Avalon, UA, Great River?

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Mach5

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So I'm looking to get a pre for less than 2k. I want something that will last a long time and will be an investment of sorts.

I will be using it mostly for pop recordings... vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, etc.

I've been looking at the UA 6176 and the Avalon 737. anyone have any preference on one over the other? What about anything by Great River?
 
Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with any one of those including the Great River Pre's. Only thing is that the Avalon 737 is a Channel Strip which gives you that great compressor and EQ all in one package. I just recorded my first few vocals last week with mine and wow.. what a difference a pre can make.
 
I have a 737, and I like it a lot. I know its not everyone's cup of tea, but its got its own sound, and is a very versatile channel strip.

Over the past couple of weeks I've gotten to use my buddies 6176. He has a 737 as well, but since he got the UA he said he's hardly used the Avalon. What I've heard so far I've really like as well.

I've found the 737 much more versatile as far as controls, but the compressor on the UA kicks major butt. The 1176 is just awesome. Plus from what I've been told, with the gain control on the UA you can control how much more tube gain you want, a little better than on the Avalon.

Both are really great units, that are worth the cost. I've personnally never used a Great River, but have heard nothing but awesome comments. It would be a very different sound from either of the other two units, plus no compressor. So its depends on what your after. Your best bet it to try and rent or borrow some of these units from a store, and see which one fits better with what your after.
 
scarboro7

The 737 has a great compressor compared to what? Just curious to see what you would compare it to, or say its superior to.


Mach5

Well if ur lucky you could find a Millenia STT-1 used for not much more than a new 737. That would be awesome for what you are wanting to do.

Id stay away from the 737 unless you have the opportunity to try one out and be able to compare it to other gear. Its one of those units you will either love, or hate. There is not much in between unless you have so much gear and money that you could justify keeping it around to use very sparingly for that once in a while occasion where you might want to use its pre and or eq. The compressor is not even close to being anything special. The pre and eq are ok. Why spend that much money for a compressor you may not want to use and an eq and pre that are not great? Yes this is all subjective and YMMV

BUT

For that money you can buy an individual pre / eq / comp and get better quality.

You mentioned the 6176. Thats pretty cool, but I would rather pay a little more and just get a m610 and a 1176. Or get both off of ebay and $ave.

Look into the Daking pre w/ eq and a disressor comp used for about $2000.

It looks to me that you are more after a pre and a comp, not so much eq? In that case the distressor teamed up with the Great River MV-1NV is a great combo. The distressor is one of my favorite pieces of gear. IMO its just great. You can use it on pretty much anything and get great results. I love it on bass and drums.

For something transparent you could get the John Hardy M1 pre and the cheapo yet powerful RNC comp. And if you want eq, maybe throw in a Speck ASC all for under $2000

On the cheap you could get a great semi colored urei 7110 comp, the RNC, RNP, Speck 5.0 pre, and ASC eq all for $2100!!
7110- $200
RNC- $175
RNP- $475
5.0- $750
ASC (transfomerless)- $500
That combo imo is an affordable, yet powerful transparent and semi colored combo that offers great flexibility.
 
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I own the GR MP-2H. Love it. Used it with an M160 ribbon for my Rumble thread solo in the mp3 Mixing Clinic. The Rumble thread's a goof but the GR sure makes anything it touches sound better. The GR is super clean and detailed, is quiet enough for ribbon mic's. Haven't yet found a mic that doesn't like it.

Tim
 
Yeah I forgot to mention about the 737 comp. As was mentioned its not the greatest. One of the complaints is that the attack is too slow. I have a modded one, with a fastest comp.
 
The 737 has a great compressor compared to what? Just curious to see what you would compare it to, or say its superior to. The pre and eq are ok. Why spend that much money for a compressor you may not want to use and an eq and pre that are not great? Yes this is all subjective and YMMV.

EQ and PRE that are not that great? Wow.. that's a VERY subjective opinion. I understand a lot of people bash the Avalon's because they're kind of pricey but to say that the sound it produces is just ok is kind of crazy. If it were JUST ok it wouldn't be found in so many high end studios and you would be reading JUST ok reviews about the Avalons... but you don't. At any rate I think at the $1500 price point you definitely have a lot of real good options and it all really boils down to personal taste and application. But If you decide to go with the Avalon trust me you will never say "damn.. I wish I went with that great river unit."
 
my favorite pre in the world right now is the ua 610. warm and loud. the 737 is a very, very nice transparant pre but i think thats why there just ok for the cash. alot of other cheaper pres can give you a good clean signal. id go with buying a single 610 and a urei era 1176. that way you get the warm killer pre and the 1176 version that you can push all the ratio buttons in on to get the killer freidman style squash with.

i might even say a 610 and a distressor with british mod also.
 
I think a big reason you see so many avalon units in studios are for rap acts and such. I'm not trying to put them down, sometimes their clients like to see the 'bling' so to speak. If it were my money, I probably wouldn't pick the avalon. I've heard some of their units before and didn't think they were exceptional on anything...ymmv

-Jake
 
I origanlly posted this is a dif forum, but it seems to fit the topic well.

This is on the advice from Dylan Dresdow...Engineer for BEP, TWEET, MISSY ELIOT, and a ton of others...has won grammy for engineering as well.

Hope it helps.

Too much to soak in... But it boiled down to this. Avalon 737 is standard for hiphopers but the pre on that model is decent at best. The opto compressor is too slow for some people. The only thing that shine is the EQ. NEAVE (sp?) is great, but becomes sloppy in the frequencey 300 range when layering vox. which you dont want in rap.

For price conscious cats like myself he recomended the Empirical Labs Distressor for COMPRESSION. He said that it provides a ton of tonal options depending on how you tweak it, from clean and smooth to gritty and driven and emulates an 1176 very well.

As far as Pre's which is what this post was about...way back when. He said that Great River was the way to go. (don't forget that he is keeping in my my budget). He recommended this because for around $1000 you could get one the dopest mic pre's out there...mono channel, half rack, which is all i really need for vocals.

He recomended Buzz audio but said it was a little more pricey as well as some flamingo shit that I can't remember which is mos def out of my price range.

I really trust his opinions because he isn't a gear pimp trying to sell his shit. If anyone has a $2000 budget and is thinking about channel strip, pre, compressor...what should I get. I would suggest giving this stuff a look.

I am gonna test some of this stuff out and get back with my opinions.

also... he was not a fan of tube pre's for rap. something about driving the pre and mudding up the vox.

peace
 
goldencd said:
For price conscious cats like myself he recomended the Empirical Labs Distressor for COMPRESSION. He said that it provides a ton of tonal options depending on how you tweak it, from clean and smooth to gritty and driven and emulates an 1176 very well.
Click to expand...

lol @ price conscious... if an almost $1000 dollar compressor is price conscious for you then I think you're in a better price bracket than we all thought. I paid about that much for my 737. If I had $2500 bucks to play with I'd probably go with the Great River stereo (MP2NV I think is the model) unit and the Distressor myself.
 
scarboro78 said:
lol @ price conscious... if an almost $1000 dollar compressor is price conscious for you then I think you're in a better price bracket than we all thought. I paid about that much for my 737. If I had $2500 bucks to play with I'd probably go with the Great River stereo (MP2NV I think is the model) unit and the Distressor myself.
Click to expand...

Price conscious in terms of the $3000 and up units on the market and that is just for a pre.

but i feel you.. Price conscious is in the eye of the credit card holder
 
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