BIG Preamp Shootout: API, Great River, Grace 501, GAP Pre 73, FMR RNP, Art, Behringer

[InStatic]

Sorry about the late reply! The stacked tracks were

1. Behringer
2. Art
3. Fmr rnp
4. Gap 73
5. Grace
6. Great River
7. API

[captshiznit]

Great thread, FMR I thought sounded close aswell as others have said. Makes me question whether spending 2grand on a preamp is really neccessary...unless you've got money to burn

[bambony]

Originally Posted by captshiznit

Great thread, FMR I thought sounded close aswell as others have said. Makes me question whether spending 2grand on a preamp is really neccessary...unless you've got money to burn

Old thread but I've only just come across it. Maybe the differences are less noticeable because we are listening to mp3s... I can't tell that much at all on my HD600s other than the Behringer sounds a bit cheaper and the 512c maybe a better but I am certainly not sure if I am kidding myself about the API. Thing is I don't really like the raw sounds so much and level matching is difficult because of the dynamic variation between takes. I find it far easier to spot the difference between the playing than the quality of the pres.

What I take from this is that either I am pretty deaf (which is not so far from the truth) or that when listening to MP3 files-based music really we are talking about engineering skills with regard to raw sounds, mix balance (include tones compression and effects) and mastering being way more important than the gear... of course I knew this already. God I really should spend less money on gear.

Tony

[fito_88]

Originally Posted by 6strings

I'm not.

If you record acoustic guitar, you know the performer moving half an inch can change the tone dramatically. So with separate performances, there's no way to know which preamp sounds best.. just which take sounds best out of the bunch.

Best way to do a real shoot-out is to use one mic and a splitter. Then match levels. And if you want honest opinions from most members on this site, you absolutely, positively have to hide the brand names.

totally agree with this guy