Favorite mic pre for ribbon mics?

[AB3]

Who has a favorite mic pre for ribbon mics - preferably high gain, best impedence for ribbons, low noise and clean or nicely colored?
Thanks in advance.

[NathanEldred]

All the ones in my rack are my favorite (seriously)...there is no favorite, because it completely depends on the situation.

If I think the sound of the ribbon is appropriate for the instrument, I couple it with the preamp that I think will accentuate the right frequencies and harmonic distortion characteristics (or lack of) of how I want that instrument to sound and fit into the mix. From a technical aspect I don't have one preamp under 60 or 65 db, so they are all appropriate with the amount of gain they have. As far as impedance, forget the rules...I've run ribbons into very low impedance mic inputs, and very high impedances. Those differences will generate different sounds, again that are appropriate depending on what I'm after.

I know that's a very vague answer, but for me it's about how one instrument gels with other instruments to find it's own place.

[Hans Styer]

The new Mackie Onyx pre works fine with any ribbon mic.
If you have an excess of money in your pocket, do buy
one that your dealer reccomends.
If you are recording a very quiet source dont use a ribbon or wait for the
AEA ribbon mic pre which will have ?80 db of gain and not cost too much.
If your source doesn't sound too good get a pre with alot of color or distortion to camoflage (sp?) the source.
HS

[84K]

I really like the Pendulum MDP-1 for most ribbon mics. It has the ability to get some many sounds from clean to mean just by varying the gain structure.

[spherop]

i have just added an aea r84.
have tried it with pendulum quartet, great river merc edition, hardy m-1, gml 2032, tab 78.

from my experience what nathan says is correct... once you have enough gain, it's more about some tonal shift each pre will impart.
if you don't have a slew of pres, from my experience of the bunch i have tried, the hardy is my #1 because as a single channel and cost effective <$1k. it will sound great with a ribbon nad has plenty of gain.

[sordeli]

I have a pair of Beyer M160, I use a Manley dual mic pre when I record trumpet & sax,(amazing)
for ac. guitrs and vocals I use the ISA428, diferent colours with the impedance switch thumbsup

[warhead]

The Onyx preamps actually will match fine with ribbons as stated above!

I use the Safe Sound Audio P1 pre a lot with my R84, with a 2.4k input impedence and 70+db of gain...I'm set and it matches well.

The Phoenix DRS stuff is great with ribbons too, as well as the ADL600 which just gives that big open huge sound with tons of gain.

War

[Vasypher]

My 6176 is a great preamp/compressor combo for both my RCA 77dx and my R121. Also, the GTQ-3 and Avalon 737 work as well on certain instruments.

[AB3]

Thanks for many of the great comments. I suppose I should learn to be patient and wait for the FRED FORSSELL designed AEA pre that is suppose to be out in a month and is specifically designed for ribbons. It will be on the clean side, but I can always add color with a compressor or something, or just paint my hard drive (ok - I went to far there).

[sonare]

I have an SF12, and for instruments I prefer my Millennia Media for max transient response. When I do NOT want max transients I go to my Broadhurst Garden #2, or for more warmth my Precision 8. They all have plenty of gain and are very quiet.

Rich

[Meriphew]

Been digging the 121 > API for e. guitars.

[jdunn]

DACS Micamp is another good one. I love the sound of my SF-12 when running through the DACS.

[Joost]

Originally Posted by jdunn

DACS Micamp is another good one. I love the sound of my SF-12 when running through the DACS.

I was just going to suggest the Dacs Micamp. It's the only pre with 'negligable' in the noise specs.

[retropete]

121 > Brent Averill 312 for room mic for drums
121 > Brent Averill 1272 for guitar

(did I mention... Brent Averill?)