Golden Age 73 or RNP, which is better?

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gamut1

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I have never owned a true dedicated mic preamp. I have always recorded through my Mackie VLZ-Pro, its the older one. But I have recorded what I consider fair sounding vocals. I'm not a great singer for sure. But I am wondering about these 2 preamps. Would they make a difference in the sound. Is it worth it. Or would it just sound "different", like adding color. thats all kind of obscure to me. I'd like to know if anyone has compared these two units or has either and what your thoughts are. I'd like to keep my price range under $500.
 
the RNP is two channels, but the 73 is just one. I don't have either of those, but if you're including price in the comparison, you might want to double the price of the 73 (if you would use two channels at once - most people probably would)
 
You might go double up the price on the golden age again, as they are in a whole new class if you get them with the full zenpro mods:
http://www.zenproaudio.com/goldenagepre-73.aspx

But at that price, they are damn, damn good preamps at a great price.

I have a pair of the GAP pre73s but have not really tried the RNP.
From what I understand, though, the RNP is a pretty clean preamp (straight wire with gain) and the pre73 gives a pretty colored sound.
If you were looking for a difference between the two, that might be my best way of describing it.

Your best bet, though, is to actually listen to the two units.
If you can't find them locally, just about every online retailer has a really lenient return policy on just about everything (make sure what the terms of the return policy are before you buy). Just buy one of each and try them out on a couple sources, see which one you prefer. Then send back the other. You'll only really be out the cost of shipping and that seems pretty worth making sure you got the item you can best use. Or you might find that they don't improve over the Mackie preamps you already have, and that'll save you several hundred bucks you would have spent on stuff you don't need.
 
I am not familiar with the golden age 73. I have an RNP and a Mackie 1604 VLZ. The RNP is a step up from the mackie IMO. The RNP does not have any coloration at all as far as I can tell. I have been fairly satisfied with it.
 
i own a pair of RNP's. great sounding, lot's of gain, and not much color. sound really good with crisp sm dia condensers, not so good with lg dia condensers or ribbon mics. basically, i use 'em on acoustic guitars and overheads, that's about it.

don't have a golden age, but i've had plenty of mackies and while the RNP is certainly better, it's not that much different. so if yr looking for different, maybe drift away from the RNP.

good luck!
-s
 
Is the RNP like the RNC?
In that it's two channels but both of them are governed by what you dial in on channel one. :confused:






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moresound said:
Ah... Thanks Ruskin. that's good to know.I wish someone had told me about the RNC, but still a very good unit on stereo sources such as overheads.






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You can use the RNC on a mono source you just can't use it on 2 mono sources at the same time. @ $175.00 new street price, it's cheaper and outperforms anything in its price range so buy another one.
 
RRuskin said:
You can use the RNC on a mono source you just can't use it on 2 mono sources at the same time. @ $175.00 new street price, it's cheaper and outperforms anything in its price range so buy another one.
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I have five right now ...:D...don't want to end up like Harvey Gerst and own twelve of them...... wait a minute maybe a few more would do the trick. ;)






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OK thanks for the info RR when I'm due to get one or two, and that may not be long,I'll give you a shout.

Now what is that yellow faced unit that FRM is putting out?






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Thanks for all the input guys, I guess that I would probably want something to maybe color the sound at times. Sounds like the RNP probably won't give me much in that way. I can get pretty good clean sounds now. Please keep the opinions coming. More interested in the vocal aspect of the units.
 
gamut1 said:
Thanks for all the input guys, I guess that I would probably want something to maybe color the sound at times. Sounds like the RNP probably won't give me much in that way. I can get pretty good clean sounds now. Please keep the opinions coming. More interested in the vocal aspect of the units.
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You should be able to push the GA 73 hard enough to get some good coloration to your recording of a vocal track.






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