Another Stupid Preamp Question

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imissthewar

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I currently have a Summit Audio 2BA-211, a Safe Sound P1 and a Joe Meek ThreeQ along with the four Focusrite pres in my Digi002. What would be a good preamp to complement these? Let's set the budget at $550.

I'm thinking a little bit on the clean side, here's what I've come up with:

RNP
Rane MS 1b
Grace 101
???

There's gotta be more than that, what am I missing?
 
I don't know that you're really going to be able to get anything else that will "compliment" them, so to speak.

Most of what you listed will likely just be in the "more of the same" category.

Of the ones you list, the Grace Design might be a small step up from what you have in terms of quality . . . but you might just be better off saving up for something radically different or a major step up.
 
Although I haven't heard any of those pres in person, my instincts tell me that chessrock is right. I have heard very good things about both the Summit and the Safe Sound, but if you sold all three of those pieces (including the Meek) and add the additional $550 you are planning on spending, you could get yourself into a high-end dual pre like a John Hardy, Great River, etc. or a of single channel of each. That's what I'd do.
 
Or, how 'bout one of the new re-issue Neve 1081's? J/K..LOL

Although, it would be a step up.....
 
I love the Safe Sound, not getting rid of it. To me, for $180 the Meek is valuable just for the color it provides at such a cheap cost. So, I could get rid of the Summit, which I wasn't blown away by. I'm currently eyeing a Sytek MXP or an RNP/RNC combo....I'd love to go Hardy or Great River, but that would be probably 6 months out. Plus, I'm using Chinese Mics, is it worth it to have a high end pre with lower end mics?
 
imissthewar said:
I love the Safe Sound, not getting rid of it. To me, for $180 the Meek is valuable just for the color it provides at such a cheap cost. So, I could get rid of the Summit, which I wasn't blown away by. I'm currently eyeing a Sytek MXP or an RNP/RNC combo....I'd love to go Hardy or Great River, but that would be probably 6 months out. Plus, I'm using Chinese Mics, is it worth it to have a high end pre with lower end mics?
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Yea, I don't blame you for not wanting to ditch the Safe Sound or the Joe Meek. Those are both very nice to have around for a lot of other reasons besides their mic pres.

I realize that this is open to debate . . . but my personal opinion is that the Sytek might just be a "high end pre." As close as you'll get, at least. Ditto for the SafeSound. For most home recordists or project studios, I don't know that the difference is that great to justify springing for a boutique mic pre. The returns just aren't going to be there --unless you're planning on tracking for a major label or something.
 
I'm very much biased, but it gets reconfirmed frequently by customers
who call to say how much better everything sounds and how much easier
it is to get good sounds.

Buy a good preamp, mine or somebody else's of similar quality, you won't
regret it.
 
I second Dan's comments......... and from my experience I suggest everyone have at least one Great River in their arsenal -- they are extremely versatile and great-sounding pres!

BTW - nice seeing you here, Dan!
 
I use digi002 also, and filling up those four other channels well is so cool. For my purposes, I started with 2 clean channels with a little iron, Avalon AD2022. My point is that for the stuff I record, a good clean stereo pair of channels was more useful to me than one or two colored channels. The colored channels come second, for me. The colored channels are a Joemeek twinQ, but who knows? A Pendulum or a Great River could be in my future. That's my other point. I don't want *one* channel of anything. I think you should buy the best channel you can afford *two of*. Whether you start with clean or colored depends on what you want to record. I'm a primarily acoustic artist, so there was never really a question.-Richie
 
My original thought was to get an RNP for a clean pair and then spend around $1k on a higher end vocal channel. There are so many options in that range, though! The John Hardy M1, the Averill 1272 and 312A, the UA 610 and the Great River are all looking pretty good right now. Also, the Sebatrons are at a very attractive price, but maybe too coloured? I could probably swing a 2 channel Sebatron and the RNP, which sounds really appealing.
 
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