AMS -1073 DPA vs API A2D vs GR MP-2NV vs Portico 5012 ... FOR VOCALS!!!

[Antonio]

Hi everybody

I’m helping to a friend of mine to set up a small (but high end) project studio for vocals. She is a terrific session singer. The mission of this studio will be mainly to receive session files – to make and record second vocals and backing vocals arrangements – to “UPS back” the session files to the client. Most of these recordings will be commercial releases.

We are trying to decide for one of these units as the front end of her DAW. This will be the only pre.
Before anything: I have hundreds of hours reading. I know there are lots of threads, but now I’m looking for answers in a very concrete way. And we can’t test these pres side by side without buying (with the exception of AMS)

After long time thinking on it, we have narrowed it to these four pres, so please, don’t derive this thread to an other pres debate. It’s a long story to tell you the reasons for this selection, but we have very mature reasons for it.

So I want to ask you for if you could rate from 0 to 10 these units (just the ones you own or have worked with) having in mind ONLY how they work on vocals; I mean, please don’t think about price, or other features like ADCs or if it’s a very well built unit, or if it’s terrific on guitars, or whatever; Just think how each pre works for vocals from a very high end point of view. In other words, think you have just one “standalone” of each of these pres and all with the same price. Rate them depending on which one you would pick for vocals.

In order to homogenize and objectify, please do it this way:

I.e:
AMS-Neve-DPA: 9
Great River: 8
Portico: 8
API: 7

If you only have worked with some of them, rate those and forget about the others …
I.e:
GR 2NV: 8
Portico: 7
Others: n.a.

If you want to exponde the arguments for your rating, of course it will be great

Thank you very much, guys

[walth]

Neve 1073DPA 10
API 9

forget the other two.
buena suerte

walter

What mic are you going to use? and for what style of music? just curious.

[Antonio]

Thank you, Waltz

The style, every kind of pop
... and the mic, right now she has a CAD. I don't know the model.

[walth]

I'd get the Neve. It's my first choice for vocals. Especially pop. I had a friend who uses an older CAD microphone. He gets a very nice sound out of that mic. The API is nice though. It's a difficult decision. I'd go with the Neve. Byt You can't go wrong either way.

I hope this helps.

[iziphonics]

Well a lot depends on the mic... All of those pres act different with different mics and different types of voice.
As for me (female vox and Brauner Velvet):

GR: 9
API: 9
Portico: 7
AMS: n.a

[Fletcher]

They will ALL work great on vocals.

Find a mic that couples with the singer well [different mics work differently on different singers... there is a mic out there that will be perfect for the singer with whom you're working]... then audition a couple of pre-amps and find which one works best for YOUR [or her] sense of aesthetic.

All you're going to find in a thread like this is people justifying their most recent purchases... there will pretty much be zero information that actually applies to your reality.

Recording music is about using your ears to form your own opinion... not your eyes to find some irrelevant opinions to your specific reality.

Peace.

[Antonio]

Thanks, Fletcher.

I know your point, and think similar.

The reason for me to want the ratings is to find out if there is a kind of general opinion of any one of this pres being not at the level of the others for vocals and then I can reject it, or if there is one that I can't miss because an extraordinary consensus. And all this is in order to narrow a bit more the selection. And if we find consensus to narrow it more, maybe we can find a way to try a couple of finalist with this girl voice and mic.

We will not decide just on other's opinion. There are more aspects we are considering and, in the end, we'll try to be sure we really like the actual "voice-mic-pre" combo.

Thanks, again

[hurricaneE]

Portico 9
API 6

API A2D is my most recent purchase, and I love it, but as a vocal pre, Portico beats it pretty handily, I think. -E

Originally Posted by Antonio

Hi everybody

I’m helping to a friend of mine to set up a small (but high end) project studio for vocals. She is a terrific session singer. The mission of this studio will be mainly to receive session files – to make and record second vocals and backing vocals arrangements – to “UPS back” the session files to the client. Most of these recordings will be commercial releases.

We are trying to decide for one of these units as the front end of her DAW. This will be the only pre.
Before anything: I have hundreds of hours reading. I know there are lots of threads, but now I’m looking for answers in a very concrete way. And we can’t test these pres side by side without buying (with the exception of AMS)

After long time thinking on it, we have narrowed it to these four pres, so please, don’t derive this thread to an other pres debate. It’s a long story to tell you the reasons for this selection, but we have very mature reasons for it.

So I want to ask you for if you could rate from 0 to 10 these units (just the ones you own or have worked with) having in mind ONLY how they work on vocals; I mean, please don’t think about price, or other features like ADCs or if it’s a very well built unit, or if it’s terrific on guitars, or whatever; Just think how each pre works for vocals from a very high end point of view. In other words, think you have just one “standalone” of each of these pres and all with the same price. Rate them depending on which one you would pick for vocals.

In order to homogenize and objectify, please do it this way:

I.e:
AMS-Neve-DPA: 9
Great River: 8
Portico: 8
API: 7

If you only have worked with some of them, rate those and forget about the others …
I.e:
GR 2NV: 8
Portico: 7
Others: n.a.

If you want to exponde the arguments for your rating, of course it will be great

Thank you very much, guys

[Morrillo]

Go for the Neve Antonio,I Have The Api Too but for vocals The Neve Is Very Nice and you can play with the 300 ohms option for a warmer sound.No te vas a arrepentir, Suertethumbsup

[Renaud Charlier]

ams-neve 1073 dpa: 9
api: 8

others:n.a.

[Antonio]

Thank you all for rating and for your comments ...

There is a kind of stablished idea about API being a great, amazing pre, but not right at all for vocals... Do you agree or desagree?

Any more ratings, please ...

[Open Sky]

Yeah, I don't understand either, really. Is API actually that bad for vocals? Hardly anybody recommends it. What's up? Makes no sense to me. Could someone explain?

[walth]

The api is a great versatile pre. It sounds great on a variety of instruments. Neve 1073s are just awesome mic pres and there is alot of hype to them. you read about engineers in magazine's saying that they use them on everyone from beyonce to who ever , companies like great river, chandler, and vintech try to emulate them, you'd almost swear that there was a little elf living inside the pre sprinkling fairy dust on the audio signal passing through or something.LOL etc. They have achieved mythical status. Even if someone has never worked with one they always swear that a neve is the pre they want. Which is why it's always good to a/b mic pres. But i think you mentioned you can't do that?

Neves are awesome And i have compared them to many different pres. So if you can't A/B them, the API and the NEve. For whatever my opinion is worth get the 1073. For the POP, R&B, Jazz, Country, norteno, German Polka, Native American Music, spanish pop music that i've recorded that's a go to mic pre. Even Most Commercial studios have at least one neve console and an ssl room with a neve sidecar.