Germanium ?

Recording Techniques, People Skills, Gear, Recording Spaces, Computers, and DIY

Moderators: drumsound, tomb

Post Reply
DanielJSchlett
audio school graduate
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:48 pm
Location: Brooklyn NY

Germanium ?

Post by DanielJSchlett » Tue Mar 09, 2010 9:16 pm

so i've been interested in all of the chandler equipment for sometime, haven't used any yet, but it all looks and is described to be top notch, interesting sounding, great stuff. some of the most interesting to me would be the germanium series , i want to ask any users where to start, im most interested in the mic pre and compressor... however my main question is do i need the mic pre? does the germanium compressor give me the same color via line amp with a compressor attached? is the mic pre better for color? distortion? or can i abuse the compressor in the same way and get tones like as if i were to use mic pre? would i really need both?

any comments please,

thanks,

goatboy
ass engineer
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:12 am

Post by goatboy » Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:16 am

Germanium transistors are more suseptable to atmospheric changes than silicon so they operate differently at different temperatures etc. For example sitck a germanium fuzz box in the freezer for 10 mins before use and you get some really cool decaying fuzz tones out of it.

useless post is useless, you probably already knew what I was saying and I don't have any experience with the line you describe. :oops:

User avatar
Marc Alan Goodman
george martin
Posts: 1399
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2003 7:57 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Post by Marc Alan Goodman » Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:44 am

Heeyyyyyy Daniel

The pre has a pretty particular color to it. Wade calls them his germanium line so that's what most people seem to assume the big difference is sonically but I'm not sure that's the truth. The compressor is way cleaner sounding, though it contains a similar line amp. Really the pre is nice for driving it pretty hard and pulling back on the output. Can you push the compressor that hard? Dunno, I haven't tried, it never begged me to do it.

We've got plenty of pres but I still think that one would find a place if it was around. That and some helios reissues, and maybe an rca OP-6... but that's a whole different story.

thethingwiththestuff
george martin
Posts: 1296
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:00 pm
Location: philly

Post by thethingwiththestuff » Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:36 am

I dont believe the Chandler units have anywhere near the problems with ambient temperature that you'd find in an old Fuzz Face at an outdoor summer festival (thank god!).

I haven't used the compressor, but i love the pre. what do you need more relative to your current inventory- a pre or a compressor? the pre will sound unlike any other modern ones in your rack, and between it's unique gain/feedback interaction, pad, and 'thick' button, you can get a ridiculously "fat" signal in instances where you may have normally patched in a comp..

goatboy
ass engineer
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:12 am

Post by goatboy » Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:44 am

thethingwiththestuff wrote:I dont believe the Chandler units have anywhere near the problems with ambient temperature that you'd find in an old Fuzz Face at an outdoor summer festival (thank god!).
Sorry I didn't mean to give the impression it would be a bad thing even if it did. Some interesting sounds can come from messing with Germanium stuff like that. Plus it is a bit of a character and well, personally I like that. I'm sure the guys have gone to great lengths to minimize the effects for this sort of application.

thethingwiththestuff
george martin
Posts: 1296
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:00 pm
Location: philly

Post by thethingwiththestuff » Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:55 am

yeah, totally. just clarifying.

DanielJSchlett
audio school graduate
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:48 pm
Location: Brooklyn NY

Post by DanielJSchlett » Wed Mar 10, 2010 1:19 pm

i suppose i dont really NEED either, my personal collection consists of UA 610s, calrec, and neve pres, and a pair of 1176s and a 33609. and and on top i work mostly out of strange weather with marc, and the bunker studio, which both have endless supplies great pres and compressors, i guess its more just a color thing im after, and i was interested to know if the comp would give me the distortion im imagining in my head.... or if its more of a pre thing? maybe a demo is in order here.. anyone mind posting some samples of their germanium gear push into the red?

User avatar
klangtone
pushin' record
Posts: 292
Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 11:25 pm
Location: San Diego
Contact:

Post by klangtone » Wed Mar 10, 2010 1:48 pm

I have the Germ pre. I think it's a good pre, but I was underwhelmed with the feedback feature. The problem is that as you turn up the feedback knob, the gain goes up too. So it's impossible to tell if you like the sound better because of its quality or because it's louder. When I concentrate enough, I mainly can hear how there is more high frequency roll-off when the feedback knob is up high. The Fat switch definitely does what it says.

So basically, if you're looking for dramatic tonal options, I don't think the Germ pre is going to get you there. I've never used the comp, but based on the featureset, it would seem like it would have more tonal options than the pre.

Don't get me wrong on the Germ though. It's a great sounding preamp and definitely has a character to it. Great for electric guitars as many have stated before.

Roy
www.rarefiedrecording.com
"No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media,
and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful." -Kurt Vonnegut

User avatar
Marc Alan Goodman
george martin
Posts: 1399
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2003 7:57 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Post by Marc Alan Goodman » Wed Mar 10, 2010 4:58 pm

Hey Klang

that's the opposite of how to get more burn out of it. What you do is turn the germ drive up more and then back off the feedback to keep it at the same volume level. Personally i'm a big fan of it, but as in any sound I'm sure it's not for everyone.

User avatar
klangtone
pushin' record
Posts: 292
Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 11:25 pm
Location: San Diego
Contact:

Post by klangtone » Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:25 pm

So are you basically overdriving the pre with the normal gain knob and then backing off the output via the feedback to keep it from clipping your converters?
www.rarefiedrecording.com
"No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media,
and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful." -Kurt Vonnegut

joel hamilton
zen recordist
Posts: 8876
Joined: Mon May 19, 2003 12:10 pm
Location: NYC/Brooklyn
Contact:

Post by joel hamilton » Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:39 pm

transistor with 40V rails.
Love them. the pre and the compressor.
a lot.
a lot.

Shane Michael Rose
steve albini likes it
Posts: 326
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:11 pm
Location: Brooklyn NY
Contact:

Post by Shane Michael Rose » Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:18 pm

the feedback is not a passive attenuator. it changes the sound of the amplifier. i would use a passive attenuator to cut back on the germ.

User avatar
Marc Alan Goodman
george martin
Posts: 1399
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2003 7:57 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Post by Marc Alan Goodman » Sat Mar 13, 2010 9:45 am

Shane OConnor wrote:the feedback is not a passive attenuator. it changes the sound of the amplifier. i would use a passive attenuator to cut back on the germ.
That's the whole point! The feedback is not a passive attenuator, but it sounds really GOOD when you drive the front and then pull that back. That's why it's there, and that's why at least I like the pre.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 38 guests