recommendation for a mic preamp pairing for an Apex 460

N

NordicNorm

New member
Greetings All!

The situation:
I've just bought a pair of Apex 460's (will mod them myself) to record a Big Band (2 alto sax, 2 tenor sax, 1 baritone sax, 5 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, bass, guitar, drums and female vocals). I'll be recording onto a Teac A3340S 1/4" tape deck (@15 ips).

I am going for the 30's Big Band era sound (i.e. Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, etc.), hence my preference for tube mic's and analog tape.

I will use the Apex's as room mic's and have separate mic's on vocals and piano.

The question:
I am looking for a recommendation for a decent quality tube mic preamp for the Apex's. My budget is around $500.

I have the Teac 2A mixer but that only has a 20 dB attentuator.

Is there anything I should look for in a preamp to match an Apex 460? Or is my budget so low that pretty much anything will fit the bill?

Thanks!

cheers,
Norm
 
NordicNorm said:
Greetings All!

The situation:
I've just bought a pair of Apex 460's (will mod them myself) to record a Big Band (2 alto sax, 2 tenor sax, 1 baritone sax, 5 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, bass, guitar, drums and female vocals). I'll be recording onto a Teac A3340S 1/4" tape deck (@15 ips).

I am going for the 30's Big Band era sound (i.e. Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, etc.), hence my preference for tube mic's and analog tape.

I will use the Apex's as room mic's and have separate mic's on vocals and piano.

The question:
I am looking for a recommendation for a decent quality tube mic preamp for the Apex's. My budget is around $500.

I have the Teac 2A mixer but that only has a 20 dB attentuator.

Is there anything I should look for in a preamp to match an Apex 460? Or is my budget so low that pretty much anything will fit the bill?

Thanks!

cheers,
Norm
Click to expand...

I know it's not a tube pre but I can't imagine you going too far wrong with a FMR RNP.
 
PAPA said:
How about the Zoom H4n?
Click to expand...

I use the H4n myself to record Big Band sets live and works great. Very compact and can be dumped into any DAW for post production. With external microphones and some times the on board ones or all four to four tracks.
 
Yeah, I've already got a Zoom. Great portable little unit. Use it a lot.

But I'm after a completely different type of sound.
 
moresound said:
Then the Really Nice Preamp is good.

Why tube?
Click to expand...

Why tube? Good question! I'm not really sure!? Which is why I asked the question here - to tap into the experience on this board!

My line of reasoning was to follow the philosophy of Tacet records, in which they keep tubes in the entire signal path, from source to tape (I realize my Teac is not tube, but I'm shopping around for one).

cheers,
Norm
 
Then all tube would be nice!

A lot of people believe that just putting a single tube piece in line will give them that so called warmth ..... but it won't!
 
Those mics may be a little harsh sounding with horns. Tube mics are generally aimed at giving vocals a certain drive or color. For horns, you may want a mic that is more mellow and smooth in the upper mid-range and a preamp that is clean and true. (Just my thoughts.)

But give them a try anyway and see if it is the sound you are seeking. You know what you want to hear...I don't.
 
RawDepth said:
Those mics may be a little harsh sounding with horns. Tube mics are generally aimed at giving vocals a certain drive or color. For horns, you may want a mic that is more mellow and smooth in the upper mid-range and a preamp that is clean and true. (Just my thoughts.)

But give them a try anyway and see if it is the sound you are seeking. You know what you want to hear...I don't.
Click to expand...

What mic would you suggest for horns? At ~$300 per modded mic, it's not a significant investment if they're not suitable.

My original question was in reference to a mic tube preamp. I was looking at the EH 12ay7, but I read a thread in which the original engineer didn't recommend it for mic's like the Apex 460.
 
NordicNorm said:
What mic would you suggest for horns? At ~$300 per modded mic, it's not a significant investment if they're not suitable.

My original question was in reference to a mic tube preamp. I was looking at the EH 12ay7, but I read a thread in which the original engineer didn't recommend it for mic's like the Apex 460.
Click to expand...

Most of your cheaper large diaphragm condensers, by nature, tend to exaggerate the sibilance range making bright instruments sound harsh and offensive, (with the exception of a few.) Compression makes that range sound even worse causing you to de-esse the living Bejesus out of the track. Carving up a track is never a good thing. You want the original track to sound mostly correct, right from the start, so avoid mics that are hyped in the upper mid-range.

For that many horns, I would not attempt to close mic any of them. I would start with either ribbons or small diaphragm condenser omnis spaced apart. Unless you have a noisy audience behind the mics, then choose a cardioid pattern to suite. If you only have two channels to work with I would get one closer to the female vox as it will get buried otherwise.

If you go with ribbons, any cheap ribbon mic will do as long as you upgrade the transformer. Check out the mic modding threads for advice on that.

When recording vocals, you should try various preamps that offer a particular color or interact a certain way with certain mics. But when tracking things like drum kits, keyboards, and horns you want the preamp to act like it isn't even there. That is when a good clean and quiet preamp begins to shine. Brand names such as True Systems and Focusrite are known for being rather clean.

(I would write more here, but I've gotta run off to an appointment. Sorry.)

Hope this helps.
 
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