Brent Averill 1272 and 1073 preamp the same

[bendecido]

Ive been speaking to a guy at BA he tells me the preamp on their 1278 and their 1073 are basically the same. The only difference is the 1073 has a tracking eq.
Ive heard sum conflicting opinions about this. If anyone has any experiance regarding these pres let me know. Im not really interested in a tracking eq. Id much rather eq later with the avedis so if i was to invest in the 1278 would this be the same as a 1073 pre?
The thing is i take comments from these company sales guys with a pinch of salt and am looking for unbiased opinions thats why im askin u guys out here. let me kno
thanks alot

Bendecido

[beats workin']

many people say the 1272 is the same up until 40 db, but when i got a pair of 1066s i compared them with my BA neve 1272s and found they were different. it wasn't so much in the tone- they both have "that" sound. it was more in the way the pre handles the attack or transient of the sound. the 1066 sounded more musical and more dimensional. tone-wise, to be nit-0picky, the 1272s were a bit more "cloudy" in the lower-mids while the 1066s had a bit more definition there. i tested 4 1272s against 2 1066s so i think that rules out aq "bad" unit. still a great pre, though.
david

[cdog]

They're not trying to pull one over on you at BE.

Remember, the 1272 is one the cheapest models they sell.

"Salesmen" don't steer you towards the cheaper stuff.

I think BE offers some of the best deals in the biz, their 1272s included.

The 1073 has an extra gain stage and an EQ, but up to 40db the 1272 should be the very similar if not identical.

[bendecido]

thanks guys. i think ill be placin an order. since i normly have the gain up 30 and the output most of the way up for most of my vocals (hip-hop) i shudnt be goin past the 40dbs , i think ill achieve the 1073 sound.

thanks

bendecido

[Kurt Foster]

The basic amp components in the "1272" were never intended by Neve to be a mic pre. They were originally used by Neve as talkback amps and I believe they may have been used as headphone sends and summing amps for aux sends as well but they were not supposed to be mic pres.

Originally they were salvaged by some inventive guys like Brent Averil as a way to squeeze a little extra value out of Neves that were being scrapped. Now days the supply of Neves available for "parting out" has become virtually non existent, so most of the 1272's now on the market are being constructed new from scratch.

When asked if they were suitable as mic pres Rupert Neve has always said they were fine. Myself, I don't hear the same thing with the 1272's as I do with the other more "vintage" Neve offerings. The extra gain stage makes all the difference imo.

I worked a couple of rooms that were equipped with the BA 1272's and I was never impressed with the sound (or build quality) of them. One of these rooms had a Trident 65 and I preferred the sound of the console pres in most cases over the BAs.

That's not to say the BA (and other 1272 types) aren't good ...

Good Luck with your endeavors,

Kurt

Credits include: Brownie McGhee, cult following guitarist Kenny “Blue” Ray, Jackie Payne (of the Johnny Otis Band), Nik Turners "Space Ritual" with Nik Turner & individual members of Hawkwind, Polo Jones (of Michael Jackson, Peter Gabriel, Whitney Houston) and individual members of The Doobie Brothers, Tower of Power, Huey Lewis and The News and The Tubes.

[Tone Laborer]

With all due respect. I knew someone would chime in with this eventually. Technical,or audible differences aside, 1272's make good mic amps. I think many engineers have come to this opinion, and they have stood the test of time.

BTW, if anyone in Austin wants to shoot out a BA1272, 1073, 1066, 1278(?),or any neve clone to neve 1272s--I'm up for it.

We can settle this thing once and for all........yeah right.

[bendecido]

id love to c that. unfortunately i live in london

[Geoff_T]

Originally Posted by Kurt Foster

The basic amp components in the "1272" were never intended by Neve to be a mic pre. They were originally used by Neve as talkback amps and I believe they may have been used as headphone sends and summing amps for aux sends as well but they were not supposed to be mic pres.

Hi

Just to clarify, there's no "may have been"... they were designed specifically to be bus amps in a console and were also used as a talkback amplifier but this was the only application Neve ever used them as a microphone amplifier.

Even then, they did not pile all the gain on the first amplifier and leave the second amplifier virtually idling. The 70dB of gain for the talkback mic amp was made up of 10dB gain in the two transformers and the remaining 60dB equally split between the first and second amplifiers.

The fact that a device has the same 10468, 1166, and 283AV as a 1073 does not make a device a 1073... the wiring of these "building blocks" is completely different but, at low gains, the difference is so minimal that I doubt folk will hear it.

Above around 45 to 50dB gain the differences will begin to show and, above 60dB of gain, the 1272 will sound like a 1272 that's been frigged for a lot of gain. It won't sound like a 1073 because it isn't a 1073. It needs the extra amplifier to make it a 1073... or 1290 microphone amplifier, to be precise.

This isn't to say that the 1272 doesn't make a nice mic preamplifier... it does. I just wish it would not be compared to a 1073 unless the gain was limited to below the introduction of the extra amplifier in the 1073 and the gain switch wiring followed exactly.

Then the comparison would have validity.

The 1278 reference was a typo by the original poster...

[beats workin']

as always, a really great reply from Geoff. thanks,
David

[Tone Laborer]

I had one brief, unscientific test between the 1272s and a 1073. They didn't sound the exact same, but I wasn't dissappointed with the 1272 (racked by BAE). The test was screwball anyway, mic moved, after the session kind of thing.

Thanks for (re) typing that info, Geoff, you all built a mean talkback mic pre.