Yeah...this is all good/great info to lay on your mental table.
I've learned a lot from cjacek about what you can do by taking the time to experiment with mic placement. There is SO much variation you can get just by mic placement alone and now my habit is to move all around the source and listen with one ear plugged until I find a spot that sounds like what I want to capture. If it doesn't sound right on playback then I try to move the mic a little toward a spot that had a character that compensates for what is needed.
Another GREAT trick, when mic'ing a single source, is to use two mics placed at different distances and then enjoy the magic of natural eq via phase distortion as you vary the levels between the two mics on playback. This alone opens a whole new world of options and you can do it with what you have.
Sure, you can get lost in these details so only do it while its fun...if you're just creating another hair-splitting venture then scrap it and go with what you know but there is a LOT of color and variation you can get
just by using phase distortion as a tool and/or varying mic placement.
I've really gotten away from using eq. I always knew in my gut that it was better to avoid if you can but my tendency as a product of the fastfoodDAWgeneration was to go eq-happy and plugin-happy, but I see eq differently now and really the main things I like about the eq on my prototype board are the two low-cut filters...I don't use much more than that usually anymore.
ANOTHER comment: IF I was looking for an outboard preamp, I think the feature I would want the most is switcheable or variable impedance...I've been using some different LDC's but all are similar and come out of 797 Audio but they sound VASTLY different and I believe impedance matching has a lot to do with it...not that I want variable impendance to match a mic and a pre, but again as a color variation tool...like the electronic equivalent of repositioning the mic and between those two functions you can do SO much without having to even touch the eq and introducing the complex phase distortions that come along with that. I'm speaking about recording here because live work is a completely different story.
BUT...the market has pushed and pushed for more better cleaner/quieter/transparent preamps and as it turns out what I woke up to is that I don't WANT cleaner/transparent...I want something that has *some* character and something that *works*. There are plenty of
very technically proficient folks on this forum...I've learned a TON, not the least of which is that I have a lot to learn, but one member in particular some time back had some comments on Teac and more or less stated a respect for their designs. Not boutique, right? But
well-designed, sensible reliable circuits with a touch of character. They WORK and there is substantial evidence that they are smart conservative products...I'm talking about the 80's and 90's mixers mostly. But this particular forum member has a lot of experience and knowledge about boutique stuff at least in my feeble estimation and to hear (read) him lifting Teac up in a rightful way caught my attention. This was regarding a 388 that had been TOTALLY whacked out...mod-hog-heaven but he was, like, "why?" Basically he could see certain things being an improvement but that for the types of designs Teac employed they are in balance and good designs and why mess with them to such a degree? That and another member that really helped me understand that a piece of gear is the sum of its parts. Change the parts and it becomes something different which may leave something behind that you liked that was the result of noise/distortion/slow opamps...things we're always trying to do more/better/faster. He was right.
Yes I'm going on and on about modding and you are just wanting some perspective on your 1500-series board.
But the point is that you've got a good mixer there. Lots of usable functionality with well thought-out circuit topology. Reliable with its own flavor. If it was me I'd be toying with mic placement.
BUT, if you do intend to look outside your 1500 box for a specialty preamp, Ethan is a great one to listen to. He does have an ear and a passion for the topic and the technical background and knowledge and experience behind his thoughts, so its not a load of suppositions and hype-thoughts from somebody else.
Good luck and above all, have fun!
BTW, I really do think the 1500 mixers are neat. Tremendous value and functionality. All you have to do is look at the market on them and then go to your favorite internet audio gear retailer and look at the mixers in that same price bracket and it is just stupid-silly what people are buying when they could have the features, performance, reliability and style/character of a vintage (200, 300, 500, 1500, 1600 etc.) Tascam mixer.
Take it with a grain of salt but the guy that bought my M-520,
Richard Swift was
genuinely jazzed by the sound of it...his tech was also impressed with it who's been doing it for 30 years and been around Neve and MCI boards. Plus, the guy who owns and operates
Fairfax Recordings in CA. was impressed with it and his board is one of the EMI consoles out of Abbey Road Studios...tons of drooly gear there.
Am I saying that Tascam mixers are better? No. And anybody that wants to take the above paragraph and build up some internet rumor that Tascam is better than _____, whatever. The point is that the mixers hold their own when you step outside the hype and the haters and the value of getting to know what you have and exploring its sound and what it can do for you is underrated.
There are limitations. I'm not a Behringer basher, but I did have a UB-802 that just didn't work for me...it absolutely sucked the life out of drums...don't know how it did that but it was remarkable. I'm sure it was good for other applications, and it worked,
but it didn't work for me. So I moved on from that one.
I realize that's not where you are going with this...I'm not trying to lecture at all, but rather just sharing a more full perspective on where I'm at.
