As per my experience with my setup, I haven't been crazy about The Brick at all. I love it for mic'ing guitar amps, but it has few uses beyond this for which it warrants the money I spent on it.

I bought my Brick without trying it out. This was largely due to all the hype I'd read about it (much of it on this 'board): with so many people touting it as being the only good colored preamp under $2,000, it's hard not to come to think of its purchase as risk free.

Please keep my last paragraph in mind for my next statement: while I haven't tried the 2BA-221, a lot of people on this 'board love it, and I wish I had waited and saved up so I could have at least tried it out against the Brick. The Continuously Variable Impedance control is the singular feature that sells me about it.

Hi patrick_like_static, thanks for the reply.
You've been most helpful.
To be honest I am kinda swinging towards the Summit more.
It seems like it would be more flexible because of the Variable Impedance control for one, as you said.
Its also a hybrid but not of the starved plate variety, which could prove useful as its gonna be my only pre for a while.
I'm gonna be recording at home a lot and I'll be putting vocals, bass and maybe guitar through it (but after my pedals and maybe a Pod.)
So flexibility would be handy.
But heh I'm a newbie so I dont know to much.

Alman wrote: 's also a hybrid but not of the starved plate variety
I might be misunderstanding you, but The Brick is not starved-plated.

I found this link for another discussion here on RO: [[url=http://[/URL]="http://recording.or…"]Summit Audio 2BA-221 vs. Groove Tubes The Brick[/]="http://recording.or…"]Summit Audio 2BA-221 vs. Groove Tubes The Brick[/]

Oh no man I didn't mean that.
I know the Brick is an all tube unit and not starved plate.
I just meant that a lot of the time you see these hybrids advertised as tube pre's when they are starved plates. But the Summit has a full on tube and has an internal power supply.
Cheers for the link.

patrick_like_static wrote: [quote=Alman] 's also a hybrid but not of the starved plate variety
I might be misunderstanding you, but The Brick is not starved-plated.

I found this link for another discussion here on RO: [[url=http://[/URL]="http://recording.or…"]Summit Audio 2BA-221 vs. Groove Tubes The Brick[/]="http://recording.or…"]Summit Audio 2BA-221 vs. Groove Tubes The Brick[/]

I'm still bitter about the direction that post took.

Also, I still contend that while the 2BA-221 is not in the same league as their MUCH pricier pres, it is without one of the best pres on the market for anywhere near that price.

The only thing lacking from it is that last 10% that would skyrocket its price (a little more punch, a little more open, I'm not sure...but it's still nice.)

What little experience I've had with the Brick (playing with it in GC), I'd agree that it's a little thick. It would definitely have its uses, but not as many as a more versatile preamp.

Of course, I also contend that the Aphex 107 is still one of the best values in preamps on the planet and while it *is* a starved plate, it's still very nice. Granted, $1000 will get you a better pre, but this one's not bad.

Let's face it, most pres out there get their job done and do it well, it's all just a matter of (in most cases) little differences here and there. As much as I like some of the finer pres out there, I get sick and tired of people who do nothing but bash lower-end gear because it's not up to the level of the stuff they're using. The widespread concept of boutique audio is a relatively recent concept (particularly in the field of recording).

I know what you mean man.
The pre's I've mentioned are as far as my price range is going, it's even gonna be painful getting up to that level.
But it's gonna be a big leap from the real "budget" stuff.
And as I'm recording into a Yamaha 16 track a good quality external pre is gonna make a difference.
Granted I am a newbie and I dont know much but I've been around enough to know a good sound, and I wont be able to put up with bad sound if theres a way around it (within my budget of course).

I have a Brick and I've found it to be a three or four trick pony. It works on some male vocals particularly country baritones. Really worked well with one guy who pushes out of his natural range. Very good as a live DI for acoustic guitars with piezo pickups (or if you record the pickup on a just-in-case basis). As said - good on guitar amps. I've also recorded jazz sax through it and it sounded all right, but I didn't really get a chance to experiment too much.

Alman- I don't know which Yamaha unit you are using, but there are a lot of Yamaha mixers with darned good pres. You can make really good recordings with them if you are doing everything else right. For most newbies there are a dozen free things that you can learn to do that will improve your sound more than a new piece of gear. If you have mistakes at a lot of other points in your signal chain it's hard to hear the improvement in any one component. That's not meant to discourage you from buying a better pre. Pres are basically stable technology and hold their value pretty well. The ones you are considering will be very useful, though at least with the Brick there will probably be sources on which the more neutral Yamahas will be the better pre.

Cheers for the advice Bob, I do know what you mean.
The unit is a Yamaha AW1600.
There is a forum dedicated to this unit and everyone on it agrees that external pre's are a must. Even a budget one would be an improvement.
Most of them know the unit back to front so I'm kinda going on there advice really.
I'm actually kinda leaning towards the Summit at the moment as it seems like it would be more flexible, but that will porobably change.
Another reason why I wanna get a pre is that I wanna get one while I have a few quid as that definitely wont last.
We can all understand that one I think.
Cheers.

Can I assume by your use of the term "quid" that you're a Brit?

If yes, I would strongly encourage you to look at the DAV line of gear. Since it's local to you, it's much cheaper than it is to me.

As for "inexpensive" pres, there doesn't get much better in the way of sound than the DAV BG1.

Cucco wrote:
As for "inexpensive" pres, there doesn't get much better in the way of sound than the DAV BG1.

You're a bad influence upon me with quotes like this.
:D

No way man I'm Irish and proud.
I'll definitely check out that DAV line though.
Thanks for the advice your a gent.