suggestions for pre for mobile,bluegrass/acoustic recordings

[rollingrecords]

hi this is my first post so please dont kill me, i finished a two year recording degree last year, i live in rural oklahoma, not exctly the mecca of the recording industry,i changed paths and a bought a gas station,instead of moving,(there is no place like home) i am currentyly working on my own music wich is a mixture of bluegrass,and a bad imitation of led zep iii. after this project i am wanting to record some of the good ole boys and girls
who just play for fun old country people etc. who would not have the want or money in alot of cases to ever step in a recording studio,but have amazing chops. i am going to do this all for free and fun.,my gear now consist of a motu traveler mac laptop 2 gigs of ram and a presonus digmax lt preamps,running dp 4.6 i have some good mics tlm 103 rodes nt 5s ,57s, 421s, etc. i have around three grand to spend on a high end mic pre etc for acoustics instruments and vocals and thats all the money i can spend for a very long time, maybe forever, so it needs to be tough, my choices are a gml 2032,for around $2700, or a focusrite isa 220 and a royer ribbon mic , for a total 0f $2500
i have no way of comparing the two live. i do have the 3d mic pre cd and those are the two i like but i have read that it may not do things justice. sound is the most important, is the gml stuff as great as advertised, would i get more bang for the buck going the other way, is the gml $1200 better than the isa 220 thanks.

[ozraves]

I'm in OKC. Feel free to PM me.

[NathanEldred]

Originally Posted by rollingrecords

hi this is my first post so please dont kill me, i finished a two year recording degree last year, i live in rural oklahoma, not exctly the mecca of the recording industry,i changed paths and a bought a gas station,instead of moving,(there is no place like home) i am currentyly working on my own music wich is a mixture of bluegrass,and a bad imitation of led zep iii. i have around three grand to spend on a high end mic pre etc for acoustics instruments and vocals and thats all the money i can spend for a very long time, maybe forever, so it needs to be tough

You have a lot more choices than what you listed, not that those are not fine either way. My personal preference would be for something with at least one transformer in the signal path on each preamp; one on the input AND output wouldn't hurt....and preferably not something super clean like a Jensen. Those old Bill Monroe records (and Zep III!!) sound very rich. Iron core transformers are one significant reason (plus tape too) IMHO. Good luck.

[jajjguy]

In your situation i'd buy a mac notebook computer and 2 metric halo ULN-2 boxes. the ULN-2 is a firewire interface with 2 excellent clean high gain mic preamps and good converters. you can chain multiple boxes together. they are also designed to run on firewire bus power so if necessary, you can do the whole recording off the laptop battery (though not a very long recording). that's what i'd do.

[natpub]

The old recordings mentioned were probably more affected by mic choice than preamp. May also wanna audition an AEA R84 or look for a nice old RCA. You say you have no way to compare these things, but I would for darn sure FIND a way, especially if, as you indicate, this could be the last purchase for a long time. I have seen a bunch of horror stories here lately from people irreversably buying things based on recommendations, then ended up very disappointed and broke!


.

[rollingrecords]

hey thanks for the replys, thats why i was thinking about the isa 220 and the royer or the rca clone 84 mic so i could also have a good pre and a ribbon mic i may go that way

[dolo]

i had the 220. never really liked and hardly ever used it. it okay at best & wont knock your sock socks off. i'd really take alisten before purchasing. to each it's own. but i think there are much better pre amps out there than the 220 for around that price point.

[zakco]

You should consider a Hardy M1 with the transformer option. They are big and clear sounding. Great for both acoustic stringed instruments and vocals.

There are several used M1s for sale right now, both on ebay and GS classifieds......

-Z-

[Midlandmorgan]

If I recall the article correctly:

Snake Reynolds and Randy Scruggs used pretty much nothing but Neve (from an 8086 board) and Nightpro pres to do the "Will the Circle Be Unbroken 3" project....and a lot of AT4050 mics...a U87 in omni mode in the middle of the room...

To my, THE epitome of bluegrass/organic sounds...

[brownmouse]

hey there,
i'm in ok as well. i wouldn't limit your choices to those 2 preamps. the pendulum mdp-1a or pendulum quartet (if one channel is sufficient and you could use a compresser, eq and de-esser) is my current favorite on acoustic instruments. i would definitely take a look in that direction if you can. with that setup you'd have enough to snag a cad m-9 (one of my favorite mics for acoustic instruments.... and they're cheap!). i think you'll find it more musical that the tlm-103 (ymmv).
joshua

[Shotgun]

Originally Posted by natpub

The old recordings mentioned were probably more affected by mic choice than preamp. May also wanna audition an AEA R84 or look for a nice old RCA. You say you have no way to compare these things, but I would for darn sure FIND a way, especially if, as you indicate, this could be the last purchase for a long time. I have seen a bunch of horror stories here lately from people irreversably buying things based on recommendations, then ended up very disappointed and broke!


.

Bingo. Get yourself a ribbon mic of good quality and a super-clean pre. Go to a few places and listen to what they have, even if it's stuff you don't want to buy. The one-mic mojo for Bluegrass is fun, scary, beautiful and unstoppable all at the same time.

Plus, with everything else you listed that you have, you can do "run of the mill" stuff already. If you're looking for that "special" thing to document some good 'grass around the homestead this would be a great way to go.

~S

[NathanEldred]

The only thing...he mentioned Zep III, which is no less valid than some of the traditionalist recordings from the 50's and 60's. It's just as organic sounding IMO (and apparently the original poster's opinion also). On those recordings we are talking about German made condensers and Helios (iron core) preamps? Midland made a good point too, both of those mics are LD condensers, which are held in high regard in bluegrass circles. So there is more than one way to skin a cat IME (sonically speaking).

[rollingrecords]

why i mentiond those two pres etc, is because i am buying them from american musical supply not exactly sweetwater tech support but i can pay them out, over a few month i have actually about a grand saved that seems to be about the best they have and there is, really no place in oklahoma even guitar center that has a ton pres on hand for me to try the last time i went in all they had in the high end area was a avalon 737sp, i dont claim to be a pro at this like i said its pretty much for fun and a hobby, at this point its still cheaper than a harley that i wouldnt get to ride six months out of the year, i dont have a ton of experience with high end pres i put my money into decent mics first, like stated all i have is the 3d pre shootout cd. in comparison to the presonus digimaxlt that i have and alot of home recordist use, is a gml, focusrite, neve, api, ua,pre etc. going to make that huge of a difference sound wise, i think i should have asked that question first. a high end pre is just somthing i lack, i would hope so for as much more money as they are, but i guess i can send it back if i am not impressed they have a 45 day no questions asked policy, and put the money in more good mics
i really appreciate all of your replys thanks for the help

[ozraves]

Originally Posted by rollingrecords

and there is, really no place in oklahoma even guitar center that has a ton pres on hand for me to try the last time i went in all they had in the high end area was a avalon 737sp

There aren't gear retailers most places where you can just waltz in and try stuff out. That said there are some Gear Slutz from OK who usually seem willing to provide guidance which is why I said PM me.