Jesus...or should I spell it George Massenburg

[gainreduction]

I'm auditioning a GML 2032 pre/eq (which the retailer kindly let me borrow, thanx) and holy crap... I can't find the words. How can I not buy this thing. It's on it's first task today which is electric guitar. My telecaster through a Roger Mayer Voodoo-1 and a Boss tremolo to my Fender Champ, miked with a vintage Neumann CMV bottle with M7 capsule about one foot away from the amp, a bit off-axis. The tone is ridiculous !! I'm banging my head to the wall and screaming, this thing sounds so... real, for lack of a better word. I can hear overtones and delicate nuance that I can barely hear from the amp alone. it's punchy and upfront, yet totally in place in the track just ready to go. I can't stop playing, the sound is so good ! And the eq is simply fantastic ! It's like I'm really hearing the mic and nothing but the mic, weird but extremely nice. This is my first hands-on GML experience and I'm truly amazed. I love the sound of my 1073's but this is something completely different. I'm not saying lightyears better, just different yet so good it hurts. George, you're a genius.

I'm recording vocals tomorrow with a fantastic singer so I'm really looking forward to that. just needed to share this, over and out. thumbsup

[everyday]

Gainreduction.

Does the 2032 have a line input? I was thinking to get one but I couldn't find anywhere about line input.

It will be great if I can use it for mixing.


Thank you.

Everyday...

[gainreduction]

You can use the eq and pre as separate units so yes, no problems using the eq for mixing. I can post some more impressions after my vocaltracking session tomorrow.

[djui5]

Wait till you hear vocals through it, you're going to crap yourself.

Nice report

GM's the man

[max cooper]

Funny topic heading. I'd love to hear it!

[JonCraig]

Originally Posted by gainreduction

This is my first hands-on GML experience and I'm truly amazed.

thing is... it's *all* amazing. i'm a HUGE fan of the 8200 EQ & 8900 comp. the 8200 is the only eq i've used so far that is equally good at broad shaping & surgical-type cuts. you can do a whole lot more boost or cut without hearing artifacts & phase distortion. the 8900 is really hard to make sound bad.

now i just have to find the money to buy the stuff.

--jon

[rickrock305]

LOL at the name of this thread!!!

[everyday]

Originally Posted by gainreduction

You can use the eq and pre as separate units so yes, no problems using the eq for mixing. I can post some more impressions after my vocaltracking session tomorrow.

Thanks for your answer...

Any more impression?

Everyday

[gainreduction]

Tracked vocals today and the GML continues to deliver. The sound was simply stunning and it makes tracking very easy. Again, it sounds natural, open and deep and not hyped in any way. And the high frequencies are smooth and detailed, i have never recorded such a sweet high end with my mics. I am still amazed. This is the first non-tube micpre I've heard that doesn't "crack" like other designs. The Neves, for example, has an "invisible" crack on nasty vocal transients that you really can't tell what it is and so far I've only heard tube designs that are smooth all the way. Until now ! The GML has such clean gain.

I can imagine that this is the kind of pre that probably would not be the first choice for everything if you had 20 pres to try out for every instrument, but it would certainly be the one of the few pres that will record anything extremely well and shine on certain things, like vocals and acoustic instruments.

Start mixing tomorrow, will send a ton of stuff through the eq to see what happens.

[everyday]

Great report...

Keep 'em Coming.

thumbsup

Everyday...

[gainreduction]

Report continues... Mixdown yesterday and the eq got a serious workout. I can really see why GML eq's are a pro studio standard. It's the most versatile eq I've ever used. Everything from dialing in narrow Q to kill a nasty resonance or other surgical tasks to Lo or Hi shelving or wide sweeps in general, everything sounds outstanding ! Sounds like phase distortion is close to nothing aswell. No matter what you do with this eq, it doesn't hurt your ear. I wish i had a console full of these...

[natpub]

Originally Posted by everyday

Gainreduction.

Does the 2032 have a line input? I was thinking to get one but I couldn't find anywhere about line input.

It will be great if I can use it for mixing.


Thank you.

Everyday...

It has what George is callin' an MI (DI?) which is probly Hi-Z I'm thinkin. The price is pretty wicked though, but low compared to most the GML stuff

[gainreduction]

Originally Posted by natpub

It has what George is callin' an MI (DI?) which is probly Hi-Z I'm thinkin.

It has an insert point and if you wanna use the eq only then the insert input feeds the eq and that signal is routed to the output of the unit. The micpre always feeds the insert output and with insert disabled through the eq to the main output. So with insert switch you can choose whether you wanna use the pre and eq in series or parallel. So, the line input is to be found in the insert input. Confusing at first sight but when you spend one minute figuring it out, it makes perfect sense. And yes, it ALSO has a hi-z instrument input.

My only concern regarding this unit is that the output is unbalanced. I understand that it's for sonic reasons (and the output stage is very well designed) and with short cable runs it's not a problem. The (2-page !!) manual states that shorting the output (pin 2 hot, xlr) will cause damage to the unit. This scares me since you obviously wanna access it through the patchbay and everytime you patch in a cord, for a split second it might be shorted. During my testperiod I always disconnected the xlr at the output of the unit first before doing anymore patching and then connect it back when done. I didn't wanna **** up the borrowed unit... But you don't wanna do it like this once you have it racked. Can it handle patching ??????????

[ToddP]

Originally Posted by gainreduction

My only concern regarding this unit is that the output is unbalanced. I understand that it's for sonic reasons (and the output stage is very well designed) and with short cable runs it's not a problem. The (2-page !!) manual states that shorting the output (pin 2 hot, xlr) will cause damage to the unit. This scares me since you obviously wanna access it through the patchbay and everytime you patch in a cord, for a split second it might be shorted. During my testperiod I always disconnected the xlr at the output of the unit first before doing anymore patching and then connect it back when done. I didn't wanna **** up the borrowed unit... But you don't wanna do it like this once you have it racked. Can it handle patching ??????????

This is from GML Tech support:

"It is important to note that differences between 3-wire unbalanced (balanced interconnect)--employed in GML peripheral devices--and 2-wire unbalanced (unbalanced interconnect) are significant. Most often, utilizing a 3-wire unbalanced output presents no issues since modern professional gear features balanced inputs almost exclusively. Interfacing to equipment with unbalanced inputs, however, requires some attention to detail and knowledge of the devices in question.

Momentary output shorts (0-1s), as encountered in some patching situations, should not adversely affect the output unless significant signal is applied (>18dBu). Shorts of slightly longer duration (2-4s) can be sustained so long as signal is not applied."

The manual shipped with the unit is to get you started. There is much more detailed information on the 2032 and other GML product online.

www.massenburg.com/cgi-bin/ml/support.html

Rock on! Glad you love the unit!

Todd

[Marjan]

It's Jesus behind all that...

Thanks for the reports!