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anonymous 5 June 2005

Hi,

I am looking into buying a single channel mic preamp. I have $500 to spend. I have been trying to research mic preamps for a long time, but got tired as I have little experice with pres, dont know whats good whats bad.

Its going to be used for a female vocalist, I am trying to create vocals like "enya", basically soft voice, and slightly bright (also evanesence - my imortal). New Age / Electronic music.

can someone please give me top 5 that I an research? What to look for in a pre etc.. Thanks you very much. I am sorry I am clueless, I just play the piano :)

Thanks
Skimo

Comments

jonnyc Sun, 06/05/2005 - 19:25

I can only think of three in that price range, there are a a lot of pre's more expensive and less, and the lesser ones usually aren't worth shit. Groove Tubes the brick is highly regarded on this site, FMR's RNP(real nice preamp) some guys will say these are bad, but I've heard many recordings from some serious pro's with these and they all swear by them. Last is summit audios 2ba-221, I honestly don't know much about this unit, summit audio is pretty good so I'd think its ok, but like I said I'm not sure about it. Anyway check those out.

maintiger Tue, 06/14/2005 - 10:56

another one that is similar to the ms1 in sound is the yamaha mla7- mind you, this is an 8 ch pre and you can find them (if you can find them) used on ebay for under $200- I have one and use it all the times for extra channels when I am doing multiple tracks- both the ms1 and the mla7 are very useable, just that I like something a bit better for the main tracks, like the vocals

KurtFoster Tue, 06/14/2005 - 11:36

Xavier,
Did you know that Jim Williams does an upgrade of the MLA7? It's a pretty slow pre ... it doesn't transilate transients very well IMO, which in some instances is a good thing. It's pretty dark sounding but I know a lot of Rap / Hip Hop / R&B producers that choose the MLA7 when they come to my studio over the JLM TMP8, Millennia, Sebatrons, Neves or GRMP2NV.

The Brick is kind of thick with a bit of "grunt" in its mids and though I love it myself, I wonder if Skimo would feel the same?

The vocals that Skimo mentions are pretty airy and uncolored. Aren't those records produced in Europe? They seem to have a preference for transparent / uncolored pres and consoles like the DDA's and Neoteks in France, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium etc.

Although it's not a favorite of mine, a Sytek (which is a lot like Neoteks pres),would probably suit Skimos needs perfectly.

The Grace or RNP (I really hate to say) would more likely be the best of the choices anyone has mentioned so far. Although they aren't very dimensional, they are clear, uncolored and neutral. Of course the 101 is not one of my pres of choice, I would prefer to have the Grace 201 but considering the budget I see no other choices.

I would save up a little more dough and buy a pre amp with a real power supply like the Syteks instead one with a of a low volt wall wart. When you have a budget of $800 and above, the options open up a bit more.

maintiger Tue, 06/14/2005 - 11:49

Hi Kurt
did you get your mla7 modded? If so, how does it sound? I just use mine for extra pres when needed-

the grace 101 is really uncolored, clean and airy. you are probably right, it might be the best choice for that type of sound. I have a sytek as well and it does sound a bit similar to the grace- but the grace is way cleaner- i have not heard the 201, so I don't know if its indeed much better than the 101 or not. I do have the 101 and its really too clean for most of the recording I do, so it desn't get too much use. I do have the high gain version and it does work great with my RCA D77 ribbon, that as you know its a dark sounding mic. the grace complements it real good but I don't use it much other than that. it also gives a good sound as a Di for bass (clean bass sound, again) or for a guitar cab when you want a clean sound. i used to also run distorted guitar with the 101 in conjunction with the RCa about 6 inches away from the cab for a great sound, but I started getting paranoid about blowing out my ribbon and I quit doing that.

KurtFoster Tue, 06/14/2005 - 13:19

maintiger wrote: Hi Kurt
did you get your mla7 modded?

No I haven't. I did talk to Jim Williams about it on the phone ... he looked at the schematic and said it would cost about $350 :shock:... I'm not sure if that's per channel or for the whole thing. I was considering it but I decided it wasn't worth it to upgrade a pre I paid $100 for! :lol: I still use it to record my bands rehearsals to an ADAT .... it works fine for that. I can bring the ADAT tape home and transfer it to my DAW to add tracks and mix, if needed. Otherwise, I would probably sell it ... seeing as I have 18 channels of great pres now..

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