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anonymous 29 October 2003

I'm searching for a high quality first mic preamp. I've gone back and forth after reading tons of articles/reviews on various pres and getting recommendations from other similar sites. I had things narrowed down to the 2NV, but out of nowhere, Sebtron popped into my life. It seems people love the thing. Any thoughts on better value? I'll be recording primarily acoustic guitar, vox, and violin. I want something good enough to take to a pro studio for overdubs and mixing. I like warmth and a tight bottom end, but want clarity and versatility.

Also, is it worth saving up for a U87 or does the Studio Projects T3 satisfy?

Thanks!

Josh

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ozraves Wed, 10/29/2003 - 21:55

I like both of these mic preamps. I like the Great River MP-2NV due to its ability to change colors a bit with the impedance and loading switches as well as the interplay between the gain and output level knobs.

You could record a whole project through the Great River and it'd be sonically tight at mixdown as well as musical.

I like the Sebatron's tube color. I like the EQ switches. This unit has a nice vibe to it. I've only spent about six hours with it so I'll defer to others for additional comments.

Steve
http://www.mojopie.com

anonymous Thu, 10/30/2003 - 08:40

I think you are trotting into the winner's circle with any of these fine products. I would recommend you get a hold of both mics and do a shoot-out. Preamp-wise, I own the Sebatron 2000e and my next preamp purchase will probably be a Great River (when I get the $$ together)(if my girlfriend reads that I am conteplating spending MORE money on preamps she will probably stck her boot in my ass). Whatever combination of the four you end up with will get you quality results. David

KurtFoster Thu, 10/30/2003 - 09:45

They are both great designs and each could have its place in a tracking or mixing session. Different flavors. As far as repairs, the Seb is a tube device and unless a power supply crapped out most likely any fix would be a tube rep[lacment which you could perform without sending the unit out at all..

Either piece is about as reliable as a rock and I really don't think it is an issue. I enjoy both solid state and tube pres in my front end rack and I wouldn't want it either way.

sdelsolray Fri, 10/31/2003 - 07:01

Originally posted by jmisner:
I'm searching for a high quality first mic pre. I've gone back and forth after reading tons of articles/reviews on various pres and getting recommendations from other similar sites. I had things narrowed down to the 2NV, but out of nowhere, Sebtron popped into my life. It seems people love the thing. Any thoughts on better value? I'll be recording primarily acoustic guitar, vox, and violin. I want something good enough to take to a pro studio for overdubs and mixing. I like warmth and a tight bottom end, but want clarity and versatility.

Also, is it worth saving up for a U87 or does the Studio Projects T3 satisfy?

Thanks!

Josh

Given that you want to record acoustic guitar, vox and violin, the Sebtron and (to a lesser extent) the GR 2 NV may not be your best overall choice. You might consider something else. I wold suggest looking at the Pendulum MDP-1A. Certainly an incredible high end pre, very euphonic.

--
Stephen Boyke

anonymous Fri, 10/31/2003 - 08:02

Here's a completely radical thought: buy two different preamps, both high-end. And buy two different microphones (ribbon or small-cap for violin, large cap for vox). The rationale: regardless of reviews, opinions, brands, etc., there's almost no telling what will be the magic combination for each instrument you want to record. Having two of each will give you four combos to evaluate (which can be A/B'd two at a time--one for each pre). I found found that like with geometry, where you need two points to determine a line, I found it quite hard to make progress discovering my favorite mic/pre combo listening to just a single datapoint, but when I could A/B different setups (sometimes using a splitter cable so it's the same mic through different pres and/or EQ), those two points determined a line, and I could tell whether the sound I wanted was between the two or beyond one or the other point.

Granted, this is going to cost $$, but hey, its fun, and if you buy from ebay, you can afford to sell on ebay. When you're done, you have far better gear than could be recommended just reading reviews.

anonymous Fri, 10/31/2003 - 09:09

Thanks everyone! Much appreciated advice. For some reason I didn't see that anyone had replied so I just noticed these posts today. Anyway, it sounds as though I really can't go wrong with any combo of the gear I'm considering. I am a minnesota boy, so I could just float down the mississippi in MY river boat and hand it off to Dan if anything goes wrong - so, I guess that's at least one advantage to the GR.

Does anyone have any "strong" opinions about whether or not a U87 is worth the $1,500 more than the T3 for overall quality and sound (I know for my particular vox and guitar etc, I just need to hear them both)? But is the T3 really as amazing as everyone seems to say it is? Will I be left always wondering how great that U87 could have been in my hands? I am new to recording - am I getting a little gear crazy?

THANKY!

josh

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