This is for my home rig (Imac g5, 002 rack, Dynaudio bm5a etc). I want the best sounding pre that will "knock my socks off" when I am dialing it in. Forget about the fact that the Daking has EQ....just think about the sound of the pre alone. The mic I will be using is a Blue Dragonfly (great mic). This will be my only pre and I will follow it with a Distressor.
I know you say forget about the eq/ But the eq is a huge function that the Daking is providing over the GR, preamps aside. I say go DAKING. You need all the outboard eq's you can get when recording with the 002.
The Dragonfly is a relatively bright & clean microphone with a dip in the low mids (If that's not obvious enough from just listening, I'm sure there are some printed curves somewhere). The Daking has an emphasis on the high mids and highs, and is also relatively clean throughout it's frequency range (although the mids on the Daking are very musical). The Great River has a thick lower midrange and helps brighter signals (i.e. mics or the original source itself) achieve rounder lows and thicker mids. The Great River also has more obvious coloration than the Daking. Since the Dragonfly is already relatively bright, unless you want emphasis on even more 'air' and presence (which may very well be the case), I would think the Great River would be the logical and complementary choice. But YMMV.
either one will sound amazing. the only way to know which one will knock your particular brand of socks off more is to try them in your room.
i think the gr is the more badass pre, because i'm a sucker for fat, tapey low-mids. but the daking does have that gorgeous eq which *cannot be ignored* because it gives you 1000x more options when tracking. if you're only going to have one unit, more flexibility is a big plus.
Thanks guys. Why would I need eq more with a 002 than other systems?
I just need this for my home rig. I cut the bands at work and bring the drives home to mix and do some various overdubs (lead vocals, Bass DI, small gtr amps etc).
Don't forget that I will be using the Distressor with this as well...
Dragonfly...(pre amp)...distressor...002...
Thanks guys...your opinions could really help steer me in the right direction before I drop the dough.