Great River mic pre vs. UA 610

[gareth81]

Hey there

I'm looking to buy my first top quality micpre, its main function is gonna be recording vocals. I'm weighing up between the UA solo / 610 and the Great River ME-1NV

I looking for classic / vintage sort of tones. I'm also gonna be buying a main vocal mic at the same time (looking at an SM7 , or an Oktavamod 319) but I think Ill have to actually test them out first.

What are people thoughts on these two pre's? The great river is more expensive, worth the extra money, or just different?

cheers
Gareth

[outUVphaze]

Great River is a great pre by any standard. I am at best coolish on the UA.

Two very different sounds. The Great River has so many possibilities and they all sound good.

GR

[nemisis633]

Having owned both, I have to agree with the above. Great River is an A+ grade pre. It pretty well sounds fantastic on everything.

Jon

[DarkSky Media]

Originally Posted by gareth81

The great river is more expensive, worth the extra money, or just different?

Another vote for the GR here. Definitely worth the additional cost IMO.

[Roc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by gareth81

but I think Ill have to actually test them out first.

Good idea! Please Report Back so you can add to the abundance of good info/data/opinions on comparing these units. You may like one over the other just like us. Personally, I think the Great River is a higher quality preamplifier-IME-but YMMV of course. You may even decide you need both to hit the tones you want. They're not really that comparable. The Great River has more headroom, better S/N, more definition, with a greater amount of X/Y/Z depth [3D], focus/clarity, and certainly different possibilities for tone.

[greyskull]

great river evry time

[Dean Roddey]

They are both really nice in their own way. But the GR is way more flexible. If you have various others and are particularly looking for that vibe that the 610 has, then obviously get it. But if you are looking for something more broadly applicable, the GR is much more so than the 610.

[pan60]

hands down the Great River for me.

[malice]

Great thread !

I like the "Fatso's soft sat and warmth VS portico 5042" thread as well

I intend to write a book about "vs" threads on gearslutz

They're so refreshing and fun

keep on the good work lads

malice

PS: how about threads that compares even more oposite things such as "Knoble and Cooley snare vs Neuman U67" or "Fender Rhodes MK1 vs Apogee ADX16" ?

There are no limits but your imagination

[mercurydime]

i own both, and i like each one very much. the great river gets tons of use here for drum overheads, guitars, and vox. the singers with whom i have used it say it's the best their vocals have ever sounded. they do sound good. the great river does a good job capturing detail while giving some meat to the sound, as you might expect.

i have to give some props to the 2-610 applied as an ovehead drum mic on the last two sessions done here. coupled with a royer sf-12 and some killer NOS tubes, the sound has a lot of depth and an exceedingly pleasant high end. mine is an older unit, and it's great with a variety of condensor mics, too, when you want that present but smooth top end...

i had been using the mp2nv almost exclusively for my OH, but the 2-610 has replaced it here as of late. of course, the sound ultimately has to do with the player and his instrument. shitty cymbals, poor arrangement and technique will usually turn out less than stellar. my experience using a ribbon as overhead mic mitigates this somewhat since the ribbons generally seem to repsond a little better to equalization.

at any rate...love both of these pre's and would hate to be without either. the mp2nv is a stone work horse, though

[popmann]

FWIW, I had the GR here for a long time...after I got an LA610 and Hv3, it almost never got used, so I sold it. It really did some fab things. I found it very picky about the mic--some very familiar mics sounded like strangers through it--some in a good way--some in a bad. I found it not so compatible with my sound--between the softer 610 and the cleaner Millenia, I felt fairly covered.

To me, though, it DID do very well as a bass DI (as does the 610, just different)...and really for lead vocals with an LDC--it would tame the high end and make it sound HUGE and in your face. To counter something said earlier, I find the 610 has more "third dimension"...for better or worse--again, some things love that huge, in your face, 2d sound. And I've NEVER used anything better than the ME1nv for that. I would love to have one today, honestly--if for nothing else but my lead vocals. I have a feeling my UM70 (which I didn't have at the time) would benefit from the GR's solid, big low/low mid thing...but, the thing about that preamp and my mic closet, is that there was nothing terribly consistent. I'd have to try it to see.

Thing is, I know what an API or Millenia or 610 will sound like with a given mic...not so with the GR. It was very trial and error. The attributes I KNEW would change? Less high end...more lows. But, the middle was more of a crapshoot. Sometimes magical. Sometimes not so.

[LucianX]

I've just got my Great River ME-1NV so haven't had the chance to test it out much yet. I got it to replace the Solo 610, which, without doubt, is the biggest piece of crap I've ever owned and I'm just glad I was able to return it and get a refund.

Lucian

[DarkSky Media]

Originally Posted by malice

They're so refreshing and fun

keep on the good work lads

Heh. Of course, we only do it for your amusement.

[Dean Roddey]

Originally Posted by LucianX

I've just got my Great River ME-1NV so haven't had the chance to test it out much yet. I got it to replace the Solo 610, which, without doubt, is the biggest piece of crap I've ever owned and I'm just glad I was able to return it and get a refund.

Lucian

That ain't true. It just wasn't what you were looking for. It's quite nice if you are looking for the particular vibe it imparts.

[DarkSky Media]

Originally Posted by Dean Roddey

That ain't true. It just wasn't what you were looking for...

Huh? You don't know ('cos he didn't say) if the 610 he had even passed audio. Or, for all you know, he may have sent it back because all the knobs fell off.

You *may* be right, but it's a hell of an assumption.

[la grange]

I have to say I have never had much time for the 610 till I tried the LA 610 SE. I had to have it and I use it everyday nowadays, more than my GR gear.
610 alone is kind of dull but get the comp in, even a 0 gain reduction, and it is another beast too.

Oli

[LucianX]

Originally Posted by Dean Roddey

That ain't true. It just wasn't what you were looking for. It's quite nice if you are looking for the particular vibe it imparts.

Well, it was nice for base, I'll give it that, but it was atrocious for vocals, it made a 2K mic sound like something from Radio Shack.

[Jorg]

Originally Posted by la grange

I have to say I have never had much time for the 610 till I tried the LA 610 SE

I also own the SE and love it.
I never tried the regular one tho so I cant really chime in.

[js1]

Funny, I've just spent today doing that comparison. The 610 preamp is part of a UA 6176 (610 + 1176) strip I just got of CL. GR won on most sources. But the 610 is pretty good, and will get used. As a guitar DI, I liked it more than the GR.

610 doesn't have much headroom, and it can get ugly if you're not careful (fortunately, on the 6176, they've added a 15 db pad).

Digging having a hardware 1176, though, I gotta say.

js