Germanium

[bwindsor]

I'm thinking of adding another pre to the studio...right now I'm using a Pacifica (which I love) and the pre's in a Drawmer 1969 Mercenary Edition (which I like fine as secondary pre's, bought it for the mix-bus really)....I'm interested in the Germanium, but don't want to get something similar to what I already have...also thinking about the Great River ME1NV as well, but again, the Germanium has caught my eye (not my ear yet as I haven't heard it)...I can "borrrow" one, but want to know first if it's worth the trouble if I'm already in that "ballpark" with what I have...basically would like this pre for another flavour/additional overall duty, but definitely want it to cover lead vocals with the right singer as well...as for mics, I'm currently using Microtech Gefell M930's, Rode NTV Tube, EV RE20 and an assortment of 57's and the like...maybe what I really need is an ultra-clean pre, but nothing out there in that vein interests me that much....anyway, thanks for any info you can provide!

BW

[3rd world order]

there's nothing that sounds like the germ... you'll use it to death.

I particularly love the DI for re-grooving lifeless digital.

edit: i'm starting to call it the "depth and growl machine"

[GYang]

I have many various pres (10 or 12) from hyper clean to crunchy and vintage.
Two Germs added lately, as they are again complete different story.
Not the first pre in collection, but MUST HAVEthumbsup

[blaugruen7]

Originally Posted by GYang

I have many various pres (10 or 12) from hyper clean to crunchy and vintage.
Two Germs added lately, as they are again complete different story.
Not the first pre in collection, but MUST HAVEthumbsup

gyang,
do you have some kind of studio?
i mean recording studio for others. perhaps a homepage?
or is this your private thing?
i am just interested what kind of music you are creating.

[Open Sky]

Originally Posted by GYang

Two Germs added lately, as they are again complete different story.
Not the first pre in collection, but MUST HAVEthumbsup

Hi, just curious why you think the Germ would not be a good first pre. From what others have said, it's very flexible and has a great sound. I'm curious because I'm thinking of getting a pair to improve what I can do with my decent, but unremarkable, Presonus M80s. The adjectives "warm, thick, vintage and organic" that people use to describe the Germ make is sound like a very fine unit, indeed!

Thanks.

[mrbobo]

My first hi end pre was a Germ. I'm a hobbyist- tracking guitars ,bass, BFD Drums, and midi keys - all ITB. I auditioned several name brand pres along with the Germ, and as much as I wanted to like some of the others, I boxed them up and away they went, while the GERM has a permanent home in my rack. I'm now waiting on my 2nd Germ to arrive.

With the addition of the 2nd Germ, my Evil Empire is taking form, and world domination is inevitable.

[3rd world order]

Originally Posted by crossroad

In fact i'm looking for a unit re-grooving lifeless digital.
Did you compare it to a Fatso, Cluture Vulture, 5042 etc..?

compared it to quad eight pacifica pre and Neve 3114... but I've also heard the DW fearn, API, Daking, etc etc... the germ is unique.

And the Germ in combo with a Cranesong HEDD & a compressor is lots of fun..

Vulture is on the list of things to get.. eventually.

[Open Sky]

Mr. Bobo--

What was it that stood out for you about the Germ that made it the keeper?

Thanks.

[Lek]

Originally Posted by 3rd world order

And the Germ in combo with a Cranesong HEDD & a compressor is lots of fun..

I just got a killer direct bass recording tonight through the Germ, Drawmer 1968, and Cranesong Spider with my '79 p bass (doesn't have the pentode and triode, but the tape knob is great sometimes)

[3rd world order]

Originally Posted by Lek

I just got a killer direct bass recording tonight through the Germ, Drawmer 1968, and Cranesong Spider with my '79 p bass (doesn't have the pentode and triode, but the tape knob is great sometimes)

try smashing some delay or reverb returns thru the Germ when you print to digital... yum...

ppl will wonder what kind of "warm, vintage, etc.. " DDL/rev you're using...

[Open Sky]

3rd World Order, out of curiousity, what type of music do you mainly record? Your Germ posts always get me psyched and I wonder what musical context they are being applied to.

Thanks.

[3rd world order]

Originally Posted by Open Sky

3rd World Order, out of curiousity, what type of music do you mainly record? Your Germ posts always get me psyched and I wonder what musical context they are being applied to.

been working on my wanna-be Curve/My Bloody Valentine/Primals thing lately.. trying to put some songs together with varying degrees of success.

so far I'm a lot better engineer than a songwriter.. but it's coming along slowly..

when i work for other ppl i have to tone down my natural tendencies quite a bit... but i generally do rock music with a strong leaning towards aggressive drum/gtr sounds... sometimes i'll add synths/guitars to other ppl's tracks.. sometimes i'll mix.. sometimes i'll do ghetto mastering... i'm competent at a lot of jobs and not really stellar at any one thing yet...

when i worked at a "real" studio in montreal doing proper bands I was generally the guy for WTF type sounds, like:

aaron, get a gtr sound (goes thru box of wacky pedals)..
aaron, make this snare drum sound like a drum machine...
aaron, make this eventide 4000 do something...
aaron, calibrate the studer..
aaron, play this moog...
aaron, glue down that bass part.. etc etc..

left to my own devices i tend to go a lot more out in leftfield so i always try to have someone who is more grounded around me when i mix... I like turning everything into My Bloody Valentine.

it looks like i have a new studio job in july mixing local filipino bands so we'll see how that goes... should be fun...

[George Necola]

the germaniums on guitar are like a hot chic, with big knobs and beautiful eyes wanna have ... a coffeeee with you but she is stupid and can't do other things, but you are very impressed by the first view, and how hot she can make coffee. never get her to pay the bills or clear the dishes.

the pacifica is the slow, cute girlfriend, who wanna have a house and a dog one day, mary you, clean everything up and just behaving nice.

It's a matter of application

[ta77se]

[QUOTE=George Necola]the germaniums on guitar are like a hot chic, with big knobs and beautiful eyes wanna have ... a coffeeee with you but she is stupid and can't do other things, but you are very impressed by the first view, and how hot she can make coffee. never get her to pay the bills or clear the dishes.

Considering im not they marrying type this pre amp is sounding better all the time. Must say iv'e had more fun with my "stupid" girlfriends than the more stable ones that bore me to tears, mabey the same goes for mic pre's?

Anyway i'd like to buy a Germanium for my rock situation.

[George Necola]

yes thats exactly my point

ahh.. my english sucks

[Open Sky]

Originally Posted by 3rd world order

been working on my wanna-be Curve/My Bloody Valentine/Primals thing lately.. trying to put some songs together with varying degrees of success.

so far I'm a lot better engineer than a songwriter.. but it's coming along slowly..

when i work for other ppl i have to tone down my natural tendencies quite a bit... but i generally do rock music with a strong leaning towards aggressive drum/gtr sounds... sometimes i'll add synths/guitars to other ppl's tracks.. sometimes i'll mix.. sometimes i'll do ghetto mastering... i'm competent at a lot of jobs and not really stellar at any one thing yet...

when i worked at a "real" studio in montreal doing proper bands I was generally the guy for WTF type sounds, like:

aaron, get a gtr sound (goes thru box of wacky pedals)..
aaron, make this snare drum sound like a drum machine...
aaron, make this eventide 4000 do something...
aaron, calibrate the studer..
aaron, play this moog...
aaron, glue down that bass part.. etc etc..

left to my own devices i tend to go a lot more out in leftfield so i always try to have someone who is more grounded around me when i mix... I like turning everything into My Bloody Valentine.

it looks like i have a new studio job in july mixing local filipino bands so we'll see how that goes... should be fun...

Thanks very much. Sounds like very cool stuff. I don't do stuff nearly as big and meaty as that, so I'm not sure if the Germ would be as applicable to my stuff. I just want a pre that can provide as much of the the warmth and thickness and gooeyness of tape as possible--without the tape--to make my recordings of indie-ish/songwriter-y stuff sound full and rich. I thought it sounded like the Germ had that ability(?)

Sorry bwindsor if this ended up a bit OT!

George Nicola--are you saying the Germ is a one-trick pony? How so?

Thanks all.

[3rd world order]

Originally Posted by Open Sky

I just want a pre that can provide as much of the the warmth and thickness and gooeyness of tape as possible--without the tape--to make my recordings of indie-ish/songwriter-y stuff sound full and rich. I thought it sounded like the Germ had that ability(?)

it can be subtle... just dont turn the feedback up to 10, the thick switch on, and clamp down the PAD.

[Open Sky]

Cool, thanks. I'm definitely going to demo it when the time comes (when I've got the $). I'm really looking forward to actually hearing this thing for myself!

[lpkyer]

hey what studio did you worked for in montreal? also, if you need drums parts for your MBV stuff, I'm right here!!

[mrbobo]

Originally Posted by Open Sky

Mr. Bobo--

What was it that stood out for you about the Germ that made it the keeper?

Thanks.

Well, hmm descriptive adjectives.... Well, I auditioned it against a Portico, and a Great River. The Portico was very nice, but I just liked the Germ better. I went back and forth on these 2 for a while... Against the great river , to my ears, was no contest at all.

The Germ just had it all for me...great lows (GR lacked), but not muddy, fantastic mids; the highs were just perfect. The Portico highs were very open and nice- I just liked the flavour of the Germ better. The GR had a very distict mid/high color- again I just liked the Germ better.

Like many on here will tell you, it's all subjective. I am often, utterly full of shit
Get one and listen!

[Open Sky]

Thanks so much. Those kinds of descriptions are very helpful to to get a comparative feel before auditioning--or deciding WHAT to audition. I'm planning on trying out the Germ. It's at the top of my short list. thumbsup

[Open Sky]

Oh, and good luck mrbobo with that evil empire/world domination thing!

[C/G]

[QUOTE=3rd world order]I like turning everything into My Bloody Valentine.
[QUOTE]

Maybe a trip to the Philipines for a month is order. You need a drummer? I can sleep on the floor!

[bwindsor]

Thanks to all replies so far...I'm actually hooking one up tonight in the studio for a few days testing, so I guess I'll know by Monday (or sooner) if it "plays nice" with everything else....If not, back it goes!!!

BW

[partnering]

here is my post of a short vocal sample of sm57 thru a germ then thru the 3 settings of the mono gama in an api lunchbox.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/showp...9&postcount=19

even tho the performance varies and i normalized and changed the gain abit to even the levels i think you can hear some differences as I could in the samples.

[allencollins]

Personally I think the Chandler Germaniums sound kinda bad. It has a very 'old' sound to it which I don't like. It's very muddy and compressed sounding. I sold mine. The only thing I thought it sounded OK on was kick and snare and even that wasnt great. Too retro for me

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by partnering

here is my post of a short vocal sample of sm57 thru a germ then thru the 3 settings of the mono gama in an api lunchbox.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/showp...9&postcount=19

even tho the performance varies and i normalized and changed the gain abit to even the levels i think you can hear some differences as I could in the samples.

i gotta say like the Germ way better in this test.thumbsup

[mrbobo]

Originally Posted by allencollins

Personally I think the Chandler Germaniums sound kinda bad. It has a very 'old' sound to it which I don't like. It's very muddy and compressed sounding. I sold mine. The only thing I thought it sounded OK on was kick and snare and even that wasnt great. Too retro for me

The Germ really comes alive when you run a Fender thru it.

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by mrbobo

The Germ really comes alive when you run a Fender thru it.

LOL

[thermos]

Thanks for the a/b partnering. Quite a huge difference between all the mono gamma settings. That and the germanium both sound awesome!