Great River....get 1 or 2 channels?

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antispatula

antispatula

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So here's the thing. I'm going to be recording soon. I'm going to be recording drums in a commercial studio, drums are not a consideration in my dilema. But I'd like to record everything else myself. I'll be recording accoustic guitar, electric guitar (usually clean.....and never the base instrument) and lots of grand piano. And vocals of course. I'm guessing it'll come out to sound a little like Guster or something.

So I have an RNP which is great. But I want a Great River for vocals and other aplications such as acoustic guitar and grand piano, and perhaps some accordion.

Do you think I should buy a 1 channel GR and keep the FMR, or sell the FMR to help finance 2 channels of GR?

"Get 2 channels of Great River and keep the FMR!" is not an option, I'm not made of money.

Any suggestions would be lovely, thanks!
 
I don't own either, but I'd go with the 2 channels of GR based both on reputation, but more so on the amount of acoustic recording your talking about. I'd want to be doing a lot of stereo micing, and wanting 2 matching channels of preamp.
 
Great River all the way. You won't be sorry.


From a biased GR user.
 
On another board...

....There is a Great River MP-2 DIY pre build going on. You just missed the first offering of parts. The transformer group buy is starting up.

http://www.prodigy-pro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22278

This of course presumes that you can DIY and have the time. These on the pre-neve sound pre's.

I've got a couple channels MP-2 in assembly. Nothing ready yet.

Regards
 
another possibility would be to get an api 6 slot lunchbox (about $450) plus 2 great river mp-500nv's ($750 each), which at $1950 total, is strangely $200 cheaper than getting the mp-2nv. i suspect that the 500nv price is an introductory one? that scenario would leave you with 2 more slots for future expansion.

i recently picked up a used langevin dual vocal combo at a good price and can whole heartedly recommend that unit as an alternative (though i've never had first hand experience with the great river, which has an awesome reputation obviously)
 
I have a GR ME-1NV and a new MP500-NV, the 500 series single channel.

My advice is to have 2 channels as you mentioned recording acoustic guitar and piano, which you will most likely want 2 mics on either.

The Great Rivers are really nice because you can crank the output and keep it nice and clean or overdrive the output stage to warm it up. Very versatile preamp(s).

You may also want to check another nice pre which will run around $760 for 2 channels. I bought one recently and am really liking it. Nice and clean.

DAV No.1BG

I ordered it, Mick built it and then overnighted it from England, all for the price mentioned. I believe he worked Decca/London for 28 years designing, building and maintaining the gear.

My 2¢...
 
You may want to consider two channels of the John Hardy M1. The cost will be about $500 less than the Great River.
 
Yup, say bye bye to the RNP. Two channels of GR will give you a great signal path for all kinds of great mono and stereo recordings. I would imagine considering you are doing acoustic guitar you will definitely want to record that in stereo plus what ever else might "need" some stereo love.

Though as another suggestion, check out the Chameleon Labs 7622. They are going for the same Neve sort of sound as GR but they are made in China. Yeah yeah, I know, China yuck... but those things are pretty derned good for the money and I really think if budget is a concern (as it obviously is) they might be a very good alternative to get 95% of the Neve/GR sound without the cost.

http://www.chameleonlabs.com/
http://www.mojopie.com/7602.html
http://emusician.com/signalprocessors/emusic_chameleon_labs/

Third suggestion, the UA 110 series pres are flipping fantastic too. I have a 4110 and it isn't anything but itself sound wise... maybe a halfway between API and Neve. But considering the Solo 110 is a single channel version of the 4110/8110 I can't see you going wrong with a pair of those either. The thing I LOVE about the 110 series is the fact that you can choose to have the transformer in the chain. This means you can do super clean Grace sounding stuff as well as transformer loaded Neve/API sounding stuff. Super versatile and quiet as hell even when the gain is cranked.

Last suggestion, an API 3124+ could be another great alternative and you get 4 channels on that dude. Another great option.

At this level of cost/quality it is all about different flavors of good.
 
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