your ultimate mic pre for stereo recording?

[JayCrouch]

I know we have some of the purist stereo recording people here...

those of you that record classical or jazz with a stereo pair of microphones, what is your dream setup?

the schoeps stuff is great, as well as neumanns such as the tlm-170s and km-84s, and even the soundfield st-250 for blumlien, and the DPA stuff for really flat accuracy..

favorite preamps like the neve and api tone really don't work that well for capturing things deep down to the spectrum...

I've always loved the sound of the millenia hv-3's, and for years used an apogee ad-1000 which had millenia based preamps in it.

Perhaps John from millenia could shed some light on what those preamps were and why they sounded so awesome

for the rest of you, what preamp do you really trust when you are working with just a stereo pair?

[Knox]

I am certainly no purist to offer input on the proper mic pres for classical recording . . . but as I read your post . . the thing that came to mind is the importance of ABSOLUTE phase in a recording like this. I think I would be sure I had a Little Labs phase box (I forget the model number) to check myself.

Man I have got to get a couple of those things. I wish they weren't so expensive.

[Jules]

Earthworks mic's & thier own pre's get my classical chums all happy - they have about 8 QTC-1's and a pair of the pre's...

[e-cue]

Lately, the A Design's MP-2 mic pre (stereo) with two Royer 122's have totally rocked my world. Both are new items, but I haven't used an EQ on this chain yet. If you haven't tried this combo out yet, call a rental company.

[Beech]

I've been fairly happy with Earthworks onmis and Massenburg pres. Only problem is the Earthworks can get slightly hissy if the gain is cranked. We've just got a Soundfield so I'm expecting that to be the business.

[JayCrouch]

anyone out there use the millenia, GML, or Buzz preamps in their live rigs?

havent had a chance to use the GML or Buzz stuff first hand, yet have heard nothing but great things..

[cajonezzz]

Originally posted by JayCrouch
anyone out there use the millenia, GML, or Buzz preamps in their live rigs?

havent had a chance to use the GML or Buzz stuff first hand, yet have heard nothing but great things..

We've got a Millenia HV3-d 8 ch Pre. Sounds nice. No color to speak of, super solid build quality.
We Also took out (and you should definately check out) a True systems P2.....very nice but we went with a vintech 1272 instead for the attitude. P2 is high on the list though or the future.
btw, my buddy SWEARS by the Aphex 207. 2 channels and cheap. I've yet to hear it but he owns alot of high end boutique stuff and loves the Aphex.

who carries the Buzz audio stuff in so. Cal??? heard great things about em

[Tubelover]

For those of us working without the luxury of tape the Trak 2 works rather well.

[JayCrouch]

Originally posted by e-cue
Lately, the A Design's MP-2 mic pre (stereo)

haven't heard of this puppy, any linkage you could drop for us?

[e-cue]

[disclaimer] I liked it so much, I started an endorsement with them. Here's the link of the distro, just scroll down a little: http://www.xvisionaudio.com/febweb1/...vigation12.htm The people at A designs are VERY cool cats.

[e-cue]

[Roland]

I get to do quite a lot of this type of recording and in my experience there are many good mic amps out there. The results of the mic pre shootout suggested that the differences were probably less than would have been intially suspected. I would however suggest that as some of the other posters have pointed out, things like Focusrite, Neve, API's are not necessarily the best for this type of work, I suspect this is mostly to do with the transformered front ends. Usually I would suggest any well designed transformerless mic amp is probably best suited to this kind of work such as the ones reccomended above.

Regards


Roland

[atticus]

A lot of classical purists use our MPS-400 mic pre. I have gone to a lot of the recordings and have had a chance to sit and really shoot out pre's for use in classical recording. The Boston symphony has a lot of our pres and they use thm in conjunction with the Millennia and GML stuff they have and they all really compliment each other well. (Disclaimer, I work for Benchmark, but I love all gear!! )

[wildplum]

just because it is seldom mentioned, i think i'll offer that i often use a neumann SM 69 stereo mic for this sort of thing, particularly small ensamble jazz. more forward sounding than the 4011s or 4006s (which i also own and use on this stuff). sometimes just right. usually through a millennia HV3 but, again surprisingly, sometimes a Demeter VTMP. (oh, and i don't work for any of these guys.)

[Roland]

Originally posted by atticus
A lot of classical purists use out MPS-400 mic pre. I have gone to a lot of the recordings and have had a chance to sit and really shoot out pre's for use in classical recording. The Boston symphony has a lot of our pres and they use thm in conjunction with the Millennia and GML stuff they have and they all really compliment each other well. (Disclaimer, I work for Benchmark, but I love all gear!! )

Well you can let me have one! If its good I don't mind giving you an independent endorsement!

Regards


Roland

[atticus]

Originally posted by Roland
Well you can let me have one! If its good I don't mind giving you an independent endorsement!

Regards


Roland

They won't even let me have one . We do sell the raw preamp module for $199. All you need is the PSU and connector and a box. Tons of guys buy these things and mount them in their own boxes for a total of about $250. Not a bad way to go. It's not going to replace your Neve or API but it will sure compliment it.

[20db.com]

Originally posted by JayCrouch
anyone out there use the millenia, GML, or Buzz preamps in their live rigs?
havent had a chance to use the GML or Buzz stuff first hand, yet have heard nothing but great things..

Jay I use the Buzz all the time and it's a sweet thang.

Very smooth, transparent but not sterile at all. Everyone I know who has one agrees, it's very musicial. It is especially sweet on acoustic guitar, piano, strings.

Hope this helps.

Lee

[Mike Jasper]

As I've said before, I'm pretty much a buy so I can try guy. Although most of the time I break even on resale, sometimes I lose -- but it's cheaper than recording school.

Anyway, I finally tried out the Buzz MA2.2 preamp last night on fingerpicked acoustic guitar. I wanted to be blown away, because I heard so many good things about it being the best, especially for this type of guitar playing.

Well, I was. I used a Collings C-10, mahogany backed guitar, fingerpicked. And the best description I can give is that it sounded the way it's supposed to. Like the guitar sounds in my ear and my head.

Jasper

[Mike Jasper]

As I've said before, I'm pretty much a buy so I can try guy. Although most of the time I break even on resale, sometimes I lose -- but it's cheaper than recording school.

Anyway, I finally tried out the Buzz MA2.2 preamp last night on fingerpicked acoustic guitar. I wanted to be blown away, because I heard so many good things about it being the best, especially for this type of guitar playing.

Well, I was. I used a Collings C-10, mahogany backed guitar, fingerpicked. And the best description I can give is that it sounded the way it's supposed to. Like the guitar sounds in my ear and my head.

Jasper

[JayCrouch]

Tim from Buzz Audio.... Are you out there?

since people seem to think you have a cool color of preamp for stereo recording (clear and realistic, yet somewhat musical) - have you ever put any thought into making a portable 2-channel DC version? There is a market for it, especially if you build it well and keep it simple enough to keep costs down, pretty knobs don't hurt either...

how about a mic pre with basic eq, like a variable highpass - and some minor shelving..

anything in the works besides the rack type system? perhaps the portable two channel unit could just be a small box and power supply w/ i/o that would accept two of your modules, mic pre modules in this instance..

let us know what you think?

[20db.com]

Mike I am so glad you agree with what the rest of us have discovered. I also liked your description of how the Buzz sounded on acoustic "it sounded the way it's supposed to".

Jay, I talk to Tim once or twice a week and I will ping him about a portable unit but his plate is really full right now. He is putting the final touches on the new SSA-1.1 which I believe will be a big hit considering the price point. He has been trying to get this finished up and out the door for months and I think he will get this out the door next month.

He is also putting a lot of time and energy into this new A-Rack concept and interest is building in this universal plug-in rack. Dan Kennedy over at Great River has expressed some interest and hopefully others. The cool part is this would allow you to plug in a Buzz right next to a Great River. A lot of people are excited about the possible of having an industry standard chassis that you could plug multiple manufacturers mic pres, eq, etc into the same rack.

Jay, I am no designer but one of the issues in building a portable mic pre like the Buzz might be power supply issues. I have a feeling that getting the current you need might be a problem.

Lee

disclaimer: links are purely FYI not a sales pitch.

[Tim Farrant]

Lee, yes you are right, getting the right power rails and current for a portable MA2.2 type preamp is a problem. One channel draws 110mA and requires +/-24V power supply - not really battery material !!

Jay, we have so many requests for differing models, mic pre with eq, and/or compressors etc.., it's hard to know which direction to take. It would appear that the Avalon 737 concept is quite popular because of the facilities offered, comp and simple eq. After we get the A-RACK and new SSA out the door, I hope to look into some sort of channel strip, your ideas are welcome and taken on board.

The multi manufacturer A-RACK is an interesting concept, I have had interest from Great River, Phoenix Audio and also Speck Electronics. At this point I need to get the first ones built and then we can progress.

Mike, thanks for the nice comments on the MA2.2 !! I know you've had it sitting around for a while - enjoy !!

Cheers
Tim
Buzz Audio