Different mic pre's

[Panopticon]

Hi. I'm looking for a nice mic pre (maybe channel strip combo) in the $1800-$2000 range. I only need one channel (but that doesn't mean I would limit myself if the best thing in this price range was 2 channels). What I don't really know are the sonic and tonal differences between the pre's I'm looking at:

Avalon 737
Focusrite Red 7
" " 8
Neve clone

If some of you guys who have experience with these could help me out a bit; I would really appreciate it.

Thanks-

Bill

[Dave Martin]

Where are you located? You should probably hear these in your own environmnt used int the applications that YOU need to use them in. Only if that isn't possible should you look at buying a preamp based on sone else's opinion.

[Saucyjack]

Give us some more to work with.

What equipment do you already have?
What kind of music do you record?
What will be the primary uses for the pre?

In the end Dave's right,the best to understand is try and listen for yourself to see what you like.

That being said I've had a couple of pres that I didn't really like at first but a year or two later are now my favorites.
It's like any useful tool...the more time spent using it the better you can understand how to use/abuse it.
So sometimes initial impressions can throw ya.

[Panopticon]

Thank you for your replies. Sorry, I should have been more specific in the original post. I don't have a commercial studio; I just have a project studio that is used for my band and my friends' bands. But I've been really surprised with how powerful it is already. I have a great isolation booth for vocals that is nice and dry, and the primary use of this pre will be for semi-aggressive male tenor & baritone vocals (radio friendly alt-rock, like A Perfect Circle but slightly more aggressive). No cookie monster stuff, for sure (i.e.-I can sing, and like to).

For mics, I use anything from an SM57 to my friend's U47, but most often I'm using a Rode NTK (and maybe once in a while blend in a little 57 or 58; which usually has a send to some kind of light to moderate distortion). I know that mic (NTK) hasn't received a lot of praise in this forum, but I shopped around very carefully for it, and it really works with what I'm doing.

Right now for a preamp I'm using the built-in preamps on my MOTU 828MKII. I could afford a Grace 101 or RNP right now; but everyone I've talked to says it's a lot better to save up and get a higher end pre than to get one of the mid-priced ones.

DAW is dual 2.0 GHz Mac G5 running DP4, Waves, Altiverb, and some synth stuff.

Oh yeah, I'm not really sure where to go to rent equipment like mic pre's. I live in Oregon. Thanks-

Bill

[Phosphene]

I have a 737 and am about to get a Great River Me-1NV, which I have used before. I haven't really used a lot of other pres (A Designs MP-1 and Toft ATC-2, Avalon 2022, ART junk), but out of those, for MY voice, I do like the Great River the best and I can't wait to get that sucker in a few days. The 737 is ok on my voice, it does have a pretty good EQ (compressor is ok too) and gets the job done and you can add a little color. I did some A/B/Cing with all of those pres and the GR had the most balls. You can find used GR for around $850. Used Avalon 737 for around $1200. I know absolutely NOTHING about the focusrite stuff from using it, just what I've read. Heard nothing but good stuff about the RED.

[CMEZ]

If you're tracking a band, don't you need more quality pre's? The MOTU's aren't gonna cut it.

There are lots of options in the mid-priced gear range that people are using to make quality recordings. For $2,000, you could get a Sytek MPX4 and a Vintech 1272 (? I think that's the model number) which would give you six good channels of pre and 3 different flavors (assuming you get the Sytek with the BB mod on two of the channels).

That'd be a BIG improvement over the MOTU pre's.

Chris

[Panopticon]

Well, actually no, I don't need more than one good pre (two at most). We use samples & programming for drums (a lot of metal hits and industrial sounding noises for drums & percussion). I'm at the point now where I can program really great sounding drum tracks; so I'm not going to invest in an astronomical mic cabinet and pre's and everything, because I don't even have a good live room (only an vocal iso booth). And for tracking, we just DI bass & synth, SM57 on the guitar cabs (maybe sometimes blend a little POD on guitar, but I think the POD tends to sound really weak on its own), & track everything seperately. The mixes are sounding really decent, I just want a good pre to put the vox where they should be.

Thanks for all of your replies so far, keep 'em coming.

So, where are good places to rent stuff like high end pre's....?

[natpub]

well, I was gonna say

http://www.toyspecialists.com/

but if you link to it, you will see they are about to go outta business and are selling everything!

very interesting--i plan to be bidding


cheers,

kt

[Saucyjack]

If it's mainly for vox,I would tend to steer you towards something "neutral" but big.

A few that pop into my head

John Hardy
GML
Sytek(on a Budget)
Great River MP2
Phoenix Audio
Pendulum
DW Fearn

Then again I sometimes love API or Great River NV on vox,it's good to have some choices.

Also you might want something with a good DI to help out with bass tracking.

At this level it's hard to go wrong with any of the above...different flavas but it's all good.
Get in touch with Mercenary audio and pick up a couple or three of the above units,figure out which one you like best and send the other back(or keep both like a good slut )