chandler germanium vs. chameleon labs 7622...deciding?

[pizzaforbreakfast]

thinking of buying either the chandler germanium or the chameleon labs 7622 pre...both come highly recommended and fit into my price range...right now all i have is a groove tube GT66 thru my digi001 in which i plan to do the black lion audio mod very soon. the music im recording is all over the place, so i need something versatile. any insight?

[mjau]

People gush over the Chandler. I've never used it. I have used the Chameleon Labs, and it's totally solid. Lots of subtle gain-staging variations to be had. Overall it has a thick sound, and is maybe wanting a tad more high end clarity and smoothness compared to, say, a Great River mp2. For the money, it's great.

[Marc Alan Goodman]

Here's another half answer: I've used the Germaniums but not the Chameleon. They're actually amazing. They get used over pretty much everything else at studio G (only exceptions are the Sage Electronics pres on kick and snare and a VTL era Manley Tube Pre on vocals when we want them to get a little dirty). Even since we installed 29 channels of vintage Neve pres they Germaniums STILL get used first.

And on top of all that I like them a lot. They sound good.

-marc alan goodman

[DGoody]

Germ..... no question. The Chameleons are lean by comparison.

[BeepBeep]

They get used over pretty much everything else at studio G (only exceptions are the Sage Electronics pres on kick and snare and a VTL era Manley Tube Pre on vocals when we want them to get a little dirty).

Mark, you made we wonder what else you had pre wise a Studio G. Here's the list:

? 32 Neve 31114 in console
" 2 Neve 34120 70 db class A mic pre (in sidecar)
? 2 Drawmer 1960/Telefunken tube mic pre
? 2 Drawmer 1960 tube mic pre
? 2 Vintech 1272 mic pre
? 2 Brent averill / Neve 1272 mic pre
? 3 Scully 280 discrete mic pre
? 1 Manley VTL Tube reference mic pre
? 4 Chandler Germanium class A mic pre
? 6 SAGE electronics class A mic pre
" 1 Electro Harmonix Prototype 12AY7 Tube Preamp
" 2 ART tube MP

That's some steep competition. What do mics do you find go with the germ and on what instruments do you use it on?

Thanks

[Marc Alan Goodman]

I'm not kidding, it really gets used on almost everything. Most certainly they stand out for guitars and bass, and when tracking a band live they're usually there and then on the room mics. But recently either a U47 or an M49 through a germanium has been the setup for nearly all of our overdubs.

Mind you everyone has different phases with their gear, and eventually we'll probably change over to something else, but there's no doubt that the germanium is a stand out mic pre, especially in its price range.

-marc alan goodman

[joel hamilton]

I use the sage's on kick and snare even though I own the neve console you guys are taking about...

I use the germaniums on guitars and on bass amp...

I really love the germs... I really love the sage's. I have tried everything I have ever heard of, and I wound up with neve, manley(old VTL manley), Sage, and chandler emerging as my absolute favorite mic pre's.

The sage's, the germs, and the manley are the only pre's I take with me no matter what room I am tracking in....

[nestle]

I have both !
Germ is strikingly good, it impresses me greatly.
The Chameleon is nice, but it didn't make me go wow as much as far as the pre.
The reason I got it was to improve my snare sound with a little neve crack eq.
Thick and great it does what I expected...it's great but the Germ wins hands down no contest at all.

[Masks!]

Haven't used the Germ yet but the chameleon labs is really sick - especially for the monkey. Ive been pretty stoked on the EQ especially on snare. As just a pre it's only pretty good, but the fact that it has very usable EQ makes it well worth it in my opinion.

I def want to check out the Sage stuff for sure, and the Germ has been on my "need to get asap" list for a while now.

[A-Barr]

Haven't used the Germ yet but the chameleon labs is really sick - especially for the monkey. Ive been pretty stoked on the EQ especially on snare. As just a pre it's only pretty good, but the fact that it has very usable EQ makes it well worth it in my opinion.

I def want to check out the Sage stuff for sure, and the Germ has been on my "need to get asap" list for a while now.

...monkey?

[darjama]

yeah, you don't want to expose your monkey to those chameleon germs.

[pizzaforbreakfast]

wow...thanks for the insight guys...

[klangtone]

I have both.

The Chameleon is indeed nice for snare.
Both are good for electric guitar, imho.

The Germ is not as colored and crazy as you might think ,in my experience. The feedback nob is more like just another gain nob. I find it hard to hear what it is doing besides rolling off some highs. And is it better because it's louder or because of something else? It frustrates me that way.

Roy

[eh91311]

I use the sage's on kick and snare even though I own the neve console you guys are taking about...

I use the germaniums on guitars and on bass amp...

I really love the germs... I really love the sage's. I have tried everything I have ever heard of, and I wound up with neve, manley(old VTL manley), Sage, and chandler emerging as my absolute favorite mic pre's.

The sage's, the germs, and the manley are the only pre's I take with me no matter what room I am tracking in....

So Joel, since you have the Germaniums and the Vintech 1272's at Studio G, how would you compare the Germanium to the Vintech.... or IS there any comparison?

[Marc Alan Goodman]

I haven't found the Germaniums sound much like 1272's. The Vintechs at least kind of do.

I've extensively used the Brent Averill racked 1272s, Vintechs, and the Dan Alexander "made from 1272 parts" pres. None of them sound exactly the same (Brent Averills are my favorite, but the Dan Alexanders seem the best for the money) but they're all pretty drastically different from any Germanium pre's I've tried, of which the Chandler Germanium seem to be in a class of their own.

-marc alan goodman