Seventh Circle Audio

[BassTerd]

I've recently come across the SCA pre's and i'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a kit. I like its expandability and having the ability to own more then 1 flavor in the same box. Also the price is appealing to me since I have a low budget home studio. I'm not sure which pre to start off with but I know i'll probably eventually build them all. Currently I own a Davisound TB6 and track everything through it. I'll also ocasionally use the 6 pre's on my little mackie mixer when tracking drums and bass together. I mainly record R&B & eletronic music and an occasional Rock and Jazz session. I also do quite a bit of voice overs.
I'm looking for something that will compliment the clean sounding Pre's on my TB6. I'm thinking I can hold off on the J99 and C84 since they also have the clean vibe, that is unless they sound better then the clean channels on my TB6. So i'm thinking i'll start off with either the N72 or A12 to add some color. Maybe fatten things up a bit when i'm tracking synths. I'm sure either would be a good choice, I just don't know which to choose.
Any recomendations?

[-sulan-]

I recently built 2 N72´s and 2 J99´s. They are very high quality and the instructions and support guarantee success.
I really recommend their kits, they are really easy to build as long as you have some basic knowledge of electronics, or as in my case :P has someone close with that knowledge. And some patience.
I don´t own any other highend pre´s myself to compare them to but I have had some experience with a bunch of other pre´s (no api´s though).

But the little I´ve used the N72 so far I love it, it´s very crisp and punchy to me. I love it on drums and everything else I´ve used it for.
The J99 is clean, but not sterile kind of clean I thinks, it sounds VERY big and has alot of "depth/multidimensionality/space".

I´ll definetly be building a pair of A-12´s as well, alot of people seam to like them for drums and since I record alot of drums... =)

I suppose that does´nt help you in your choice very much though :P But if I were you I´d get the N72 first, eventuelly you´ll fill up the box in any case and I´m sure you can´t go wrong with either...

Happy soldering!! :D

[Riddler]

Hi chingon,

I bought the 2x A12s and 2x N72s after reading 95% positive reviews of them and really - they are stunning. They are the only pres I have built from scratch and the feeling of satisfaction when getting such great results out of something you built; amazing. The only way to better it would be to design AND build something that sounds so great but that's a little more tricky!

If you're buying them as a kit, a few tools that I found to be invaluble were a fine tipped soldering iron (really helps when soldering the stepped gain control), a circuit board holder (really useful when you have to flip between the front & back side & keep all the components in place) and a angle poise lamp with a magnifier (so you can see the smallers components easily). The only part of the job I didn't enjoy was the power loom for the CH02 chassis as it really is a pain in the ar$e and quite boring, aside from that though it was a really cool project.

Tim.

[majortom]

I don't think you can really go wrong with any of them. I will say that the voice-over clients that come through my studio often ask about using a John Hardy M-1, so it helps to have a pre with the same opamps and similar design, it usually satisfies them. Of all the pres, the J99 is the most useful to me, but if you're satisfied with your TB-6, then I'd go N72 for something more complementary and thicker sounding. Sounds really nice on kick/snare and electric guitars.

I agree that the wiring harness is a huge pain in the arse. So, much so that you're better off ordering the assembled harness. They sell that separately now. There's also a link on the forum about an alternate way to assemble it, but it requires purchasing a punch-down tool that costs about $25 + $20 in parts, so the assembled harness is worth it.

[Nu-tra]

They finally started making the wiring harness so we don't have to worry about it. It costs extra but it's well worth it.

I like the j99 for overheads, vocals, bass, synth, It has a nice huge sound.

A12 on everything especially drums.

N72 is great for direct bass if you like that softer sound and bass synth stuff. vocals

C84 is good for classical, piano, acoustic. I hear it has a nice growl on bass.

[crypticglobe]

I have an "8-pack" with 2 of each. I think they are all amazing. I have to say though, that I think the N72 is the king. Course, I like Neve-ish type pres. They are all great, but for sure the N72 is amazing. Of all the things I have to choose from, I actually choose the N72 often for lead vocal! It's great.

Anyway... indeed, you can't go wrong with any of them... but the N72 is my fav.

[xhavepatiencex]

I have the c84s and like them. pretty easy to build, I use them on pretty much anything and everything, and sound great

[BassTerd]

Thanks peeps for the recomendations and info. I was leaning a little towards the N72 at first so I can run synths and vox for a different flavor. especially for snare, i always find when i record snare through the TB6 I always think it could use a little more something to cut through the mix a little better. Its a clean sound, almost to clean in most situations. On acoustic instruments, vox and bass the TB6 sounds pretty nice. I'm also a bassist so the J99 intrigues me because its supposed to fatten up the bass nicely. I also heard a sample of the J99, N72 and A12 on vox and really liked the detail and sound of the J99. From what I read about the J99 i'm curious on how it compares to the clean channels on my TB6. I guess i'll eventually have to put together a J99 and find out. That is unless anybody in the LA area would be willing to compare my TB6 with their J99.
Still a little undecided. Does anybody have any samples that I can listen to were projects were tracked through the SCA pres?

[Miles Jackson]

The Seventh Circle Audio preamp kits look very interesting (hey, if Geoff Tanner endorses the N72 circuit, I'm on board). However, $269 for a 30v power supply seems excessive to me. Has anybody tried putting together a diy power supply to use with these kits? It seems to me like you could build a very nice regulated 30v power supply for less than $100.

Miles

[Screws]

Originally Posted by chingon

Does anybody have any samples that I can listen to were projects were tracked through the SCA pres?

http://www.songramp.com/homepage.php?userid=3788

Top seven or so songs (by Léger) - Kick, Snare, Bass, Electric Guitars, some Acoustic Guitars and Jordan's vocal were all N72. Toms, other Acoustic Guitars and Derek's vocals were all J99.

Further down the page is the song "Beautiful You" which is all J99. Also the song "Ghost" which uses the J99 on bass in addition to the vocals.

I just bought an A12 for snare sounds, as I'm looking for a bit more snap and crack sometimes. The N72 can sound really fat on snare, but some songs don't need fat.

Hope they help.

[seagull]

Originally Posted by Miles Jackson

The Seventh Circle Audio preamp kits look very interesting (hey, if Geoff Tanner endorses the N72 circuit, I'm on board). However, $269 for a 30v power supply seems excessive to me. Has anybody tried putting together a diy power supply to use with these kits? It seems to me like you could build a very nice regulated 30v power supply for less than $100.

Miles

Just FYI: The power supply is free if you buy a pre, chassis, power supply and wire harness at the same time.

[1979]

Hey Screws,

Those clips are awesome man. Those J99's sound killer. What did you record into/mix with?

Thanks for the clips man.

Cheers.

[Screws]

Originally Posted by 1979

What did you record into/mix with?

You can read a blow by blow account of the Léger recording process here:

http://studioforums.com/eve/forums/a...1/m/5991080161

Studio setup includes:

G4 Dual 1.25 with 1.75 gig ram and 2 - 80 gig HDs running Digital Performer 3.11
Yamaha 02R with TC Electronic UnitY card (M2000 FX)
Dynaudio BM6a spkrs
Outboard stuff including:
SCA preamps
MOTU 2408 mkII
Toft ATC-2
ADR Compex
Empirical Labs Fatso
Avalon 747
Peavey VMP-2
Transient Designer
TC Electronic Gold Channel and M3000
Masterlink
JoeMeek C2 and VC3
FMR Audio RNC 1773
Urei 546 EQ

[BassTerd]

Well I pulled the trigger on the A12. I was going to get the N72 but it seems there on backorder at the moment. So I figured since i'll end up buying these one by one i'll just get whats in stock. It's not like i can go wrong right?
I have a Hakko Mach soldering iron. I'm wondering if its going to be a little to big or possibly get to hot to work on a circut board. Are there any tips anybody can offer when building this pre?

[ImJohn]

Originally Posted by 1979

Hey Screws,

Those clips are awesome man.

Exactly what I was thinking, awesome stuff! Screws, I hope you take this as a compliment because I'm sure it is but I found myself enjoying the music so much I kept forgetting to think about the gear and recording process!

Where to I buy a copy????

[-sulan-]

Originally Posted by chingon

Well I pulled the trigger on the A12. I was going to get the N72 but it seems there on backorder at the moment. So I figured since i'll end up buying these one by one i'll just get whats in stock. It's not like i can go wrong right?
I have a Hakko Mach soldering iron. I'm wondering if its going to be a little to big or possibly get to hot to work on a circut board. Are there any tips anybody can offer when building this pre?

I found using two irons useful, one very small round tipped (for little things like the lorlin switch for the gain) and a larger flat one for better heating on the bigger components/pads.
For normal resin solder anywhere between 270-350 degree´s C is ok. The hotter the better it flows out, but it also gets dirty quicker. Too cold and it might be tricky to get it properly heated which is much worse. I think it´s nicer to solder quite hot and clean often...

Over here I can´t get the normal 270C solder anymore because of the rohs thing (which says there can be no lead in new components), I don´t know how that is in the us though...