Last ever Electro Harmonix 12AY7 Pre thread!

[Jitters]

I realize the board was littered with threads on this pre a few years ago, but I am wondering if anyone is STILL loving theirs. Sometimes these things are all the rage for a hot little while and then all but forgotten.

And would you put these in the 'soft and round and pushed back a little bit' camp of tube pre as opposed to the 'saturated toob' camp?

[Recycled_Brains]

I never use mine anymore. haha. I know that's really helpful.

I just don't ever need to. I've never thought it was anything special, so I don't reach for it when I have 2 channels of Hamptone tube, or TAB V78M, or Daking preamps at my disposal.

Not saying they suck, but they are noisey and have a wall-wart the size of my kidney.

[the velour fog]

yeah, i think the size and wallwart killed that thing more than anything.
i got rid of mine after it delivered a mega-ton of voltage to my mixer, which killed a channel.

[mjau]

I've got one, and like it. Sort of a sweeter high end, so I like what it does to some cymbals as a drum overhead, and for some acoustic guitars.

[Michael_Joly]

I never understood the hype / love.

The thing is noisy and only usable on guitar cabs, or loud vocals. I really did try to love it - new tubes, burn it in for two weeks etc.

But no way can it be used for acoustic guitar or quiet-to-mid level vocals without a hailstorm of noise.

[trodden]

I still use mine. Loved it on snare last session.

[mjau]

Seems like the noise issue is significant for some of them, but not all. I've had three, and still have one, and never found them to be remotely noisy. Maybe I've just been lucky.

[T-rex]

Mine was super quiet actually. Paired with my Blue Mouse, which is a really quiet mic, it sounded great on everything from Acoustic guitar to kick drum.

I recorded some stuff with it and my N72 through my two Doresy modded MC-012s as a test one time. In comparison I thought it sounded pretty damn close, except the top end was brittle compared to the N72 which is smoove as butta.

[Recycled_Brains]

Seems like the noise issue is significant for some of them, but not all. I've had three, and still have one, and never found them to be remotely noisy. Maybe I've just been lucky.

I think so. As Michael said... loud stuff only. Unless I wanted that "magical 4-track tape hiss sound". Or, if I use the buffered output, it's a little bit quieter, but doesn't sound as good.

QC seems weak (mine didn't even ship with the stock tube setup), and when I contacted the designer and EH regarding my problems, both bascially blamed user error. That was the biggest turn off.

[Jitters]

Now THIS is what I call mixed reviews!

[getreel]

I still have mine and have used it on vocals and acoustic guitars successfully. I also like it on drum room mics or guitar cabs. It doesn't have enough gain for some mics and it can get noisy but it has a nice sheen and depth to the high end that's rare at the price you can buy these for. I don't think I'll sell mine even though I do use my other pres more often. The wall wart and size don't bother me as I already have a crap load of stuff packed into my studio!

[chris harris]

I have two. They both have a hum that isn't affected by the gain setting. All the way down or all the way up, the hum is the same.

[Recycled_Brains]

I have two. They both have a hum that isn't affected by the gain setting. All the way down or all the way up, the hum is the same.

Same as mine, except replace "hum" with "hisssssssss".

[roygbiv]

I really like mine with a Groove Tubes MD1a for vocals. Killer combo. Playback sounds like the singer is in the room. Only better.

I've never noticed huge problems with the hiss, but maybe that is because the MD1a is a pretty high output mic. Also, I'm old and my ears hiss all the time anyway.

Regarding the hum:

I accidentally discovered the hum in mine is due to outside sources (i.e., RF interference type phenomena).

For awhile, I had the EH pre sitting on top of a rack in my "studio". Then, I happened to move it one time while recording - hum gone. Put it back where it was before - hum returned. Interesting, captain.

I suspect it was picking up "hum mojo" from the power transformer in the old Studiomaster 8 X 4 mixer in the rack (right below where the EH was sitting). So, unless I want a little hummer, I don't leave it there anymore.

Anyway, the point is - those of you experiencing hum problems, trying moving the unit physically to another location, it may go away.

[chris harris]

Anyway, the point is - those of you experiencing hum problems, trying moving the unit physically to another location, it may go away.

I'll definitely try that. Thanks!