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anonymous 14 February 2003

Greetings,
Thinking about buying a nice 4-8 channel mic preamp to supplement my two APIs, and soon to be 2 channels of Vintech (I think anyway...)
Anyone have any thoughts on the TL Audio Ivory series? The new 4 channel tube pre?
Thanks! - Steve

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Comments

Recording Engineer Fri, 02/14/2003 - 09:22

Well, I just think you just have to decide if you want 4-8 channels of Neve-type transformer Class A color, tube color, transformerless Class A color, or transparent/colorless type.

Whichever you decide, those mentioned above, along with the DaviSound TB-6 http://www.davisound.com , will cover you needs for a great 4-8 channel preamp in the same class as (insert expensive brand of your choice here) at a price where you'll still have enough leftover to buy your significant other some flowers...

Recording Engineer Sat, 02/15/2003 - 00:10

Well... What would you like to know?

The "Mic-All" pre, used in the TB-3, TB-6, & TB-10, is certainly one of the most (possibly most?) natural, colorless, transparent preamps; and NOT "for the money", though the prices are certainly the icing! And headroom for days! About +32dBV... And NO change in "sound" (or the lack thereof)! It was designed with drums in mind...

Ever try putting a Neumann 103 on a snare about 1" or so in and 3-4" above with NO pad? The "Mic-All" pres handle it no sweat! The current OSA preamps have about that too! The new RNP comes in just under at almost +28!

Here's one snare hit sample of that through a "Mic-All" in my TB-3, just for fun. It's a 24-bit, 48k WAV:
http://home.attbi.com/~pjandcompany/index.html

What else do ya want to know?

Recording Engineer Sat, 02/15/2003 - 17:17

Originally posted by Bobby Loux:
Is the +28 of the RNP considered good, decent, or just ok!..is it in the upper class as far as headroom goes?

It's certainly very respectable! Avalon says "+36dB" for their AD2022 and "+30dB" for their others!!! Joe Meek says "+30dB" Mackie's XDR preamp in the VLZ PRO boards has +22dBu. That's "OK"... Mackie's 8-Bus pres, their original VLZ pres, and the Soundcraft's "ProMic" preamp in the Ghost only have +14dBu! Poop poor! Even worse? Most Behringer console preamps only handle up to +12dBu. In fact, I think all but 1 of their outboard preamps only handles +10dBu!!!

Rader Ranch Fri, 02/21/2003 - 13:36

forget the TL Audio Ivory's,,,,chances are good you'd be disappointed comparing them to the API or Vintech's.

no, wait! i meant to say the Ivory series rocks!!!! as a matter of fact, i have a 5001 4ch. unit sitting right here that i could probably be talked into parting with... :d: ...seriously, it's a step above a Mackie, but that's about it...

Bobby Loux Tue, 02/25/2003 - 00:26

Originally posted by Recording Engineer:

Originally posted by Bobby Loux:
Is the +28 of the RNP considered good, decent, or just ok!..is it in the upper class as far as headroom goes?

It's certainly very respectable! Avalon says "+36dB" for their AD2022 and "+30dB" for their others!!! Joe Meek says "+30dB" Mackie's XDR preamp in the VLZ PRO boards has +22dBu. That's "OK"... Mackie's 8-Bus pres, their original VLZ pres, and the Soundcraft's "ProMic" preamp in the Ghost only have +14dBu! Poop poor! Even worse? Most Behringer console preamps only handle up to +12dBu. In fact, I think all but 1 of their outboard preamps only handles +10dBu!!! Recording Engineer,

thank you for responding I appreciate the info as it is an important element to consider...would you happen to know what the headroom ratio is for the HHb Radius 40 tube voice processor?

I'm not sure what that is listed under in the spec sheet..

thanks

Katiedawg Tue, 02/25/2003 - 01:56

Originally posted by jazzgitter:
Katiedawg , you mentioned the 4+ channel Buzz pre. Any idea on price and sound compared to the MA2.2?

It's a rack that holds individual modules that are basically MA2.2 channels. These modules have a beefier balanced output stage, but it sounds the same as the MA2.2 preamp (I have one of those, too, so I know what it sounds like). I love it!

You can buy it without getting all the modules, which is what I did. I'll be adding more modules over the next few months. Contact Tim at Buzz Audio for pricing.

Recording Engineer Wed, 02/26/2003 - 11:36

Originally posted by Bobby Loux:
Recording Engineer,

thank you for responding I appreciate the info as it is an important element to consider...would you happen to know what the headroom ratio is for the HHb Radius 40 tube voice processor?

I'm not sure what that is listed under in the spec sheet..

thanks

The spec. you're looking for is "Max. Input". I went to look, but nothing is revealed. It says +26dBu for the Max. Input for the balanced line input, but nothing on the mic input. I've never used an HHB or TLAudio pre, so I couldn't even guess.

P.S. It should be noted that BOTH the Joe Meek and Avalon preamps have -20dB pads... More than likely, their Max. Input spec. is the result of the -20dB pad engaged...

Neither the DaviSound Mic-All preamp or the FMR Audio RNP use a pad.

anonymous Thu, 02/27/2003 - 01:33

You can get 1 to 8 channels of Neve clone here: SCA N72

Hi,

I'll second on the neve 1272 clone by Seven Circle Audio.

It's an 2 U box wich allow up to 8 channel.
I bought a version with 2 channel loaded for under 1000$.

My first test was with a M149 mic from Neumann, against an Avalon 737sp and a Amek 9098 pre. Male and female vocal.

The N72 was clearly the best sounding one.
Thick, big and ironish. Not as transparent as the avalon but way more pleasant. More a "recorded sound", and it rocks on almost everything !

Now it's my main preamp. The next one will be the SLAM or DCAS!

For that price, you can't go wrong. I worth a try !

Best Regards,

Salvator
TRINITY STUDIOS
Residential Recording Studios
http://www.editions-ihs.com

anonymous Sun, 03/09/2003 - 18:04

I can recommend the True Systems Precision 8 as well. I've been using it for about four years. It has tremendous frequency response, very clean, ms encoding on channels 1&2, enough gain for ribbon mics, instrument DIs (on back), heavy-duty construction, only occupies 1 rack space, and costs something like $2500 for 8 channels.

anonymous Tue, 03/11/2003 - 20:30

Originally posted by Katiedawg:
I just bought one...holy crap! It's wonderful! I already had the two channel MA2.2 unit. This is just up to nine channels of that. Buy it as a four channel, and and modules as you need.

Katiedawg is right about the new A-Rack+, this is another great design by Tim and the guys at Buzz. It has already received a lot of attention from guys who are doing remotes. The ablity to get 8 super clean and transparent mic pres along with a monitor bus is perfect for them.

The exciting part is there has been some interest by other designers to make their preamps available that would slide right in along side the Buzz mic pres. This would be cool.

If the ARack is out of your range and you want 4 channels you might consider either the Great River MP-4 (not the NV) or the Earthworks 1024. both of these are 4 channel, clean transparent mic pres.

Of course a pair of MA-2.2s would also look great in your rack. :D

Lee

anonymous Mon, 03/31/2003 - 22:00

Check out JLM audio, They have an 8 ch pre that is supposed to be an api 312 clone I think for like $1500. Can't beat it with a stick. I've been thinking of checking it out myself. also I Tim at Seventh Circle has the Neve 1272 Clone modules in Kits and fully put together for a good price, I think the kit is only $350 a channel. I started with API 3124+ in my home studio and love em!! You could always buy a rack and 312 modules from API and add modules as you have money. I think the Modules are like $400-$500 a piece.

Cheers

KurtFoster Tue, 04/08/2003 - 15:22

TL Audio uses hybrid circuits, non discreet (IC based) solid state doing most of the work and a tube to add color. I have heard that the TL gear doesn't have the headroom of the better designs from Focusrite, Neve, API etc.

I have to correct myself. After going to the TL Audio site (actually HHB) I discovered there are a couple of all tube products that have just been released. Here is a link; http:// ........... Kurt

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