ADL600 Just arrived!!
- Thread starter Mr. Moon
- Start date
Mr. Moon
Force of Naked
Big Kenny said:
Yes. There was much groveling and many promises made the day that my wife agreed (allowed me) to make this purchase!!
Actually got a h3ll of a deal from Scott at ADK Pro Audio !!
-mr moon
Mr. Moon
Force of Naked
Thanks! I will post info when I get a chance to record some stuff "for real" after testing it for a while. I really wanted to rip into into it when it first arrived, but since it is cold outside (Minnesota winter time) I didn't want to fire it up (all 6 tubes of it) until it got a chance to warm up.Big Kenny said:
Still in arbitration...Big Kenny said:
-mr moon
Mr. Moon
Force of Naked
Ok. So yesterday afternoon I finally had a few minutes to lay a few "quickie" tracks down on a tune which I've been trying to make some arrangement changes to and such. So I laid down three quick tracks before I had to pick up my boy from daycare, all within 20 minutes (like I said, just trying out some ideas, not looking for keeper tracks or anything):
1. First track: a bass line using my USMasters 5 string bass into the instrument input on the ADL600, and I just set a level that doesn't clip the piss out of the signal.
2. Second track: a distorted/overdriven rhythm guitar track through my DSL100 head and Mesa recto cab, mic'd with a BeyerDynamic m69 which I quickly threw in place without thinking about it.
3. Third track: same as #2, but using the lead pickup rather than the lead and rhythm pickup (on my LP Studio) as I had done for #2.
Bam! I lay down the tracks and keep them all regardless of the mistakes I made trying to get used to the new arrangements, meaning that I did not do any punching in or anything, just slammed 'em down once I got a non-clipping level set and was able to hit the intro on time (the tune starts with a "big chord" intro, and if I hit that right, I just kept going).
I listened back and....
Holy sh1t.
All I can say is:
...I finally get it. I finally understand what the hype about higher-end gear is about. It's NOT about comparing price tags or the shiny buttons. It’s about UTILITY; Plain and simple. You don't have to f#ckin tinker forever to try to get "the" sound, its just there.
I have just recorded the best ("best" = most full-sounding, dense, smooth, harmonically pleasing, non-fuzzy, solid, ARTICULATE, and ACCURATE) sounding bass and electric guitar tracks I have ever recorded in my life. …Ever. …Ever! So, without putting any thought whatsoever into recording these tracks other than making sure they didn't clip and hitting the first big chord, I ended up recording the kind of tracks I've been trying to get for a couple of years using mic placement techniques and EQ's, effects of all sorts just to try to get the correct sound.
My impressions of the ADL600 are that it f#ckin' rocks. I'm sure there are much better preamps out there (which are way too expensive for me to ever afford), but the ADL600 is by far the best (as defined earlier) pre I've ever worked with. However, I'm just a non-professional home recordist who loves top tinker with sh1t and can save up money when needed to treat myself to purchase what I can afford. I'm NOT a pro. My stuff doesn't sound "pro" and I don't profess that it does. So, take my quick review for what its worth; just another opinion from a guy who’s “studio” is actually a spare bedroom.
-mr moon
1. First track: a bass line using my USMasters 5 string bass into the instrument input on the ADL600, and I just set a level that doesn't clip the piss out of the signal.
2. Second track: a distorted/overdriven rhythm guitar track through my DSL100 head and Mesa recto cab, mic'd with a BeyerDynamic m69 which I quickly threw in place without thinking about it.
3. Third track: same as #2, but using the lead pickup rather than the lead and rhythm pickup (on my LP Studio) as I had done for #2.
Bam! I lay down the tracks and keep them all regardless of the mistakes I made trying to get used to the new arrangements, meaning that I did not do any punching in or anything, just slammed 'em down once I got a non-clipping level set and was able to hit the intro on time (the tune starts with a "big chord" intro, and if I hit that right, I just kept going).
I listened back and....
Holy sh1t.
All I can say is:
...I finally get it. I finally understand what the hype about higher-end gear is about. It's NOT about comparing price tags or the shiny buttons. It’s about UTILITY; Plain and simple. You don't have to f#ckin tinker forever to try to get "the" sound, its just there.
I have just recorded the best ("best" = most full-sounding, dense, smooth, harmonically pleasing, non-fuzzy, solid, ARTICULATE, and ACCURATE) sounding bass and electric guitar tracks I have ever recorded in my life. …Ever. …Ever! So, without putting any thought whatsoever into recording these tracks other than making sure they didn't clip and hitting the first big chord, I ended up recording the kind of tracks I've been trying to get for a couple of years using mic placement techniques and EQ's, effects of all sorts just to try to get the correct sound.
My impressions of the ADL600 are that it f#ckin' rocks. I'm sure there are much better preamps out there (which are way too expensive for me to ever afford), but the ADL600 is by far the best (as defined earlier) pre I've ever worked with. However, I'm just a non-professional home recordist who loves top tinker with sh1t and can save up money when needed to treat myself to purchase what I can afford. I'm NOT a pro. My stuff doesn't sound "pro" and I don't profess that it does. So, take my quick review for what its worth; just another opinion from a guy who’s “studio” is actually a spare bedroom.
-mr moon
Mr. Moon
Force of Naked
Big Kenny said:
My preamp roundup:
SafeSoundAudio P1 - Actually, this one sounds GREAT on vox, but the DI wasn't so great and I didn't like the way it sounded on guitar cabs. The P1's compressor/limiter cannot be beat! I can't wait to try it in-line with the ADL!!!
Sytek 4 channel thing - OK. This one works really well on drums, but for me it didn't translate "the" sound of my guitar cabs. I have not tried it on vox, bass cabs, or on acoustic guitars, as it sounds pretty "sterile" to my ears ...not sterile in a bad way, but as in very minimal low-end coloration. I would think that it would work well on acoustic guitars that would be used in a busy mix, as it would be easier to place them than if they had too much coloration, but again, I have not tried this yet.
Groove Tubes "The Brick" - This has been my bass DI workhorse up until now. I will keep this around for use here and there, but the ADL really whoops it's butt as a bass DI, IMHO. ...Not quite enough gain for quieter sources! However, for the money, a fine "real" tube pre!
FMR RNP - I will keep this around for overheads and such, as it is a very non-colored preamp. Takes some good placement to get the sound, but maybe my placement skills just suck (which is a definite possibility!).
ASHLY 6 channel rack mixer thing - This has 6 class-A mic preamps and 2 channels out. I have only used this to record and submix drums from 6 mics to 2 (1 stereo track) channels to allow more inputs into my soundcard. It works well for that task, but I haven't tried it on anything else yet.
SP VTB-1 - My first outboard preamp. Worked better for my ShinyBox 46L ribbon mic than a frickin' Summit Audio preamp I tried. Doesn't sound great, but it is a nice added sound to have available.
So, as I said before, the ADL just worked right away without messing around at all. I mean I could have possibly just stumbled upon the perfect mic placement purely by accident, but that would not explain the exquisite sound of the bass DI track. I mean, it hit me across the face like a frickin 2x4, the sound was so good.
BTW: The overdriven/distorted guitar sound I have been chasing is pretty much the exact sound Jerry Cantrell had on the Alice In Chains "Dirt" and "Jar of Flies" albums. To me, that's the way a heavy guitar should sound.
Anywho, I have much more recording to do, and if nothing else, the results I have achieved by using the ADL are really inspiring me and re-energizing me to lay down more tracks and to get off my @ss and finish up the rest of the tunes I have not completed yet. Sometimes inspiration arrives when and how you least expect it.
-mr moon
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
Mr. Moon said:
I love it when the light bulb goes off!
That's it exactly for me too. I had the same kind of revelatory experience a few years ago when I bought my first piece of really "good" gear. Warning: you can't go back and it's *really* expensive once you've aquired your champagne taste in gear!