Sony SRA-3 Preamp

[giuseppe_fl]

Anybody have any experience with the old Sony SRA-3 preamp?

I'm thinking of getting one -- thinking that this preamp and maybe an RP220 might be a nice, warm, gritty color to add to some ProTools recordings -- but I've never heard the SRA-3.

I'm curious what folks here think about it.

Thanks!

[Blade]

I have two of them!

If you want grit, then look no further.
The SRA-3 doesn't really do clean very well.
After you go pass 1-2 on the dial, you start hitting tube saturation.

I've heard it said that these compare to the Ampex 351's.

I love mine and use them in certain situations.

A good reference would be things like....

The lead vocal stuff on the first JET CD.
Plugging a guitar in direct, at full volume on the SRA, you can get
the distortion like on The Beatles-Revolution.
After listening to the Queen multi's, I'm now gonna start using them on drums and such. They would kill on some radical room mics!

Back when they were on Ebay, you could buy them pretty cheap...150-200 dollars.
I don't see them on there anymore, so if you have a chance to get one, then I would recommend it.

If you do get one, change out the NEC Japanese tubes and replace with some NOS.
I put some RCA black plates in on the left side, and the other I put some old GE's.

They are very warm and they rock!

[giuseppe_fl]

If you want grit, then look no further.
The SRA-3 doesn't really do clean very well.

Plugging a guitar in direct, at full volume on the SRA, you can get
the distortion like on The Beatles-Revolution.
After listening to the Queen multi's, I'm now gonna start using them on drums and such. They would kill on some radical room mics!

They are very warm and they rock!

That sounds fantastic!! Thanks for the info...

[moderntapestudios]

I have two of them!

Hey Blade

I have SRA-3's as well... been using them a long time... love 'em... both for tracking and just listening to music through them...

When tracking, they are my go-to mic pre and I use them for guitars, bass, and vocal and instrument microphones though the front inputs. The tone and clipping is beautiful, whether I keep them relatively clean or push them alot.

But I'm wondering about your signal path going out from the SRA... I am trying to get from my SRA-3 to an Ampex AG 440-C tape machine, and getting from the Sony to the Ampex has been a bit problematic because of impedance and level matching... The Sony SRA output is high impedience and -10 dB and the Ampex is expecting a low impedance line level +4 dB signal...

Ideally I would go right from my pre amp to the tape machine, but if I go directly from my Sony to the Ampex the sound is just not right. I am told the problem is an impedance mismatch, and I need to add 14 decibels to get from -10 dB up to +4 dB line level. So I am using an old Tascam M-208 deck after the Sony, to boost level and match impedance...

It works, and it fatten's everything up and sounds decent, but it adds noise... And I am thinking there might be a better way. I am considering trying out other decks, but I wanted to ask around.

I am wondering what your signal path is like going out of the Sony SRA's... Are you tracking to tape or to a DAW? And what do you use (if anything) after the Sony's to get where you need to go...

Thank you

Jimmy