good pre? questions you i am sure you never heard of!!!!

cennay · Post by **cennay** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:49 am

brand new and fresh around here, but i have been lurking around for some time. thatnks everybody for all those infos i have read in the past!

now, just one question, and i hope it is in the right forum:

for bass guitar vocal drums synth kinda all that you know.

if say, you'll have 3000 dollars that you want to spend in one stereo pre, and wich will be your only pre...

you know the rest! haha.

i always feels that buying vinatge before they get out of stock is great, like calrecs or so, all the new stuff will stay there for a while. don't mind if it sound special or so...

API?

calrec 1061?

pacifica?

audix?

thanksy everybody!

I'm Painting Again · Post by **I'm Painting Again** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:16 am

I've have API Audix and DW Fearn..I like the Fearn best on everything..the API is a great pre..my second favorite..the Audix are good too but a little sloppy and "not tight" sounding in relation..the EQ on those is amazing though..

got the 2 channels of Fearn used for 2K..

MASSIVE Mastering · Post by **MASSIVE Mastering** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:28 am

Crane Song Flamingo. No contest. Whether you want incredibly clean and transparent or incredibly "thick and gooey" or "vintage dirt" or anywhere in between, it'll deliver.

I demo'd the new version (there are 3 switches in the "color" section instead of 2) for a couple weeks last month and it was even better than the original.

cennay · Post by **cennay** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:17 pm

CAAAAAAAALRecC!!!!

DAMN

RedCrownStudios · Post by **RedCrownStudios** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:33 pm

Im not sure why people dont like them ( or at least dont mention them much on this forum) but I have used Grace Design preamps and LOVE them.

They are really transparent. You could either get a m201 for about 2000 or, if it were me and I had 3000, I would get 5 101 models.

I have used and owned the 101 personally and have used it on acoustic guitars, vox, bagpipes, and hammered dulcimer and what the instrument in the room sounded like is what got recorded.

I will say this, they will not colour your sound at all, so if you are looking for a vintage sound or whatever, dont look there.

Good luck and best wishes!

Sean Sullivan · Post by **Sean Sullivan** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:55 pm

I really want to try the Chandler TG2, the Germanium gets all the love around here but on the latest Against Me! record a TG2 was used on all the guitars and vocals, and it sounds amazing. I see them for about $1400 used.

I was spend the other $1600 on something else, probably a Vintech 273.

snatchman · Post by **snatchman** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:06 pm

I can;t resist...

...$3000 will get you started quite well on the " LunchBox" road.....

..$500-$600 for the rack/power supply, $600'ish ( or better used) a pop for the pres! Good luck.............

cennay · Post by **cennay** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:37 pm

yes i was thinking about the lunbox too.

but you know, i think also that those api lunchboxes will stay there for a while....

Not the calrecs 1061. i have heard amazing about them, but that was like 4 years ago. since then, nobody spoke about them in my entourage. what is going on? were they cool when we "discovered" them, but couldn't hold their quality in the long run? i heard vintage king audio ahs only a few left, then after that gear box has some (i don't know how many) and after maybe somebody will come up doing them, or if not you go buy them in the brit market... expensive, like 1500 bucks a single module.

it means get them now or don't wait too much...

snatchman · Post by **snatchman** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:24 pm

cennay wrote:yes i was thinking about the lunbox too.

but you know, i think also that those api lunchboxes will stay there for a while....

Not the calrecs 1061. i have heard amazing about them, but that was like 4 years ago. since then, nobody spoke about them in my entourage. what is going on? were they cool when we "discovered" them, but couldn't hold their quality in the long run? i heard vintage king audio ahs only a few left, then after that gear box has some (i don't know how many) and after maybe somebody will come up doing them, or if not you go buy them in the brit market... expensive, like 1500 bucks a single module.

it means get them now or don't wait too much...

I've never heard the Calrecs ( only heard about them) and I'm sure they are great. But as far as getting it just to get it ( as a collector's piece), I think as someone who makes music, I'll get what sounds good, can afford, does the job, now..! Then again I guess I've never looked at this stuff from a collector's point of view..

...YMMV

cennay · Post by **cennay** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:36 pm

nothing to do with collection!!!!!

just a sound that is here but not forever. which sounds great i heard.

i like vintage sound like everybody, you know. i like old drums better than new ones. just the sound of it. won't sell them anyway, even if they are worth more money then when i bought them.

joninc · Post by **joninc** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:36 pm

what kind of music do you make? what kind of recordings do you love?

clean? modern? bright?

vintage? dark?

thick, rock? soft? warm? "punchy" "present"...

you get my drift, personally i like the idea of having a few options so i wouldn't recommend blowing all your money on 5 channels that are the same. i get a lot of use out of all my pres and if i had to pick one it would be the great river. it's super versatile - very full and rich sounding. can be driven harder for more "colour" or kept open for cleaner tones. it's still in a more neve style camp than "transparent".

do you need eq? you pay A LOT more for that option, i have recorded for about 6 or 7 years (5 years as a full time job) and only recently got into the world of tracking with eq. it was good for me to work with only a pre and mic to force me to really work on mic placement.

do you track full bands? do you need lots of channels?

maybe you should get a great river and a sytek and get 6 decent pres with a few tonal options. the chandler stuff rules as well (the tg2 is amazing and the germanium is SMOOOTH too). vintech is very underated.

vintage modules are expensive.

good luck!!

cennay · Post by **cennay** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 4:30 am

thanks for your ideas!

yes well the calrec are 2900, 2400 at gearbox. with that price you also get a eq. calrecs are way inexpensive!

so, for the same price i can get a great river and a vintech on ebay. or a greast river and a sytek for 6 channels.

i could get an api lunboxes with maybe 3 modules on it, two pre and one eq i think.

Recycled_Brains · Post by **Recycled_Brains** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:37 am

cennay wrote: i always feels that buying vinatge before they get out of stock is great, like calrecs or so, all the new stuff will stay there for a while. don't mind if it sound special or so...

I don't have much in the way of top dollar pres, but in your price-range, I don't think you could go wrong with something band new. Shit, 20 years from now, all this new Chandler, Great River, DW Fearn stuff, etc., will be considered "classic" and "vintage" and everyone will want them, just like they want the Neves and Calrecs now. Plus, companies like Chandler are making gear based on classic, vintage designs. He's using the old schematics from EMI stuff. So you're getting a classic, vintage sounding piece of equipment, without all the problems that come with something that was built 50 years ago. If I had your budget, I'd either get a lunchbox, with a pair of 512's and 550b's, something from Chandler, Cranesong, or maybe this new thing from Thermionic Culture that looks sick as hell.

The problem with buying vintage right now, is that it's become a sellers market. As a result the cost of vintage equipment has risen to almost obscene levels. Not to mention the apparent increase in scams and people selling broken shit.

-Ryan

cennay · Post by **cennay** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:23 am

thanks for your asnwer, this thing from mercenary audio looks dope for sure,
as a drummer i bought a really expensive drum. a gms. was suppose to sound like an old gretsch. at this time i wasn't so sure about buying an old gretsch, because i felt i didn't want to deal with problems with edges or so...

that was before ebay was here in switzerland.

after that i found that i paid more than a vintage gretsch refurbish by willoughcraft repercusion.

and mine IS NOT sounding like an old gretsch. it will in twenty years, for sure, and i will be one of the only fool who paid so much for a new one that was suppose to sound like a old one but wasn't in reality.

BUT FUCK; MUSIC IS NOW! i don't want to fucking wait 20 years to have a great sound!

those calrec are rtacked by vintageking... it will last a long time.
carlec are around the price of say a lunbox with two api pre, a great river and a chandler for example. sure there is something to think about.

4 channel of great pre versus 2 of vintage.

BUT to expalin everything i am a musician. i tried to record things i my home alone and it works. i can manage to do everything alone. but it has to be simple. i am not sure i will be happy to have to think about which pre i want to use. i think i rather have to channel of classy pre, so i can focuse on playing...

and yes i am lost with all those pre's. i just don't want to make a mistake, because mine will be in use a lot in the next years, and i don't want tro have to think about getting another one.

sorry for ranting.

thecheat · Post by **thecheat** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:38 am

well just go get a mackie 1604 or something so no matter what you buy if its more than 100 bucks a channel it will sound AMAZING in comparison!

might save you some money in the long run...

Chris

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good pre? questions you i am sure you never heard of!!!!

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