nuemes
Be Here Now
Anyone here had any experience with the Avalon M-5? I've gotten recommendations from an engineer I trust on it and am curious as to other opinions. Thanks.
A
acorec
Banned
nuemes said:
I use one all the time. It is a very neutral sounding pre that has headroom for days. Great for ac guitars, elec guitars, vocals and drums and is very, very quiet.
If you want any kind of color though, this is not the pre to get.
X
xfinsterx
New member
acorec said:
Hmm, thats sounds pretty good...
Looks like ill be trying one out tommorow.
Thanks Acorec.
R
Richard Monroe
Well-known member
I use an AD2022, which is basically 2 M5's. All the gain and all the headroom you can stand. When the red light comes on, and the vu meter is pegged, you still have 32db of headroom. You have to be downright stupid to clip the thing. I don't believe there is a better basic clean preamp anywhere, short of a Martech. I've used the 737, and was fairly unimpressed. If you are looking for a real tube amp, or a lot of color, I think there are better pres out there than the 737. But if you want to hear the preamp a DMP-3 wishes it was, the M5/AD2022 rocks. It is also a badass bass and acoustic guitar DI box. Paired with a bright, clean mic, such as a C414, it is stunning on acoustic guitar. When used with a pair of KM184's as overheads, it almost makes the other drum mics pointless. On vocals, you either have to get the color from the mic, or just have a badass singer. I consider the Avalon to be the heart of my studio.-Richie
nuemes
Be Here Now
Richard Monroe said:
Glad to hear all of that! I ended up purchasing the M5 and am awaiting its delivery. Nice to hear that it pairs well w/ the C414 on acoustic guitar as that will be a combination I'll use. For vocals I plan to use the M5 with a Blue Baby Bottle - I'm hopeful that they'll sound good together.
A
acorec
Banned
nuemes said:
The M5 also does a hell of a great job with the TLM 103 mic. Most of my engineering buddies hated that mic until they used it with my Avalon. They were really very surprised how much the sound changed with the M5.
Good Luck and keep us posted about it.
P
Pro Tools User
New member
Yeah the M5 is a nice pre which was on my hit list, but then decided to go with the John Hardy for a clean but still musical. I would personally go with richards setup of Ad2022 if I was after the m5. Great for stereo mic'in.acorec said:
Peace
Eddie
A
acorec
Banned
Pro Tools User said:
The only reason I went with the M5 is I got it for $650 at GC in the box. It was used as a demo unit but never came out of the box. GC has a budget for demo stuff and they put this stuff aside. It is only the salesguys who know about it and my salesguy tells me about these deals. I have gotten alot of stuff for over 60% off this way.
tubesrawsom
New member
m-5 sounds like fun, im so in 
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Richard Monroe
Well-known member
Acorec, that price rocks! In a New York minute. Congratulations. You'll like the channel for acoustic guitar work with one mic- LD , SD, or ribbon. Vocalists? It'll be as good as the vocalist is. Good for Kelly Clarkson, wouldn't be my first choice for Bob Dylan. It rocks as a bass DI, you will love it. -Richie
A
acorec
Banned
Richard Monroe said:
Thanks. Acyaully, I got the M5 last fall and the U5 around the same time (about 1 week earlier). The U5 was so cheap (same deal as the M5) that I bought it for the only reason of price. I do love the Avalons for a number of things.