PreSonus Eureka vs. SPL Channel One?

Submitted by dickiefunk on Thu, 01/06/2011 - 04:48

Hi,

Has anyone on here had any experience with both of these preamps?

How do they compare?

Comments

I've not compared the two but I do have a lot of SPL gear and I am acquiring the higher end PreSonus products. Their Studio Live is unbelievable as well as the ADL 600. Presonus is hitting the mark on so many products and priced to be almost hard to compete. You can tell that company has musicians and sound engineers involved because they are really tapping into the right products.

Being said, comparing the Channel One to the Eureka is not fair. SPL is in a different league there. German pro audio engineering of the highest level.

I own a Eureka and I would have to agree. The Spl stuff is a step or two up in component quality. However, the build of the Eureka is superb as is the entire design. It is way more versatile and better sounding than any other channel strip in its class. Worth the price of admission and like all upper-end Presonus products, the chips are socketed so you can go DIY'n if you should desire. That being said, This is sometimes the only pre that sounds great on a particular source. Other times it leaves something to be desired. My U87 likes it a lot however and even when I have a project where I can get in higher level mic pres, I will always find a spot for it.

I really like the Presonus philosophy about their product niches. They are good QC and their products dont claim to be other than what they deliver.

Thanks for the replies. I used an SPL Goldmike mkI for a while and don't remember the preamp being a step up in quality to the Eurekas? The Channel One uses the same preamp as the Goldmike MKI.
Presonus released a limited edition Hotrod version of the Eureka a while back which had a Jensen transformer and some other upgraded electronics which apparently stepped up the quality of the preamp somewhat? I'm thinking I may get my Eureka upgraded as I really like the features it has. I tend to use the compressor for subtle taming of vocal peaks and don't really use any of the other channel strip features.

dickiefunk, post: 360744 wrote: Have you used both the Eureka and the Channel One?

No, can't give you any hands on experience there. Both excellent companies. I can't imagine SPL making anything mid level where PreSonus is tapping into that so without using either product, no idea. SPL is in the high end realm from my experience and the Channel One looks to be that as well. I don't believe you could make something like the Channel One for the same price as the Eureka. Price has to play a factor in it somewhere. But... I have the Studio Live 24.4.2 and it is amazing and only cost $3300.00 . I don't think there is anything on the market that could touch this thing for less than that. I'd pay twice that for the 24.4.2 Its unreal! So there you go... The Eureka could be another incredible piece at a steal.

dickiefunk, post: 360758 wrote: Well according to the reviews the Eureka stands out from all the other channel strips in this price range and is in the same league of preamps costing way more!?
One review compared it to an API and another to a Millennia!

I've used both of them as well as my Eureka. As far as QUALITY of sound...ie: completeness, the Eureka sounds on a level with these high-end pieces. However, I doesnt sound like either one of them.

This review did a comparison to the Millennia HV3D :-

[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.mojopie…"]Mojo Pie: Presonus Eureka[/]="http://www.mojopie…"]Mojo Pie: Presonus Eureka[/]

Seems like the Eureka brings a lot to the table!

I'm considering getting the transformer upgrade in mine along with a few other components as this apparently steps up the quality of this pre again!

I've read the review and I agree with it 100%. Even though I agree that tonewise they are close theres an edge in clarity and sense of space the Millennia imparts that ,I think, in a multiple usage of forward sources in a dense mix would become very clear as to which is better.

As for the API ala: 312/512 preamps, the first listen to these things causes the reaction "OH! Thats how they did that!" They are much more aggressive and upfront.

The eureka gets 'blindly' chosen over an api/ ueri 1176 chain a decent amount of time at the the studio i work at. so does an sm7 over an 87, c12, 414. The cheif engineer can't say enough good things about the unit, and the main producer who hates all audio equipment made after '75, was surprised he picked it, numerous times. Depends on the artist, the sound your going for, the mic, ect. I am gonna get one, one of these days for an extra channel. their very affordable, and of high quality. I feel like it's a bit cluttered, as they did stuff alot into one rack space. It has a solid feel. I don't like the way the eq's 'staggered' knobs are laid out tho. It's annoying to me that the knobs placement aren't consistent for all eq bands. I also feel like the saturation knob doesn't do much. This is a nice sounding, versitile, affordable piece of equipment. There's certainly better/different out there, but it's certainly not a 'throw out' unit when you acquire more gear. My favorite feature is being able to patch into all of the sections individually.