mic pre recommendations

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JTC111

JTC111

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I'm looking to upgrade from the Focusrite TwinTrak that I'm currently using. Anyone have any insights/experience with some high end two-channel mic pres? I'm looking for recommendations and descriptions. The primary use will be for recording acoustic guitar.

I'd be recording via ProTools onto a G4 using a Yamaha O1v board.

If it helps, these are the microphones I currently own:
BLUE Kiwi
BLUE Woodpecker
AKG Solidtube
AKG C 414 B-XL II
AKG C 451B
AKG C 1000
Earthworks SR30
MXL V69 Mogami

THANKS!!!
Jim
 
Since you've said high end, I'm assuming a healthy budget:D I've got a variety of pretty good pres and for acoustic instruments, I really like the Pendulum MDP-1. It is a tube pre that sounds very hifi. Variable low cut filter, DI with 3 different input impedances and you can order it with a choice of input transformers.

See http://www.pendulumaudio.com/MDP-1.html
 
I'm assuming I'm going to wind up spending somewhere in the $2000-3000 neighborhood.

I took a look at the Pendulum MDP-1 (thanks for the link) but the modest amount of gain available would pretty much put my ribbon mic on the shelf for good. I think I need to be in the +60-70db neighborhood (It also would be nice to have compression built into the pre but that's probably wishful thinking).

As I'm researching this, a few units that seem to be getting good reviews are the Great River MP-2NV, the A-Designs Pacifica, and the Chandler Germanium Preamp/DI.

As far as I can tell, the one drawback on the Great River unit is the lack of impedence selection. Apparently you get two choices, 300 ohms and 1200 ohms. I know on my TwinTrak, dialing in the impedence makes a difference in the sound. I'm not sure how much of a drawback this would be on this unit.

The Pacifica has a different issue for me... no meters. I've never used a preamp that doesn't have a meter. Does that mean you have to set this entirely by ear?

And while I'm not against some coloration, from what I'm reading the Chandler may give more than I'd want.

I don't need a pre that works across the spectrum. This is for my own project studio. If anyone else records here, it's for two reasons: one, they're a friend, and two, my gear fits what they're doing. I'm not looking to do much more than record my own music. I'm a singer/songwriter in the Richard Shindell/John Gorka vein. So what I'm looking for is a pre that makes an acoustic guitar shine...sparkly highs and clear well-defined lows and let those nice accidental harmonics come through too.

Yeah, I don't want the moon, I WANT THE SUN AND ALL THE STARS! So that's why I'm asking here. There's a lot of experience on these boards and I'm begging for knowledge.

Jim
 
JTC111 said:
I'm assuming I'm going to wind up spending somewhere in the $2000-3000 neighborhood.
Click to expand...

Jim,

With that kind of budget, invest in the 500 series. That way you can get a variety of flavors.
 
Or put it all into a Pendulum Quartet. The quartet's offer a great wide range of possibilities, a good EQ, an awesome compressor, a good de-esser and are extremely well built.
 
Acoustic Guitar?

Get a Fearn VT-2. Amazingly good on AC Guitar. I get musicians that actually stop playing DURING TRACKING because they are so amazed at how it sounds in the headphones. No joke.


I'd think about better conversion too though........
 
JTC111,

I've gone through a few pre's trying to find what I like..

I highly recommend you check out Great River's MP-2NV (2 pre unit) or MP-1NV (1 pre unit). They sound amazing. They're a Neve 1073 clone with some minor/modern refinements. They sound amazing on a variety of sources.

http://www.greatriverelectronics.com/product.cfm?ID=19&type=0

They have XLR mic input, XLR output, -10 dBv unbalanced 1/4"output (great as a aux input for a headphone mix), TS 1/4" patch out, 1/4" direct input on front panel, input and output LED meters.

You can add color by overdriving the input versus output or stay cleaner.

MP-2NVComp1.jpg


They are spendy but within the budget you mentioned. I got 2- MP-1NV's on ebay racked together for $1750.

I often run them through a Universal Audio 1176 LN and wow!!!!! Sound so good on the front side that I have significantly reduced what I do to a track once in the box.

I can't imagine parting with them. A little more gain or 2K ohm impedance would be nice for ribbon mics but I've never had a problem yet (I've got a Cascade Fat Head and AEA R92 ribbons) as far as headroom or noise. Maybe buy an MP-1NV and then another pre with more impedance options and gain for your ribbon mics?

OOOppsss, overlooked that you're primarily mic'ng acoustic guitar, so I'm assuming you'll want 2 identical pre's for Blumlein, MS, stereo, X-Y, etc. techniques. The Great River may have too much color for your ears, but I've been very happy with my results on acoustic guitar.
 
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JTC, just as a point of reference, with the Pendulum Quartets I have had no problem getting enough gain for either my Royer R121 or the AEA R88 on some fairly quiet sources. The Woodpecker you have should have an even easier time with this given that it is active. The DW Fearn that NL5 mentioned is also a pretty incredible unit. Do you need a 2 channel preamp? Or are you just looking for one "Golden Channel"? The Pendulum I recommended was meant to be more of that one magic channel. The real drawback to the Quartet is that you only get one channel, but the other features it offers are pretty top notch. The big thing for me is that the pendulum offers a wide range of sounds that all sound great. Add to that an awesome sounding (albeit slightly limited) EQ, and a pretty sweet compressor, and you really get a lot more flexibility out of it than any of the "preamp only" otpions, but without sacrificing the quality to have the additional features. The good news is that in your price range there are some pretty sweet options, even as a whole channel strip.
 
xstatic said:
Or put it all into a Pendulum Quartet. The quartet's offer a great wide range of possibilities, a good EQ, an awesome compressor, a good de-esser and are extremely well built.
Click to expand...

That would blow my whole budget for 1 channel; I need two.
 
xstatic said:
Do you need a 2 channel preamp? Or are you just looking for one "Golden Channel"? The Pendulum I recommended was meant to be more of that one magic channel.
Click to expand...

I definitely need two channels. The Pendulum looks great but it would put me at $6K. I can't afford that (but I'm not averse to accepting gifts from strangers).
 
yaknski said:
They have XLR mic input, XLR output, -10 dBv unbalanced 1/4"output (great as a aux input for a headphone mix), TS 1/4" patch out, 1/4" direct input on front panel, input and output LED meters.

I can't imagine parting with them. A little more gain or 2K ohm impedance would be nice for ribbon mics but I've never had a problem yet (I've got a Cascade Fat Head and AEA R92 ribbons) as far as headroom or noise. Maybe buy an MP-1NV and then another pre with more impedance options and gain for your ribbon mics?

OOOppsss, overlooked that you're primarily mic'ng acoustic guitar, so I'm assuming you'll want 2 identical pre's for Blumlein, MS, stereo, X-Y, etc. techniques. The Great River may have too much color for your ears, but I've been very happy with my results on acoustic guitar.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all that info. The MP-2NV is definitely on my short list. And yes, I'm looking for two like channels. I can use different mics and positioning to change up the sound.

Something you said brings up a question: Is it preferable to use the XLR input rather than the 1/4" TS input on the front? I know noise issues can happen when using long unbalanced cables but I wouldn't be using anything longer than 10-12 feet.
 
JTC111 said:
Thanks for all that info. The MP-2NV is definitely on my short list. And yes, I'm looking for two like channels. I can use different mics and positioning to change up the sound.

Something you said brings up a question: Is it preferable to use the XLR input rather than the 1/4" TS input on the front? I know noise issues can happen when using long unbalanced cables but I wouldn't be using anything longer than 10-12 feet.
Click to expand...


The front panel 1/4" input on most pre's is an Hi-Z instrument DI input.

edit - the GR is a nice pre for sure - it is my most used preamp, I use it on just about everything, except Drums and AC Guitar.
 
JTC111 said:
I'm looking to upgrade from the Focusrite TwinTrak that I'm currently using. Anyone have any insights/experience with some high end two-channel mic pres? I'm looking for recommendations and descriptions. The primary use will be for recording acoustic guitar.

I'd be recording via ProTools onto a G4 using a Yamaha O1v board.

If it helps, these are the microphones I currently own:
BLUE Kiwi
BLUE Woodpecker
AKG Solidtube
AKG C 414 B-XL II
AKG C 451B
AKG C 1000
Earthworks SR30
MXL V69 Mogami

THANKS!!!
Jim
Click to expand...

It seems a lot of pros like the John Hardys for acoustic instruments. Not a bad price @ $1,650 for two channels of the M1, $2,350 for the twin servo.
 
JTC111 said:
I definitely need two channels. The Pendulum looks great but it would put me at $6K. I can't afford that (but I'm not averse to accepting gifts from strangers).
Click to expand...

The MDP-1 is substantially less than that $2350 for 2 channels at Mercenary. They come up used from time to time as well.

Actually, a regular over at the GS board has a Wunder Audio mic pre up for relatively cheap ( for a Wunder) -- $2650 for 4 channels. It looks like it has 78db of gain on the mic input which should address your ribbon concerns.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear...hannel-microphone-preamp-w-black-box-psu.html

http://www.wunderaudio.com/Pafourproduct.html
 
For 2 Channel pre's only then, the Great River is a good solid start. The Hardy's are also pretty nice, although not quite as "flexible" as the Great River, but you can also add more down the road. If you went with a 500 series lunchbox, there are still places that will give you the lunch box for free with the purchase of 4 modules. This would give you a good way of having some different sounds in your arsenal as well as leaving 2 channels open for expansion. It would push your budget a little though.
 
JTC111 said:
Thanks for all that info. The MP-2NV is definitely on my short list. And yes, I'm looking for two like channels. I can use different mics and positioning to change up the sound.

Something you said brings up a question: Is it preferable to use the XLR input rather than the 1/4" TS input on the front? I know noise issues can happen when using long unbalanced cables but I wouldn't be using anything longer than 10-12 feet.
Click to expand...

I've only used the Hi-Z direct input for electric bass with a 10 foot cable. Anything else I've connected has been XLR. I'm not sure (someone chime in here) but I don't believe there's enough signal or line level to run say from a bass with a 1/4" to XLR cable to the XLR inout. Obviously if you're mic'ng you'd use the XLR input. Not sure if that answered your question? Again, I absolutely love the Great River pre and they seem to be quite popular.

This preamp shopping must be fun for you. Let us know what you end up with ..... so many good choices out there.
 
NL5 said:
The front panel 1/4" input on most pre's is an Hi-Z instrument DI input.

edit - the GR is a nice pre for sure - it is my most used preamp, I use it on just about everything, except Drums and AC Guitar.
Click to expand...

NL5,
What do you like to use on drums and AC Gweeter?
 
xstatic said:
If you went with a 500 series lunchbox, there are still places that will give you the lunch box for free with the purchase of 4 modules.
Click to expand...

True, Vintage King still does this for API and I expect there are may be some others who do as well. I think Atlas Audio does something similar for Old School Audio products.
 
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