D & R Preamps?

[MCI2424]

To bake a cake, you need the same ingredients. What makes a world classs chef able to bake a far superior cake?

Instrument chips perform a function and the designer has many variables that he can manipulate to get very different results. The power supply design alone can make a big difference in sound and world class pres have very expensive supplies. This is one of the most overlooked parts of any electronic design.

But, virtually anyone with some electronic experience can hook up these same chips with component values offerred by the spec sheet and have a working pre-amp. It is designs like these that will sound very much the same.

Two different approaches using the same IC chip. The sound and performance is all you can really use to qualify any pre-amp in the end.

 

[chessrock]

The power supply design alone can make a big difference in sound and world class pres have very expensive supplies. This is one of the most overlooked parts of any electronic design.

Using better capacitors can have a large impact as well. Not just in terms of sound, but in durability / longevity.

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[SonicAlbert]

Chessrock, thanks for the explanation.

But the question still arises: why does my DAV BG-1 sound so good? It's not a subtle difference, it really sounds great as compared to even much more expensive preamps.

If I hadn't heard the BG-1 I'd buy your thesis hook line and sinker. I still do to a certain extent. But the other elements beside the chip have to be weighted with more importance for the design to have that large an effect on the total sound of the unit.

 

[MCI2424]

Chessrock, thanks for the explanation.

But the question still arises: why does my DAV BG-1 sound so good? It's not a subtle difference, it really sounds great as compared to even much more expensive preamps.

If I hadn't heard the BG-1 I'd buy your thesis hook line and sinker. I still do to a certain extent. But the other elements beside the chip have to be weighted with more importance for the design to have that large an effect on the total sound of the unit.

There are so many reasons a pre-amp will sound better with a similar design to a poor sounding pre. There are designs issues like PC board layout, stepped gain controls vs, tapered pots, power supply design. resistor/caps/transformer quality and virtually dozens more. The design of a great pre-amp is only 1/2 the job. The pre must be built and tested for dozens of parameters. Any sub-par measurements will demand a small design change. Everything matters and it is certainly not "all in the chip".


As a side note: I am building an API 312 lunchbox from scratch and the initial info is that the Jenson Transformer needed for each channel costs $100 each. A good triple output power supply will be like $200-300.The Op Amp alone is $9.95 each.

This is not even getting started with PC board fab, case, controls etc.

A good $1500 2 channel pre-amp is a real bargain if you look at the cost of DIY building.

 

[chessrock]

Chessrock, thanks for the explanation.

But the question still arises: why does my DAV BG-1 sound so good? It's not a subtle difference, it really sounds great as compared to even much more expensive preamps.

Specifically, what are you comparing it to ? And how are you comparing? What MCI said is worth noting.

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[50cal]

??

I'm not sure this helps much but the D&R thread title caught my eye. I go to a studio to record and they have a D&R cinemix.
http://www.desertmoonrecording.com/
I was just there last week shootin the shit with the engineer and we were talking about the board and him and one of his customers did a side by side comparison to the rack neve mic pres they have and he said you couldnt tell that their was much difference, although the customer preffered the D&R for whatever reason.

 

[dickiefunk]

Is that D&R still for sale?

Hi. Yeah the D & R is still for sale. There is one in their warehouse so if you contact D & R you can get it from them.
I've decided to leave it as I really like the M-Audio pres that I already have.
Instead I'm gonna get another mic and learn more about using the stuff I already have.