Any better dual mic pre for £300 than the Joe Meek VC7?

[Mr Funk]

What are the opinions of this pre? I think it was about £1000 a few years ago, but can be had now for £300 special offers (whilst stocks last)!

From what I know, the pre's are the same as those in the VC1, but with a few tweaks and interesting and very useful features.

Alan Hyatt says it is 'transparent, but coloured'? He says it has a warm, rounded sound, but still clean, detailed and quiet.

Sounds just what the doctor ordered! Can anyone think of a better alternative? I will be using it with my RNC.

Cheers

[Stefan Elmblad]

Transparent but colored, warm but clean ?

ROFLMFAO

[Mr Funk]

Yes, that's what I thought!?

I think what he is getting at is that it has a very low bottom end response (below 8Hz), which will probably give it a warmer sound than many other pre's, but in fact actually means it is capturing more of the real sound detail?

I guess it does not hide anything as such, but the transformers add or subtract something to the sound?

I am speculating here of course, but he said if I wanted something clean, but with a smooth character, this would be a good buy.

I have read a few favourable reviews of the VC1, which is practically the same pre, which indicate a detailed, and round, full sound.

I really hope I can get some more opinions about the sound. It's got some great, useful features and for £300 (NEW), it has to be worth considering right?

[eeldip]

i had a vc1 for a while. it is not particularly detailed.

sounded good on voice with bright condensers, really smooths out gritty tops. pretty cool on guitar. the compressor and the eq were good and decent respectively. the enhancer was a piece of garbage (except when i used it as a sort of "amp emulator", turning it down all the way rolled off the highs in a cool, not quiet like rolling off the highs with an eq way)

i compared it to my board pres on snare, and my girlfriend said- the board pres sound like a snare, and the meek pres sound like a recording of a snare. very distant sounding.

[Mr Funk]

Yeah, I have a VC1Q (not CS version), which I use with a C1 for my vocals. These two seem to match really well. It sounds much darker with my GT55 for instance. I am assuming you had the original VC1, not the VC1Qsc?

What desk do you have that 'sounds more like a snare' than the VC1? Would you say that there are better pre amps out there for £300?

Thanks for all your help.

[eeldip]

i had a vc1q (not qcs).

my desk is a soundtracs FMX, which has sort of decent pres- two stage discrete transistor with a little IC gain after that. decent but not great pres. my cheapest outboard pre (symetrix 202) sounds better.

for 300 pounds you can get an rnp if you buy it from the US and sneak it over. well maybe a little more, but that dollar keeps falling...

[Mr Funk]

So would you say the Symetrix was better than the VC1Q? I really like mine and it is generally well thought of. Is it more of the Sountracs and symetrix pres being more neutral?

Did you try the VC1Q without the comp and EQ switched in?

[eeldip]

the symetrix sounds better than the soundtracs. i wouldnt really compare it to the vc1, totally different...

i used the vc1 with all the other other stuff disengaged a bit, but again, it is a color pre, ("colour") and a lot of the time i figured i might as well compress and eq it a little for some more color. if i wanted clear and direct i wouldnt have used it in the first place.

i think there are better pres out there for color. however, the price you are quoting is pretty good... i would be tempted.

the rnp is supposed to be mild colored... which is why i thought you might like it.

[Mr Funk]

Yes the RNP was on my list, it's just that this great offer on the Meek came up and there arn't many of them left (NEW) as they were discontinued 4 years ago! I'm just thinking that maybe I should grab one while I can and then look to add something else when I have some cash!?

The RNP is £499 in the UK and $475 in the US. This equates to only £285! Of course VAT would be put on top of that, unless the vendor would mark the package as USED? Do you know who would sell them to the UK and would I need a special PSU?

I am also considering the new Toft AFC-2 which according to Alan Hyatt will be £380 in the UK! This is meant to be transparent and the EQ looks good?

I HATE NOT HAVING ENOUGH MONEY TO JUST SAY DAMN IT, I'LL TAKE THE LOT!!!

[eeldip]

what you need is a friend over here to buy it, and ship it to you marked as "used electronic parts" maybe even take the case off or something.

risky, a little but you would save a bunch of money.