2 channels of Chameleon Labs Pre/Eq/Comp or GAP 73 ?

[nyne]

Am building a new system around a Steinberg MR816X.
I do not record drums, but need pre's for Vocals, Elec & Acoustic Guitar, Tabla and some other acoustic world instruments.
Am also interested in running my softsynths, basses, leads, pads, drum loops through some outboard gear.....and the final mix.
Tall order!!!

Budget is limited and i was thinking of a stereo channel in addition to the clean pres on the MR816X.

I can save money and buy a pair of modded GAP Pre 73, and also run my final mixes through it.
Or i can have more versatility with 2 Chameleon Lab Pre/Eq's and their Comps.

My question is that in this day and age of awesome plug-ins, should i just invest in the GAP Pre 73 and do all my eqing/compressing ITB ? Or invest in the Chameleon Labs pieces.

EQ aside, which is a better pre, the 73 or the Chameleon labs one. Can never remember the model number, they only make one pre/eq so u know the one!

What do u suggest ?
Thanks

[Beefy]

I don't own either but the did head to head comparison of the with the neve 1073 in the Gap 73 topic. Its earlier on the thread is like 100 pages I think I remember the gap sounding better but grittier. You never know what the guy was doing with the eq on the chameleon lab.

It would of sounded the same as the neve but the gain wasn't as clean and I audibly notice the distortion. after they switch out both transformers the gap sounded just as good as the neve to me though.

If It were me I'd buy one of each unmod the Gap and use the tonal qualitys of it to dirty things up ocationaly and record everything else on the chameleon lab unless you were plan on doing stereo recordings.

[rty5150]

as an owner of the CL 7622(older unit that is pres only) and 7602(i own a pair of 7622's and 7602's), the versatility of the pres are amazing and sound excellent, too. don't know what is more of a priority for your particular setup. if you are a sole ITB guy, the outboard eq may be foreign and may not get used much, in a hybrid rig like mine, it is perfect. i am finding myself less and less reliant on plug-ins and would rather used outboard gear to process and print. takes a bit more time to print the track and there is no instant recall, but imo, the sonic difference is amazing and the less system resources are a blessing, too. if you are looking for just a smoking preamp to run into your front end, the preamp sans eq is fine, but for carving signal in post with transformer mojo, the 7602 is a . i love mine so much that i want another pair of them.

[nyne]

Thank You!!

[Blast9]

As rty5150 said - the EQ is very useful for tracking... and very flexible, and for vocals (including my own) I have found it invaluable to shape the tone according to each different singer/mic combo

[nyne]

Would u guys run ur mixes through the pre ?
How colored is it,or do u have some control over colored and clean.
Thanks

[Blast9]

I've never put a mix through the Chameleon, but... Its best tones are between clean and 65db gain - anything over that it gets too gnarly.

Smooth, fat detailed and clear when clean... smooth but bigger/fatter when pushed. yay!

The hi shelf is wonderful!

[rty5150]

Originally Posted by Blast9

The hi shelf is wonderful!

yes it is, the selectable low filter is another blessing of this unit.

[Audio Child]

Originally Posted by nyne

Would u guys run ur mixes through the pre ?
How colored is it,or do u have some control over colored and clean.
Thanks

Why would you wanna do that ?

A pre is not gonna do much to your mix bus, Get a compressor or eq.

[Illmo]

I just got my 7602 and I love it!! Sounds clean but not too colored. It adds a finished quality to vox. I highly recommend it.

[nyne]

@Audio Child. Just to see if one cud add some color/character, experiment.
Cheers