I just got an FMR RNP in the mail today (thanks flagstaffcharli!) and wanted to test it out. While I was shopping for preamps, it was hard to find good comparisons between it and the Black Lion Auteur. I had an Auteur already, so I thought a shootout would be in order. I used the 2 preamps as an OH and snare mic.
Here was the setup: a matched pair of Karma Audio K-10s (1 into the Auteur, 1 into the RNP), 2 SM57s (1 into the Auteur, 1 into the RNP), and a Sennheiser E602 II into an ISA One (same track used for both examples). The K-10s were setup as the left mic of a recorderman setup (2 drumstick lengths directly above the snare). Here are some pictures of the mic placement:
This was about as scientific as I could get, it's not perfect but it gives you a decent idea what the 2 preamps sound like. The drums used were a 70's 5x14 Ludwig Supraphonic, a Pearl Vision VSX 18x22 bass drum and 8x12 tom, with 70's Zildjian 14" new beat hi hats and a 70's 16" A. Zildjian crash. I just played the left side of the kit since there was only 1 OH mic. No mixing was done, just some slight level adjustment to get everything close to the same volume. For the record, I had to use a 10 dB inline pad on the Auteur OH. The Auteur has a pad, but it's after the input-- and the K-10s put out a crazy hot signal that was clipping at the input. The Auteur SM57 didn't need a pad, but the gain had to be all the way down. Here are the samples:
FMR RNP
BLA Auteur
Here was the setup: a matched pair of Karma Audio K-10s (1 into the Auteur, 1 into the RNP), 2 SM57s (1 into the Auteur, 1 into the RNP), and a Sennheiser E602 II into an ISA One (same track used for both examples). The K-10s were setup as the left mic of a recorderman setup (2 drumstick lengths directly above the snare). Here are some pictures of the mic placement:
This was about as scientific as I could get, it's not perfect but it gives you a decent idea what the 2 preamps sound like. The drums used were a 70's 5x14 Ludwig Supraphonic, a Pearl Vision VSX 18x22 bass drum and 8x12 tom, with 70's Zildjian 14" new beat hi hats and a 70's 16" A. Zildjian crash. I just played the left side of the kit since there was only 1 OH mic. No mixing was done, just some slight level adjustment to get everything close to the same volume. For the record, I had to use a 10 dB inline pad on the Auteur OH. The Auteur has a pad, but it's after the input-- and the K-10s put out a crazy hot signal that was clipping at the input. The Auteur SM57 didn't need a pad, but the gain had to be all the way down. Here are the samples:
FMR RNP
BLA Auteur