17th November 2011
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#1 | | Gear maniac
Joined: May 2010 Location: NY
Posts: 150
Thread Starter | Electro-love for Electronaut
Good day all,
The purpose of this thread is to wax poetically about the Electronaut M63 pre, as given my usage of it for the last several months it is most deserving of some love spread.
First I must state that Rob Roy Campbell is a magnificent and creative engineer (and a hell of a solid, awesome guy to boot)! His lab is a thing of electric envy and his dedication to keeping tight tolerances is remarkable. He posses the qualities in a designer and engineer I prize most highly....creativity, maniacal dedication to quality and a constant strive to become better than he already is.
The M63 is an amazing unit, hands down....and one of the best, if not THE best, modern tube mic pre I have used. I usually attempt to stray from non-objectively correlate-able descriptions of sound...at least as much as possible...but I find, that in this case, it seems to be unavoidable. In use I have found the Electronaut M63 to be not only versatile and robust but possessed of a subtle sensuousness. A quality that I can only relate in vague parallels....similar to finding yourself entranced of a singular physical quality of a woman that isn't directly sexual....an aspect that is immediately noticeable but not obviously definable, forcing you to stare (possibly foolishly) in order to acquire enough time or depth to truly understand what is causing this experience...but to no avail...making the enchanting effect all the more effective and glorious. It has elegant deviations from neutrality that are so well placed that one cannot stop the immediate micro-mannerism of quickly widening ones eyes....and the subconscious head nod of approval. I know for a fact that the circuit was designed and executed to achieve particular types of harmonic content at particular frequencies at particular levels...which at first seems like the design goal of any preamp designer, I can tell you from many discussions with many designers, it is not...for many it happens to be an incidental consequence of creating a circuit. Something that is cultivated and methodically manipulated is different than something that one merely deals with/designs AROUND. Be it the power supply design (custom toroid, tube rectification into film cap), the circuit (two dual triodes per channel), input&output Lundahl transformers, wheatstone bridge matched resistors for phantom (and literally aircraft switches for it), one of the least intrusive pads I have ever encountered, amazing gain structure or MiG-29 cockpit-esque faceplate, there isn't one thing about this pre that I haven't been floored by....and while I haven't won any Grammy's for engineering I have worked extensively with great tube pre's in a variety of settings and applications. From E.A.R. to TAB to Fearn's to RCA to Manley to Pendulum to numerous iterations of the V-series (76 etc) to hand built one off prototypes and I can definitively state that the Electronaut M63 not only held it's own in every case but handily outperformed many in many cases.
One might assume a slosh of 2nd order harmonic etc....culminating in what one might usually associate with an almost excessive warmth, but no. To refer to my earlier allusion to a fascinating woman....imagine now speaking with said woman and finding that she's smarter than you! There is no lack of transparency or resolution lost (sure one can pick up a Gordon-IMHO the pinnacle of ss pre's- and discover utmost peaks of resolution, however I never felt the M63 lacking). Paired with my own Pegasus microphone I never observed a loss of transient detail (given the Pegasus is my design employing a 1micron Stephen Paul Audio capsule I am obviously quite intimately familiar with its transient behavior)....Guitar, drums, vocals, strings, the melodious cacophony of Chuck Norris's beard making love to Christie Brinkley atop a Total Gym...you name it, I've recorded it with this pre. It has an amazingly low noise floor and wondrous headroom, handbuilt here in the U.S.A. (Chi-town)...each one by Mr.Campbell, with high quality parts to an exacting standard, I have never been so satisfied with a pre (aside from the Gordon).
I feel it is time for new classics and I personally have no more space in my head for another Neve 10xx iteration, or V7x copy, or 2550 footprint/transformer coupled thing, etc etc...while all good and useful and obviously to be heralded (I have owned some and still do) I feel that it's all getting a bit long in the tooth....and while we all build upon the shoulders of giants and owe a large debit to some degree, in one way or another, to the aforementioned circuit's, I feel that we all should be supporting new ideas and executions (as new as they can be, given we are all held as designers to the laws of physics)....one may argue that via reduction this is simply another transformer coupled, tube pre...but I would say thee nay. From circuit topology to parts selection to execution I feel this pre has verily set itself apart...not only in whatever objective parameters but also in subjective sonic terms as well. It is my opinion that you would be doing yourself a disservice by not at least trying this unit or at least contacting Mr.Campbell for a healthy dose new ideas.
Please take my statements as just the opinions of someone who cares, cares about sonics, cares about quality, cares about pushing things forward a little bit, cares about showing support for the new guy who upholds all of the previously stated qualities. My usually composed demeanor sheds in the face of true love, so forgive me if you find this all a little too hyperbolic...I only wish to share. This will be one of the few pre's I own that I didn't make for myself. I found something of a kindred design spirit in Mr.Campbell and hope to possibly even one day work with him on something (consider it a public invitation)...I take my hat off to him. I have no financial stake in his company and only want him to receive the recognition he deserves and to do well.
Three cheers for Electronaut!
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18th November 2011
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#2 | | Gear Head
Joined: Feb 2010 Location: Austin
Posts: 58
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Could you elaborate on which particular frequency ranges contain the notable or emphasized harmonic content that you referred to as being a design focus?
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18th November 2011
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#3 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 772
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Well, i wouldn't mind hearing it in action. It looks very sexy. This could be my next preamp.
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19th November 2011
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#4 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Sep 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 1,390
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didn't you guys share a booth at AES? :)
But seriously, I'd love to hear that thing. And your mic for that matter.
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19th November 2011
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#5 | | Gear maniac
Joined: May 2010 Location: NY
Posts: 150
Thread Starter | Salutations...
@yoshua, 1) I must temper my statement with the facts of dynamic relativism...distribution and level of harmonic content is dependent upon the level of what type of signal and given that all musical signals have non-flat frequency content (regarding amplitude); which changes in and of itself as input/output level changes, it is hard to say (and to impossible to design) it as a purely static component...however as a relative aspect it can be cultivated and directed (to varying degrees with various levels of success). All being a part of the design process; component selection (tube and transformer choices) circuit design and implementation (SE, PP, etc..Cathode follower, Circlotron etc...) resulting operational points (bias, voltage, type of plate loading etc)...all those things and more decide how your amp will behave harmonically with dynamic, frequency rich material; I.E. music...
And more importantly 2) Mr.Campbell has expressed to me that any in depth discussion of his design parameters etc, he would prefer to have the discussion with the interested party himself...and please feel free to contact him, he is always affable and great to come in touch with...however with that being said allow me to provide a point of reference....below you will find an example...
@Marcocet...We most certainly did, and was awesome! I am more than happy to arrange for a demonstration unit to be brought to you (as I too am in the NYC area, I usually handle these things myself)...BK, solid! Serendipity seems to be bringing me to BK quite often recently...Joel Hamilton is reviewing the mic (currently being written) and Justin Colletti did a phone interview with me that was recently posted on sonicscoop...
Female vocals...no compression, no eq, direct to PTHD 24/96, converted for posting...using the Pegasus mic. Approximately 8inches back...quick and dirty...so we hit a little hard in some areas...but you get the idea...
IMHO a great combo...I hope you enjoy...
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19th November 2011
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#6 | | 70% Coffee, 30% Beer
Joined: Dec 2006 Location: Quincy, MA
Posts: 9,136
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....Magic Science in a mic amp box,
Derived by tireless perseverance and Smart Intuition.
The M63 is a true Music maker,
Sharing some Electro_Love,,,,,one Electron at a time.
__________________ Adam Brass adam@dspdoctor.com  DSPdoctor.com "Where High End is Still King" 
__________________ "Any opinions above are worth exactly what you paid for them." Anonymous "If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward. Thomas Edison
RTFM
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