Do yourself a favor and search the archives as preamps (mic pre) has been discussed hundreds of times including those you mentioned.

I own a STT-1 and while I use it for vocals and bass on Rock music, I don't think it's very well suited for any other application (for rock) except perhaps acoustic guitar ... The STT-1 is very well suited for acoustic music and for applications where accuracy and transparency are a must but you still want the dimension and warmth a top notch pre amp can offer. I love mine!

I have not heard the Pendulum but have heard that the Quartet II is superior to the regular Quartet, which is not supposed to be as good as the Millennia .. but as I mentioned, I can not vouch for this.

API and Neve and Neve clones are usually the mic pre of choice for rock music ... APIs are aggressive and good on drums (one of Audio Gaffs favorites) and the Neves are fat and warm ... great on almost anything (everyone loves a good Neve pre).

As Audio Gaff mentioned, there is lots of discussion on mic pres here in the RO archives ... do a [[url=http://[/URL]="http://recording.or…"]search [/]="http://recording.or…"]search [/] for mic pres ...

thanks

i'll look for something from neve or like it!
good for everything sound good to me if you have suggestion in neve or nevelike products...plz post

thanks again

Vintech makes some great Neve 1073 and 1081 clones ... if you're interested in a hot rodded version of a Neve pre try the Great River MP2NV .... I have one here and it's superb!

I recommend staying away from the 1272 Neve types ... these were never meant to be used as pre amps ... they were used as talk back and headphone amps in Neve consoles and while it's true they are 2/3rds of a true Neve pre, IMO that last 3rd gain stage makes all the difference, regardless of what others say about the 3rd stage not engaging until you apply more than 60 dB of gain ... I don't think that is correct ... to my ear the third stage does make a difference, even at lower settings.

Kurt.
I don't think you need to as down on 1272's as you are.

When the signals are hot as they are from drums then a 1272 based unit can be fine. The 1066/73 are just 1272's for some gain settings.

no flames people
details - details
8)

I am just saying that just because it is 1272 doesn't make it bad.

It can all depend on how the gains have been set-up. Geoff Tanner can keep you busy for hours on all this stuff. I just can’t be bothered memorising this stuff to the Nth degree.

The differences Kurt heard may have been down to choice of trafos in the units he auditioned.

carry on
:)