Buzz Elixir trials and applications

natpub · 18th July 2006

After the past 6 weeks of converter and preamps trials, we posted a couple threads on gear and made our choices.

We do Americana/Folk/Country/Pop/Renassaince/etc music. Largely acoustic with some heavier electric sounds mixed in.

We selected the Lynx Aurora converters after several tests, and the 500 series format for preamplification. Our needs are based on small budget and a single preamp at this time to meet all our needs--perhaps a tall order, but plenty of records have been made with one good console/preamp type.

What we wanted was a cleaner type unit, leaning towards the GML/Gordon kind of vibe, but with a touch of colour, just a dash of old-time religion.

The arrangement and instrumentation layout is as follows: FemVox/Alto--as we say in lots of other posts, she is a Karen Carpenter-meets-Ann Wilson singer, which is silly to say, but wtf, how do you describe such things?!? Buy our new CD, then it will be perfectly clear what I mean, lol thumbsup; then AcGtr/Baritone BGV, EGtr/Kbd/TenorBGV(me), Fiddle/BGV, Mandolin/BGV, Accordian/BGV, Bass/BGV, Drums/BGV. Total count=8. Top vox is 4 part harmo x2, or any combo or up to 8 running vox lines and 8-32 inst lines. We arent stacking any BGV for this disc.

Needless to say, asking any single pre to do duty for such work is a flattering question from the start. We did indeed try Neve and API preamps, though not during our home tests, so there is no fair comparrison, and they were out of our price and planning range. We have experience with GML, and would choose it every time, especially if George came with the package! Unfortunately, it is also out of our current price/plan solution.

The 500 series ended up ideal, due to flexibility, and numerous desired units made now and forthcoming. We have listed or hinted at every preamp we tried in many other posts, so now, to the Buzz Elixir.

We were fortunate to get a trial on a very relaxed basis through the good folk at Atlas Audio. The Package arrived in a somewhat shockingly large box!

We thought there had to be several T-Shirts inside (though we alread had a fair share of Atlas shirts), or perhaps a pet Llama??

Wow! Instead the box was a surprize box-of-a-box, clearly made to travel from Down-Under. In short, the packaging was WAY over the top, and we were glad of it (we LOVE over-the-top something/anything!).

After opening lots of 500 Series preamps, we were waiting for the same general vibe. Instead, we slowly awoke to a piece of art.

The Elixir is not hidden circuitry. Every bit of loving work shows clear. The amount of amazing hand-crafted and supremely professional work was clear. The outrageous thing was the stacks and stacks of layers of circuit boards. Clearly, all the fantasticly tight and expensive switching and options showed below.

My fav thing, the inspection stickers had very low-key initials that read, "TF." We were very pleased and felt relaxed to read this.

The serial number was bla bla 008. Again, we were super happy. I mean, how many new CD's are gonna be made on this in the coming year? For Tim, I hope a lot, but for us, haha, we hope ours is exclusive, lol!

I had a moment of reluctance to even remove the thing from the box. I suck because I didnt take a pic, but I was eager to slot it into our BA rack. And so it was...

Well FCK! Let there be Light!

The Mojo had arrived...

We ran down tests on SDC, LDC, Dynamic. We have a ribbon on order, but sadly not arrived. The Elixir is gonna be a ribbon god--70+ Db gain, insanely quiet! All the switching options only made the unit even more of an "octopus!" when it came to variations. Every single switch and click were solid, sound, useful, and needed. Cream dream, as Jack Black would say.

After 3 days of comparrison to various preamps, mics, inst, and voxs, we ran flat into a wall of time, yikes!

We had a CD project due, and a main player flying in from Kansas City the next day who was tracking for finals over a week long stay. Decisions had to be made, checks cut, and resolutions complete. After agonizing and grueling trials, we had to choose the new Buzz Elixir.

Every pre we tried had fantasic and lovely qualities, but the Elixir is the definition of the word "Ubiquitious."

If I was forced to choose one preamp (which I was) that could "Do it all," this new unit was our undeniable winner for the kind of music we do. If we did any other kind of music, I might confess something else, and I must say, we seriously plan to add to our 500 rack soon.

For our purposes on this CD, the Elixir is just insanely right! The sound is new, solid, sweet...yet has nostalgia, heart, and soul.

I had planned to post a thread reviewing this unit last week, but the artist arrived, and tracking had to begin. I ended every night swearing I would write up something, end passing out instead....these were marathon sessions of baritone vox, both lead and BGV, A Gtr, mandolin, bass DI, various fem voxs, and guide tracks for drums using loops, guide kbds, guide effect instruments, etc.

Over 6 days, we put the Elixir to the test. By this time, we had already selected and bought the Buzz. Natutrally, one expects that buyers will taint their review, since they spent the cash, and wanna believe.

Well, sorry. This is not that kinda story, grinz.

Indeed, despite my failure to post my immediate comparrison reactions, they did not fade. Instead, we kept freaking out more and more on the Elixir.

We ran some pretty careful measurement tests on noise floor alone. The Elixir is a madly quiet preamp. I'm talking MAD quiet. Every single other unit we tested was at least 10 Db louder at max settings than the Elixir, as far as transformer type units. Bear in mind, this is a 70 Db preamp! At max settings, the noise floor was invisible.

Of course, I had to wonder, what is the saturation like, if this has so much headroom?

And of course, we shoved it into the red over and over all week.

By last night, I had to run to the bulkhead to avoid crapping my pants over this thing.

Description? Hmm...

We have lot of shrill and sharp high end...I mean, consider the instrumentation...treble city....

The Elixir had a perfectly clear, crisp, and...hmm...HiFi kind of air. Very "diamond-ish" as the GML has been described. Pristine.

The midrange starts to get a little warm, but nothing like most 500 Series you might know, and nothing like the API 300 or 500 pres. Instead, the Buzz has a very "down-home" kind of mid-range, remiding me of a "NickleCreek" sort of vibe. Impressive, to say the least.

Now, everything was great, and then came the low end. Cripes! The output transformer came into play in a big way. Tim found some kind of magic way to force a nearly Neve-ish low-end into this latest wild creation. The DI on bass was just sick. This guy has to be chatting with sorcerers and witches, or making some kind of deal at the "crossroads."

For us, the Elixir was, in no way, a copy of the other Buzz units. Instead, it is a very strange hybrid and, sure, compromise unit. But dang, the comprimise ends up being so applicable to every situation that one may as well stir a martini and relax as worry about preamp selection.

At the end of a grueling week of 12-16 hour days of tracking, the Elixir barely broke a sweat. We gotta give a nice shout-out to Tim for a great job on creating a multi-tasking workhorse at a one-song-lizzy price!

Hats off to Tim and Buzz, great ideas come to life, definately a magical, musical box!

Peace, we're off to South Padre for a week of sun, sand, and well earned chilltime...

laters all :-)

KT

["home at last------>"]

Snatchman · 18th July 2006

Great report! Samples please.....

s.d.finley · 18th July 2006

Kudos on the report!!

That Buzz looks awfully lonely!!

sdf

TAVD · 19th July 2006

As vague as it might be, hi-fi and musical would be how I'd describe these also. That impedence switch is perfect for a Senn e609, which can sound dark otherwise. I'll have to plug in a ribbon soon but I don't expect it to suck.

Jules · 19th July 2006

Wow what a cool report...

The photo at the end is kinda freaky though.. like the end of Blair Wich Project where that guy is just standing there on his own facing the wall in the cellar...

e-cue · 19th July 2006

Great stuff Natpub- thanks. Sounds like another Buzz Audio homerun.

Quote:

Originally Posted by natpub

For us, the Elixir was, in no way, a copy of the other Buzz units. Instead, it is a very strange hybrid and, sure, compromise unit. But dang, the comprimise ends up being so applicable to every situation that one may as well stir a martini and relax as worry about preamp selection.

As a point of reference, which Buzz Audio unit(s) are you most familiar with? The MA2.2 reminded me of a milkier version of a GML- great detail, stupid low noise floor, but none of the hardness a GML can get. If the elixir retains the characteristics I dug, this is a very good deal.

Snatchman · 19th July 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by s.d.finley

Kudos on the report!!

That Buzz looks awfully lonely!!

sdf

...Yeah, it kinda looks as if its suspended in mid air..!.......

**Tim Farrant** · 21st July 2006

Thanks natpub.

Glad you liked it, we DO aim to please and try to come up with designs that are a bit different to other offerings.

Cheers
Tim.

GYang · 21st July 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Farrant

Glad you liked it, we DO aim to please and try to come up with designs that are a bit different to other offerings.
.

That's great Tim, indeed.
I like Buzz stuff.

natpub · 24th July 2006

Howdy Ya'll,

I'm just back from the island, ocean, and Mexico, so tough shit to ya'll working stiffs, haha, just kidding!!

I'll try to stick together some of the wave (woohoo!!! surfs up!) files we did, which are indeed different as hell. It is totally stupid to think we heard anything "better" or "worse." We spent months on research and did not test anything below "Uber," in my mind. We are pretty toasted on gear-slutting atm, and have weeks of photo-shoots, media appearances, and other typical label promo siht happening now.

I personally wanna thank Mexico for fantastic tequila, nightclubs, and some of the most amazing food on earth!!!

We drove quite a while to find this lonely piece of beach away from all the tourists. Behind me is the final edge of the island...10 steps in front of me is the Gulf meeting the Carribean...ahhhh....dont ask what is in my cup!!

natpub · 24th July 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jules

The photo at the end is kinda freaky though.. like the end of Blair Wich Project where that guy is just standing there on his own facing the wall in the cellar...

Bleh, sorry Brother, welcome to the Cell Phone age!! shitty pics, hmm...oddly reminds me of MP3!!!!!

NathanEldred · 29th July 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by natpub

dont ask what is in my cup!!

So, what's in the cup?

18th July 2006	#1
natpub More cowbell! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 2,084 Thread Starter 1 Review written	Buzz Elixir trials and applications After the past 6 weeks of converter and preamps trials, we posted a couple threads on gear and made our choices. We do Americana/Folk/Country/Pop/Renassaince/etc music. Largely acoustic with some heavier electric sounds mixed in. We selected the Lynx Aurora converters after several tests, and the 500 series format for preamplification. Our needs are based on small budget and a single preamp at this time to meet all our needs--perhaps a tall order, but plenty of records have been made with one good console/preamp type. What we wanted was a cleaner type unit, leaning towards the GML/Gordon kind of vibe, but with a touch of colour, just a dash of old-time religion. The arrangement and instrumentation layout is as follows: FemVox/Alto--as we say in lots of other posts, she is a Karen Carpenter-meets-Ann Wilson singer, which is silly to say, but wtf, how do you describe such things?!? Buy our new CD, then it will be perfectly clear what I mean, lol thumbsup; then AcGtr/Baritone BGV, EGtr/Kbd/TenorBGV(me), Fiddle/BGV, Mandolin/BGV, Accordian/BGV, Bass/BGV, Drums/BGV. Total count=8. Top vox is 4 part harmo x2, or any combo or up to 8 running vox lines and 8-32 inst lines. We arent stacking any BGV for this disc. Needless to say, asking any single pre to do duty for such work is a flattering question from the start. We did indeed try Neve and API preamps, though not during our home tests, so there is no fair comparrison, and they were out of our price and planning range. We have experience with GML, and would choose it every time, especially if George came with the package! Unfortunately, it is also out of our current price/plan solution. The 500 series ended up ideal, due to flexibility, and numerous desired units made now and forthcoming. We have listed or hinted at every preamp we tried in many other posts, so now, to the Buzz Elixir. We were fortunate to get a trial on a very relaxed basis through the good folk at Atlas Audio. The Package arrived in a somewhat shockingly large box! We thought there had to be several T-Shirts inside (though we alread had a fair share of Atlas shirts), or perhaps a pet Llama?? Wow! Instead the box was a surprize box-of-a-box, clearly made to travel from Down-Under. In short, the packaging was WAY over the top, and we were glad of it (we LOVE over-the-top something/anything!). After opening lots of 500 Series preamps, we were waiting for the same general vibe. Instead, we slowly awoke to a piece of art. The Elixir is not hidden circuitry. Every bit of loving work shows clear. The amount of amazing hand-crafted and supremely professional work was clear. The outrageous thing was the stacks and stacks of layers of circuit boards. Clearly, all the fantasticly tight and expensive switching and options showed below. My fav thing, the inspection stickers had very low-key initials that read, "TF." We were very pleased and felt relaxed to read this. The serial number was bla bla 008. Again, we were super happy. I mean, how many new CD's are gonna be made on this in the coming year? For Tim, I hope a lot, but for us, haha, we hope ours is exclusive, lol! I had a moment of reluctance to even remove the thing from the box. I suck because I didnt take a pic, but I was eager to slot it into our BA rack. And so it was... Well FCK! Let there be Light! The Mojo had arrived... We ran down tests on SDC, LDC, Dynamic. We have a ribbon on order, but sadly not arrived. The Elixir is gonna be a ribbon god--70+ Db gain, insanely quiet! All the switching options only made the unit even more of an "octopus!" when it came to variations. Every single switch and click were solid, sound, useful, and needed. Cream dream, as Jack Black would say. After 3 days of comparrison to various preamps, mics, inst, and voxs, we ran flat into a wall of time, yikes! We had a CD project due, and a main player flying in from Kansas City the next day who was tracking for finals over a week long stay. Decisions had to be made, checks cut, and resolutions complete. After agonizing and grueling trials, we had to choose the new Buzz Elixir. Every pre we tried had fantasic and lovely qualities, but the Elixir is the definition of the word "Ubiquitious." If I was forced to choose one preamp (which I was) that could "Do it all," this new unit was our undeniable winner for the kind of music we do. If we did any other kind of music, I might confess something else, and I must say, we seriously plan to add to our 500 rack soon. For our purposes on this CD, the Elixir is just insanely right! The sound is new, solid, sweet...yet has nostalgia, heart, and soul. I had planned to post a thread reviewing this unit last week, but the artist arrived, and tracking had to begin. I ended every night swearing I would write up something, end passing out instead....these were marathon sessions of baritone vox, both lead and BGV, A Gtr, mandolin, bass DI, various fem voxs, and guide tracks for drums using loops, guide kbds, guide effect instruments, etc. Over 6 days, we put the Elixir to the test. By this time, we had already selected and bought the Buzz. Natutrally, one expects that buyers will taint their review, since they spent the cash, and wanna believe. Well, sorry. This is not that kinda story, grinz. Indeed, despite my failure to post my immediate comparrison reactions, they did not fade. Instead, we kept freaking out more and more on the Elixir. We ran some pretty careful measurement tests on noise floor alone. The Elixir is a madly quiet preamp. I'm talking MAD quiet. Every single other unit we tested was at least 10 Db louder at max settings than the Elixir, as far as transformer type units. Bear in mind, this is a 70 Db preamp! At max settings, the noise floor was invisible. Of course, I had to wonder, what is the saturation like, if this has so much headroom? And of course, we shoved it into the red over and over all week. By last night, I had to run to the bulkhead to avoid crapping my pants over this thing. Description? Hmm... We have lot of shrill and sharp high end...I mean, consider the instrumentation...treble city.... The Elixir had a perfectly clear, crisp, and...hmm...HiFi kind of air. Very "diamond-ish" as the GML has been described. Pristine. The midrange starts to get a little warm, but nothing like most 500 Series you might know, and nothing like the API 300 or 500 pres. Instead, the Buzz has a very "down-home" kind of mid-range, remiding me of a "NickleCreek" sort of vibe. Impressive, to say the least. Now, everything was great, and then came the low end. Cripes! The output transformer came into play in a big way. Tim found some kind of magic way to force a nearly Neve-ish low-end into this latest wild creation. The DI on bass was just sick. This guy has to be chatting with sorcerers and witches, or making some kind of deal at the "crossroads." For us, the Elixir was, in no way, a copy of the other Buzz units. Instead, it is a very strange hybrid and, sure, compromise unit. But dang, the comprimise ends up being so applicable to every situation that one may as well stir a martini and relax as worry about preamp selection. At the end of a grueling week of 12-16 hour days of tracking, the Elixir barely broke a sweat. We gotta give a nice shout-out to Tim for a great job on creating a multi-tasking workhorse at a one-song-lizzy price! Hats off to Tim and Buzz, great ideas come to life, definately a magical, musical box! Peace, we're off to South Padre for a week of sun, sand, and well earned chilltime... laters all :-) KT ["home at last------>"] Attached Thumbnails __________________ Sonic Sorcery Austin, Texas

19th July 2006	#4
TAVD Lives for gear Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,368	As vague as it might be, hi-fi and musical would be how I'd describe these also. That impedence switch is perfect for a Senn e609, which can sound dark otherwise. I'll have to plug in a ribbon soon but I don't expect it to suck. __________________ Tom Denyle Custom Guitars

19th July 2006	#5
Jules Gearslutz.com admin Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: A Yank in London, UK Posts: 17,356 1 Review written	Wow what a cool report... The photo at the end is kinda freaky though.. like the end of Blair Wich Project where that guy is just standing there on his own facing the wall in the cellar... __________________ Jules Add your reviews to the new reviews area! Gearslutz on Facebook Follow my GS picks on Twitter

21st July 2006	#8
Tim Farrant Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: New Zealand Posts: 2,309	Thanks natpub. Glad you liked it, we DO aim to please and try to come up with designs that are a bit different to other offerings. Cheers Tim. __________________ "Come on, make my day" Dirty Harry (Clint Eastwood) Visit Buzz Audio

24th July 2006	#10
natpub More cowbell! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 2,084 Thread Starter 1 Review written	Howdy Ya'll, I'm just back from the island, ocean, and Mexico, so tough shit to ya'll working stiffs, haha, just kidding!! I'll try to stick together some of the wave (woohoo!!! surfs up!) files we did, which are indeed different as hell. It is totally stupid to think we heard anything "better" or "worse." We spent months on research and did not test anything below "Uber," in my mind. We are pretty toasted on gear-slutting atm, and have weeks of photo-shoots, media appearances, and other typical label promo siht happening now. I personally wanna thank Mexico for fantastic tequila, nightclubs, and some of the most amazing food on earth!!! We drove quite a while to find this lonely piece of beach away from all the tourists. Behind me is the final edge of the island...10 steps in front of me is the Gulf meeting the Carribean...ahhhh....dont ask what is in my cup!! Attached Thumbnails

18th July 2006	#2
Snatchman Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 3,320	Great report! Samples please.....

18th July 2006	#3
s.d.finley Lives for gear Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 3,562	Kudos on the report!! That Buzz looks awfully lonely!! sdf

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