selling my great river for universal audios 2-610

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maskedman72

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i am thinking about selling my great river mp2nv and getting a universal audio 2-610. how does the eq sound on it? how do you like it overall? what does it sound good on? kick? snare?
 
I got a chance to attend a mic pre listening / comparison session earlier in the year. We only listended to them on drum overheads, mind you.

The ones that really stood out, to me, were the DW Fearn, the UA 2-610 and the Old School Audios.

It pretty much had the same type of sound as the Fearn, but it was clearly the most versatile of the bunch. You could get just about any kind of sound out of it depending on how much gain you used or how much it was driven.

It really made me sick and depressed to listen to it -- knowing I couldn't afford to own it, of course. :D
 
dont get me wrong here, i love the great river,it is a kick ass pre.....but with the u/a i would get an eq section and tubes.
i feel the u/a is more versital cause of these features.

anyone else heard one or own one?
 
2610

Hey guys -

I own a 2610 and Luv it !!! Now granted I haven't had the chance to sample the great river stuff. But I will tell you that the UA is extremely versatile, and sounds great.

Also if you overdrive the input,,,,,you can get a nasty distorted vibe.

I also have the 9098 Neve Pres, Focusrite Red 1, Focusrite Octo Pres,,,,,,,,,,,and quite honestly when I can't get the sound I want from those, the UA ALWAYS comes through.

I'm starting to actually use it more and more,,,,,as the others sit and wait in envy.

The Eq is on the UA is great for cutting low end (guitars voxx etc) and boosting some of the highs (vox, acoustics)

If you have the loot, I would say get it. If its a stretch for you, then wait, or just get another outboard eq. But I know that you will not be dissapointed.

-Dano
 
I wouldn't be in such a hurry to get rid of your great river. You have better options. For one, it seems that the 2-610 is an either you love it or you hate it mic pre. I've read some great comments about it, but I've also heard a lot of people bash it as well (it has no headroom, it's slow, very colored, can distort easliy, and so on) On the other hand, I've never heard anyone say anything bad about the great river. It may not be the best pre for everything, but I've never heard anyone say that they didn't at least like it. Keep in mind that this is all hearsay. If you've A/B'ed both pres and prefer the UA 2-610, then by all means go for it. I just think that you should do some more research before you get rid of such a great peice of equipment.
 
yea i think i shall hold on to her and get some eq to feed it. the eq2nv is the ticket here.
 
chessrock said:
It pretty much had the same type of sound as the Fearn
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Wow!! Is that a million and a half miles off from anything I've ever experienced... were you listening to MP-3? or was the gain unmatched or what?

If the 2610 sounded anything even remotely similar to the D.W. Fearn something was very, very, very wrong with the testing proceedure.

Which one you preferred on a sonic level is your business... but saying that these two units "had the same type of sound" either means that you impressed that they both passed signal, or you weren't able to do a real critical listening analysis of the two units side by side.
 
We need to get you an ask fletcher forum...we wouldnt have to read through countless reviews to get to someone who has really used and tested gear as extensively. On the other hand I dont see myself saving as much money following his advise, seeing as how high end gear is his thing...but its an idea to ponder...how bout it Fletch?
 
I found the 610 kinda dark in an unexpected way, especially given UA's penchant for a strong 5k-ish strident top sound in general. I havent heard it on drums but it was interesting on guitar and vox. I wouldnt call it diverse, definitely not as diverse as GR on any of those. I dont think it would work in anything other than a rock context.

Im coalescing around an idea as far as preamps go....those that excel on drums often are not the best on guitar, vox or bass and vice versa. Theres tone on the one hand and then theres sense of space, dynamics and transients on the other. Rarely do both come togeather. GR does not kill on kick or snare. It doesnt snap like the RNP or Brent's 312. But it does kill on vox, guitar and bass and as a DI in general.
OSA sounds like ass on every vocal I tried it on. With scooped mics it still had waay to much going on in the low mids and rendered tracks basically unusable. Even with EQ, I could barely get a usable vocal. Dynamically though its punchy and aggressive and handles drums and snares well.
 
Feltcher is right, the 2-610 sounds nothing like the Fearn unit. The Fearn unit is clean and natural sounding. The 2-610 does have a sound though, thick and creamy which I like. It's sorta of a one trick pony but I like the tricks it pulls. The EQ is quite usable, works as a DI and the variable impedence selection is quite a bonus. I must admit I've never used the Great River unit. Open it up and take a peek. Nice. I get tired on flavor of the month audio gear. The 2-610 will retain its value over time, who knows with the Great River.
 
The 2-610 will retain its value over time, who knows with the Great River.
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Based on the way UA's pricing has fluctuated during the few years since they've re-emerged, I wouldn't necessarily count on its holding its value any more than the Great River...and why wouldn't you expect the GR to hold its value?

It pretty much had the same type of sound as the Fearn, but it was clearly the most versatile of the bunch.
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The "sound" of a preamp is a subjective thing, and I'd agree that the 2-610 seems to fall into that love-it-or-hate-it category, but while I fall more into the "love it" side of things, I think the one thing that most people who have used it would aree on is that it's not a very versatile preamp. While I do like it, I wouldn't want it as my only preamp as it is very colored, although you do have some control over the amount of coloration you can get out of it.
 
maskedman72 said:
i think great river pres will hold their value quite well.
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I agree, there's a reason they never show up on ebay.

Brandon
 
I dont have them anymore, I sold them. I had them for a couple of months in an api lunchbox, the C and the L. Theyre interesting and somewhat unique but they dont work on vocals and just about anything you dont want lots of low mid energy on.
 
Especially so, if it is paid for, was purchased new, and no doubt will lose money when sold.

I'd hold on to it... AND get the 2-610!

:D
 
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