A.P.I 3124 Review

[AllAboutTone]

You guys have talked alot about API pres, eq etc, well my 3124 arrived today and i must stay its worth the buck. I have not tried it on everything but here is a list that i test drove.

Kick, very sweet ...Love it.......... D112, Beta 52, ATM25
Vocals. a different flavor with a nice full edge
Bass, what i heard was decent, i do not have a real good bass guitar, still like my VC3 to
Guitars.....omg, thats where the 3124 shines so nice. 414
Snare, no good results YET !!! my tascam pres sound better. yes i was using sm57
Toms : have not tried but i like what i have now with the Tascam, 421s

If i end up using the 3124 for Kick and guitars it will be worth the $$$, but i have no intentions of stoping there, cant wait to see how it works with bluegrass and other music.

This does not mean that i hate my Avalon gear, trust me the 2022s and 2044 are staying in my rack right below the API. I also love that silky 2022 sound, o so sweet.

I guess i have the best of both worlds now, API works for me.

ps: about that issue with pushing the 3124s in and pading the outputs, that was something i did not have trouble with, my m2600 had tons of headroom in the line input area to do so. That must be a PT / Cubebase/etc issue.
Gotta say again, I love the APIs, thanks to all mt gearslutz buds that said they were great.

[Brad McGowan]

It's interesting that you say you didn't like the API on snare. That's one application where I personally feel it really shines. What do you like about your Tascam pres that the API isn't giving you? Are you listening in the context of a full mix or just solo?

Brad

[esrsteve]

Originally Posted by Brad McGowan

It's interesting that you say you didn't like the API on snare. That's one application where I personally feel it really shines. What do you like about your Tascam pres that the API isn't giving you? Are you listening in the context of a full mix or just solo?

Brad

Ditto what Brad says... API pres have always been goto items for me on all drums. There must be some variable at play here...

esrsteve

[Soldier777c]

Send the box back to API and let them know that one of the pres is broken (whichever one it was you used on the snare).

But in seriousness, I'm surprised that it didn't sound good to you in that application. The API 3124 (and 512c) is one of my favorites on the top snr head. Did you pad it and crank the gain? You should really be able to get that pre to punch nicely for you. Give it a second go.

Or maybe swap the snare out with another one and see if you get better results there. You never know.

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by Brad McGowan

It's interesting that you say you didn't like the API on snare. That's one application where I personally feel it really shines. What do you like about your Tascam pres that the API isn't giving you? Are you listening in the context of a full mix or just solo?

Brad

Full mix, it was cold and harsh sounding. i will try again tho.

[fross]

Originally Posted by zaza

Full mix, it was cold and harsh sounding. i will try again tho.

Don't second guess yourself. I have the 3124 aswell and it shines on certain things and can sound very "cold and harsh" in other applications. It's a nice pre, but it's not the panacea you may have been lead to believe.
I wouldn't think of getting rid of it though.

[hurricaneE]

Originally Posted by fross

Don't second guess yourself. I have the 3124 aswell and it shines on certain things and can sound very "cold and harsh" in other applications. It's a nice pre, but it's not the panacea you may have been lead to believe.
I wouldn't think of getting rid of it though.

Agreed. I LOVE API on kick and guitars (and not snare); isn't that enough?
-E

[crypticglobe]

Yeah... I have always preferred a Neve type pre on snare over API. Same with Toms for the most part. I prefer API on everything else though (OH's, HH, Ride, Kick, Room, etc...)

I like the natural compression and supa-fat low end of the Neve for snare. It's just the ticket.

However.. if the API just sounded BAD on the snare... and the Tascam sounded good... I would agree that something must be wrong with it. I would be perfectly happy to do a snare drum with any API pre if it was my only choice. I know I could get it to sound good... unless the drum sucked... or the mic was broken... or something like that.

jmtc..

[David@MVS]

Originally Posted by zaza

Snare, no good results YET !!! my tascam pres sound better. yes i was using sm57

ps: about that issue with pushing the 3124s in and pading the outputs, that was something i did not have trouble with, my m2600 had tons of headroom in the line input area to do so.

I was going to joke and point out that you are using a door-stop to record the snare, but obviously a bazillion fine recordings were make with that mic....
AND....
The api has 1500 ohm impedance at the mic input which IMO is the optimum level for the SM57!

It just may not be the sound you like to hear from your snare.

How does the snare sound thru the OHs (thru the api of coarse)?

Regards,
David

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by crypticglobe

Yeah... I have always preferred a Neve type pre on snare over API. Same with Toms for the most part. I prefer API on everything else though (OH's, HH, Ride, Kick, Room, etc...)

I like the natural compression and supa-fat low end of the Neve for snare. It's just the ticket.

However.. if the API just sounded BAD on the snare... and the Tascam sounded good... I would agree that something must be wrong with it. I would be perfectly happy to do a snare drum with any API pre if it was my only choice. I know I could get it to sound good... unless the drum sucked... or the mic was broken... or something like that.

jmtc..

Everything is good on ail the pres on the 3124, the tascam m2600 has always been under rated, the pres are super warm , i admit that i did get a semi good sound after working myself to death with the eq running the snare thru the api. whats missing is the warm low end in the snare vs my pres in the m2600, the other stuff like vocals, guitar, bass, kick are KILLER. Again i will keep at it, just takes some work.
another thing that is cool if you are looking for a different but o so sweet thick sound, try recording with the api etc and mix your finish product, then run your master back thru the line of the 3124, 2 channels, stereo back to a finished master, wow thats nice, anyone tried that ????