Fun mic pres?

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 9:57 pm

numberthirty wrote:It's a positive that a person is willing to stand fix/stand behind a piece of equiptment.

It's an even bigger positive when that person who's willing to stand behind their product never has to because it was built right to start with.

I just got an Audio Technologies TMA-2 tube mic pre for review. I don't want to give too much away before I actually finish writing the review, but this is one great-sounding box. Out of the three products that they make, they sent it to me first, after I told them I wasn't crazy about most modern tube mic pres. Gotta dig that. This thing is so unlike anything else out there that I've used. You'll be able to read all about it in the issue after next.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 10:01 pm

I got an Aurora GTQ2 markIII a few months ago. It's a p[retty amazing peice. Big think lovely transformer sound (and weight the thing weighs a ton). The EQ though simple sounds great.

For those who don't know the head of Aurora is Geoff Tanner an ex- Neve employee. He sought out the ex Marinair employees to build the trannies. He considers the GTQ an "evolved 1073."

So far I've used on guitar, vox, SD, BD, soprano and baritone sax and flute.

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 9:26 am

drumsound - I just picked up a 1073 clone, too - I'm thinking we've got a mic pre shootout on our hands, eh?

AnalogElectric · Post by **AnalogElectric** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 12:43 pm

I keep raving about the Martech MSS-10's, I'd love to have a whole row of them. There are so many options regarding new mic pres made by smaller companies that I'd like to try out but I don't have the resources. I'm still a fan of Manley's mono pres, Trident (MTA) pres, and Sytek's pres; basically colored but not 'dark'.

-- Adam Lazlo

tactics · Post by **tactics** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:15 pm

The Trident 80 series dual pre/eq i have is nice.Great on kick drum with a sennheiser 602.One trick that never fails with this is to only have a little bit of input gain and then boost level with eq and output.I always love this combination.

tablebeast · Post by **tablebeast** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 7:45 am

Someone mentioned the Altec 1588B modules. If you recap them there are no noise issues, its a very clean pre amp under normal gain settings, but gets wonderfully hairy when you drive it. I find it to be an incredible pre on rock drums, I can color each to taste. Anyway, the mod to give the 1588B module enough gain to stand alone and have a direct output pulled from all these altec mixers (1592a and B, 1599A and B, modular 1581A, etc) is fairly simple, plus while you have the shell off the module you can go ahead and swap out the electrolytic caps. Here are the pics describing the mod.

http://circuit-bent.com/1592bmod1.jpg
http://circuit-bent.com/1592bmod2.jpg

Jesse

campironwood · Post by **campironwood** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 12:10 am

I've been having fun with my funkenwerk v78M lately.
been sounding great on snare and vocals.
The funkenwerk has so many tonal options...
after putting new tubes in my peavey vmp2 i realized why this was my "go to" pre for so long,
and the peavey is nice when you throw a pad on the output... tube distortion bliss.

but then again i dont really know how any of this works... just how it sounds.

-morgan

linus · Post by **linus** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 6:14 am

I got my board a while ago (Oram BEQ-8 ) but found out while TOMB was down that it was the very first one made, serial number 1. I knew that it was originally John Cale's but when I talked with John Oram at the AES he was so happy to hear where it was. He had lost track of who owned it. Apparently it was the very first one made and shown at the AES when they launched the line. It's the only one with like it. It's brick red instead of the purple scheme that the others were painted.

Pretty cool. John was a great guy to talk to. He said he'd be happy to make sure it was serviced properly and is happy to provide any parts necessary.

I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I bought it in a thrift store on 2nd Ave.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 7:29 am

linus wrote:I got my board a while ago (Oram BEQ-8 ) but found out while TOMB was down that it was the very first one made, serial number 1. I knew that it was originally John Cale's but when I talked with John Oram at the AES he was so happy to hear where it was. He had lost track of who owned it. Apparently it was the very first one made and shown at the AES when they launched the line. It's the only one with like it. It's brick red instead of the purple scheme that the others were painted.

Pretty cool. John was a great guy to talk to. He said he'd be happy to make sure it was serviced properly and is happy to provide any parts necessary.

I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I bought it in a thrift store on 2nd Ave.

That is really cool. I remember when you found that thing. SO random!

Do you have a picture of that console on the interweb anywhere for viewing?

linus · Post by **linus** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 9:04 am

joel hamilton wrote: That is really cool. I remember when you found that thing. SO random!

Do you have a picture of that console on the interweb anywhere for viewing?

No but I'll take some pics today and post them somewhere.

linus · Post by **linus** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 9:34 am

A bit more on topic:

I've been continually going back to a pair of Marquette Audio racked Telefunken V72s. They always sound great.

The other fav is a pair of Brent Averill 1272s. They definitely have a midrange bark. They lack the low end umph of the V72s though. They sound flatter than the V72s (although they do sound great).

I have a pair of Auditronics racked up. I don't know them very well so maybe I'll play with those today.

Waiting to be racked is a pair of Yamaha PM1000s and a single Audix 35102. Racking them myself is beyond my ability (and I'd rather spend my limited time other ways than learning to rack mic pres) so I'm not sure when I'll get around to them.

The other fun one is a GE Unilevel Vari-mu compressor. I know I know it's not a pre but it has SO MUCH GAIN that I can plug the mic right in and I have plenty of level to go to tape. Very colored. A fuzzy edge to everything that has been great. Great rock vocal sound.

Family Hoof · Post by **Family Hoof** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 2:33 pm

This guy makes some nice mic pres... and him too.

soundguy · Post by **soundguy** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 2:48 pm

Out of all the opamps Ive been messing with over the last year, nothing compares to to the jlm 99v. Everything you want out of neve with none of the nasty sideeffects. I havent used it, but the 8 channel mic pre has gotta be one of the best deals going. Ive built tons of stuff using joe's parts and its all really well made and joe is one of the nicest guys online to deal with. Not many folks in the USA know about him but hopefully that will change, JLM stuff is positively top notch. The opamp is crazy awesome.

dave

dhenderson · Post by **dhenderson** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:34 am

Not one mention of the lowly Paia tube mic pre, I am surprised...

Sure you have to build it yourself, which means you get to see just how basic the circuit is, and of course no fancy transformers, just plain jane differential coupling, a frighteningly saggy power supply and no Burr-Brown parts, but the thing is loaded with tricks -- makes a great line amp if you throw in a 20dB pad and it will fatten up the wimpiest bass or kick to dub standards (probably the crappy PSU). It's a great fuzz box as well, really chunky, and you can mix clean signal in from the front panel. If you decide to get a pair, double up on the wall wart transformer or they will hum like Barry White.

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:43 am

I've got one of those PAIA tube pre's - a dual one with Burr Browns in it. Really not that bad for what it is.

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