Looking for preamp advice

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Sasemoi
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Looking for preamp advice

Post by Sasemoi »

Dear cunts,

After acquiring some gear and external effects in a relative short amount of time and now getting fed up with recording clips separately (semi because i want to start working towards a live set) , I think it's time to upgrade the amount of inputs and to do so I've gone with the choice of getting a MOTU 828 MK3 for a good amount of analog I/O's to connect most send/returns of external gear and to be able to easily plug a guitar or extra synth.

I've been roaming some forums and getting some opinions and what's come out is that their pre's are just okay while the AD/DA is quite reliable. The two pieces I own that would deserve a 'better' quality of pre are a Tanzbär and a Virus ti2, and i was thinking of getting a 8channel ADAT pre to get their sound really up there.

What is you cunts' opinion or input on this? Budget isn't that big but I'd be willing to just wait a couple more weeks in order to get a good investment.

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terryfalafel
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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by terryfalafel »

You shouldn't need preamps for line level signals.

Invest in good mic preamps if you start recording vocals / instruments with microphones. For everything else, the line level ins and outs should be fine unless you've got line level equipment with extremely low output.

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terryfalafel
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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by terryfalafel »

Just to add : when people talk about the 'mojo' of preamps they're not normally referring to modern 8 input workhorses with digital outputs to connect to your audio interface. The sound of classic preamps comes largely from the transformers and this makes them expensive.

I say this in response to a lot of questions that are posted round here, but ifnyou can solder then the most cost effective way to get a couple of channels of decent quality mic preamps is to DIY them. They still won't be cheap, but they will be cheaper than buying a similarly specced item brand new.

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Lost to the Void
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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by Lost to the Void »

terryfalafel wrote:Just to add : when people talk about the 'mojo' of preamps they're not normally referring to modern 8 input workhorses with digital outputs to connect to your audio interface. The sound of classic preamps comes largely from the transformers and this makes them expensive.
This....though it`s not just the transformers.

If you want mojo you want something like a focusrite ISA One at the cheaper end of things (still really good) or Avalon VT or Thermionic Rooster 2 if you wanna go crazy.
Otherwise most of this 8 channel ADAT capable stuff is just..... Clean and capable.
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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by msl »

On the cheaper end of things the GAP73 is actually quite decent and sounds better than its price. But good pre's cost 1k pr channel mostly, Pacifica, Neve Portico, Thermonic, etc.

In lunchbox land you can get some good DIY deals like the Classic Audio range of API clones... if you can build them yourself they are the cheapest solution.

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Sasemoi
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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by Sasemoi »

That's what i'd like to go for though, since I'd like to 'color' the sound of my synths and machines slightly just to get a different sound out of it and because from time to time we work together with folks with some decent condenser mics for singing . Though I could get a 'workhorse' and a sweet 2 channel preamp later on.

I'm a so so solderer so I could go for it. Thoughts on the Audient 880 for these types of versatile purposes?

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terryfalafel
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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by terryfalafel »

The very first point in the roundup on this review says 'clean and accurate'

http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/audient-asp880

Not what you're looking for by the sound of it?

I don't know the ones that LTTV posted, but you might also want to look at Neve 1073 or API clones.

DIY-wise, I've done two of these and they sound fantastic.

http://www.audiomaintenance.com/acatalo ... _info.html

And they have both line and mic inputs plus really nice eq in the same unit so you can record a mic or plug in a synth. I tend to run synths through them and they sound nice and round and the eq sounds great to my ears when used tastefully

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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by dippy egg »

The Audient ASP800 has 8pres, 2 of which are 'character' preamps with transistor saturation control. I have never used one but read a couple of good reviews. May be worth looking into..?..

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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by gedda »

Are there any good eurorack module preamps? I just want some of that saturation too.

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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by yentz »

msl wrote:In lunchbox land you can get some good DIY deals like the Classic Audio range of API clones... if you can build them yourself they are the cheapest solution.

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There are lots of really cool DIY projects. If I wouldn't know that this is going to be a very time consuming hobby I would have started with this already as well!!!

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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by Mslwte »

I've been looking at. Pre amps, eq's and compressors lately. To get a basic lunch box set up with all 3 you need to be looking at £1000 (from Thomann)

Something like warm audio should get you the colour you are looking for and perhaps a bit easier to afford depending on what you buy. I've been salivating over the pultec style eq for a while and I'm gutted as I've seen the UK price rise by approximately £200
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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by msl »

There are a few other choices, since its color you want there are some boxes that do just that like the Phoenix Audio NiceDI which has been on my list for a long time... I want one. Technically a DI but more than that. There's a good video on their site from Frontend Audio explaining it.

http://phoenixaudio.net/products/nice-di/


Then there's the Overstayer Instrument Driver which looks very interesting too.

http://overstayer-inc.squarespace.com/i ... nt-driver/


Also on my list for a long time are the DIY Colour kits. I just haven't made the plunge into 500 land yet. Pretty astounding.

https://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/c ... ons/colour

youtu.be/hqHm9bdsA9g
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Re: Looking for preamp advice

Post by kirkwoodwest »

msl wrote:On the cheaper end of things the GAP73 is actually quite decent and sounds better than its price. But good pre's cost 1k pr channel mostly, Pacifica, Neve Portico, Thermonic, etc.

In lunchbox land you can get some good DIY deals like the Classic Audio range of API clones... if you can build them yourself they are the cheapest solution.

.
Love my golden age pre 73. It is fantastic. Night and day when tracking vocals into my RME FF400
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