Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - Nice tube pre for warm, pillowy, tubey goodness--which pre or other purchase?

Dr. Gonzo · 4th April 2006

Hello, everyone!

This is my first post on gearslutz, but I've been lurking and searching for a while now. Partially through your guidance (and such enablers as Mercenary Audio), I ended up getting a Neve Portico 5012 dual mic pre, an AEA R84 ribbon mic, a Soundelux U99, a pair of Adam ANF 10 studio monitors, and my brother got a TAB Funkenwerk V78m. All very, very nice pieces!

While I love the Portico 5012, I really liked some of the characteristics of the TAB V78m tube pre. It had this really fat, thick character that was cool in the way that it gave a nice body to vocals with a warm smoothness with nice detail on top--kind of an opulent sound to quote Fletcher. I was hoping to get a pre (or other product) that would give me that kind of sound, but maybe MORE of that tubey goodness!

I'm looking for phatness, a kind of pillowy warm ambient quality, with mucho body and chunkiness to the vocal and other instruments. Basically phat, warm, tubey goodness as I understand it. So I am considering the TAB V78m which is a killer pre, and a great price. But if I can get even more of that warm, phat, tubey goodness in another pre, I might go for that. I'm considering strongly the D W Fearn VT-1, and perhaps the Pendulum MDP-1. The Groove Tubes Vipre or Supre are also contenders. I play everything from acoustic guitar, bass, mandolin, to blues, to rock. As of right now I'm leaning toward getting the D.W. Fearn VT-1 and a Lexicon PCM-91 to get the sound I want ($4,000 is the total budget pretty much).

The only thing that concerns me is that, while my brother and I could clearly hear differences between pre's such as the Great River ME-NV, the Portico, the TAB V-78m, and a Speck, when you listen to the 3D Audio 3D Pre CD, the differences between pre's are very subtle. I'm looking for a substantial difference in sound between the Neve Portico 5012 that I have and whatever I get. I'm hoping that a nice tube pre will give me that warm, phat tubey goodness and that it will be a substantial contrast to the Portico 5012 that I have. What do fellow gearslutz think?

Thanks,

Gonzo

4th April 2006	#1
Dr. Gonzo Gear nut Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 126 Thread Starter	Nice tube pre for warm, pillowy, tubey goodness--which pre or other purchase? Hello, everyone! This is my first post on gearslutz, but I've been lurking and searching for a while now. Partially through your guidance (and such enablers as Mercenary Audio), I ended up getting a Neve Portico 5012 dual mic pre, an AEA R84 ribbon mic, a Soundelux U99, a pair of Adam ANF 10 studio monitors, and my brother got a TAB Funkenwerk V78m. All very, very nice pieces! While I love the Portico 5012, I really liked some of the characteristics of the TAB V78m tube pre. It had this really fat, thick character that was cool in the way that it gave a nice body to vocals with a warm smoothness with nice detail on top--kind of an opulent sound to quote Fletcher. I was hoping to get a pre (or other product) that would give me that kind of sound, but maybe MORE of that tubey goodness! I'm looking for phatness, a kind of pillowy warm ambient quality, with mucho body and chunkiness to the vocal and other instruments. Basically phat, warm, tubey goodness as I understand it. So I am considering the TAB V78m which is a killer pre, and a great price. But if I can get even more of that warm, phat, tubey goodness in another pre, I might go for that. I'm considering strongly the D W Fearn VT-1, and perhaps the Pendulum MDP-1. The Groove Tubes Vipre or Supre are also contenders. I play everything from acoustic guitar, bass, mandolin, to blues, to rock. As of right now I'm leaning toward getting the D.W. Fearn VT-1 and a Lexicon PCM-91 to get the sound I want ($4,000 is the total budget pretty much). The only thing that concerns me is that, while my brother and I could clearly hear differences between pre's such as the Great River ME-NV, the Portico, the TAB V-78m, and a Speck, when you listen to the 3D Audio 3D Pre CD, the differences between pre's are very subtle. I'm looking for a substantial difference in sound between the Neve Portico 5012 that I have and whatever I get. I'm hoping that a nice tube pre will give me that warm, phat tubey goodness and that it will be a substantial contrast to the Portico 5012 that I have. What do fellow gearslutz think? Thanks, Gonzo