Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - BEst Mic Pre: Focusrite Red series, Neve, API, other?
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Old 23rd June 2006   #9
robmix
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[QUOTE=lawrence_o]Hi,

Thanks for this. If there is one thing I noticed from these tests is that I like the Neve sound and I hate the API Mic Pres. They sound flat, and people been talking so much about API. Never worked with it but sorry, am very disapointed in their sound from these examples.../QUOTE]

I'll probably get flamed for this but I agree. I'm just not an API fan.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lawrence_o
On the other hand, the differences that I can hear are so subtle that I'm sure I could EQ and verb the signals so that in the final mix, no-one would be able to tell me what I recorded it with. THis proves to me once more that we're sometimes paying thousands of bucks for very very subtle differences that the ear can detect. Silly people we are :-)

My mentor once said, "engineering is a game of inches", and he's right. We're constantly fighting for that last 1% or 2%, and sometimes that extra bit of quality costs money.

Back on topic. . . I like the Red and ISA series but they're certainly not as exciting or vibey as Neves. I've got an ISA-110 that I keep around for pop vocals. On the right source they kill most other preamps. SSL 4000 pre's are usable but nowhere near my top 10. THe 9000 was a step up but still not in the league of Neve's, Wunder, Trident A Range, Daking, Millenia, etc.
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