I've got a hunch about FMR man. Thanks for your reply by the way!
Humble and embarrased,
Beau.

Originally posted by Beau Landry:
I've got a hunch about FMR man. Thanks for your reply by the way!
Humble and embarrased,
Beau.

It must be me, I dont get it :confused:

Huh? was there a post gone missin?....oh yeah.....summit seems like a bargain...but then they are all good

Honestly, I feel like I'm leaning towards the Summit because it has so many features for the price. When I talked with them today and asked about how they were hitting their price point I got a very believable reply about how the corner cutting was in the lighter-weight chassis/exterior construction.

All I need is one channel, and if I were to do $1k on a pre, it would come out of something else like future monitors, or something else I might need.

So, considering this, how do people feel about Summits?

BTW, I don't understand this thread's odd comments.

.nick

Million Valve,
Keep in mind that both the Dan Alexander and the Averill pres are stereo.. two channels. When you think about it with that in mind, they really aren't much more expensive than the Summit. One reader has recently reported purchasing the Summit for $475. My take on the Averill, I had a friend that had one, I didn't like it. Sound was nothing to write home about and the build was crappy. It literally fell apart in a year or so. ... Fats

Alot of these are covered in The Listening Sessions website.

Please let me state that I am in no way related to the above, I just think its a good start.

Certainly they have covered Acoustic Guitar, female vox, electric guitar, DI bass and drum machines in their various tests. Although I suspect that you can't beat the "real-world" experience that you'll find here! :D

Fats-

Exactly. I don't want to spend $1k on something that effectively has two $500 channels if I only need one. The only I channel $1k is the Great River. Street price all over ois $589 for the Summit. If you can tell me where to get one for $475, you better believe I'll be doing bidness there!

Gambit-

Yes, and I've been there. The only one that stood out as a standout "suck" was the Mackie.

best-
.nick

FWIW

I work in a studio with 48 channels of Neve. I personally own a Manley SLAM, a GT VIPRE, 3 Avalon M5s, and I just bought an RNP a couple of months ago.

I use the RNP all the time, it's that good. You simply cannot go wrong with one.

Summit's good, Averil I wouldn't own, Great River IS great and I've never heard the Dan Alexander stuff.

Million Valve.
You should be able to get 30% off on any piece of gear almost anywhere. From a $695 list that would be $486.50. However there was a post just the other day where a reader got one for $475. I know that Guitar Center does 30% deals all the time as I have been the recipient of these deals a number of times. You just have to ask for it. Otherwise they will tell what their discount is. I usually inquire as to what the list price is, and then ask if they will do 30% off that. I have only been refused once in the past several years. Fats
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Tannoy, Dynaudio, Blue Sky, JBL, Earthworks, Westlake, NS 10's :D , Genelec, Hafler, KRK, and PMC
Those are good. …………………….. Pick one.
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Hey Uncle Cedar, I thonk you can help me purchasing my first real good Micpre. seems Focusrite Octapre and Digimax Lite 96K are out of question right? I want a considerable leap from my yamaha 02R/01V Mic pres that are reasonable to week. Tired of that.
Thanks for any info
:p

Good info, guys.

Tubelover--Well, now don't you just have a lot of totally awesome pre's? It also makes me believe you when you say that about the RNP.

How's that M5? Does it smoke the tube pre in the 737's? Because to tell you the truth, now that my VC1Qcs is on the block at ebay, I'm missing the idea of a "channel". Even Avalon's FAQ puts down the 737's pre next to the M5 and the AD2022.

Fats--Yeah, I'm pretty good at getting a bargain.

I'm wondering if it's smart to get the Summit. The tube will add some funk and noise to the signal. If I'm looking for the ONE preamp to do it all, do I want anything but the cleanest one? The RNP seems to be dead quiet and virtually distortionless.

Any opinions on the 737?

.nick

Earthworks just came out witha single channel version of the Zero Distortion Mic Preamp. The street price is under $1000 if you go to the right place.

This is a great pre if you want uncolored gain. I like it a lot on drum overheads, acoustic guitar, acoustic anything, live choral work, ambiant electric guitar etc.

Its sound is almost identical to the Grace 101.

Steve

Hey Fats or Steve or ?,

have you or anybody else used the HHb Radius 40 for vocals? i read somewhere that the TL Audio 5051 Ivory series is the Radius 40 packaged in purple for HHB and a lot cheaper!...any thoughts?

thanks

Bobby Loux,
If you have a link or an email for HHB / TLA I will write them and request a review unit for our NEW REVIEW PAGE!!! I always thought that HHB was part of TLA. ???

Million Valve asks;

Fats …… I'm wondering if it's smart to get the Summit. The tube will add some funk and noise to the signal. If I'm looking for the ONE preamp to do it all, do I want anything but the cleanest one? The RNP seems to be dead quiet and virtually distortionless.

The cool thing about the Summit (if you look at their website) is that you can put the tube in the circut or not. You can just dial in the amount you want. To me that's what an all in one / do it all pre needs to do. I still recommend it. The RNP gets nothing but great comments all the time. I would not hesitate to recomend it either.

ACB same thing. Look at the new Summit or the RNP.

Fats
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Thanks , Fats. I think features-wise, the Summit has it, and with your fine explanation of the "tube in circuit" thing, it's leaning that way. This is turning into a "Watch Nick making his mind up thread."

Bobby Loux-

HHB/TL Audio is Unites States/ British of the same things. The Radius 40 is purple, and the 5051 is white. I believe, after some pretty extensive reading and emailing, I think they're that they are identical. The difference comes in whitht the Ivory2 5051, which is an update of the 5051. A guy selling some (older ones) on ebay wrote this back when I asked the differences:

"The valves are different in the 2 series (Sovtek manufactured), the gate is optical, instead of VCA and the front panel has been redesigned."

It's a little light on info (!), but at least it points out where to start looking for differences.

Do the HHB's/TLA's have a good rep in the outside world? There's a pretty extensive review of &650-$1k voice channels [[url=http://[/URL]="http://emusician.co…"]here[/]="http://emusician.co…"]here[/] It says that the pre in it is "fuzzy". Any review that says negative things, actually--I perk my ears up.

Let me know what you all think of these.

.nick

Hey Tubeloverboy,

Can you tell me your impressions of the RNP tone on each of the tracks you've tried. Does it sound full or present on vocals? Is it a smooth sound or edgy? I've got a Peavey VMP-2 that I would describe as full and smooth, but not overly present, and I'm wondering if the RNP will mesh well in my room as a contrast to the Peavey.

Thanks,

Originally posted by Cedar Flat Fats:
My take on the Averill, I had a friend that had one, I didn't like it. Sound was nothing to write home about and the build was crappy. It literally fell apart in a year or so. ... Fats

Hmmm..Gotta defend my friend Brent.
Don't know about fats story but...
Brent Averill has two versions of neve pre's.
The ones He's been selling for years are recapped/cleaned/remanufactered/original neves ...if they were a 1272 line amp he's added a transformer, ect to turn them into mic pre's, ect.
He now also is making them from scratch w/ orig. parts...prob. because all/orig neve's themselves are getting scarce.

Anyway...he's been doing this in L.A. longer than just about anybody. His worki on anything I've ever seen is great...although the last couple of years he has other people working under him doing alot of the hands on now.

He knows his shit big time

RM,
All I'm saying is the thing didn't sound so special to me. I have heard API's I liked much more. And the thing fell apart within a year. Light bezels broke and the phantom switch had to be left in the on position because it broke. I have heard that Brent is a great guy. I also know what my buddies expierence with his 1272 was .... Fats

Fats,

thanks for your response. always appreciate your time.

here are the links you asked for, I hope they send you those pieces as what a great opportunity for us all to review so much different gear! thanks again

TL Audio 5051 Ivory series

HHB Radius 40 Home

Nick,

thanks for that link very helpful, lots of great info.

thank you both.
Bobby

I have the other Summit 1/2 rack stuff and like it alot, especially the TLA-50 (get one of those with your preamp).

Sorry to burst the 30% rule, but this is not the case, especially with higher end equipment. Most mass manufacutred equipment is an "A" mark (100% markup), and as such you can get ragin' deals (30-40% off). As you go up the food chain and get to smaller companies, the markup is not nearly as big, and as such the discount you get will shrink. Shop for a Fender and a Bogner guitar amp and see what kind of discounts you get...

Yeash-- One guy I emailed said he'd do $535-ish on the 2BA-221, which is around %23 off list.

He said each manufacturer was different, and went between 40% and 10% off list. The guy was very reasonable, sounded straight-up.

.nick

How's that M5? Does it smoke the tube pre in the 737's? Because to tell you the truth, now that my VC1Qcs is on the block at ebay, I'm missing the idea of a "channel". Even Avalon's FAQ puts down the 737's pre next to the M5 and the AD2022.

The M5 is a much cleaner, uncolored sound than the 737. You would be hard pressed, IMHO, to find a cleaner, nuetral pre than the M5. They go amazingly high, capturing all sorts of stuff you up there that won't hear on other pres, and with 30db of headroom the dymanics you can track are awesome. The 737 is a decent pre, but not on my list of pres to own.

The RNP goes quite high as well, you'll get some great detail on strings and vocals.

I've got a VC1Qcs and I use it occasionally. I think about selling it sometimes, but then plug it in and put a Soundelux U97 through it for kick with the compressor all the way up and decide it's work keeping.

Originally posted by Screws:
Hey Tubeloverboy,

Can you tell me your impressions of the RNP tone on each of the tracks you've tried. Does it sound full or present on vocals? Is it a smooth sound or edgy? I've got a Peavey VMP-2 that I would describe as full and smooth, but not overly present, and I'm wondering if the RNP will mesh well in my room as a contrast to the Peavey.

Tone is very subjective, I won't go there trying to describe the RNP. I will say that it sits in the mix well without EQ if you put it with the right mic for what you're tracking. I've never felt the need to add anything to it when the mic matched well.

I think you'd have to try one to get a good idea of the sound in your room and with the Peavey. Mercenary will let you return it if you're not happy and their price is as good as anyone's.

My friend just got an RNP from Mercenary and he loves it. From what he's shown me, the thing flat out rocks. His room is a tiny college dorm room and the sounds he's gotten are all terrific. He's a great AE, so that helps. But what he's done w/ two TC30ks and that RNP really do rock.

Personally I'm fiending over a GT Vipre or Manley Slam. I'm also curious about Chandler.

I just checked out that Listening Sessions site and had a few opinions: imho, the Great River stuff was the clear winner. The worst sounding pre was definitely the mackie, but right behind it was the phoenix. That pre did something on every track that really didn't rub me the right way. I'd rank it with Great River and Manley on the top. I wish they had used the Manley on vox and guitar, since it's a piece I'm really considering.

hey, what about Langevin stuff?

hey, what about Langevin stuff?

I really like the Langevin AM-16's I've got a pair here and use them all the time, far more than my Averill 1272.

BTW- to who ever had problems with the Averill, just give them a call and send it back. I had one whole channel go dead on me, they took it back and gladly replaced it free of charge.

Hi, I am in the same position: finding a full, rich and warm preamp to di electric gtr into processing tools (I use hardware).
In Italy there are really no chances to try things like Great River, Earthworks, Grace, and beside this I have been always happier with a tube in the gain stage (it seems to add a sort thick sound). So I tried a Presonus Digitube.
I am afraid of telling you I am quite satisfied with it.
Anyone tried it ?

I'll put in a plug for the Geoff Daking.
For about 1250 (with the external power supply that powers up to 4 of them) you get the preamp, a 4 band EQ and high and low pass filters.

It's all class-A, transformer in and out and sounds incredible.
(it's basically a Trident A-Range clone)

I recorded all of the guitars and keyboards on Joan Osborne's Relish record with them (if you want to go hear some examples)

About the Daking, are you suggesting it to Di gtr ?
Which "colour" do you associate with it ?

I don't think in terms of colours for mic pres.
I think in terms of SOLIDITY.. substance. 3-D-ness.

The Daking does not have a DI in for guitars, you'd need a DI box. (just as you would with a Neve module)

Although i almost never record anything DI and i absolutely hate DI guitars.

I see, this is why I asked to specify whether you were suggesting for di-ing or not.
So the Daking delivers solidity and 3dness ?
Interesting.
What about the mp2nv by great river?
The Daking is surely interesting for its eqs, more comparable to the Isa 110.

The Daking stuff is really good...and that album(Relish) has some of the most incredible in-yer-face cool guitar tones I've ever heard.Good job man

Thanks, They couldn't be any simpler really.
Gefell UM-70 to Daking to La2a to tape (at 15 ips)

The Great River stuff is very HI-FI, if you know what I mean.
It's smooth, not very rock and roll-y.
TOO smooth and transparent for my tastes.
if i were doing all classical music i might feel differently.

The Daking is more like an old Neve module (and the transformer ins and outs and the fact that it's all discrete has a lot to do with that). It's a very musical EQ. Makes you want to USE it, rather than avoid it.
Know how some EQ's the more you do the smaller it seems to get and others the more you add the BIGGER it seems to get?

Can someone tell me what is the difference between the "mercenary edition" and the regular Great River pres?

Marketing?

Hey Kurt,

The Great River ME-1NV and MP-1NV are exactly the same inside. I contacted Dan kennedy about this myself...he explained when they first shipped, the MP-1NV had a blue/green face and that ID number.....they soon changed the grill to black thus changing the ID as well to the ME-1NV

I understand Fletcher from Mercenary Audio helped Dan in the development of that piece, so I wonder at what point the name change was deemed necessary (contractual, professional curtisy, egotistical, or other??) but from the head cats response, they are indeed the same unit.

Did you think about the Grace 101? It's right in the price range...

dave p.

About 6 months ago, some studio owner around here decided that a pair of Dakings were getting in the way of something else so he consigned em out to our local High Tech Sound Dealer...Lordy did I scramble but came up short by a couple of days..$900 each for em and not a scratch....
and..wwittman, its nice to hear from folks who know whats up...BTW what kind of amps were used by eric on that record?guitar?....
for those of you havent listened to "RELISH" lately, theres some very fine work done there by all involved ...
You could give us a rundown of the studio too...
peace......
ALSO...lately I tracked some acoustic guitars using a True Systems pre..Very accurate and clean..much like the hi-fi sound described earlier, but the absolute 'right' thing for these tracks...we also used it as a DI on a bass track and were very pleased..This unit has an M-S decoder and it'll meter your phase with a two mic setup...kind handy for a quick referance of mic phase.this was the P2analog model...very nice stuff...

can anyone tell me why i havent heard grace 101 in this line of awsome reasonable pres? what is it 575 for a single channel? one of the best pres ive heard compeared to some langiven stuff ive heard an kicks pre sonus butt havent tried a great river but still for the money i love the grace 101

Anyone here have any experience with UA's 6176 Channel Strip? Is the tube pre overly colored?