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Question About Allen MDC 42

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  • Question About Allen MDC 42



    Can anybody give me feedback and information about the Allen MDC 42 organs? I want tofind out any information about them, positive or negative,since I'mabout to receive one as a gift from a relative. He has e-mailedtwopictures of it and says that it's in a pretty large cabinet for that particular model. The cabinet itself looks very nice. I haven't heard how it sounds yet since the organ and I are currently in two different states. It will be shipped to me pretty soon. I did see some comments earlier on thiswebsitein response to someone's post that mentioned avoiding the MDC organs, and I wondered why, what the negatives were about the MDC's. Any negative or positive feedback wouldbe appreciated. Thanks. </P>

  • #2
    Re: Question About Allen MDC 42

    Is that organ possibly a three manual, or even a theatre organ? The MDC organs had very simple tone generation, and were basically unit organs. The same basic voices will appear on all keyboards, including the pedal, with a few variations (the Great may not have as many 16's as the Swell, but more 2's, for instance). The voicing is not outstanding. But, it would be a solid instrument, reliable, and you certainly can't complain about the price!
    Mike

    My home organ is a Theatre III with an MDS II MIDI Expander.
    I also have an MDC 10 Theatre spinet.

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    • #3
      Re: Question About Allen MDC 42



      As an aside, if you need a copy of the owners manual, then join the Allen Owners Club (on their website). You can get a free PDF copy as a download there</p>
      1971 Allen Organ TC-3S (#42904) w/sequential capture system.
      Speakers: x1 Model 100 Gyro, x1 Model 105 & x3 Model 108.

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      • #4
        Re: Question About Allen MDC 42



        I've only played a couple MDC organs--I get the impression they were built for a price (thus the unification, for example. HOWEVER, the one I played most recently wasn't too unified. I recall a couple of flute stops that were duplicated in each division, but not much else). In other respects, the MDC organs were solidly built, reliable instruments. It sounds to me like you've got an excellent deal on your hands!</p>

        DR</p>

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        • #5
          Re: Question About Allen MDC 42



          Mike,</P>


          Thanks for responding. This MDC-42 is a two-manualchurch organ. It's not a theatre organ. It's the one pictured on my profile, even though the picture quality is bad. I need to try downloading the picture in another format.</P>


          The term "unit organ" and "unification" is new to me. I'm not sure what what means.Some of the Allens I've played in the pastI thought had great voicing and others not so great.I played one Allen back in the early to mid nineties that was a small, bottom-of-the-line model. I don't know what the model number was. Andregardless of what stops were chosen, the sound was basically the same. I was very disappointed in that particular Allen. Then again, I played another Allen just a few years ago that had the mostbeautiful voicing and blending of sound and had a wonderful bass that would shake the rafters if the right combination of stops was applied. I like a lot of deep rich bass. I loved playing it!! So as to this MDC-42, I guess I'll just have to waitto see exactly howit sounds. I do wish it had couplers on it. According to the owner's manual that I printed from the Allen website,this model apparently doesn't. I've never played an organbefore that didn't havecouplers. But nevertheless, I enjoy the challenge of taking what stops and features are there and working with them to see what beautiful sounds I can come up with.</P>


          I'm very excited to receive this organ!! And like you said, I absolutely CAN'T complain about the price.</P>

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          • #6
            Re: Question About Allen MDC 42

            Thank you very much for that information!! I did go onto the Allen website and joined the Owners Club and printed off the owners manual for that model. When it arrives, I'll have all the information I need about it. Thanks again!!

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            • #7
              Re: Question About Allen MDC 42



              Dana,</P>


              Thanks for responding and sharing your experiences with the MDC's. The term "unification" is new to me. I'm not sure what it means. Seems like most of the Allens I've played had duplications of stops if I remember correctly, so maybe this organ will be exactly what I'm already used to. And I certainly have to agree that Allens are built very well and reliable. I've played several Rodgers organs as well, one of which sounded awesome; and even though they sounded great,the Allens just seemed to bebuiltmore sturdy.And I certainly have to agree that I've got an excellent deal on my hands for which I'm extremely grateful.</P>

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              • #8
                Re: Question About Allen MDC 42



                Friendly pointer for the OP (original poster), did you think to use the site's "Search" box in the upper right hand corner? Type "Allen MDC" into it. You would have read past discussions of these organs. The general consensus is that they are the worst of the Allen digitals - reliable, yes - but that's about all that can be said. Then sound is awfully thin and sterile. There are only 3 or so basic sounds that are copied all over the instrument and only one frequency basis, unless you use the celeste function, which reduces the polyphony to 6. If it came down to the choice between a well-maintained TC series analog and one of these I can safely speak for most of the regular posters here that they'd choose a TC series. And their resale value is only destined to decline even faster than other digital organs. They, and the non TC analogs, are the only Allens I would recommend people stay away from. Even a 1 computer MOS organ can at least be MIDI'ed. I doubt the multiplexer in the MDCs would work with the ALJ midi kit.</p>

                </p>

                </p>

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Question About Allen MDC 42



                  Jack,</P>


                  You'll enjoy this little organ in spite of its compromises. There aredrawbacks, some of which already mentioned here. Only 3 actual distinct tone qualities used all over the organ, which means your flutes on the swell are the same as your flutes on the great and pedal, just different loudness, same with your principals and reeds. Strings are simply soft principals. As you note, there are no couplers, but couplers would be useless anyway as the same stops are available in all the divisions. And no mixtures either, too bad.</P>


                  But allthis was par for the course with analog organs, and the MDC can't really be faulted for it. It does use these tones at all the usual pitches -- 16, 8, 4, and 2 -- so you get nice full choruses. Even though the same sample is used for all tones of a given family, you do get the same additive effect as other digitals. You can "stack" chords and get the expected volume boost, which you can't get with truly unified analog organs.</P>


                  Many if not most MDC organs were equipped with Allen's "frequency separator" or, more correctly "chorus/trem generator" which was just a bucket brigade device in the audio circuitry. But it served to break up the lock-step tuning and made the organs sound bigger. Not as active as a big analog or a later digital, but not too bad.</P>


                  Biggest flaw isthe celeste effect, which, when engaged cause each swell key to use up two of the available 12 slots, limits you to 6 keys playable. But if you are only using a 3 or 4 note chord in the swell you can still play a pedal note and a solo line on the great. You just have to be careful or you'll come up short.</P>


                  Also, the carillon is a joke. Each note played uses 5 of the 12 slots, so you simply cannot play the carillon as a melody stop with accompaniment. It's only useful for striking single notes, waiting for it to decay before striking another note, etc.</P>


                  Despite these limitations, the MDC organs sound quite good when playing ordinary registrations of foundation stops. Unless you use the celeste or carillon you have the same 12-note polyphony as all Allen digitals, so you won't lose any notes. Your 42 will have the nice 4-channel built-in audio system, quite a good audio system for a self-contained organ. Adding external speakers would make it even nicer. So, have fun.</P>


                  John</P>
                  <P mce_keep="true"></P>
                  John
                  ----------
                  *** Please post your questions about technical service or repair matters ON THE FORUM. Do not send your questions to me or another member by private message. Information shared is for the benefit of the entire organ community, but other folks will not be helped by information we exchange in private messages!

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