Preamp

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Kryogh

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I bought a Focusrite VoiceMasterPro today at my local store. 949$ CAD (+ tx :()

They did not have it in stock, they sold 12 of them the last month. So mine is in order. I can receive it in 2 days, or in 2 months! damn i hope it wont take that long !

Anybody here have one?
 
I have one of these units. I have been very pleased with it. It works well on vocals, the desser is great, etc.. What has been a plesant surprise for me is how well it works with bass and guitar. I also have used it for recording a snare, and the expander allows me to totally issolate it (no, or very little, hihat bleed through). I have a grace 101 which I love, but it is so "pristine," that to many tracks recorded with it can leave an unpleasant result.

The voicemaster pre seems a little darker than the grace unit and in my opinion better suited for certain voices (my wife's for example), and for multiple tracks in a song. The grace unit cuts through the mix, the voicemaster sets in the mix if you know what I mean. The other settings (tube sound, vintage harmonics), can also let the tracks recorded with the voicemaster cut through.



I can not see you being disapointed with your purchase.
By the way, where in Canada are you from?
 
Solafide said:
I have a grace 101 which I love, but it is so "pristine," that to many tracks recorded with it can leave an unpleasant result.
Click to expand...

That's interesting.
 
Kryogh,

I live in New Brunswick. There is no store around here that carries any type of selection for recording gear, so I order my voicemaster through saved by technology for 900 plus shiping (and the tax is only 7% because it is out of province). The total was 1000 if I remember right.

http://www.savedbytechnology.com/
 
what do you mean by "unpleasant result" regarding the Grace 101?....
 
Gidge

When I say unpleasant I don’t mean “awful” sounding by any means. I guess I would illustrate it this way:

If you were to paint a picture with all vivid beautiful sharp colors, although each of the colors are great on there own together they might be a little heard on the eyes. Often times it is beneficial to have some colors that just sit in the background, or are even not the greatest colors, to make the focal point stand out more.

I have a voicmaster, grace 101 and a dbx 386 (as well as an old Sony four track with 2 pres if I am in a pinch). I compared these three units on voice tracks. I had a hard time telling the voicemaster and the grace101 apart when listening to the track alone (there were subtle differences (the focusrite seemed a little darker), but nothing major).

When I listened to the same track in the mix, the grace 101 track just jumped out more in the mix, this is great for parts that you want to stand out, but for some of the less important material in a song, I prefer to use the focusrite or dbx unit.

My grace 101 is my favorite pre, and the first one I purchased. I do not regret this for a second, but the focusrite pre is great too, and is very versatile (you can make a track sit in the mix, or with a couple effects, make it stand out.)

I hope this answers your question.
 
On the Grace 101, I agree it can be too realistic at times for my personal taste on certain sources. The upsides are that it puts a big image in the monitors, it matches well to any mic I've put to it, it's a great vocal preamp and it puts out one of the better DI sounds. It's well worth the price of admission. I think it's one of the first two or three quality mic preamps you should buy when putting your rack together.

Steve
www.piemusic.com
 
I see what you mean and it makes perfect sense. Interesting way of putting it.
 
I have the VM Pro too and you will enjoy it. It is a great value unit with a very pro preamp sound. Can be very clean or very warm depending on your need.

In a bake off between a Grace, RNP and Focusrite VMPRO I chose the later. Mainly because of its range of sounds which are due to the compressor, de-esser, tube sat, harmonics and EQ. The preamp alone though stands up to the rest but the features of the whole unit makes it a no brainer at $550 US. Can't believe it cost $949 in Canada. Maybe thats a good deal up there, not sure.

You will love the latency section and de-esser for vocals. It is also killer on bass and guitar.
 
Steve,
If I remember right from some of your previous posts, you have a rnp as well as a 101. I am going to be getting another pre in a couple of months for sterio recording (mostly thinking of accustic guitar) - my options are another 101, any of the focusrite platnum line, or a rnp.

I definitely like the the 101 best out of what I have, and I can use the dbx unit for this sterio recording as well (I use it now a lot for overheads when recording drums).

What would be your take on this.

My thoughts are:
focusrite - I can get one used at reasonable price, and it gives more flexibility (compression, etc). (mony left for other stuff)

101 - I love it.

rnp - I get two channels for less than the price of one 101. People seem to really like it.

Oh, and one other option I am considering is to keep what I have and get an Aardvark q10, so I could have more inputs (I currently only have four) and the Aardvark pres are quite usable from what I hear?
 
This thread is very timely. I am considering the Focusrite VM Pro and Grace 101, as well as the RNP, TLA 5051 Ivory 2, and Summit Audio 2BA-221 for recording blues-based electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and vocals into a laptop PC. Any advice as to the best choice among these options for this sort of application?

Also, I've noticed in going over the features of the Grace 101 that it lacks an insert jack for a compressor. This would seem to be a significant drawback for use with something like the RNC that is unbalanced. In my case at this point, that wouldn't matter, but I could see where it might matter later with an upgraded computer soundcard with balanced inputs.

I also wonder why there haven't been any reviews of the Summit Audio 2BA-221. It seems very appealing, but countless web searches have turned up very little information (including the Summit Audio web site). Does anyone have firsthand experience with this unit?

RMK
 
Sorry to be a little off topic but that saved by technology link doesn't work for me...Is it right??? Anyways I have been interested in that Focusrite for sometime..Good to hear some good stuff aboot it..
 
I wanted the VMPro, but I casually mentioned getting the ISA 220 Session Pack to my ol lady, and surprisingly she said, go ahead and buy it. So I did. Next stop, Rosetta land...

Terry
 
All this talk about the pres . . .

Honestly, I can't say that it makes all that much difference to me.

I've used some good ones and bad ones, but ultimately, everything I track usually winds up being multiband compressed and/or EQ'ed to the Nth degree anyway, which just about nullifies and sonic distinction between whatever mic pres I'm using.

Not to mention the fact that most of the sonic differences that I swear exist when I'm right there a/b'ing them one after the other right in front of me . . . pretty much go away the second someone else takes over the controls and I go at it blindfold.

In those instances, I'll even find myself saying: "Yea, clearly a was better than b," only to have whoever's at the controls tell me "uh . . . sorry, Chess, but those were both A."

So there goes that theory. :D Anyway, for some crazy reason, my ears can very clearly and accurately decifer even small EQ adjustments (even as little as 2db cuts and boosts), not to mention the fact that different microphones make a world of difference for me.

So what can I say?

I do, however, hear a very significant difference between the following:

1) Clean Solid State (in general)
2) Transformer-based Solid State
3) Starved Plate Tube
4) Authentic Tube

And to my ears, the clearest and most obvious distinction can be drawn between #1 and and #4. And in most cases, I prefer #4 by a longshot, with the exception of the following:

1) Drum overheads and percussion
2) Acc. Guitar, piano, brass, etc.

I almost never prefer #3, with the exception of DI bass guitar and/or DI keys (particularly hammond-modelers).

And #2 I like only if it's a high-end unit using a very high quality transformer; otherwise it usually sounds like dog shit. :D
 
chessrock said:
I've used some good ones and bad ones, but ultimately, everything I track usually winds up being multiband compressed and/or EQ'ed to the Nth degree anyway, which just about nullifies and sonic distinction between whatever mic pres I'm using.
Click to expand...

Well if it's a "have to" tweak to the Nth degree, then it sounds to me like you either need a better mic, better mic and preamp combo, some better mic positioning, or something completely different from any of those mentioned...

In any case, now 'n days, most engineers who get good-sounding raw tracks to tape don't end-up doing much of any processing to the Nth degree, unless going for a specific effect, where they must tweak their gear to the Nth degree in order to get the effect with the gear they have on hand. And how often they do that depends on the type of music, their production style, and the gear they have on hand.

Regardless, not that chessrock was saying he "has to", but the point is making sure there is no "have to" tweaking to the Nth degree in order to get good-sounding raw tracks.
 
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Recording Engineer said:
And how often they do that depends on the type of music, their production style, and the gear they have on hand.
Click to expand...

You make a good point. I have nothing against being experimental with sonic textures. It's just that different types of textures vary greatly in their level of difficulty to deal with come mixing time, and dramatic tweaking is sometimes in order. In those cases, time otherwise spent sweating over the subtle nuances of a mic pre could be better spent. :D

Similarly, if the textures you are dealing with aren't in too much discord to begin with . . . and you're able to do the proper things to make them even more harmonious (with regards to mic selection, positioning, and proper tuning / preparation of the source and the recording environment) . . .

After all of that, I see the mic pre's role as being relatively minor in the overall scheme of things.
 
Solafide said:
Steve,
If I remember right from some of your previous posts, you have a rnp as well as a 101. I am going to be getting another pre in a couple of months for sterio recording (mostly thinking of accustic guitar) - my options are another 101, any of the focusrite platnum line, or a rnp.

I definitely like the the 101 best out of what I have, and I can use the dbx unit for this sterio recording as well (I use it now a lot for overheads when recording drums).

What would be your take on this.

My thoughts are:
focusrite - I can get one used at reasonable price, and it gives more flexibility (compression, etc). (mony left for other stuff)

101 - I love it.

rnp - I get two channels for less than the price of one 101. People seem to really like it.

Oh, and one other option I am considering is to keep what I have and get an Aardvark q10, so I could have more inputs (I currently only have four) and the Aardvark pres are quite usable from what I hear?
Click to expand...

I've been suspicious of the Focusrite stuff since one of my acquaintances bought one of their $$ units and immediately took it back for an API 3124+. So, I've never paid any dues with their gear to give anyone advice.

But, as to the Grace versus RNP... Either way is a good approach. A second 101 is money well spent. An RNP is money well spent as well. It'd give you another color. The RNP is more forgiving of mic placement. I really like the 101 and RNP combo in my rack.

Steve
www.piemusic.com
 
Assuming that the problem with difficulty in hearing differences between preamps ISN'T a function of either ear training and/or a poor monitoring system, perhaps it may be that whatever preamps in question aren't radically different in sound.

I think with even a modicum of ear-training, most anyone here should be readily able to hear the difference between, say, a vocalist through a Daking vs. an API. If not, well, there's always other ways to be gainfully employed besides the recording business... ;)
 
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