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mrbasslo · 9th April 2008

Hi Everyone

I bought a Velvet channel and Faust microphone for recording Portugese Band Madredeus - here is my report on both please post any questions and I will do my best to reply.
best

Jonathan

Report Velvet

Pros

Rapid build and delivery
This is a very serious audio device , offering an extended noise free - high frequency for a valve mic amp with the benefit of an efficient and musical compressor it is the holy grail of audio for me which is an everyday device that can handle a multitude of audio recording but with anything but an everyday sound and build quality .

Tested with

Acoustic Gtr – voices various from opera to folk to Pop – the compressor handled all areas with ease and musicality .- mic amp had plenty of gain without noise .

Cons

should counter sink the calibration for the Vu

Suggestions

Greater gain and cut on the eq with a broader bell – for example the Manley Passive eq is very effective even on small increments – we did not feel this with the velvet EQ the two mid freq slightly better of course as based on 6 db

Also the vu calibration should be better counter sunk as once set should not need any interference .

Faust

Open detailed top end and quite performance – are the things I noticed about this mic – it handled the various and many singers we put in front of it with no problems and noticeably as they where singing in Portuguese the Faust handled the very difficult consonants and tendency of at least one singer towards sibilance – which is part of the languages vices in a studio .

The mic looked very well built and was quite in operation and also featured very well on acoustic instruments .

The other mic pre amps I was using on these sessions would normally put anything else to shame being re furbished Cadac modules – ex Lansdowne studios1988 - with an updated power supply and tube tech mic pres.

I can say as a Cadac /Neve fan that the guys at HCL are very cool – Albert etc and the gear is without reservation recommended – Please check out Madrdeus [ the artist in question and you will see how demanding the music can be for any gear – got any questions ask them and they will get answered .

9th April 2008	#396
mrbasslo Gear interested Joined: Sep 2006 Location: Hertford Posts: 6	Report HCL Velvet Hi Everyone I bought a Velvet channel and Faust microphone for recording Portugese Band Madredeus - here is my report on both please post any questions and I will do my best to reply. best Jonathan Report Velvet Pros Rapid build and delivery This is a very serious audio device , offering an extended noise free - high frequency for a valve mic amp with the benefit of an efficient and musical compressor it is the holy grail of audio for me which is an everyday device that can handle a multitude of audio recording but with anything but an everyday sound and build quality . Tested with Acoustic Gtr – voices various from opera to folk to Pop – the compressor handled all areas with ease and musicality .- mic amp had plenty of gain without noise . Cons should counter sink the calibration for the Vu Suggestions Greater gain and cut on the eq with a broader bell – for example the Manley Passive eq is very effective even on small increments – we did not feel this with the velvet EQ the two mid freq slightly better of course as based on 6 db Also the vu calibration should be better counter sunk as once set should not need any interference . Faust Open detailed top end and quite performance – are the things I noticed about this mic – it handled the various and many singers we put in front of it with no problems and noticeably as they where singing in Portuguese the Faust handled the very difficult consonants and tendency of at least one singer towards sibilance – which is part of the languages vices in a studio . The mic looked very well built and was quite in operation and also featured very well on acoustic instruments . The other mic pre amps I was using on these sessions would normally put anything else to shame being re furbished Cadac modules – ex Lansdowne studios1988 - with an updated power supply and tube tech mic pres. I can say as a Cadac /Neve fan that the guys at HCL are very cool – Albert etc and the gear is without reservation recommended – Please check out Madrdeus [ the artist in question and you will see how demanding the music can be for any gear – got any questions ask them and they will get answered .