| Okay here we go -
1 - BA API 312
2 - Chandler Germ (Gain up, Feedback low)
3 - Chandler Germ ( Gain lower, Feedback up)
4 - ITB
5 - Neve 1272's
6 - Shadow Hills Discrete setting
7 - Shadow Hills Nickel setting
8 - Shadow Hills Steel setting
9 - TG2
My observations -
Overall I really liked the 1272's the best, but the SH Nickel setting was very close - not quite as big on the bottom and maybe slightly cleaner on top. As infernal pointed out the SH Steel setting did seem to have some added clarity in the extreme L & R where the acoustic guitars were sitting. I did feel the Folcrom mixes added some openness over the ITB mix and much less compressed sounding even though I tried to match the compression levels as best I could. Oddly enough the ITB mix got more compressed sounding than my actual finished ITB mix when I moved all my master bus processing to an aux so that I could process all the mixes through the same plugs. This also seemed to be exagerated with the mp3's. All of the mixes sound less compressed with the wav versions. Kind of made me re think the mp3 thing as I rarely ever compare them so closely. Yuk. That being said, I actually think the differences between mixes actually stands out a little more with the mp3's as opposed to the original wav's. The wav files actually make me scratch my head more as to what the differences are.
All in all, while minimal I think the Folcrom mixes do offer some value over ITB and would be worth the money especially if you allready have multiple pairs of preamps. I still haven't mixed enough with this setup to know what other advantages it may offer. I'm told by some other friends that the main advantage to getting OTB is that it's just simply faster and easier to get a mix happening. I do know that I seem to have to work harder mixing ITB especially with the low end and low mid.
I also wouldn't really go crazy on which pre you select as we can see that the differences are very subtle. Pick any quality pre and you're good to go, allthough I didn't care so much for the Germ and surprisingly the API as I did the others. It would probably be a nice option to kick through a few pre's after you have a basic balance just to see if one offers a few more percentage points of mojo.
For all that were interested in the SH pre's I would have to conclude that these are a good match for the Folcrom. The three output settings do offer some options all in one pre. They also sound pretty damn good using them as a pre and I've had good results with them on vocals, acoustic guitar and overheads.
Unfortunately the juries still out for me on the ITB - OTB thing. I'm going to work this way for a while and then compare some projects later on down the road. The only way I will be able to tell fore sure is if I get a sense that the quality of my work has gone up as compared to say 6 months ago. Even then it's hard to say because you learn something new everyday and sometimes with monumental results. I think it's still all about the nut behind the wheel. |