searching for a high quality mic preamp

[ISedlacek]

I am searching for a high sound quality mic preamp suitable for acoustic instruments like violin, viola, flutes and vocals. No pop, rock, techno. With a very transparent, crystal, beautiful detailed living sound. I use Neumann U87 mics, Apogee Rosetta and Digi 001. There are so many preamps available but I have no comparison. I would appreciate very much your advice and experience. So far I use SPL GoldMike, which is very nice but maybe I would appreciate more transparent, subtle and detailed sound.
The question is whether in case of those hyperexpensive ones one pays mainly for a complany label, and there may be some moderately priced ones with exactly the same quality of sound, or their quality (Neve etc.) is really beyond any reach. My budget for that would be around $ 1000 – 1500. Thanks for your advices

Ivo

[tubedude]

Great River MP2, no ifs, ands, or buts.... they can be had about $1200 or so new if you look hard enough.

[Meshuggah]

In a few weeks I'll post a Mackie Vlz Pro Vs. Dbx 576 shootout.. :-)

[Gidge]

Mesh,

can you throw in a Behringer pre....

[Meshuggah]

No.. but I can throw in a SB Live pre....

GO TO BED GIDGE!!!

[drstawl]

http://www.dbxpro.com/576specs.htm

http://www.mackie.com/Products/VLZ_P...ZPRO_Specs.asp

Crabapples and tangerines maybe.

The Mackie Model I chose as a "match" for the dbx for the purposes of this VLZ/dbx comparison was the 1604VLZpro. This has 16 of them there pres. The dbx has two. The dbx has a compressor, the channel strip that it is. Mackie? The dbx offers digital out up to 24/96. Mackie?

If you do any comparisons please keep these facts in mind when you design the experiment. No point in comparing the use of a compressor against no compressor or some "other" compressor.
Do the testing uncompressed to avoid this inequity.
Like the fact that using the pres as a front end for a multi-channel soundcard either the inserts would have to be wired as direct outs (instead of using the main outs of which there are two) or the subgroups (4) would be used. Maybe you can't notice a difference in the sound of the output via these three holes, but to those without one in hand, this info matters.
Still: more I/O functionality with the Mackie, no doubt.
So the dbx better sound alot better or they've got trouble in River City.

[Wil Davis]

HHB Radius-40. They're ~$650 each, and consist of pre, compressor, eq, gate, limiter - all valve (tube). Beautifully made. Get two!

- Wil

[Meshuggah]

The test will most certainly be preamp-only.. All the stages in the dbx are standalone, so I can take the signal straight out of the pre. A vlzpro/dbx576 shootout might seem a little stupid, but it's the only shootout I can do..

[Audio_Drivel]

Ive been waiting for someone to do a comparison for the higher end DBX silver series for a while now, I would post about it and people seemed to ignore me. . Ive been seeing good used prices on them (compared to new), and they are tube, so I am rather interested. .

[VOXVENDOR]

Originally posted by Wil Davis
HHB Radius-40. They're ~$650 each, and consist of pre, compressor, eq, gate, limiter - all valve (tube). Beautifully made. Get two!

- Wil

I second that.....

Gotta love Hhb......

[tubedude]

I'm not knocking anyones choices, but the guy is asking for A) transparent B) huge sounding C) high end and up to $1500.
The HHB stuff I have heard is hardly transparent, and none of the stuff mentioned has that clear airiness that I think this fellow is looking for. In my opinion the Great River would serve his needs wonderfully, its a huge sounding, clear, open, transparent preamp that can be used with multiple tracks and sound great without too much character buildup. And, it will retain its value like few others will. Just my 2 cents. The one I got to hear personally and briefly sounded huge, not thick or hard like an API or Neve, but just big, if that makes sense. I have heard tons of tracks done with them and they always sound big and clear. An excelent 1st high end preamp, and paired with that Neumann should be a most fantastic combo. I doubt it would ever get sold.
BTW, the one I heard was the transformer balanced out, supposedly a tad bit more color than the one without, but dont discount the transformers, this thing sounded pristine. 2 Channels, great for overheads, too. Ask around on R.A.P.
Peace.

[charger]

Focusrite Red.

[Meshuggah]

Yeah... tubedude's got a point.. I just posted in this thread out of sheer excitement over my new toy.. I might also add that retail price for a dbx 576 IS ~1500+$ in Sweden...

[tubedude]

I love the Red, but I think maybe its the compressor I like more than the Pre... super creamy.

[wheelema]

Is the Focusrite Green 3 Voicebox worthy of shelling out $600?

[imacgreg]

I would go with anything by Millenia Media. It's designed around classical recording. Clean, uncluttered signal path.

Ian

[charger]

Is the Focusrite Green 3 Voicebox worthy of shelling out $600?

No. Nowadays there are too many good pres that fall into that price range. The Green range was discontinued a while ago... and many people think that was a good thing.

[tubedude]

I think the Millenia is about another $1000 over his price range though, but I dont knock that one at all for his needs.

[Mark H.]

If you've got a system in which you can hear the differences, I recommend buying the 3DAudioinc.com Pre CDs as an education in the sound of 33 different high-end mic pres. Granted, there are limits to what a CD playback can tell you; however, I found the results useful and revealing.

On a decent sound system (about $6,000 or so), I could not distinguish much difference among the best two-thirds of them. They all sounded great.

On a better playback system (about $13,000, and frankly *too* revealing for about 75% of recordings of classical music on CD to my ears), I found that about 12 of the 33 preamps were STILL so outstanding that it began to be hard to talk about the differences among them.

However, out of those 12, there were a couple that really drew me into the music -- I didn't forget I was listening to a recording, but I could not remain apart from the music. They had a rhythmic drive, realistic clarity, and "presence" that utterly broke down my ability to remain objective, even though I had listened to the same guitar licks several dozen times.

It was interesting to perform this as a "blind" test, since I had no idea until I was done which preamps I had scratched off the list right away, which were among the many greats, and which somehow managed to stand out musically even in such great company.

At $60 for 2 CDs, they aren't cheap. But I now know I'd likely have wasted many times that amount before I found that elusive "ultra-clarity" on my own. As it is, I still expect to audition several mic preamps before I spend the big bucks, but at least I have some very good ideas as to where to look for exceptional sound quality.

Best wishes,

Mark H.

[LongWaveStudio]

Focusrite or Avalon.

[Bear'sGnFission]

You can get a single channel of John Hardy MP-1 for under a grand, possibly with all the options, even. The beauty of the Hardy stuff is that once you've invested in a channel or two, the remaining channels (up to four per unit) get cheaper per channel (the mainframe/power supply price being divided by four), and there is no penalty in the pricing for buying channels or the optional extras a piece at a time instead of as a whole. High quality, clean signal path, and a good transparent-ish sound that'll work well in most situations. The Great River MP-2 was viewed as a pretty direct competitor, but the GR went through a price increase which the Hardy didn't, so the Hardy is probably a better value these days. I'd like both, though.

Of course, you could wait and see how the RNMP turns out like the rest of us. I'm not expecting a $400 Neve pre, just a great value for a very nice preamp, just as an RNC is great but isn't the same as having a Distressor or LA-2A.

Bear