Universal Audio LA-610

[phaedrus]

Has anyone used the LA-610, and if so, how is the mic pre? Also how does it the compressor stack up against the LA-2A?
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[Joe Porto]

Originally Posted by phaedrus

Has anyone used the LA-610, and if so, how is the mic pre? Also how does it the compressor stack up against the LA-2A?
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Oddly, the 2-610 mic pre is bashed here constantly, but the LA-610, with the same pre, is praised. I have the 2-610, and although it's not my first choice as a preamp (usually go for the Tonelux or LTD-1), it's a great DI for synths and bass, and also makes a great line level conditioner to take the digital edge off of sampled tracks and softsynths.

Do a search and you will find tons of info and opinions on this unit.

[Greg Curtis]

I love my 2, mono, LA-610s. With the right mic they work really well. Limited by lack of head room, they have a nice, rich, tube-y sweet spot. Not good for ribbons, IMO, but great for vintage tube mics.

And, like Joe said, they are great DI's and conditioners.

[rockstar_josh]

I love my LA-610. I agree that you have to watch the headroom, but it has enough control over the input levels that it's not difficult to dial it in. Great bass DI!

[kenkelly81]

How do you like it on vox?

[foldback]

The compressor section is NO LA-2, it does not add the low end girth. No headroom was a good description for the LA-610.

[FreshSkweez]

The pre is on the brighter side and a bit thin which makes selecting the right mic even more of a priority (doesn't work well with all mics is what I'm trying to say ). If vox is your concern I'm tracking a rock record right now with all of the male vox going U87-610-Aurora16-PT. Sounds wonderful.

The comp is usable. Seamless and generally great for gentle RMS rides during tracking (even though I think it does say 'PEAK REDUCTION' above the control ). Wouldn't be in my arsenal when it's time to mix though. Does 'the one thing' like a lot of comps out there but no... it's not the LA2A thing...

[Full Clip Audio]

Originally Posted by FreshSkweez

The pre is on the brighter side and a bit thin

Really? I have a 6176 and the pre is the exact opposite. Its a bit dark, quite colored, somewhat woolly/fuzzy and has a ton of dimension. It is definitely not "focused" and articulate but has a nice warmth to it. The fact that it has these characteristics makes it great for some things and terrible on others and also means you have to be careful stacking tracks with it. One thing it has in spades is texture!

Is the pre in the 6176 different than the LA-610? I always thought they were the same.

[FreshSkweez]

I'm sure they are the same. It could be a difference in terminology as always when trying to decribe audio . As a reference point I'd say like a 1960 is dark sounding (the Drawmer unit that is)

[The Studio RI]

Originally Posted by Joe Porto

Oddly, the 2-610 mic pre is bashed here constantly, but the LA-610, with the same pre, is praised. I have the 2-610, and although it's not my first choice as a preamp (usually go for the Tonelux or LTD-1), it's a great DI for synths and bass, and also makes a great line level conditioner to take the digital edge off of sampled tracks and softsynths.

Do a search and you will find tons of info and opinions on this unit.

the 2-610 is the ultimate synth pre for me. I love that you can just dial in some tone by driving the tubes the right way.

[popmann]

The LA610 is "voiced" brighter than other 610s according to the manual.

I love mine. I've had it for years...just got around to slipping some NOS tubes in there--holy pee. Now, you'll pry it from my cold dead hands.

[BlueSprocket]

Lived with an LA-610 and a 6176 for probably 6 months. Both very nice pieces. The Pres are the same to my knowledge, the 6176 is more flexible, allowing you to run the comp and Pre independent of one another. On the LA-610 you always run through the compressor circuit.

The LA-610 became my go-to Bass DI for roughly 5 projects back to back. The 610 also got some pretty heavy vocal use with a 251. While the 6176 seemed to get vocal duties whenever I used a Korby modified 67.

Great units, do need to watch the input gain (do not fear the PAD!), but if you hit the sweet spot, the pres are wonderful.

[dambro2]

I've found that it's one of my favorites for lead electric guitar, the pre and comp. I don't yet own an la-2a (only the uad) but the comp is very usable. I think the pre is a little muddy for most vocals but I haven't tried new tubes.

[artisokka]

I really would like to know how the LA610 sounds when it is clipping. I´m into distortion, you know... Clips anyone?

[Dean Roddey]

If you overdrive the input, it wouldn't sound so good. But if you overdrive the pre-amp itself, by pushing the gain up and bringing down the output, it has the kind of nice sound that tubes generally have when driven hard.

I had the LA-610 for about 3.x months. I sold it, not because I didn't like it but because I wanted to move to a 500 type setup, for portability. It's a nice product, though it does have that vintage vibe and you might not want everything on a song to go through it necessarily, since it might add up a bit. Though, if that's all you have, and you really know what you are doing, you could certainly do very good stuff with just it, I'm sure.

[king of sweden]

I bought my first one 18 months ago, sounds great, it's been a real workhorse. I bought a second one a few months and had it ship to the studio DOA. Shattered tube at the compression stage. it's replacement showed up last week, exact same broken tube. Hopefully third time is the charm. Normally I'd write a product off after this, but I'm a huge fan of my first, I have to have the second.

It's a cranky strip though, no headroom, EQ works sometimes, (it works, just not appropriate), the compressor is barely there, I'm always in limit mode. The VU seems to be in it's own universe, it doesn't meter like anything else in my studio.

That being said, When it's the right strip with the right mic, this guy just shines. I do have ISA, Daking, and Vintech pres to choose from though, so I wouldn't recommend it as the first pre you buy.

[BlueSprocket]

Originally Posted by jacktrade

I bought my first one 18 months ago, sounds great, it's been a real workhorse. I bought a second one a few months and had it ship to the studio DOA. Shattered tube at the compression stage. it's replacement showed up last week, exact same broken tube. Hopefully third time is the charm.

Did you consider just getting UA to send you replacement tube? Or was there damage to the PCB as well? I guess if the dealer is replacing the units then thats the best first course. Bummer on having to wait for a new box!

I found UA customer service to be amazingly efficient and friendly! Can't say enough good about 'em.

[brill bedroom]

If you go to iTunes, under my name, and check out the song "Little Runaround" on my album, you'll hear something recorded the day I got the LA 610 and almost everything on the track went through it. Hofner Bass, the acoustic guitar, piano, all vocals (on a Soundelux mic). I think it's a great piece of gear.

Corin Ashley

[king of sweden]

Originally Posted by BlueSprocket

Did you consider just getting UA to send you replacement tube? Or was there damage to the PCB as well? I guess if the dealer is replacing the units then thats the best first course. Bummer on having to wait for a new box!

I found UA customer service to be amazingly efficient and friendly! Can't say enough good about 'em.

I did give them a call, and I agree, their customer service seemed great to me. Unfortunately, I have to run the warranty through the distributer, as I am in Canada, and UA can't service me. Also, their tech rep told me that the tube bias would be too far out if I just dropped a replacement tube in, it would need to be benched and biased.

So I'm having the supplier have the distributer send a THIRD unit in this week. I just didn't feel comfortable that the dist. would repair it properly, especially since I paid for a NEW one, I want a new one, not a refurbished one.

Side note though, anyone have any experience switching/upgrading the tubes in these things? Have you done it without re biasing the strip? Does is sound noticeable? Better, worse?

[IzzyRock]

I've used it on a room mike and it sounded good

[Outlaw Hans]

I just recorded a Fender jazz bass with the 610 for a DI. Best bass sound I ever got. No need to reamp, eq or compress. This was the unit with the 1176 attached to it.

[deeper]

The LA-610 preamp can go from clean (not pristine) to somewhat dirty. It's a very flexible, "nice" sounding preamp. You can make the LA-610 distort in a nice way -- or you can make it sound awful, if you aren't careful with the gain staging. I just did a very thorough five preamp shoot-out on vocals and the LA-610 provided the sweetest, most natural, most life-like tracks, like you're "in the room" listening to the actual singer. Much clarity and articulation and air!

But I set the preamp settings that way. I could have chosen to make it more distorted. But like any preamp, if it clips, it sounds awful, which just means the gain needs to be backed off somewhere.

Originally Posted by artisokka

I really would like to know how the LA610 sounds when it is clipping. I'm into distortion...

Don't be offended if I tell you that clipping is not the same thing as distortion. Distortion can sound really good, as you know. But clipping never sounds good. Clipping is the sub-category of distortion that occurs when the tops of waves get "clipped" off -- you see these as flat plateaus at the top of the wave. To be avoided at all costs. "Good" distortion alters the shapes of the waves but it does not clip off the tops of the waves.

[Jorg]

Originally Posted by deeper

But I set the preamp settings that way.

What way would that be? Just leaving plenty of headroom?

[adoucette]

I own an LA-610 and love it. Personally I very much enjoy the 610, it has a tonne of features which makes it very versatile for all aspects of recording. I wouldnt mind owning a rack of about 4 or so 610 pre-amps.. The LA style compression is good, not LA-2A, but similar controls, I believe because its only based around its T4 stage of the LA-2A, but i could be wrong. None-the-less the compression sounds good, I use it just to control the peaks and give a more compressed "tape" sound (if you will) into the computer.

For the price its a very nice unit, perhaps if your looking for more control on the compression it would be better to go to the 6176 as the LA-610 is very limited but great for the money.

[Reborn]

I want to preface this reply with saying I am a LA-610 owner within the first 200 units so I jumped in early and I love my unit. However there have been a lot of mistated facts here ( in this thread) that should be cleared up for people thinking about purchasing soon. first of all the signal does not always have to go through the compressor as there is a bypass right on the front of the unit. Part of the preamp circut is always in line when using the unit. So, if you come in through th line-.in it will hit the preamp circut before the compressor unlike the 6176 which offers completely independent use of the Pre and Compressor. I think you will find the line in is actually cleaner than the Micpre input for use of the compressor. Not that the La-610 is dirty it is just more mid-Fi than Hi-Fi. Also I find the Di input somewhat noisy compared to the other two ways into the unit - It can give you very good results on Bass though!

[popmann]

It IS always going through the compressor's circuit...you can just bypass the gain reduction. The makeup gain knob is always active.

This shouldn't be a problem.

Line level into the compressor sounds fine. I've sat with an old La2a and it...the old unit is distinctly fuzzier in passing tone and better at crushing the piss out of a vocal...but, at moderate settings was VERY similar. Overall not that much different than new versus old La3as (search for my findings there). I would expect the reissue 2a to be a tad closer, with the exception of the old vs new T4 cell action I speak of in my reviews of the 3a.

Yes, the pre is always "active" when using the compressor, but what it lacks from the 2a is the tube input amplifier...so, it's just a different tube amp in front.

[Jonboy79]

I absolutely love the 610 on male vocals, dirty guitars and as a bass di.

[artisokka]

Originally Posted by Jonboy79

I absolutely love the 610 on male vocals, dirty guitars and as a bass di.

How about 610 -or better yet, LA610- on drums (as a room/ambience mic pre)?

[FreshSkweez]

Just had a snare top sm57 going through it a couple of nighs ago. Holy crap, man! I have never come even close to having so much detail in my snare... Mesmerizing! And the comp section gave me the exact transient length I was looking for with only 1-2db of attenuation.

I've been using the unit on and off for about 3 years now and it never crossed my mind to put this bad boy to work on drumz until now. Now this experience leads me to believe it should sound good as a front-of-kit mic pre as well. I'll let you know when I actually try it.

[artisokka]

Originally Posted by FreshSkweez

Now this experience leads me to believe it should sound good as a front-of-kit mic pre as well. I'll let you know when I actually try it.

Please do. GAS.