Avalon AD2022 Preamp

[Rick Shepherd]

More impressions:

I wish I understood all the different controls on the AD2022, some which are new to me. Some descriptions are given in the manual, but they leave alot unexplained. For example:

1.) Gain Control - Ok, that is a no-brainer
2.) VU Meter - No problem there
3.) Output Control - This is a fine adjustment control. It says it can also be used for gain riding while recording, "gain riding", what the hell is that?
4.) Hi-Z input - No problem with that one
5.) -20dB pad - A resistor of some kind, but what is it for and what does it do?
6.) Input source - this allows you to choose from different Mic input loads, which can affect the sound of the mic and cable, it says, ok I got that.
7.) Phantom Power - No problem there
8.) Polarity Phase Reverse - No clue what this is supposed to be for or what it can do for me. WHat does it mean as far as sound quality that I can hear
9.) Filter(variable frequency) - says it rolls of the low frequncies, good for reducing room rumble, ok, good enough, but I don't really know what I should set it at.

So it appears as though they expect people to experiment around with different settings to learn for themselves what the affect of different settings can accomplish, is that the gist of it?

I can now see how important the room is with this preamp. I am hearing more of the affect of the room on the sound quality. The sound is more "roomy" as I increase the mic gain and get farther away from it. I find myself having to play the mic to avoid getting too loud in certain songs. Do you all use compressors to manage that kind of problem, because in some pro recordings I have heard, the singer can yell at the top of his or her lungs and the volume and signal from their voice stays even throughout the song. So what is the secret there?

 

[Richard Monroe]

My best advice is- most of the controls on the Avalon are for solving problems that you may or may not have. Unless you have specific issues, don't turn any of it on. Variable impedence is useful for a variety of mics, whether high impedence or low. It's the only way I can use SM82, which is a line level mic that needs phantom power. Some mics just want a different impedence. Most of the time you just set it for "mic" and forget it, but you should try at least the 3 highrst impedence settings on each of your mics. The high pass filter (HPF) is sweepable (variable by frequency) and shelved (it reduces all frequencies below the set frequency). I find it particularly useful for recording boomy acoustic guitars. Some engineers actually use it on overheads on drums to reduce bleed from the kick and toms. Myself, I don't do that, but I'm old fashioned. It's good anytime you want to dial down a low frequency instrument in a live studio setting. If I was doing a guitar and standup bass combo in a live studio setting, I might use the HPF, also known as bass cut, on the guitar mic, to reduce the amount of bass picked up on the guitar track.
Phase reversal- golly gee, sound is a wave form, and the waves go up and down, When 2 waves go up and down together, they are said to be "in phase". If the one zigs where the othe zags, they are out of phase. If 2 waves run into each other, they can create "phase distortion", or even a "standing wave", which is a wave that does not move, or moves very slowly. When you walk through one of those, it will blow your mind.
If you are recording 2 channels with 2 mics pointed at each other, as in the top and bottom of a snare, reverse the phase on one of them. Later you will learn about Mid side (MS) stereo mic'ing, where phase reversal is a necessity.
When sound waves reinforce each other, feedback can result, and phase reversal is a useful tool on stage for feedback reduction. Often there's one place where if you stand on stage, your acoustic guitar will feed back. Of course that's the one place you want to stand. I just reverse the phase on my guitar, so the sound waves from the guitar and the PA monitors will match up somewhere else on the stage.
"Riding" levels, more commonly known as riding the faders is when you actually manually adjust input or output levels while tracking. You know one part of the song the singer is just too loud, but you don't want to compress the whole track to deal with three seconds- so you just anticipate, and crank the level down before he hits that glass-shattering note.
Frankly, the Avalon is one of the simplest machines I've ever used. Just the facts, Ma'am. No EQ, no compressor, no digital outs, no inserts, nada. You get 2 channels with tons of clean gain, but as you have heard, for pure sound, it beats the shit out of that Mackie, Huh.-Richie

 

[Rick Shepherd]

You betcha, It is incredibly clean. Thanks for the info.