AD2022 or MP2-NV?

Phoenix drs-1 or -2
And that's just the beginning, everyone will have their own idea of what's hot. Why did you narrow it to those?
 
I need something pretty versatile as they're going to be the pres I run everything through, aside from when I'm micing a drum kit. I keep hearing about Great River and Avalon everywhere I go, and those are the two companies' respective stereo solid-state mic preamps. And finally, they're in the right price range--2k to 2.5k. What have you heard about the phoenix?
 
Call Dan Richards at Soundpure, he steered me to the Phoenix and a Brauner Phantom C. I've never been more pleased with the sounds coming out of my studio. New learning curve though, eqing and compression are different and I'm missing afew pieces right now (in the shop). Warhead will be able to point you to some cool stuff at Front end Audio as well. There is also Alan at PMI, he and Justin are superb in the area of support and qc.
 
joemintz, a lot of it depends on the kind of music you're mostly doing and the kind of sound you're wanting. Can you fill us in? Tell us a little more about the instruments you'll be recording.
 
My favorite album of all time is probably Radiohead's OK Computer. Aside from that it's all the other British greats--the Beatles, Queen, and Muse.

I'm recording a circa 1970s Ludwig 5 piece with same era Zildjan medium cymbals. The ride is really dry, jazzy, and gorgeous. Bass drum has nice pop. Amp wise I've got a Mesa Boogie Mark IV with a Rectifier 4x12 cab and a circa 1970s Fender Pro Reverb with Altec Lansing speakers. The Pro reverb is just like the twin with half the power output, from what I'm aware of. My voice is fairly similar to all of the above bands, though obviously not nearly as good. Mic wise I've got a 57, an old C414, an old Gefell M71, an old C460 with the famous capsule (forget which it is--same one as the C451 these days i think), a pair of Oktava MC012s, a D112, and a couple of other dynamics (soon an MD421, i hope). Guitar wise I have a modified Strat (stacked P-90 in the bridge and a blue Lace Sensor in the Neck) and a 1958 Les Paul Junior. Bass wise I have the old hofner beatles bass and a Les Paul Bass. The acoustic bass we record with is a local high school's. Sounds great, no clue what make, model, or time period it is. Kawai baby grand downstairs.

And that's it, I think.
 
Nice info! Lots of old school in there. I'd scratch the Avalon off your list. It's very clean, pristine, and delivers lots of detail. Not enough texture for what you're doing, IMO. I think the Great River NV would be a much better choice, as it give a more old school, vintage sound. Lots of color available with the transformers - depending on how you drive them. I reviewed the single-channel NV here - it's the same exact box as the 2NV, just in a 1-channel version.

Do you possibily need more than two channels, joemintz? And you also should consider API mic pres as well. The API 3124+ is in the $2.5K range and would give you 4 preamps.
 
I guess I'll be the lone voice in the wilderness here. Dot says the AD2022 is clean and pristine, and delivers lots of detail, but doesn't deliver enough texture for your purposes. I think being clean and pristine and delivering lots of detail is a definition of a versatile mic preamp. I own an AD2022, and I can't imagine a better choice in a 2 channel solid state pre for multiple studio applications. It is the best Bass DI in the known world, and absolutely stunning on a wide variety of applications. Yup, it lacks texture, which is another way of saying it doesn't mess with the signal it's given much. It has a little bit of the edgy sound that comes with big transformers, but it's subtle. I think that if you only get 2 kickass channels to start, they should be clean. Colored pres come next. IMHO, the AD2022 is one of the most versatile preamps in the world. It is the heart and soul of my studio, and I'd be lost without it.-Richie
 
If it helps any of you decide what I ought to do, I'm going to be running all of this through a Digi 002 that I'll be purchasing in the near future. I'm used to Pro Tools and I'm going to stick with it, whether there are better value software/hardware deals out there. So I'll have those four pres to work with at the very least. And at some point after I get my nice stereo pre I hope to get a Presonus Digimax 96 to replace the pres on the Digi and take advantage of its lightpipe connectivity. Right now I think I'm leaning towards the Great River, but who knows. It's a tough decision.
 
I agree in part with Richie about how valuable clean pre's are and how they are often overlooked. In my opinion a "clean" pre is sort of "colored" in a sense. For people that have never really used a "clean" and "transparent" preamp, they will have a very different flavor to them which can be just as useful.

However, I think that a preamp that is "clean and transparent" should NOT be a persons first killer preamp. I think that a preamp like the Great River should be their first preamp. This way they get to experiment with both sides of the spectrum a bit. That way when they do go and buy another preamp they may have a better idea of which end of the spectrum they should be looking at.

Thats why I always recommend a Distressor. Sure there are better compressors out there, but none that do so many tricks and do them all that well:D
 
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