Toft ATC-2 & GT Brick or Sebatron

H

hognogger

New member
I'm looking to get a 2-channel preamp.

I record mostly solo acoustic guitar/guitar & vocals/some electric guitar.

At my current price-point (and living in Australia) I've narrowed it down to two options.

(1) Sebatron 2-channel preamp.

(2) Toft channel-strip, then a couple of months down the track, a GT Brick for a channel of tube preamplification.

I'm guessing that option 2 would offer me more versatility, and I'd like to use dynamic mics a lot, and I've heard that the Sebatron may have issues with providing enough gain (I want to record delicate, gentle singing).

Any thoughts?
 
Toft ATC2

the only negative i have read on the Toft was one article on SOS, some small remark about approx. quote "may not be matched to use as a stereo buss unit". Everything else was very positive stuff.

everyone seems to love 'em. Ebay a dealer has a deal where its like ~$100US off or free Mics.
I'm thinking serious about one, but a bit pricey for my place. I'm trying an old Joe Meek VC1Q now, well, not right now..but
in general in my room there is a Joe Meek Unit that i should be testing out instead of sitting on my arse.
 
Sebatron all the way for me.
It's easy to add more gain by daisy-chaining multiple channels together. And then with the eq switches and pads you get some really interesting tones as well.
 
They are all good units, and do different things. I think you need to decide what your immediate needs are. If you want to sweeten things up on your guitar and vocals, then the Toft and its Trident 80B EQ sure as heck does that. In addition the compressor can help as well.

If you desire a tube mic pre, then you should get that, but that is only a mic pre. Sebatron and GT make good stuff, as does the Toft.

Make your decision based on what you really want to do, then the answer and choice is simple.
 
I was very interested in the Toft as well. I went with the Sebatron because I wanted a tube preamp. I do feel that the -30pad leaves me needing more gain sometimes, but as someone posted before, you can just daisy chain them. I bought mine for 999$ new. (No VU's)
 
Craigory congratz...
I recently got the vmp-2000e with VU's. I am digging it. I ran entrie mixes through it and it warmed the songs up nicely. I recorded a keyboard through it and it sounded amazing. I still need to try mic's through it, and guitar. I love it so far.
evt
 
I love the Sebatron. It's great on vox and as an electric guit DI. I also like it on acoustic guit with a single mic in a mix. I actually like the DMP3 better on stereo solo acoustic guit tracks. I think the Seb and the Toft would compliment each other well, and with the Toft the EQ and compressor are a definite bonus. In your case the Toft may be a better first choice.
 
Interesting insights.

But would the pres in the toft be a significant step up from those in my DMP3? Would they be about the same level as a RNP, or something like that? I guess at this stage, I'm more concerned about the quality of the preamp than with getting compression and EQ.

On the other hand, would the preamp in the Brick be more or less on a par with the preamp in the Sebatron? Because I think I can swing the Toft and the Brick, but realistically, I don't think I could justify buying both the Sebatron and the Toft.
 
hognogger said:
But would the pres in the toft be a significant step up from those in my DMP3? Would they be about the same level as a RNP.
Click to expand...

I'd doubt it. The preamps are sposed to be the Toft's weak point. Not having heard Toft, but having read a lot of comments, they seem to be compared to the Focusrite Platinum series for quality level...... and as far as I'm concerned, that's lower than the RNP...... and deffinately lower than the Sebatron.



Hognogger. I sent you a couple of PMs.
 
The Seb is a world class pre IMO. But I don't know that acoustic guit is its strongest point.

There was an acoustic guit shootout between the DMP3 and the RNP around two years or so ago, and more people (including myself) picked the DMP3--and a lot of people voted. The thread is still around in the archives, but the clips are gone. I was impressed enough with the DMP3 to go out and buy one. I'm still impressed with it. It's based on the same Burr Brown INA 163 chip as the Grace 101.

When it comes time to upgrade my clean channels, I will bypass the RNP and go for something that is an actual upgrade, like a Speck or a John Hardy. BTW, the Speck clips I've heard (RO and Listening Sessions) make it one of my favorites on acoustic guit, and they are priced very reasonably.

If you have $1400 to spend on pres you might consider one channel of Speck and one channel of Seb. I haven't heard the Brick, but it is getting good reviews.
 
The Toft's preamps are MOST DEF a step up from Focusrite platinum. Having tried all the Focusite stuff up to Red. I'd put the Toft on close footing to the ISA range. The Toft's pre is fairly transparent, but can be dialled into a fairly bold, muscular tone with some EQ tweaking.
The Sebatron is really smooth and warm. Sounds phenomenal for Acoustic guitar DI, less control over the Toft, but you don't want to spoil a good thing.

Personally, I bought the Toft, but the Sebatron or similar is something I've got my eye on for a future warm piece, provided I don't wimp out and just buy a valve mic for the Toft. I've never heard the Brick so I won't comment.
 
I am with touch on this for sure. The Toft is certainly MUCH nicer than a Focusrite platinum or a DMP3. Now a DMP3 and a Focusrite Platinum seems like a more fair comparison. Don't underestimate the power of a good EQ. Just a tiny bit of EQ can really change the feel and sound of a track (provided you are using a good EQ which the Toft certainly has).

As far as the preamp on the Toft being it's weak point, I hope you aren't basing that off of Fletchers reviews. If you are, please go re-read them so you can understand that in no way were his comments on the Tofts preamp a bad thing. The EQ may actually be the "weak" point of the Toft ATC-2, but that does not mean that they are subpar in any way shape or form. What that really attests to is the quality of the EQ. Personally I like the preamp better than I like the comp. But I have to admit that the EQ is pretty sweet. It's nice to have an EQ that breaks away from the current standard designs. It reminds me a lot of the DaKing models, but at a lower price tag:)

The Sebatron may be a nice addition, but I think the Toft represents a much better value since pure "quality" wise I find the Toft's sound to be right there with the Sebatron, but then you also get 2 channels with EQ and comp to boot:D
 
tdukex said:
When it comes time to upgrade my clean channels, I will bypass the RNP and go for something that is an actual upgrade, like a Speck or a John Hardy. BTW, the Speck clips I've heard (RO and Listening Sessions) make it one of my favorites on acoustic guit, and they are priced very reasonably.
Click to expand...

I'm also a DMP3 owner, and this was my thinking as well. The Speck doesn't seem to get much attention around here, but I like what I heard too.
 
This may be completely irrelevant, but Alan Hyatt has said repeatedly the pre in the Toft is the identical pre in ALL the new Joemeek strips, including the ThreeQ which can be had for $175 or so if you look.
 
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