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I heard Al Schmitt didn't care for it much. He said that it wouldn't be his first choice and didn't know why there was such a big stink being made over it.

I would put $50 on a bet that says Al has never used one .

Al can use any preamp on the planet, do you think he can relate to those of us who are looking for the sound of a 1073 at a price point of a Portico? It's no wonder he doesn't understand why the masses would appreciate such a thing.

A guy who has access to the most expensive gear in the industry spending time testing a Portico? It never happened.

Second paragraph down:

http://www.3daudioinc.com/cgi-bin/ul...c&f=1&t=001508

i ate a whole stick of butter... ummmm!

The Quote "Al was using a Klaus modified U67 on vocals, and 2 M49s on a 7 ft Baldwin piano...the piano mics were running through BAE racked 1073s, the 67 through a Portico (which Al stated was not his first choice, and wondered aloud what the flap was all about regarding the pre"

What you wrote "I heard Al Schmitt didn't care for it much. He said that it wouldn't be his first choice and didn't know why there was such a big stink being made over it."

I think you colored it a bit if not mis-interpreted it .

He could have meant that it was not his first choice because he was not familiar with it and wondered why everyone was talking about it. This does not infer one way or the other whether he actually had used it prior to this, nor does it indicate what he thought after the listen. In fact, I would bet that this was the first time he had heard one.

The author of that thread does not indicate either way. I think this statement could be interpreted a lot of different ways. Either way, he has not done any testing of the Portico other than plugging it in on this demo.

I wasn't there, and I was just pointing to what someone else wrote. It sure sounds to me like he has "used one." Aren't semantic arguments fun?

Ok, I'll give you that he used one for a demo but your interpretation that it was a negative endorsement is stretching things. Should have bet me, I would have paid up.

Also, it doesn't sound like he did a lot of testing , if any, other than plug it in.

I was just starting to enjoy it. heh

It does suck though.

Nothing really progressive happening here is there ?

Sometimes the splintered fragmented threads that go nowhere (or everywhere other than the real topic) and piss everybody off are the most fun for some reason.

Forums are good for just shooting the **** sometimes instead of writing an encylopedia all the time. Plenty of threads around here do that.

This is my favorite one so far.

home made bread, some cinnamon, sugar, raisins, and pecans, well it makes the butter sound pretty good.

****.....he'll really be mad then heh might never come back to GS again

hey, I ordered a portico on wed. and got it fri. I live in Tx, so it was $1679 after tax. I just woke up....i stayed up until about 4am tracking vocals through it.

I'm not fletcher and i don't have his experience with pro gear. The only pre's that i own and have at my disposal are a presonus eureka, a digimax lt, a speck 5.0, and some cheap tube mp garbage. I have spent many hours in local "pro" studios over the years, so I do have some sort of a perspective. Also, I've been recording on my own for a few years(with crappy gear).

My recording partner, however has tracked in real pro studios and has worked at a local studio for a few years. He has recorded several local artists, but nobody huge.

i just wanted to point out that were not COMPLETELY clueless.

i tried it through my sm7b and a KSM44 on vox and acoustic. i have been relying on my speck 5.0 for these tasks, as it is my best pre...until now.

Dude, ...ahaahhahah

The portico turned my vocals in to BUTTER...mmmmm Bu...tter.
They sound freakin huge and SMOOVE like Barry white, but there is still a very nice high end. this pre sounds really good. I might sale my speck to fund another one.
(i know, that's crazy talk!) The portico sounds very smooth and vERY musical.
It sounds like a recording. It sounds like i went to a $300/hr studio and tracked vox and brought 'em back and dumped 'em in my computer.

And the SILK BUTTON!!!! man, the vocals sounded good before, but the silk button....It made my vocals alot smoother. I decided last night after the first playback of tracking with the "silk" feature that it will be on pretty much all of my vox, because it makes me sound like a pro recording.

when our third bandmate got here and i played our test tracks with the portico he was so impressed that he kept repeating this vocal trak that was 2 lines.
i said "check...check" and then sung the lines.
That was all he/needed to hear. this pre sounds freakin HUGE and so focused. It sounds like i'm standing between the speakers...like it's 3D or something. This is THE bEST thing i have bought for recording so far.

and if anybody read my posts before, you know i was kinda concerned with a sibilance issue before....well, it's a non-issue with this pre. I mean, i'm singing the same way andthe mics are picking up the "S's", but it just soundsmuch more musical.

For acoustic: we just tried a KSM44 in figure 8 with various settings on the portico.
This preamp is really round and thick soundwise. it sounded best W/ the HPF engaged and without the silk feature it sounded more modern. with it, it somehow sounded like i used a older or more rounded pre. It sounded really good w/without "silk".

We all ended up agreeing that we just couldn't make this thing sound bad...it made everything we recorded sound like a reallygood album....I was even recording them just talking in the room.

in conclusion...cough cough...erm....

this is my best preamp...and i'm freakin glad i got it!!!! whoooohohohohohoho!!!!!!!!!!! I want another one so we can record more things with this sound. We will only have to ride levels...i bet...ahahahahah.
seriously.
ahaahhahah.

P.S. i probably won't sale my speck, because everything sounds so upfront with it, but i'm very, very tempted to see how much i can get for it.

I bought it in Dec. from mercenary and it is in VERY good condition...i haven't even racked it. lol. PM me.

I have never heard his voice, but I have read postings where he has.

Andre

Quite often actually.

I sincerely doubt you'll get anything near what it will be worth to you in the long run. The 5.0; as you've noted, is an entirely different texture, which makes it an effective tool in your arsenal to achieve subtle, yet palpable tonal/textural juxtaposition which could lead to a more interesting recording if well applied.

In other words... I would recommend you look toward "building a collection of effective tools" rather than engaging in a race to find the "ultimate pre-amp". FWIW, I've found that the "ultimate pre-amp" doesn't exist... there is the "best tool for the job" but no "best tool for all jobs" [though I'm sure many could debate that point, this is my impression from my experience and as always, your milage may vary .

As for me slagging stuff M-A pimps... yeah, it happens from time to time. Not all "lines" are perfect. As some lines grow there can be a stinker in the bunch... or with some lines, there is a great tool in the batch, but only one so it's not really worth it for M-A to pick up that line [like Tube Tech for example... the CL-1B is fukking brilliant!!... however the rest of the line seems mediocre at best and sub-par redundant to some of the other stuff we carry so why bother].

As for my personal opinions, they're my personal opinions... and pretty much all personal opinions are like assholes... we all have one, most of them stink [especially mine]. I try my level best to come to this and other internet forums as a recording engineer first and a pimp second but that is not always possible. I do my level best, but hey, I'm as [if not more] fallible as the next guy... so take it all with a grain of salt.

Personally, I'd dismiss all posts regarding equipment unless there is advice on how that equipment was employed within the context of a specific technique... like the brother who has one decent pre-amp with which to compare the Portico [the 5.0]... neat assessment, but it doesn't really say all that much because it wasn't really placed in application. For those statements to mean more than "wow, I just got my second piece of actual professional equipment and I'm starting to realize the difference quality tools can make to my overall presentation" there should be [at least in my opinion, which we've already established is a pile of ****e] a sequence of I used the ____ on a ____ which was used with ____ mic in ____ application; as it related to ____ pre, with ___ mic, on ____ which was done with a ____ to achieve ____ result.

Right, this **** is all so ethereal and aesthetic driven that "one man's floor is another man's ceiling". At best we can be true to our vision/version of how we can support the musical statement through the employment of audio tools... but at the end of the day, it's still first and foremost about being true to your, and the artists', sense of aesthetic as it applies to that musical statement.

When is a socket wrench better than an open end wrench? When does a box wrench have them both beat? 14mm is pretty damn close to 9/16ths... you can use them damn near interchangeably... should you?

Great post. Nice to see some persepective about the place of gear in the scheme of things.

By the way, regarding the best tool for the job, the reciprocal saw is the ultimate in hand tools. I just got one and it works on everything. It's not a precision tool mind you, but when you just want to hack away at the job, it gets it done in record time. heh

Yeah Fletcher that is all fine and good what what do you think about the Portico?? I will not buy one until you give it your stamp of approval....

(for the sarcastically challenged that was sarcasm)

Nice post Fletcher, do you ever get sick of having to say the same things over and over?

For the record I think it is nice to hear Fletcher and Nathan's take on things because they touch more varied gear in a day than most of us will in a lifetime. Also I like hearing Lynn, Michael W, Jules and the other mod's take because they are in the trenches with this stuff as well....

BUT

I don't think it is wise to base your entire gear decision on any of their reviews. Your ears, your room etc......

Just my opinion, but Mr Fletcher is like a good (damn good) glass of wine aged to perfection that makes coming to these boards more than worth the trip. Please get a book together and kick some serious ass.

i look forward to Fletcher's post i respect people who say what they think as opposed to dancing around the **** point.


14mm is = to .5512
9/16 is = to .5625
thats a difference of .0113
not even close

More interesting than Al Smiths opinion on the Portico was this paragraph;

" - When asked about sample rates, he said the last Diana Krall project was tracked both to tape and to PT at 96K...no one could tell a difference, so in his future works, the tape systems will be left out of the chain....he also made a point of saying that he prefers mixing on a large console, using knobs over mouse moves, hardware over plug ins...but did go on to say that if the situation called for it, plugs and ITB/stem mixing can be just as good, just takes a bit more work to get there."


"Late last night, got back from a NARAS sponsored mixing seminar with Al Schmidt...if anyone is interested, here are the highlights; if not interested, move along... "
http://www.3daudioinc.com/cgi-bin/ul...c&f=1&t=001508

Having scudded around the bottom of the commercial scene and then bailing to run my own lowball project studio with lowball gear, I haven't had my hands on much Neve gear since way back when I was in kneepants. (A community college I took recording classes at had an old 16 ch Neve board someone had donated.)

But, anyhow, that is the most evocative description I've read (as well as most parallel to my own thoughts) of how I remember the Neve sound...

I just now noticed this thread. I have few comments.

1) I only visit Wagener's forum here at GearSlutz. That's the only one I check daily. Once every few months I'll browse through the others.

2) You can always find me at 3dB. I check in there at least once an hour. Link is below in my sig.

3) Thanks for the pictures of the inside of the Portico. I asked at the RND booth at TapeOp to see the insides and was denied. Odd, I thought, since everyone else was accommodating (Michael Grace, Presonus, Jonathan Little, even David Bock showed me inside his prototype Ferrari mic).

4) I have not heard a Portico yet. My plate is full of preamps right now that I'm auditioning. (Chandler TG Channel MkII, GML 2032, Manley TNT) so it won't happen anytime soon.

5) I appreciate that you want to hear my opinion. Fletcher's right. Opinions are like, well, let's just say everybody's got one. And mine or Fletcher's opinions are no better than anyone elses. They may get more attention but that's just because we use them a lot.

Man you should try this preamp! (assumes accent) "It very good!"

I almost wanna send Fletcher mine so he can do a review ...then people will stop wondering. anyway, fletcher ...i tried to take your advice about using it in an actual application.

I tracked all vocals on this song through an SM7b-Portico(w/silk engaged and HP @ about 100)-to a presonus digimax for conversion(I'm poor, ok?)-into an rme card.

The guitar was through a Beyer ribbon Mic-tracked w/Portico.

This is what my Portico sounds like in a track. click my SIG. the vocals and guitar are ALL Portico.

I know....I sing bad and I mix bad, but maybe this will help somebody.

THe only way Fletcher will slam something he deals is if he is no longer a dealer. He has never said a bad thing about something he deals. Who would blame him? That does not make him an a$$hole. He is a dealer. His job is to sell the gear, not trash it. Some people on this forum really need to remember that he is a dealer.... some people seem brain washed. I think Fletcher is great, with a grain of salt (for all you master chefs on this thread)....

Sorry 84k but I disagree.

I've seen plenty of posts of his very openly dissing some Manley pieces he carries and he seems to be a good friend of Evannas. He's also got a review right on his website dissing certain aspects of the Toft gear he sells.

Like I think he said before in this thread sometimes it's worth it to him to carry a whole of line of stuff if theres a couple pieces that are great even if theres a few pieces that aren`t so great.

But I still don't understand why were talking about Fletcher as if he's some kind of quasi internet celebrity when he's just a dude that knows about gear and recording and runs a cool store. And I also don't know why were acting like were talking behind his back when he can read this just as easily as we can.

If you've got a problem with him just post to him directy ay ?

Fletcher can READ? Oh ****.

I'll be back later. I've got some major deleting to do.

LOL !