i'm goin to rent some very pro preamps to see if i want to make the next step in my recording business and buy some nice pro quality preamps to make my recordings one step a head of the competition, goin to use for kick and snare primarily but any pro preamp should sound good on everything compared to stock preamps, the genres i record are mostly emo/scream/rock/metal/acoustic/hardcore. for just tracking.
which should i try first, the api pres or the neve, i've heard they are both sweet on drums, which one is more flavourfilled, i love aggressive sounding recordings with lots of flavor, i've never used a "real" nice preamp, and i'd rather try out a really nice preamp than buy a sh*tty preamp.
i also want to try some pro compressors and a pro eq for use with the kick mic. i have no idea what kind of eq to try, a nice 4 band with two sweepable mids for kick drum shaping. and i've always been curious on how a distressor would sound on a kick, or one of those famous limiters.
lemme know what you all think, or have tried, or do.
Comments
Both API or Neve type mic pre's for drums (or any anything else)
Both API or Neve type mic pre's for drums (or any anything else) are classic choices and have been industry standards for many years. Which is best for what is always subjective. They are both can kick ass but are also different and both need to be heard.
I could make you a big-O list of gear but that wouldn't mean much. Your on the right track. If you know the type of sound/tone you are after, find out what gear is used to get that specific sound/tone or type of sound/tone, rent that gear and use it to make recordings. When you have found what you are looking for or used all the gear that you wanted to listen to, and have evaluated the results, you will then be qualified to make your own decisions based on your own direct experience.
I can say that no pro I've ever known or heard of has had much, if any, regret in buying an API or good Neve/Neve clone type mic pre.