Best preamp for vocals

  • Thread starter Thread starter lapieuvre
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lapieuvre

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Hi,

You're thrown in a store and you can walk out with one preamp that you will use for vocals, free. Which one do you get? Manley Voxbox? Avalon 737, Ad2022, Vintech, Neve1072
 
Depends on what kind of vocal, what genre of music and a slew of other decisions. But if I was thrown in a store and could walk out with one for free it would be the Neve.
 
I'd listen to them all and take home the one I liked best.

I'm wandering how many people who frequent homerec have heard all of those pres in action.
 
Well, everyone here may have heard all those preamps on professiopnal recordings, but didn't know it at the time. I can say I've never had the opportunity to personally test the likes of any of those listed, or really anything that approaches them in sonic quality :(
 
....

GML 2020 or a Neve 1073 would be my choices (I'd steal one). Vt737sp is not a great pre, good strip overall, the SLAM! is to slow in my opinion.
 
None.... a few thousand dollar pre-amp and a $130 mic will still sound like $130
 
actually just picked up a neve 1272, so i'll let you know how that sounds. i've had good experiences with stuff from amek too. purple audio's biz pre is also a really great pre that i've had nothing but stellar experiences with. i like the avalon 737. i find the compressor really smooth and and the pre has a nice warm quality to it that i find really nice on certain vocals. the eq section is also pretty versatile. i was engineering a record for a singer who had a terrible honkyness to his voice and i was easily able to make that less apparent with the eq section.
 
ehh i'm gonna have to agree with fyre. you're signal path is only as good as it's weakest link in my experience.
 
the requisite audio pal plus sounds pretty friggin awesome... i mean i've only used one for a few minutes, but if i had been actually 'thrown' into a music store, i would grab that one and run out.
 
Fyre said:
None.... a few thousand dollar pre-amp and a $130 mic will still sound like $130
Click to expand...
what about a 57 through a 1073/1081? that's gotta at least make it sound like $150 :)
 
Fyre said:
None.... a few thousand dollar pre-amp and a $130 mic will still sound like $130
Click to expand...

for the most part i would agree. the mic is way more important than the pre. my late 60s akg c-12b sounds good through a mackie or an api (obviously better through the api) but if you put a radio shack mic through an api you still have poo.
 
Fyre said:
None.... a few thousand dollar pre-amp and a $130 mic will still sound like $130
Click to expand...

What are you talking about.... for me a few thousand would be anything from 2000$ to 5000$ .... go compare some behringer 130$ preamp with a few thousand $ Manley, Neve, Great River, API, you name it preamp... end of story.
 
kojdogg said:
what about a 57 through a 1073/1081? that's gotta at least make it sound like $150 :)
Click to expand...


Yep. Put a 57 through a MP-2NV. Sounds like a completely different mic.

Although, I will agree that the mic is more important than the preamp. :D
 
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