8 channels of great all-around, home studio pre-amps

[Kris]

Originally Posted by u b k

allow me to add to the small chorus of dissent and suggest that you purposively stay with 8 channels of the same pre. there is a deep and glorious magic in the way a mix gels when everything was recorded thru the same (stellar) pre. api stacks wonderfully.

when listening to individual sources, it might be the case that a dobro recorded thru a fearn sounds richer to you than one recorded thru a 512. but in the mix, in the context of the whole production, you may well find what a lot of old schoolers already swear by: the api dobro will glue better with the other api tracks.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

Blasphemer!!!!! That's crazy talk in these parts... (a great concept nonethelessthumbsup )

[pixelhead]

You should check into the UA 8110. It is 8 Channels with the option to switch between different signal paths for different flavors. I also like running my drums through the same pre's. I love these pre's. They do not sound like the tube UA stuff. I also have the normal GS lineup of pre's including Great River, A-Designs, Focusrite and since getting the 8110 I have not been using to many of the other pre's. Not saying any of them are better than the other I have just been able to get what I was looking for from the 8110. YMMV

[bforest4]

I have the API, a brent averill stereo Neve 1272, and a Manley dual mic pre(My favorite of the bunch for Vocals and Acoustic Guitars), also the new Manley TNT dual mic pre looks extremely versatile to add more flavor.

[theom]

Originally Posted by Sounds Great

Gotta have 2 channels of Hardy M1, maybe 4?

the hardy dual servo is a huge too. great for lots of gain on soft sources.

I am all over this board as a M1 freak.
But really, these pres are worth 2 x what they sell for.

I love the little bit of color you get with them.

For me the output Iron option on the M1 is a must.

[mejon]

Originally Posted by pixelhead

You should check into the UA 8110. It is 8 Channels with the option to switch between different signal paths for different flavors. I also like running my drums through the same pre's. I love these pre's. They do not sound like the tube UA stuff. I also have the normal GS lineup of pre's including Great River, A-Designs, Focusrite and since getting the 8110 I have not been using to many of the other pre's. Not saying any of them are better than the other I have just been able to get what I was looking for from the 8110. YMMV

Yo Chuck, glad to see you are enjoying the 8110. That was a fun phone call talking with you about gear that night!

To chime in, I like the new UA 4110/8110 units too, and they sound great. I like to crank the input gain (with the transformer on) on electric guitars, overheads, and room mics. Great stuff. They also sound great on vocals, percussion, acoustics....

[joninc]

ethan johns said in the tape op interview that he loves the UA stuff. his studio console is a Helios. the ryan adams albums mentioned earlier weren't recorded
by ethan johns.

to my ears i think ethan's recordings have a more vintage tubey sound - some grain - more so than the neve transformer sound. i recently tried the UA solo 610 and really liked it. a few years back i didn;t really get it but now i'd like one.

(OT but also i think he uses a fair bit of dynamic and ribbon mics - and exclusively records and mixes on tape. which is a/the large defining factor in the overall sound)

i'd get 2 U610 and 2 GR 2 MV. if you want a few clean channels get a sytek or millenia.

[mark714]

Consider a Crane Song Spider. Your converter is built in and you can't match the feature set at any price. You can make channels 1 & 2 sound a world different than channels 7 & 8 using only the onboard features. Slightly over your budget, but worth every penny. It will also save you hundreds in cables alone, not to mention the convenience.

If you go the mix & match route look at the Sytek pre's along with the usual suspects. They are an astounding deal and they sound really good whether you are considering price or not.

[1979]

Originally Posted by joninc

ethan johns said in the tape op interview that he loves the UA stuff. his studio console is a Helios. the ryan adams albums mentioned earlier weren't recorded
by ethan johns.

to my ears i think ethan's recordings have a more vintage tubey sound - some grain - more so than the neve transformer sound. i recently tried the UA solo 610 and really liked it. a few years back i didn;t really get it but now i'd like one.

(OT but also i think he uses a fair bit of dynamic and ribbon mics - and exclusively records and mixes on tape. which is a/the large defining factor in the overall sound)

i'd get 2 U610 and 2 GR 2 MV. if you want a few clean channels get a sytek or millenia.

My apologies, I forgot to point out that the Ryan adams albums mentioned in my previous post, were'nt Ethan Johns records. I was just trying to reference something to those records, for the author of the thread.

For what its worth-

Love is Hell- John Porter
Jacksonville, Cold Roses- Tom Gloady, and a few others.

Cheers.

[-sulan-]

Originally Posted by olivia_nb

I have 6 channels of pres from Seventh Circle and I haven't assembled a single one myself. I found someone who does excellent quality work and paid him $100 a pre which put my A12s and N72s around $425 each and my C84s at $250. Not a bad deal at all. I probably could have paid someone even $75 a channel, but the guy I got was totally worth it. Something to consider.

I have 2 J99´s and 2 N72´s from SCA, they sound amazing! I put them together meself though, but the above suggestion sounds good when you don´t want to build.
I especially like the the N72´s, they are very tight and forward. The J99´s are very big and open.

[JustMike]

I'll build the SCA stuff for you. I've built and sold some already and I'm getting ready to build some more A12's & N72's next week.

[Musikvilla]

Originally Posted by jomo1234

Shadow Hills GAMA 8...it's really a stunning pre, and it's 1K under your top end budget.

I second that. I have the Equinox which I think has the same pre's as the Gama except for the transformerless design in the Gama and the Iron in the Equinox. The Gama is Transformerless, Steel and Nickel. The Equinox is Steel, Iron and Nickel.

[Musikvilla]

Originally Posted by JustMike

I'll build the SCA stuff for you. I've built and sold some already and I'm getting ready to build some more A12's & N72's next week.

Hey would you be into building some for me.

[Duardo]

I'd agree that you'd have a hard time going wrong with eight channels of API...but if you're looking for different colors and settled on the 3124, I'd also go with two channels of something Neve-ish or maybe even "tube"-ish and two channels of clean-ish (GML, etc).

-Duardo

[Juan Covas]

ELTONJOHNSOUND-------TRIDENTtutt

JuanC

[deuc647]

+3 for the sebatrons, they can be clean or colored, it just depends on how much u drive the tube( i have 8 channels )

[johnnyjellybean]

+4 on the Seb for 4 of the channels!

[BassTerd]

+ whatever on the SCA's
I have the J99 and A12 and will be ordering another J99 and N72 probably tomorrow. Built them myself in a couple of hours and isn't that difficult. Built a homebrew LA2A since I was in the spirit of DIY in a couple of hours also.

[WunderBro Flo]

I know everyone is gonna hate me for this advice but I would rather go with a solid 8 channel pre that is pretty inexpensive, like an RME Octopre, and spent the money saved on more mics. Mics just make a way bigger difference than pres. The right mic for a drum through an octopre will sound better than a not-so-good mic choice on the same drum through a really expensive preamp...

Cheers,
Pat

[redddog]

I already have a Mackie 800r which I've found to be the best of the budget pres. I'll definitely hold on to it.

[bluegrasser]

Originally Posted by WildCowboys

I know everyone is gonna hate me for this advice but I would rather go with a solid 8 channel pre that is pretty inexpensive, like an RME Octopre, and spent the money saved on more mics. Mics just make a way bigger difference than pres. The right mic for a drum through an octopre will sound better than a not-so-good mic choice on the same drum through a really expensive preamp...

Cheers,
Pat

Not so sure about that after hearing my SM57 through my Presonus ADL 600. Cheap mic into expensive pre and sound very very good.

[WunderBro Flo]

Originally Posted by bluegrasser

Not so sure about that after hearing my SM57 through my Presonus ADL 600. Cheap mic into expensive pre and sound very very good.

if you are not sure wy don´t you use a split cable to go to the adl and a cheap pre at the same time and record the two pres on two tracks. then solo back and forth and be ready for a surprise....differences will be much much smaller than you think!
cheers,
p

[Agli]

Originally Posted by WildCowboys

if you are not sure wy don´t you use a split cable to go to the adl and a cheap pre at the same time and record the two pres on two tracks. then solo back and forth and be ready for a surprise....differences will be much much smaller than you think!
cheers,
p

True, for single tracks.
IME after you have recorded lots of tracks and mixed them together, the difference is not so subtle. Tracks blend/mix better somehow and create an overall soundscape that is much nicer.

[WunderBro Flo]

Originally Posted by Agli

True, for single tracks.
IME after you have recorded lots of tracks and mixed them together, the difference is not so subtle. Tracks blend/mix better somehow and create an overall soundscape that is much nicer.

yeah sure, that´s the usual culmulative effect story which usually comes as the standard answer at this point...

...what if you hear no difference in the two signals? do you think nothing stacks up if many tracks are recorded? won´t happen.

...have you bought 3d audios preampsinparadise dvd? you can put the tracks in a daw, make a mix and then jump between the same song recorded with different pres on each track - you can jump between a neve only version and a v72 only version. in this scenario the entire "culmulative effect" thing should be very audible - but what´s the result? it sounds like different takes and slight frequency balance differences...the c.e. is as overrated as the sound of preamps...even mr. kennedy, maker of one of the finest preamps said that the influence of pres is almost embarassingly overrated these days...

cheers,
pat

[Agli]

If it works for you, cool.

[BradD]

Great River MP2NV
API 3124
John Hardy M1 (2 channels)

That ought to do it.

[mojo1]

If you're looking for some really clean, uncolored, but huge sounding pre's try the Fred Forssell 6 chan. unit... I've been using mine on lots of stuff lately and really diggin' it! Forssell Technologies

[Thebassist]

Absolutely love my Precision 8 ch pre. Stacks great, don't get the same woofy quality you get when stacking Neve, GR.

That being said, I still reach for the Neve type pres for bass and vocals.

Somewhere in the middle between the 1 pre camp and the box of chocolates approach.




All the pres mentioned are great. Why not get Fletcher to send you some gear to demo, then keep what you like?

[bobwarren]

(4) API 512
(2) P1
(2) GR MP-500NV

It's what I'm doin'!!

BTW, this to compliment the API 500V rack I currently own. It's becoming an obsession filling up 20 spaces with all of the choices coming out now. It's a good day for a gearslut!

[Duardo]

Not so sure about that after hearing my SM57 through my Presonus ADL 600. Cheap mic into expensive pre and sound very very good.

I wouldn't consider the SM57 to be a "cheap" microphone...inexpensive, yes, but it is a high-quality professional microphone. But yes, the differences between preamps are generally more pronounced when used with dynamic microphones than with condensers.

-Duardo

[ozraves]

Originally Posted by redddog

I'm looking to cover all the bases in my home studio. Most of my stuff is Alt/country, folky rock type stuff. I strive for Ethan Johns type sound.
Danny

How about contacting Vintage King and seeing if they got some sort of eight channels of Helios.