Sage SE-1 Preamps

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earth tones
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Sage SE-1 Preamps

Post by earth tones » Sun Oct 08, 2006 5:27 pm

Just started to use my new Sage preamps and have noticed that there is significantly less gain from both of them, when compared to my other preamps. I understand that these pre's are supposed to be unclippable, so I am wondering if the behaviour I am experiencing is normal.

First, when rotating the gain pot from it's minimum setting to just about maximum, there is no change in output levels, and then the last 1/8th of the pots rotation there is a slight bump in output.

The maximum output barely reaches the half way mark on the meters in Pro Tools, and this is with the amp set at a level where I should be wearing ear plugs. This is not the case with my other pre's, and with the amp at the same level I can easily clip the meters in Pro Tools.

Can any SE-1 owners attest to whether this is odd behaviour for these preamps?

I plan to contact Phil, but figured I would try the board first since there are some other owners here.
Last edited by earth tones on Sun Oct 08, 2006 7:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Wilkesin
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Post by Wilkesin » Sun Oct 08, 2006 7:22 pm

Paging Audio Dr. Hamilton, Audio Dr. Hamilton you have a call on line 4...

John Jeffers
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Post by John Jeffers » Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:11 pm

Queensryche - Operation:Mindcrime - Track 1 - "I Remember Now"

Voice on the intercom system:
Paging...Dr. J. Hamilton, Dr. J Hamilton...

Coincidence?

raycan
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Re: Sage SE-1 Preamps

Post by raycan » Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:23 am

No problems here. I have a se-1 hooked up to a fireface 800 with DP5. Have you tried testing your preamp in other audio apps besides PT to see if you get similiar results?

.Ray

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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:34 am

John Jeffers wrote:Queensryche - Operation:Mindcrime - Track 1 - "I Remember Now"

Voice on the intercom system:
Paging...Dr. J. Hamilton, Dr. J Hamilton...

Coincidence?
OMG... :lol:

earth tones
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Post by earth tones » Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:15 pm

Haven't tried other DAWs, outside of Pro Tools. But have have tried all sorts of cables, and inputs on the 002r. The same cables and inputs that pass much higher signal levels with the other preamps.

Raycan...does the gain pot on your preamps increase output gradually as you rotate them towards maximum, or does it bump up the gain towards the end of the pots rotation?

raycan
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Post by raycan » Tue Oct 10, 2006 2:47 pm

Bumps up gain toward the end of pot rotation.

earth tones
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Post by earth tones » Tue Oct 10, 2006 4:41 pm

Really....? So maybe this is normal. Since it was occurring on both units, I assumed that it could be normal, or that a component or step was left out in the manufacturing of each unit. So no gain increase until near the end of the pots rotation? I will contact Phil to be sure.

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Post by joel hamilton » Tue Oct 10, 2006 5:07 pm

The gain really comes on strong at the end of the rotary faders throw.

I was just in the hospital for 5 days, emergency surgery.... Weird to think someone was posting about "dr. hamilton" while I was getting sliced by a doctor...

COINCIDENCE??? ;)

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Jeff White
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Post by Jeff White » Tue Oct 10, 2006 5:37 pm

Joel, hope that you're ok and making a speedy recovery.

Jeff

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Post by Phillip Victor Bova » Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:23 pm

Hello to all.
(Hi Joel! Please get well quick.)

Cetanorak ... I'm glad I noticed your post about the gain of sage pres.

Please do contact me so we can make sure you're getting what you want out of yours. It's true that our pres have less gain than some other pres. This is by design.

If you could let me know what mic[s] you're using, typical mic to source distances and about the sound sources themselves that would be helpful.

I'm assuming you're running balanced xlr to xlr from your sage pre to your O2R.

Although I don't have an O2R in front of me, I seem to remember that the balanced inputs feature both a wide ranging input gain control as well as a 20db pad. Typically some combination of these should produce lotsa level !

A second option is to feed the output of a sage pre into the input of a second sage pre, making absolutely sure the phantom power switch of the second unit is off. Bring up both gain controls together ... this will distribute gain evenly between units and should provide enough signal to record such subtleties as the mating of fleas at fifty paces.

We also offer a special order version of the SE-Pre1 with 60 db [or more] gain.

Please reach me at any of the contact points below and we'll figure this out.

Phil
sage ELECTRONICS
high-end handcrafted mic preamps, microphones, DI boxes - and EQs !
+ (613) 228-0449
sage@sageelectronics.com
http://www.sageelectronics.com
Ottawa, ON, CANADA

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trodden
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Post by trodden » Wed Oct 11, 2006 11:53 pm

Nice. this is rad.

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Post by joel hamilton » Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:58 am

Phillip Victor Bova wrote:Hello to all.
(Hi Joel! Please get well quick.)

Cetanorak ... I'm glad I noticed your post about the gain of sage pres.

Please do contact me so we can make sure you're getting what you want out of yours. It's true that our pres have less gain than some other pres. This is by design.

If you could let me know what mic[s] you're using, typical mic to source distances and about the sound sources themselves that would be helpful.

I'm assuming you're running balanced xlr to xlr from your sage pre to your O2R.

Although I don't have an O2R in front of me, I seem to remember that the balanced inputs feature both a wide ranging input gain control as well as a 20db pad. Typically some combination of these should produce lotsa level !

A second option is to feed the output of a sage pre into the input of a second sage pre, making absolutely sure the phantom power switch of the second unit is off. Bring up both gain controls together ... this will distribute gain evenly between units and should provide enough signal to record such subtleties as the mating of fleas at fifty paces.

We also offer a special order version of the SE-Pre1 with 60 db [or more] gain.

Please reach me at any of the contact points below and we'll figure this out.

Phil
Phil,
NICE TO SEE YOU here!

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