sebatron vmp 4000e

[beef]

I recieved my new Seb 4000e preamp today. And have to say GREAT PRE. I used it on overheads, snare and bassdrum. It kills!!!

[electricsound]

congrats on your purchase!

one underrated aspect of these pres is the DI - synths/keys and drum machines sound awesome through the seb DI, particuarly with the pad on and the gain cranked...

[shrimpbait]

Yes congrats! I have had mine for about a year now and it's been great! I am using it the exact same way you are. Very versatile with the EQ settings as well.

[flanagan]

Just tracked a full album over two weeks using only the vmp4000e as the main pre. The sound is full and clean with a three D quality to it. I'm loving the organic richness I'm getting with acoustic instruments and in this case female vocals which sit easily in the mix. I also like the warm rich flavor on Bass. Sometimes I run mixes back through the inputs on the front to 'gel' the sound of the mix.

[ianvargo]

In many cases, I prefer it to my Pacifica. On huge distorted electric guitar, or bass, it's great. Also really nice on vocals. Good purchase!

[Don Hearl]

I will pile on here. Using the -15 and -25 PAD and EQ you can get extremely variable tones out of this unit. It's very versatile in this respect. It's basically my OH, snare, Kick drum pre right now.

regards,

[dudge]

NOS Mullard tubes make the mids richer and open up the top end a little more. I thought it was a nice improvement.

[recall]

Originally Posted by dudge

NOS Mullard tubes make the mids richer and open up the top end a little more. I thought it was a nice improvement.

Agreed. I put NOS Mullards in my VMP2000 and it sounds fantastic.

I also use it with mixes. I put an attenuator before it and mess with the pads and eq. Very happy with it in this mode.

[deuc647]

Put some ECC801/S tubes in it, you will be su[rised at the depth you get

[flanagan]

Just re-tubed my sebatron vmp4000e with brand new J.J valves.
I can't believe the difference it has made to the sound.
Everything seems so in your face and open.

It's like having a whole new set of mics !

[renaud]

Hi ,

just a precision on what Electric sound said ,

as i understood it , what you call the " gain " cranked is NOT the gain , it's the output

level . the gain is determined only by the pad at the input . If you use the pad at - 25 ,

the preamp is in his cleanest , less colored mode .

;-)

[electricsound]

Oddly enough that is something I had realised in between my previous post and now. Not the first thing about my gear I've misunderstood, shamefully enough..

[flanagan]

NOS Mullard tubes make the mids richer and open up the top end a little more. I thought it was a nice improvement.

You got me thinking about the Mullards for overheads so I ordered a couple to try out.
I'm thinking of using two channels of J.J for channels 1 and 2 and two channels of Mullards for channels 3 and 4 on my vmp4000e.

Does anybody know if there is any harm in doing this, running two different types of valves in the same preamp?
I hope not because I have already ordered the Mullards.

[Norman Lindsey]

i have just re-tubed one of my sebatron vmp4000e preamps with new J.J tubes and the sound is sensational !!! thumbsup
it has totally bowled me over !!!

i'm starting to prefer the J.J sound.i think it's a little tighter in the mids for the Sebs.when i was running Mullards in two of the channels i found them to be a bit 'hi-fi' compared to the J.J.
i'm digging the sound on everything especially sub-mixes or stems , bass and drums , that i use when i'm mixing.

[Whoopysnorp]

I love setting my vmp4000e channels at -15 and running toms through them. It makes them sound really big, although at -15 I do have a hard time getting the output low enough so that it doesn't overload my Fireface 800's inputs! Also recently found that running electric guitar through it brings the sound of the instrument a little farther forward in the mix compared to what I get when I use my ISA428. I have never once regretted my investment in this box!

[Norman Lindsey]

Also recently found that running electric guitar through it brings the sound of the instrument a little farther forward in the mix compared to what I get when I use my ISA428.

i got the same effect with vocals.
it brings out the life and character in everything i out through it.

changing the tubes didn't change much in the end.
the mullards make the mids recessed a bit which is ok but i think i prefer the
mids i get with the j.j tubes.

[emptyman]

More love for the Seb here. My producer loved it so much it became our go-to pre for most of the tracking on my latest album. (Also used a Daking Mic Pre-EQ and for non-critical sounds: stock Fireface800 pres)

Todd Hunter Band - melodic indie pop-rock from Winnipeg. - Music

[bassie12]

I just had my 7 year old 4000e refurbed by Sebatron and bought a second new one. My Sebs are right up there with my Neves, Giltronics and anything else I've ever compared them to. Not always the best choice in any given situation, but never a bad sound!

[soundpuretodd]

Yep, love ours too... before we knew much about Sebatron, honestly, we expected something with a lot of color, but that would be soup/mud, without a lot of detail... we never expected it would be so versatile- not a piece of tube gear at that price per channel.

Anyway, we use ours very frequently on instruments of all kinds. It continues to impress us, even on things where we wouldn't necessarily expect it to shine... it can really move from colored to quite clean, but in its most colored state, still retaining a great deal of high end detail and information... and the shelving controls are seriously

You guys might like this little acoustic guitar highlight reel that we put together with our Sebatron 4000e:


It's funny, that gain/pad/output knob is definitely VERY confusing for a lot of people, we even botched the explanation on the video ... but yes, the cleanest setting of the unit is at -25db. The difference between 0db and -25db is not all that subtle, so it's not tough to hear the difference!

They do sound so good, even without the price taken into consideration- I think that they are one of the best preamp deals out there, frankly.

[RUSCO]

I love setting my vmp4000e channels at -15 and running toms through them.

Just did a whole weekend session using two Sebatron vmp-4000e for eight channels on drums ! best drum sound I've ever got !
Sounds sweet on kick ,snare , overheads etc.

[chevega]

i love my seb too. anyone care to compare this to the api 3124? i'm looking for 4 more channels, and obviously the seb is half the price of the api

[Fletcher]

Originally Posted by chevega

i love my seb too. anyone care to compare this to the api 3124?

You can't - they're two very different units that do the same thing [make microphone signals louder]. The Sebatron has its very excellent definition of this job, the API has its very classic definition of this job... both are right... both are excellent... both are exceptionally different [in the minor degrees in which these things can be different].

Peace

[ericdevine]

Originally Posted by flanagan

You got me thinking about the Mullards for overheads so I ordered a couple to try out.
I'm thinking of using two channels of J.J for channels 1 and 2 and two channels of Mullards for channels 3 and 4 on my vmp4000e.

Does anybody know if there is any harm in doing this, running two different types of valves in the same preamp?
I hope not because I have already ordered the Mullards.

When I had mine, I did the same thing. It really gives you some great possibilities.