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I've decided that there are enough things I like about my mic to keep it for now, and that a good idea would be to change the pre (joemeek VC1Qcs).

In the running are: (prices are approx.)

FMR RNP $495
Summit 2BA-221 $580-600
Great River MP-1NV $975 new/$900 used.
Brent Averill $1100
Dan Alexander $1150

The RNP is FMR (love my RNC), and I've heard good things. Some metering.Good price, good customer service. Affordable to me.

The Summit has good price, a variable tube stage, 3gain stages, fully variable mic input impedance, pad, hi-pass, good customer service. Some metering. No wart. Affordable to me.

Great River has 2 or 3 gain stages, only 300&1200 ohm mic input impedance choices, good customer service. Metering. No wart. Not inexpensive to me.

Brent Averill has Class A. No metering. No impedance switching. Fewest features of them all. Haven't tried customer service. Wart, I think. Not inexpensive to me.

Dan Alexander has Class A, good rep around here, a little bit "present" (good). Has wart. Made a brief call to them today. Not inexpensive to me.

I mainly do electronic music, but I do record me playing guitars and bass and I also record female vocalists.

Any help would be appreciated in helping me choose.

Thanks-
.nick

Comments

Bobby Loux Mon, 06/02/2003 - 21:41

well believe it or not, I spoke with Presonus today about another product but we got to talkin bout the new 1/4 rack tube pre's..

they told me they were really going to try and make the home/project studio people there number one priority. as a matter of fact, they were offering a $75 rebate on the digimax LT and a $100 on the digimax96...interesting

anyway, I asked him if the new tube pre's were similar to the pre's and tube chain of the there original Blue Tube (2 channel pre) and was suprised when he said it was the same...Ouch!
if you've ever worked with that blue tube than you know this isnt good news!...dont be fooled by the cute VU meter on that thing, make sure you get a good return policy if you buy!

good luck

Tungstengruvsten Tue, 06/03/2003 - 06:22

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

I wouldn't say overly coloured, it's got a nice range from it's clean to overdriven sound where you can find the perfect blend of both...I do consider it a 'coloured' pre though as I love the sound of it slightly overdriven....

Recently went through some guitar and voice trials with a variety of pre's and the 610(the pre in the 6176) beat out:

Neve 3126 w/geoff tanner TF1 mod
GR MP2NV
Siemens 276
Langevin am-16
API 312 copy

mic's included MG U70 and various dynamics(421,441,sm7,sm57,md511)

...it sounds suh-weet!!

anonymous Wed, 06/04/2003 - 22:30

Originally posted by Kurt Foster:
Can someone tell me what is the difference between the "mercenary edition" and the regular Great River pres?

The difference between MP2 and MP2nv is that the MP2 is designed to be a transparent pre, while the MP2NV (Mic Pre to Envy) is designed based upon the Neve 1073. It is supposed to give coloration when driven hard on the mic pre gain and limited output.
At several mic pre shootout among the neve clones by Michael Wagener, he chose the MP2NV as the best sounding (doesn't mean sounding close to the 1073, but he prefers the 2nv rather than the 1073)

:p Something to lust for :p