Sure, use it so in general it sounds it's best. Play with the controls so that when your done, it sounds better than it does like crap. There are no shortcuts. Take the time to master the skills to use this new piece of gear you now own and one day you will learn which preset works best for each application you use it in.

In other words, there is no preset general or otherwise that is best for vocals or anything else because there are far too many variables besides the use or adjustment of the unit in getting the unit to sound it's best each time it is used. This is just one of the reasons why there is so much control and flexability built into the unit so that you will have many ways in dealing with the possible variables to get it to sound it's best. If this is too complicated or takes too much time to learn and master, then you may very well be served with some other unit that is more your simplified in it's design and use.

RTFM... there's some "presets" in there.

Ultimately, the way you should set it depends on a large number of varibles; what mic, what type of vocalist, what style of music, are you just trying prevent clipping, etc. I always have the filter in at 70 hertz at the lowest because there's NEVER anything down there I want on my vocal tracks (and in some cases 120, and for Mariah Carey vocals, 140hertz). Unless you are doing voiceover work for movie trailors, roll that info off. For rap vocals I set the compressor to the fastest attack time (which is still rather slow) and use the release to level out the artist's breath control. I try to avoid using "high gain" unless I need to and usually keep my 'output' at 12' o clock. I'm not sure about the circuitry, but that's where I seem to yield the best results. Good luck.

e-cue

I mostly do synth pop stuff with a female singer. In the past I've picked up too much "air". Which I figured was from having the mic in a room. I figured moving into my professional vocal booth (walk in closet) would fix that ? When you say filter, your referring to the low pass wich are the nobs under the bass and low mid, right ?
Unfortunately I didnt get the manual with my Avalon.

Hey i have a 737sp too, never used it yet. I hear it works good with a u87, and that its perfect for r&b and rap vocals. Is it true what people say?

I also hear the compressor is weak, can i still get good results if i compress more with Waves C1 after recordbng?

Would you recomend turning the 737comp off and using a seperate neve comp in the chain after it?

avalon...

yes! use another comp.... the 737 comp reacts really weird.... when at last it comp's it's too much!!

as for the presets.... at the studio that i work in we use it mostly with some highpass to take out the pops ..... relatively flat eq .... eg. take out a little 200 if it needs it .... and use another compressor (manley/1176)

but as the other guys said (some less politely!!) play with it....

try out using the eq as sidechain (deesser)... can be useful

also the comp can be before or after the eq.... sounds completely different!

good luck it's a nice piece of gear!

I like the 737 u87 combo....it's old..but they have a magic for sure.

Personally...the only thing I've ever liked in the 737 is the pre...not the EQ or comp at all...

u87 into a 737 pre then into an 8900 comp makes for a killer vocal chain....if you know what your doing that is.

right now I run into the 737 with the comp on then into my computer. In there I Autotune it then put that audio track in Logic with the TC Powercore Voice strip on it. There its comp'd limited, dessed and eq'd. Am I breaking some holy law somewhere ?

I use the 737 with the Neumann 147. Sounds wicked.
I actually just had the i/o card in my 737 burn out. 6 resistors burnt to a crisp. Avalon was really nice, sent the i/o card back with $50 and got a new card.
They say this occurs often, and its due to someone sending 48v from the mixer back to the 737. I am still trying to figure out who the hell did that in our place, but all good. Shit happens.

Peace

Oh and I fergot, if you download the avalon 737 manual, there are some basic presets in there. Don't know if they will be of use to you, not really of use to me, but I thought I would let youknow.

where can i download the presets for the 737? i lost my manual....

Did you try their website? http://www.avalonde… Avalon Pure Class A Music Recording Systems, Entrance Page