for recording bluegrass off ribbon mics

[bluegrasser]

what preamp? looking at Presonus ADL 600 and Groove Tubes suPRE. $2000 MAX!!!!!!!

Thanks.

[rmx16]

I've heard good things about the AEA Ribbon Pre,

http://www.wesdooley.com/aea/TRP.html

Peace

[Fletcher]

If you're looking at a 2 channel pre-amp you will probably be well served to look a hair over $2k to the Pendulum MDP-1A or the Great River MP-2NV... both treat ribbon mics very nicely, both have an exceptionally complimentary overtone structure that will often make the sound of acoustic instruments way better than being there [which is what I look for in a recording... as always, YMMV].

[big country]

Originally Posted by rmx16

I've heard good things about the AEA Ribbon Pre,

http://www.wesdooley.com/aea/TRP.html

Peace

very cool!pre

[bluegrasser]

Actually,

I already own the AEA TRP. I was looking for a tube unit. The Pendulum looks great. Anything a bit less pricy that would work well on ribbons. Would like a hint of nostalgia in the sound but I'm not overly hung up with things sounding 1940's or whatever............

[T.RayBullard]

Originally Posted by bluegrasser

Actually,

I already own the AEA TRP. I was looking for a tube unit. The Pendulum looks great. Anything a bit less pricy that would work well on ribbons. Would like a hint of nostalgia in the sound but I'm not overly hung up with things sounding 1940's or whatever............

yes...the electronaut M63..I have 6 channels of Pendlum MDP-1, and love those...but I love my electronaut every bit as much. Electronaut is a very small company, and the designer goes above and beyond the call of duty for his customers.

Rob Roy(the designer) has swappable daughter boards for various transformers.He will even make daughter boards around transformers that you pick yourself..you tell him your needs, he will square you right away..he makes em on demand...

The standard M63 uses a Lundahl LL1636 on the input and a LL5402 on the output.. The LL1636 transformers use an amorphous core which sounds incredible....I highly HIGHLY reccomend it. 1800 USD for the base configuration that I just mentioned...the possibilities are endless though..

do check out those copperphone mics too..

www.placidaudio.com

they give a real nice effect to that sort of material(I am an old country music/bluegrass freak and also play pedal and lap steel since the early 90s.)

[Petimar]

I love ribbon mics for recording Bluegrass. My go to pre is the AEA TRP. Its a bargain at how much they charge.

[Petimar]

Sorry, didn't see you already had the TRP. I've used an Altec 1566 or 1567 with good results. You can find these reasonable priced, though they may need reconditioning.

http://www.vintageloop.com/altec_refurb_srvcs.html

[tmcconnell]

I record a lot of bluegrass clients, and have several ribbon mics and fretted over preamps as a consiquence. Then I got a 122 and all those worries (impedance, gain, noise, cable length) went away. Now I can use the pre that sounds best with the sound I'm recording instead of having to restrict my choice to preamps that mitegate the issues with ribbon mics. It also opens up the entire marketplace of preamps to me for choices that work with ribbon mics. Of course ribbons other than the 122 are still best for some sources - example: AEAr84 for a buzzy resonator guitar. There, I find my MP2NV works best - but I have not tried the AEA unit. I decided not to get that in the end because that would, I felt, be a bit limiting. I suspect a very clean high end pre with a transformer would be best. I have a Pendulum quartet which sounds great with the ribbons too - but its a little noisier than the Great River in the high gain positions simply because of the tubes. ted

[bluegrasser]

Well, has anyone had the opportunity to compare the ADL 600 to the Viper (or suPRE) for this sort of thing?

I'd be all over the A-designs tube unit, but I'm a little worried that 60db of gain is not gonna cut it for me with ribbons. (I 'd rather not use compression to boost levels). Same reasoning for the pendulum.

[NathanEldred]

For Bluegrass, consider a pair of Buzz Audio Elixir preamps. Super detailed, fast, and extremely quiet with just a hint of coloration in the lows from the Lundahl transformer output. Excellent at anything with fast transients or harmonically complex (banjo, drum overheads, vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, etc) IMO. A pair with a lunchbox of some sort will fit your budget.

[uncle duncan]

Blue Robbie has a lot of gain for a tube pre. But it's not very colored. Just clean and smooth. Phoenix Audio DRS has a 'tube-ish' sound, but it's not soft on top. Kinda interesting - presency but warm. And it's got a buttload of gain. I use it with my AEA R92 all the time.

[fifthcircle]

Originally Posted by bluegrasser

I'd be all over the A-designs tube unit, but I'm a little worried that 60db of gain is not gonna cut it for me with ribbons. (I 'd rather not use compression to boost levels). Same reasoning for the pendulum.

A MP2A or MP2R has more than enough gain for ribbons... Never had a problem with them.

--Ben