Mic Pre Poll, a very comprehensive one (newbie material)

[Speeddemon]

So uh IC's aren't all that? The Meek doesn't use them right? VC1Q has a 2 stage transformer at the input, VC1Qcs is transformerless, features current sense... I heard some folks say that the VC1Q sounds nicer than the current sense one...

I think I will put the Grace 101 on another plan then. Maybe I'll never buy it at all.

Buy Meek this summer, buy dbx576 next year ? Or Sytek, or Great River...or become a gigolo, and suddenly have a bedroomstudio (THIS will get a double meaning as well then ) with a Focusrite ISA 430/Avalon VT737SP/Neve 1073.....

But Meek first.

 

[ozraves]

So uh IC's aren't all that? The Meek doesn't use them right? VC1Q has a 2 stage transformer at the input, VC1Qcs is transformerless, features current sense... I heard some folks say that the VC1Q sounds nicer than the current sense one...

I think I will put the Grace 101 on another plan then. Maybe I'll never buy it at all.

Buy Meek this summer, buy dbx576 next year ? Or Sytek, or Great River...or become a gigolo, and suddenly have a bedroomstudio (THIS will get a double meaning as well then ) with a Focusrite ISA 430/Avalon VT737SP/Neve 1073.....

But Meek first.

ICs are fine.

How many good projects have you heard that used a Meek? I've heard one. It was pretty damn impressive but then there were the 20 other ones I've heard that did not sound so great.

The Hip Hop guys seem to really like the Grace units, including the 101. They seem to have better ears for studio gear so... They also really like the Neve 1073.

 

[chessrock]

Very interesting.

It's just that if I'm ready to take a step up, I want to kinda' ditch the whole I.C. thing. I know there's nothing wrong with it, and I love my meek and my m-audio.

It's just that "discrete" sounds better. It kinda' rolsl of the tounge: "I have a DISCRETE preamp." It's just a psychological thing. Like I'll feel that I've arrived or something.

Chips are great for snacking, and it wasn't a bad TV show in it's day starring Eric Estrada as the debonare highway cop.

Let's just keep them out of my next preamp, okay?

My M-audio already has a pretty damn good one, and on a sidenote, I'm beginning to think it will have a long-term use in the studio.

Grace design and hip-hop. Very interesting.

 

[Speeddemon]

Fow Shizzle my nizzle...

I ain't GONNA DO hiphop. Like I said, surf/rock/metal-stuff.
BTW, I can't even get the Grace in Holland or Germany.

MindPrint Envoice and Joemeek VC1Qcs are the same price for me in Holland and Germany. both $500. TL Audio 5051 VP will be $600.

more thoughts, niggaz?

 

[TheDA]

Mic Pres

I really like my VinTech Audio and Sytek micpres.

One has the classic Neve sound and the other as clean as you will ever hear.

 

[wes480]

I'm gonna say it again since you're posting this idea again: what a frickin' waste of $5k!

Delta 1010, sure, but I can sure imagine MUCH better things to do with the other $4500. You could have so much more than 8 channels of clean, boring pre's. Think about it...

Vintech racked Neve or API - 2 channels - about $1000
Great River MP-2 - $1200
Soundcraft Ghost - $3000 used
Peavey VMP2 - $600
various compressors (RNC - $200, Distressor - $1000...)
Neumann TLM103 - $700
Lucid AD9624 - $600
etc, etc, etc....

Give me any combination of the above instead of some dumb, clinical 8 channel preamp.

Dolemite - I don't disagree with you. Having a variety of pres is certainly a great thing. And yes, you could piece together 8 pres for about the same amount of money, or a little more...and get a better 8 in system.

The only problem i have with what you said was in the "clinical, clean" area. The reason the 801 appeals to me is becuase of that sound. Something where I could cue up a fully miced drum kit, and have the same pre for each mic...trying to get a very uniform true sound.

What I said was more of a spur of the moment thing though, and it wasn't good advice. What you suggested would be a better use of the money. I would have an 801 if I had tons of money...and probably use it a lot. But 5,000 pre wise, I'd try to get my hands on:

1 Grace 101
1 Great River
1 API
1 Vintech Neve copy
(and then ass u me-ing they are good..)
1 Studio Projects VT-1
1 RNMP

some other flavor if thou couldst be afforded...but, even with only those 6...it beats the 801, certainly. Your point is well taken, Dolemite.

 

[chessrock]

Alright, speeddemon, just get yourself the Meek VC1Q already. It's obviously the one you're leaning towards, and if you don't get it you'll always get this distant stare in your eyes every time you see it . . . like it's the one that got away. And it's great - wish I had one. just get it.

 

[alanhyatt]

Gidge's live-in lover Mr. Alan Hyatt is coming out with an 8 channel pre based on the same Burr-Brown IC that the Grace uses. List price: $800.

I resent that...

 

[alanhyatt]

The Earthworks Lab 101 probably needs to be on this list.

I wouldn't lump all IC units together. I doubt that the Studio Projects 8 channel IC pre is going to eclipse the Grace 101 or the Sytek four channel unit. I could be wrong. Judging by the tube colorization thingy pre of the first SP discrete unit I'm not going to hold out any big hopes. Did we need another tube colorization pre?

The Studio Projects SP-82 will use the same circuit as the Grace. There really is not much else you can do when you use that chip. The SP-82 will have no tube or descrete circuitry, that is reserved for the VTB-1. I like to try and do different things with my products. By the way, the $799.99 price is a target, it could come in at $599.99 for all I know. Its just a matter of quantities.

The Meek is great, but all the Meeks now use the Current Sense mic pre, and that is a chip based set. The transformers are gone, but it was only used on the older VC1 and VC1Q, the VC1Qcs is the chip. Not that that is bad, its just for me, why always build the same thing. I want variety in my projects so they are different. Just wait until you see what else is coming, but that is down the road a bit.

Alan Hyatt
PMI Audio Group

 

[Speeddemon]

ALAN

but what will the difference in sound be, between the VC1Q and the VC1Qcs?

From what I've heard, I'm leaning towards the VC1Q.
Any more info?

 

[PinkStrat]

Gee, the M-Audio DMP-3 is looking better to me all of the time now---if it's really that accurate, uncolored & quiet. In lieu of that preamp, maybe the Meek would sound good for electric guitars too? Gotta love those Vintech 1073/1272s though--killing pres for raucous rock n roll in my own experience!

 

[postalblue]

API

why didn't anybody mention the API 512c or the API 212L sold at mercenary? aren't they any good? they both sell for around $700-800.

 

[chessrock]

Because we are a bunch of cheapskates around here.

That is a pretty good price, though. I might just have to start looking a little more at Mercenary once the sperm donation money starts, uh, flowing in.

 

[tdukex]

Re: API

why didn't anybody mention the API 512c or the API 212L sold at mercenary? aren't they any good? they both sell for around $700-800.

212 $625

512 $725 "Sonically, it is at the top of the Mic Preamp List, regardless of price."--Mercenary Audio.

My, my.

These are very attractive prices. Who's heard them? Tubedude? CyanJaguar? Ed? Weston?

 

[postalblue]

chessrock/tdukex,

i'm a cheapstake too, that's why i think $625 for an API pre is pretty good IF it really is a high end unit. i have no experience with any vintage pres, so i can 't tell. i wish someone more experienced would chime in on this. anyone? or perhaps we should email fletcher about it directly at mercenary? maybe he has some sound samples?

 

[chessrock]

Word on the street is that anything Mercenary carries is of high quality, and very likely worth every penny it goes for.

Even their lesser-expensive stuff (they were one of the first to carry the RNC, if I'm not mistaken).

Hey, someone should email this guy and invite him to post over here on this subject. He's always spending his time on rec.audio.pro. Some might consider it spam, but I'd appreciate if he made a brief cameo appearance on the bbs and talk briefly about his $600-$700 mic pres.

 

[postalblue]

i've got my hands on my credit card just waiting for someone to chime in in favor of the api. i REALLY need a high end preamp... and a high end ad/da converter... and a high end mic cabinet... and a tube compressor... grrrr!!

 

[postalblue]

btw, who carries the john hardy pres? i see mercenary doesn't. i've seen other pres mentioned here that none of the bigger stores carry, and i haven't found many of them in other stores.

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Fletcher (the owner of Mercenary Audio) was the first to tell everybody about the RNC, but he didn't actually carry the unit for a long time, even though he was recommending it to everybody.

 

[chessrock]

So what's the word on the API's we're talking about. I know you tend to be partial to the Great River in terms of value, so how would one of these single channels compare?