Listen to the singer/music, recommend a pre?

[robin watson]

We're proposing to use a SP C1 mic with VTB-1 preamp for the main vox of our forthcoming CD. The singer has considered a dedicated vocal channel strip, but doesn't really know where to start shopping. I suspect he's leaning more towards a clean sound, but his tastes are pretty wide (Elvis Costello, Bjork, RadioHead, Magnet (his current fave), and on and on.).

You can hear his voice at edenrogue.com (to give you a better idea). These songs were tracked with a blackface Adat and Mackie 1604, using a SP C1.

Bearing in mind the C1 will be retained (he likes this mic), I guess there's a limit at which the pre will outperform the mic. Anything in the $1000 ballpark?

[BigRay]

try the hardy mono pre...OR if you really want a remarkable pre(2 channel)try the DAV Electronics BG1...Was designed by a Decca Engineer and was used in their studios...mark knopfler just bought a 48channel rack of them, and David Gilmour ordered some as well.

Grammy winning , world class preamp. and 680 bucks for 2 channels.

[noisedude]

Originally Posted by robin watson

We're proposing to use a SP C1 mic with VTB-1 preamp for the main vox of our forthcoming CD. The singer has considered a dedicated vocal channel strip, but doesn't really know where to start shopping. I suspect he's leaning more towards a clean sound, but his tastes are pretty wide (Elvis Costello, Bjork, RadioHead, Magnet (his current fave), and on and on.).

You can hear his voice at edenrogue.com (to give you a better idea). These songs were tracked with a blackface Adat and Mackie 1604, using a SP C1.

Bearing in mind the C1 will be retained (he likes this mic), I guess there's a limit at which the pre will outperform the mic. Anything in the $1000 ballpark?

Magnet is really cool!

There is a huge tonne of info on this site and others ... notably gearslutz.com where there are a lot of high-end users ... but don't even THINK about spending that much money on a single channel strip based on a few nameless internet recommendations - find a retailer and go and listen to some.

www.thelisteningsessions.com may or may not be helpful too.