I would say the Sebatron pres have less color than the 2-610. The thing i notice that the Sebatron does very well is it has an extended bottom end. You will hear low end things going on that you didn't realize were there. It is very cool. The Sebatron vmps can exhibit more color depending on how hard you drive them as well. For even more color, thickness, girth, try daisy chaining the output of one vmp into the input of a second vmp... viola, pre and master control’s.. extremely happening.

I own and use both the 2-610 and a Sebatron VMP-2000e.

The Sebatron definitely has a lighter touch than the UA pre. And as Kurt said you can make it sound pretty damn agressive if you like.

But just this past week I used the Sebatron to record a very good operatic tenor doing 5 audition pieces for a very prestigous opera program.

I used a Shure KSM44 about 6 feet from the singer into the Sebatron. I used the Sebatron's -15dB pad and cranked the gain up to about 9. It was really amzingly clean and dynamic! With the pad in place I was able to record sound presure levels that easily exceed the loudest rock band with perfect clarity and with no bottoming out as well (normally use it for rock and pop vocals or snares).

The Sebatron VMP2000 is a great pre!

Steve

Hey Kurt,

Do you link out from the XLR, or do you go out from the Line TRS?? Up till now ive been going out from XLR then into the DI on the next channel. How do you do it??

I agree with Kurt that you'll hear things in the bottom end that you might not have heard before. It's not just a boost in eq either. I've still got to run some tests to find out what is really happening there because eq boost is what I thought was happening at first.
It's a great unit. If you could vary the "air" setting then I've no doubt it would be something great to throw in a mastering chain.

Originally posted by timster:
Hey Kurt,

Do you link out from the XLR, or do you go out from the Line TRS?? Up till now ive been going out from XLR then into the DI on the next channel. How do you do it??

Tim, I run from the 1/4" output into the DI input on the next channel. This is the method Sebatron suggests / recomends.

Sebatron said there was a way to tweek the air and brite settings but you'll have to ask him for the details

thanx Kurt.

Yep check Sebs forum, he has inof on some simply mods, including changing the shelf of the air setting, or something to that effect :0)

I'm not a huge fan of color but the Sebatron sound has grown on me. The low end is not tight but it's got this presence that is unreal. It's probably become my favorite bass DI without compression or EQ.

I used to say that if I were a tube man I'd probably get the A Designs first and then get a Sebatron for character parts. However, I think it's kind of depends on your philosophy. Do you like Steve Buscemi in a lead role or do you like him in a character part?

Anyhow, to the original poster, I'd say that you could not wrong with either the A Designs or Sebatron. Ideally, you'd do great with both of them.

BTW, the A Designs is also one of the best bass DIs as well. I didn't want to leave that out.

does it have transformers? I'm looking for some different texture, but I love the big sound for the stuff what i'm doing. I wouldn't mind it getting dirty when driven hard either. I've got a few good pres (chandler, great river, sytek...), I just want a different texture with the tubes.

Hey frist from what your saying I'd suggest you look at the 2-610 or the vintech 1272 over the seb.

Don't get me wrong, I've had the 4000e for a few months now and I'm really digging it but there are others that are more oriented to that big and dirty thing that you want.

Check the 2108 too, its got the same input transformer as the 2-610 and uses an 1108 pre-amp, same found in the 1176. I own both a 2108 and M-610, both are colored but not muddy or dull, the 2-610 has more color and I use it alot for kicks, basses, and vocals, it makes anything thicker and also has a tubey sound (pretty obvious ), which can be discribed as rounder and harmonicly rich. The 2108 has a similar coloration, but the saturation is smoother, like the 2-610 it has two gain stages which ofer alot of tone controll. Withy the gain set at its lowest setting (30db of gain on the mic side) it sounds like a 1176 with no compression, push the imput gain and it sounds more like the 2-610 color but in a solid stae version, push it really hard and you have a well saturated signal that is harmonicly rich. In my opinion the 2108 is more versitile, but nothing can get the color the 2-610 has, they are both similar but has very distinct personalities. The 2108 gets used alot for guitars, anything on a drum set, vocals, and synth work/samples as a tone box. And of course when you drive the 2-610 the distortion is much more pleasing.

Originally posted by frist44:
does it have transformers? I'm looking for some different texture, but I love the big sound for the stuff what i'm doing. I wouldn't mind it getting dirty when driven hard either. I've got a few good pres (chandler, great river, sytek...), I just want a different texture with the tubes.

Yep! It shure does ... on all of the above. Four channel version, less than 2 grand! Half the price of the others..

Originally posted by frist44:
does it have transformers? ...

The sebatron? Balanced inputs yes, unbalanced inputs (front panel) no.

How does the Sebatron compare to the Grace, Great River, John Hardy, etc, in the anal catagories of signal path cleanliness?

Reading the blurbs on the high end pres, they all seem to focus on no caps in the path, etc, etc etc.

I'm just curious about the Sebatron line, and if they do this also.