They sound great.

How about some recomendations for getting mine racked and refurbished.

Mixerman

Originally posted by Mixerman:
They sound great.

Yes they do. I'm amazed at the low end I get out of them, truly awe inspiring.

How about some recomendations for getting mine racked and refurbished.

Marquette Audio seems to have a nice package for the AM-16's. Not for the faint of pocketbook.

Isn't this the same pre design as in the Langevin Dual mono made by Manley? Does the Dual mono sound equally as good? At $1200 for 2 channels, not a bad deal... been looking at it for a long time...

the manley stuff does NOT sound like the orig.
don't fall for "manley looks", they suck compared to the real deal.
Idon't know the technical exp[[lanation for their "suck factor" but they definatly DO NOT stand up to what they imply, which is a "Superb" mic pre, period. :p
don't get me wrong, the manley will pass signal and it will sound acceptable, but by no means is it anything like an original AM-16.

Mike,
How would you characterize the relative differences between the two pre's?

We are talking about the Langevin Dual mono, right? Doesnt sound as good? That sucks, its supposed to be the same circuit with a few "upgrades"...
How does the Langevin Dual mono sound, otherwise? I can't imagine it NOT sounding pretty good.

the relative difference is, the AM16 is a very "thick" yet "open" sounding mic amp, that sounds pretty cool when overdriven, for vocals esp.
the manley thing? it doesn't do any of the aforementioned. but it will definately bring a mic level signal up to line level for sure. ;) :p :c: :c:

Mike,

I am curious about your opinion (and I am not being facetious either): What would your dream studio consist of? List a Complete Outboard selection of pres, eq's, compression, effects/mics/monitoring-mixing console, & recorder selection that you feel would be the ultimate recording chain with an unlimited budget.

Best Wishes,
Nathan Eldred
http://www.atlasproaudio.com

well let's see. that's quite a question that has quite an answer. but I won't into too much detail.
for starters a console: EMI REDD a big one too! to host my Helios "sidecar", Studer J37's (one still 4 tracks-one modified to 2 tracks),and a Studer A827.
A Telefunken 2" 12 track would be nice as well.
Outboard?: PYE compressors,Helios/ADR 760, TAB U73b w/Varicom, Telefunken 8 band compressor, Neumann W495 eqs, Pultec EQs, Fairchild 670, Decca compressors, Decca sidecar, a few Neve 1099 modules, my WSW console completely rebuilt., pair of tube neves, EAB 8x2 sidecar,,,

Mics?: tons of ribbons (RCA-Coles-Beyer-Royer) ALL the usual condensers and tubes.

this is a start. gear is only a small factor in "my dream sudio". location is probably the biggest obstacle when it comes to doing "the best" studio.
so far I have come across a building in east Africa in the middle of a game reserve. totally quiet, peacful, untainted, and ALL YOURS!
well this should suffice for now...more later.
Good Enough? :p

Originally posted by miketholen:
the manley stuff does NOT sound like the orig.
don't fall for "manley looks", they suck compared to the real deal.

That's funny, I don't recall ever seeing anything in the Manley lit saying their dual mono is anything like an AM16. My AM-16's don't have EQ, I don't know about yours Mike. They say it was modelled after the Langevin AM-4 console channel.

Idon't know the technical exp[[lanation for their "suck factor" but they definatly DO NOT stand up to what they imply, which is a Superb mic pre, period. :p

I think I have an explanation, but I won't share it with the class right now.

don't get me wrong, the manley will pass signal and it will sound acceptable, but by no means is it anything like an original AM-16.

How could we possibly get you wrong Mike. :eek:
LOL.

Manley makes all tube gear the last time I checked. Langevin is their solid state line. Implying that Manley gear is only able to pass signal is a major insult. I love my Manley gear and implying that it's just the same as something else is stupidity in fluent motion. The Manley Pultec doesn't sound exactly like a Pultec, but it sounds mighty fucking impressive.

Perhaps Eve Anna might have something to say about your ramblings. Hmmmm, seems to me she already did say something about that on another board, eh Mike??

Hi Mark,
Yeah I have tried to go through all this with miketholen months before. You can go search all these boards if you are that bored. Mike likes his old gear and his TAB gear. Who has a problem with that? I don't. He bought a Voxbox and doesn't like it. Can't please everybody. So now he never misses an opportunity to tell the world what shit we make. He is my own personal stalker...

We bought the Langevin brand name years ago to be able to bring out some solid state designs. The very first Langevin units built used one of the old 1960's gain block deisgns, but not the differential AM16 one. We came up with another all-discrete stage in the mid-90's to address the balanced I/O story in a tranformerless way so really the current Langevin stuff doesn't bear any resemblance to any old Langevin circuits, especially not the AM16. No need to read anything into this. It just what we chose to do.

Mike's comments above are based on his opinions of the tube Manley stuff. I don't think he has ever heard our discrete Langevin stuff. He just has some personal vendetta against my entire company's products. I am so honored.

Don't worry EveAnna, there are plenty of us here that appreciate and love the work you do. Everyone has different ears, and everyone has different criteria and standards. So it's true you can never please every one. And then there are those who enjoy accusing you of pissing in their coffee, deservedly or not.

I will regurgitate my suggestion - that mike could work proactively with Manley to create something special, instead of acting in an insulting, condescending manner toward one of the most respected names in gear manufacturers.

He is my own personal stalker..
LOL, No. just a mere thorn in yer side.
the current Langevin stuff doesn't bear any resemblance to any old Langevin circuits, especially not the AM16. No need to read anything into this. It just what we chose to do
;)

Originally posted by miketholen:

sorry but I have tried to use your Langevin stuff, my opinion derived from that session.
your unit was deemed unusable in comparison to what was available, by me the producer and the artist.

Artist as Producer brings up a whole other set of questions in my mind. So tell us Mikey, what beat out the Langevin? On what instrument, in what room, on what day, how hot was it that day, maybe your ears are funny on hot days, who knows.

You're entitled to your opinions but purposely bashing another well respected product doesn't exactly add to your credibility.

You're entitled to your opinions but purposely bashing another well respected product doesn't exactly add to your credibility.
far from "bashing" fella. ;)
Artist as Producer brings up a whole other set of questions in my mind.
huh? I was referring to 3 DIFFERENT people. :p
what beat out the Langevin?
well let's see here...the Decca pre absolutely crushed it. but we ended up using the Helios Olympic pre/eq. :p