Listening to preamps on the ZenPro Clipalator

[jrod9900]

Wow... I don't even know what to say. Love the quote above me though!!! Literally laughed in the middle of a meeting!

Jrod

[ShadowAMD]

Originally Posted by FilmNMusicman

Exactly as was said above me...You think that the same singer will sound worlds better when you buy that new "super pre", then you plug in the mic, position your singer, hit record and she/he still sounds basically the same.

Plugging into a $20 Behringer mixer pre vs an API pre I guarantee you'll hear a difference. Probably night and day in that case. BUT if you need the sound of a cheap mixer say for an effect, trying to get that API to sound like that Behringer POS will be near impossible.

It's all dependant, if your a studio (A true studio catering to the needs of many) Then something like API will be worth it..

If your doing electronic music with one vocal, a DMP and a cheap mic may do the job..

You may want a LO-FI sound?

I think we can speculate, but it's ultimately down to the person..

[thepilgrimsdream]

Once upon a time, a group of engineers had Stevie Wonder sing into to a neve, then an api, then a great river. Much to their surprise, it was still stevie wonders voice.

[aclarson]

Originally Posted by Chrisc_o

Nice one.

Here's a thread I've referenced quite often. IF you REALLY want to improve your skills and knowledge I recommend reading it:

Why do your recordings sound like ass? - Cockos Confederated Forums

True dat.

One of the best threads I've come across. The rest are in my sig.

[warhead]

Originally Posted by duff mcshark

They have full mixes to listen to on the clipilator, and they are what I was listening to mostly.

That's where we heard the most difference too, when mixing it identically every time, only swapping out the preamp, was in the MIX file. Now you hear a somewhat additive effect, like you would recording a small song would reveal, if you could swap preamps on identical performances.

There are a few standouts in the Clipalator when it comes to preamps, and there are some that sound at least as good as everything else but have killer features, and there are some that sound a bit better but are not built very sturdy. Some are cleaner, some veil the sound a bit, some saturate and you end up with a higher perceived average volume, some might sound slightly "smaller" but it's because the preamp delivered a higher resolution sound (sharper peaks...) which in this style of comparison might be taken as a negative, if you don't know how we did it and why.

Overall what I'm trying to say is the preamp test is arguably the least "real world" of any of the Clipalator tests @ ZenPro, however it remains the only repeatable test that lets you hear only one difference in a recording: the preamp being swapped out. Human beings are a bigger variable between performances / takes than what we do, so we eliminate the new performance / takes. I agree with the overall sentiment of grabbing a great preamp with the features you need and best build quality you can afford, and make music and stop worrying about swapping or owning 15 "flavors". One EQ will make more difference than 100 flavors of preamp.

Enjoy!

War

[pjmuck]

Thanks for the clarification, Warhead.

I love that Zen Pro took the time to do these extensive sound samples. Big props!
The big question for me, however, (and only those who actually own some of these pres can confirm) is how accurate/consistent is the Clipalator to capturing the "true" overall character of these pres. I'll second the opinion that many of these pres sounded very similar and/or indistinguishable from one another, though after scrolling through dozens of them one after another you can quickly get burned out so I had to step away for a bit and come back to revisit them again later to hear subtle differences. Compound that fact with the fact that everyone has different ears, different listening environments, gear, etc. and you can quickly see that there's no clear singular answer to this question. But from my perspective, some definitely distinguished themselves from others, and to my surprise they weren't necessarily the higher end ones, IMO. I've been listening to the full mix samples over the past few days and, while I did revise my initial opinions on some, I was happy to find that my ears still gravitated to the ones I initially liked. I assume these are not final finished mixes, but I personally felt that many of these pres gave the impression that the lead vocals were a bit too buried in the mix, so I naturally gravitated to those pres that offered more up front vocals with better overall clarity. That's my personal mix preference, so it's obviously quite possible that a lead vocal could be bumped up on any pre, which is why you have to consider that pres are only part of the equation in addition to setting proper levels, EQ, etc. I listened through both my Mackie HR624mk2s and KRS KNS-8400 headphones. Anyway, so the parameters I personally used when assessing/preferring these were: definition and clarity, warmth, 3-dimensionality, and "oomph" without mud in the low end (for lack of better description).

As a consumer looking for my first pre on a budget (other than mic pres built in to my Babyface), here's my short list of inexpensive pres that impressed me (in no particular order):

Aphex Channel: nice price with lots of additional offerings (compressor, parametric EQ, aural exciter). Not as thick sounding as others, but I liked the top end clarity.
Drawmer MXPro 60: wasn't crazy about it standard mode but with tube engaged had a nice roundness and "oomph" factor. Add a touch more EQ clarity and this could be the ticket
True Systems P Solo
Summit Audio 2BA-221
Vintage Design M73 might just be my favorite of the lot
Golden Age Pre 73 MKII TT Mod - my personal favorite choice of the configurations available. I wouldn't say it was a standout though, regardless, but the price is tough to beat

I might change my opinions tomorrow. ;^)

Would love to hear a Portico 5012, 5017, UA solo 610, and Vintech Dual 72 or x73i added to the list (though I see you don't sell Vintech or UA).