD which will only install on 10.3x. And you will have to go to Presonus (not Steinberg or the retailer) and ask them to SHIP a replacement - that's right - no download available. If you are using Tiger, insist on a box which has the 1.08 install CD, not 1.07. Presonus started shipping the newer CD in July 2005 but I got the wrong one in March 2007!! Secondly - and this may apply to other firewire devices - some Apple machines are unable to 'initialise' the Firebox using firewire as the power source. Easily worked around - just use the mains adaptor. Once initialised, the firewire port is able to sustain the Firebox on its own and the power adaptor can be removed if required. For me, my PB 17" worked perfectly but my G5 iMac didn't. There are reports however that some Powerbooks have the problem - which may be an issue for mobile recording. Otherwise, great box, perfect sound, zero latency, no drivers needed (for mac) and using firewire keeps your USB ports free. Given that it is supported within Mac's Core Audio and not by Presonus drivers, be cautious if planning a major upgrade to your Mac OS!

Sean
March 13, 2007

Rating: 9/10

I play mainly Heavy Metal , and wanted a guitar with a quick action and plenty of crunch. The RR3 fits the bill and then some ! From the first play of this guitar I knew I had spent my money wisely. The action is so quick that hammering out rapid fire riffs and soloing feels effortless. The pickups are very good and you can achieve a range of good sounds from them, and you also have the bonus of a master tone, which is not available on cheaper models.I was surprised at how light the the RR3 is, and the balance is perfect.The only niggle I have is that after a while you need to shift position when sitting down due to the body shape, but it is no big deal.Prior to purchasing this my main axe was a BC RICH platinum Ironbird, but this will not get a look in now I have the RR3.To top it all the crimson swirl paintwork and shark fin inlays make this guitar a real stunner. This has taken pride of place in my guitar collection, and is an absolute bargain at the price being sold at Dolphin Music.If you play heavy music and you are looking for something in this price range do yourself a favour and buy the RR3. You won't regret it.

Alan
November 3, 2006

Rating: 9/10

Having looked and listened to several moderately priced Studio Subs I eventually plumbed for the M-Audio offering.

When first putting the sub into the system it appeared very quiet compared with my main speakers(RCF Active)

Anyway having tried various settings I began to hear subtle changes so left them running a variety of different music for several hours at a moderate level.

I would never have believed until now that speakers, especially subs, needed breaking in - Over the next few hours they not only became much much louder but the added prescience was astounding

I have the subs set between the two monitors in a fairly large room 9M x 5M so I can propagate sounds down to about 30HZ, the sound is very tight and moving around the room I have not observed any prominent standing waves, this is probably because the subs amplifier controls the speaker very well.

I am very pleased with this sub it has all of the functions that I require such as balanced ins and outs, variable crossover frequency 50 - 200HZ, phase switch etc.

Being an engineer I had a good look round and the thing is built like a tank which probably accounts for it\'s substantial weight of about 54lbs, heavy for a 15\" x 15\" x15\" unit.

I cannot comment about support as I have not used M-Audio products before, so bearing that in mind & as only time will tell I give this excellent product 9 out of 10

harry
October 16, 2006

Rating: 9/10

alright guys ive had this guitar for 4 months now and i can tell u it kicks so much ass. you can get pretty much any metall sound you desire but is best for mostly 80's metall. if u want heavyer tone switch to emg actives, the neck is super thin so for shredders its a dream. now normaly bolt on necks restrict acsess to lower fretts but this isnt the case on thje jackson seeing as the necks so thin :). id say the only flaw on this guitar is the liscensed floyd doesnt stay intune so well so id suggest switching to an original floy or floyd speedloader. i think its a straight swap. i also looked at an esp mh-200 and an ibanez s470, id say the trem on the ibanez is a dream but the pick ups are the only flaw and for £380 the jacksons a better buy. the main thing that put me off the mh-200 was the neck was to fat and the pickups were esp designed emgs, similar to the duncan detinators on the older jackson rr3. all in all a great buy and a good guitar . \m/