anonymous
14 December 2005
I need a good sounding mic preamp mainly for vocals and I don't have much money. I was considering selling a bunch of stuff on ebay and scrounging up the loot for a Chandler Germanium. Seems great for the money (especially for how versatile it seems). But I've read so much about how great these inexpensive PM1000 modules sound. Close to Neve sound for $150? Seems too good to be true. Unfortuntely I havn't had a chance to hear either of these in person. I'd like to get a larger than life 1073 sound but can't afford it. Right now I've got an AKG 414 running through a Studiomaster 16-8-2 pre. Is it worth it to go for the Germ? Is a PM1000 module even comparable?
Comments
Beneficial: I sold the PM1000 back when it was NEW(!) and mixed
Beneficial:
I sold the PM1000 back when it was NEW(!) and mixed a lot of shows on that, and its newer cousins (PM2K/3K/4K). The PM1000 was built like a tank, had headroom out the ying-yang, and featured a cool martix that was way ahead of its' time. It surely had its fans, and I was one of the biggest. But it had an "Achilles Heel": the channel strips. They did have input trannies designed by Deane Jensen (a good thing). They were also very short on gain (you could barely hear an RE-20 through one), and that led to noise issues. And the EQ-especially the Mid Band- was pretty sorry (very nasally). In fact it was directly because of all the complaints about these preamp faults that led to the development of the PM2000!!!
I also sold Studiomaster back then. Certainly no Yamaha in terms of build quality or headroom. I hated them, because they were so poorly built and crapped out all the time. Some of their later models did improve, but I can see you dilemna.
There are folks on this forum who claim that the PM1K channel strips are sonically " as good as a Neve". I currently own a '78 Neve (OK, it's a broadcast mixer, but...). The channels in the 1K are no Neve. Then again, I have seen 1Ks dropped off the backs of semis and still work fine. I certainly wouldn't do THAT to my Melbourne!
IMHO, I wouldn't do the 1K thing. You will have to hunt down a suitable power supply and rig some sort of harness to connect it all up. and you will still "just" have a PM1K pre.
Save your $$.Get something that's going to last you a while down the road. API.Portico. Great River. PEACE.