Quote:
Originally Posted by
Melodicmusic
That bomber must be something special cause I keep hearing a lot about it. However, it is out of my price range right now. I'm looking to score on a nice clean used Hilo. Well I haven't had the chance to demo the opals but most everyone I heard talk about them say the same things that I am looking for. However, I plan to purchase a pair and demo them to see if I really like them. As for the 1176 I have heard many talk about the one you guys are discussing. I just love that smooth sound it has. I really like what I have heard about the great river as well. I've got the great river, grace 101, and Dav Bg-1 on my list as one of the pres I'll go with.
Get a pair of Mohog Mofet76's if you want the "smoothest" version of the 1176. In that vintage context (I prefer the more modern Slate, but that's a personal preference. Knowing what you want, this is the best option, and much cheaper than UA.)
Get a Great River MP-2NV and skip the other preamps. You won't need them for vocals. (*They will more than likely collect a lot of dust for that application after you get used to them all.)
Then get a Great River EQ-2NV or a MAQ-2NV (*Mastering version)
This way you'll have a two channel identical chain for acoustic guitars, piano, synths, or two vocalists singing live off of each other, voice over work, etc. And a stereo EQ you can use as an analog insert in your mixes on the 2Bus. You will NOT regret having that option as it will make your mixes come alive. Plus those EQ designs can allow you to patch the output transformers of the MP-2NV preamp into the EQ to add more color if you need it (Which for somethings, is really cool, and seriously hard to describe...but try it on a stereo synth track and try not to cry with happiness.) If you're mixing a lot...even if it's other people's sessions...it will prove to be invaluable in a hybrid setup like mine used to be. No matter what the genre was, I don't think there has been a session in six years that didn't use those pieces in my studio. Especially the EQ.
A little 10KHz with that EQ pre compression will knock you out on a vocal!
If you need more preamps for tracking a band, there are a lot of good options from there for utility preamps that can be scored on the cheap.