RNP: Are you kidding?!

[hurricaneE]

Application, application, application... overheads with a pair of Josephson C-42's? Loved it. Les Paul 'Deluxe' into a Fender 'Vibrolux' w/a "Nashville Tunimg"... absolute magic... Telecaster into a modified Musicman HD-130 with a 4x12" w/Weber speakers and a Royer R-121? Train wreck.

I'm gonna (approximately) second Fletcher's findings. I thought the RNP was good with some Earthworks SROs for room mics on a kit, but found it really lacking (very muddy in the mids, although the top was pretty cool) when tracking a Mustang through an (unmodified) Musicman HD-130 with a 6x10" cab (love the 10s) with a Royer 122 and a U87 on fig. 8.

Yeah, the Speck sounds a lot better, but, to be fair, it costs about $350 more, and that's for a single channel. -E[/quote]

[soundguy]

should it come as any suprise that a pre with that price tag isnt the most amazing thing in the universe? should it?

Ive been saying since day one that the RNC was a horrible sounding device, which I'll reiterate here again. If you plug something into it and set the threshold way high on the thing so the compressor isnt compressing and listen to what is passing through the thing, I want to meet the guy who prefers that sound to the bypassed sound. The circuit diagram should be pictured next to slew distortion in a dictionary. Its a highly useful box however, and the way the compressor works is really excellent. The bottom line is that the thing is 2 channels and its under $200. What is it supposed to work great AND sound great? Please. that is so beyond realistic. Try to build some gear yourself sometime for a perspective on how quickly little parts add up. Ive got an RNC, I even use it once in a while and it sounds AMAZING for its price tag. but thats what it is all about, amazing for its price tag. They easily could have taken that compression circuit, built a discrete opamp to drive a transformer on the outputs, put it in a bigger box and EASILY charged TEN times as much for it. But they didnt, the idea was to make it affordable, so youve got a great compressor feeding a 2 cent IC to drive your line out and thats why it sounds the way it does, but hey, you just got a really functional compressor for peanuts that pretty much blows the doors off of everything in its price range.

Put the RNP into perspective. Its not supposed to be amazing, its supposed to be utility and affordable. No, I havent heard one. I also dont care what it sounds like. Its cheap, it EASILY could have been built to 1970's standards and have been 5 times as much and would be sitting in a market place with a ton of other pres around $2k. You cant buy very many pre's in its price range, so its nice that the company is making something affordable for guys thhat cant spend $1500 on a preamp at the drop of a hat. so it doesnt sound liek the most amazing thing. Gee, great observation, it wasnt designed to sound like the most amazing thing. however "better" a crappie might sound, the rnp is in a small box that will fit where even a 1202 wont. A rnp is also more affordable than a 1202 if you only need two channels and has more features, like a DI that a 1202 doesnt have. Its utility, it serves a purpose, so what if it doesnt sound so amazing, it wasnt particularly designed to sound amazing. If you want that, go get $2k and you have lots of options.

As others have pointed out, it does its thing and EVERY amplifier will sound good on SOMETHING, its just a question of figuring out what.

dave

[cassembler]

This mic pre BLOWS! What the hell are you people talking about when you praise it? This pre SUCKS. The mackie sounds better. ... If you haven't actually used a piece of gear, STFU and don't act like a high schooler spreading rumors. This toy is worth [$50.]

If I could digress for a second (and with all due respect to Deja V.U.)...

As an opinion, I can't tell: I don't have an RNP.
As a TapeOp message board-er guy, I think the tone probably just lost someone half (or more) of the potential clients that have read, or will read these remarks (unless you just do solo stuff; that's cool). Your point is a valid opinion; the delivery could use a few positive vibes IMHO.

[BTW the Mackie pre shootout's biggest flaw is that they were using only one sound source... that tells me it's the best pre for this one guy in this setup.]

PS: seeing the words "blows" and "sucks" in all caps on this message board is very scary to me...

[dwelle]

it's a sub $500 box, and as such, it certainly doesn't blow (or suck? goes both ways maybe). i've got one in a rack next to a meek vc1qs, a pair of 1272's, a rack of syteks and some other odds and ends. and you know what, i use that thing all the time. very useful to have around.

i must be a complete idiot with bad ears....

[heylow]

Ive been saying since day one that the RNC was a horrible sounding device, which I'll reiterate here again. If you plug something into it and set the threshold way high on the thing so the compressor isnt compressing and listen to what is passing through the thing, I want to meet the guy who prefers that sound to the bypassed sound. The circuit diagram should be pictured next to slew distortion in a dictionary.
dave

Ya know, Dave.....

I'm going to steer this thread a bit off for a second but.....I remember back quite a while ago on the original board when there was an RNC thread and the RNC had the usual rave about it while you pretty much said it sounded terrible.

I, like others, had just gotten one and argued the virtues of the thing with you. I thought you were crazy.

I just want to say that I now think of you everytime I notice mine sitting there unused. Seriously....I pretty much refuse to use the thing other than as a live comp or on rough mixes. I'm not even so sure it really is the best in its class, to be honest. The compression is OK but what that box adds...or rather takes away from the signal is just unacceptable for me. Just putting it the chain automatically thins a signal and adds harsh overtones. Vocals are the worst!!

Granted, I dont mix at my place and I generally dont use much compression during tracking, but when I DO want a little bit of compression for something, I'll sooner give it a couple of decibels of my silly but trusty little DBX 163x.

Sorry for the derailment.



heylow

PS Is that what it is I'm hearing....Slew distortion?

[joeysimms]

I'm happy as a clam using my rnc with vocals. And bass. And drums. Maybe when I graduate to expensive boxes I'll change my mind, but for right now it's fine.

[bobbydj]

Cassembler that's not even a fraction of it, believe me. But yeah - what you said.

[Mr. Dipity]

I can't afford a 1404, so I'll have to settle :>.

Email me - biz@groovetronica.com

[toothpastefordinner]

hey, there's an idea- a discrete opamp and some transformers added to an RNC? do you think it would be worth the effort to try? i would totally hack my RNC open and bolt its frankensteined carcass into an empty rack case if i could make it sound better.

[fireproof]

I have an rnc that is sitting unused and collecting dust and to think that I mixed a record or 2 thru it...oh my god !!!


Adam

[Al]

RNP?.....RANCID NASTY PREAMP PERHAPS!!!

[Meriphew]

I've never tried the RNP so I can't comment on how good or how bad it sounds. I can't say that I've ever seen anyone claim that it sounded as good as an API/Neve/insert other high quality pre name here.

[Deja V.U.]

If I could digress for a second (and with all due respect to Deja V.U.)...

As an opinion, I can't tell: I don't have an RNP.
As a TapeOp message board-er guy, I think the tone probably just lost someone half (or more) of the potential clients that have read, or will read these remarks (unless you just do solo stuff; that's cool). Your point is a valid opinion; the delivery could use a few positive vibes IMHO.

[BTW the Mackie pre shootout's biggest flaw is that they were using only one sound source... that tells me it's the best pre for this one guy in this setup.]

PS: seeing the words "blows" and "sucks" in all caps on this message board is very scary to me...

Duly noted Cassembler... My objective is to make sure people buy from a store where they can return it if they don't like it. Most of the people shopping in this price range can't afford to be wasting money, even if the pre is cheap. I mean, if I was a 15 year old looking to buy a $500 mic pre that I had to mow a bunch of lawns to save up for, I'd want someone to steer me in the right direction. If I was Tom Lord Algee I wouldn't want to waste money on a pre that is overpriced. Don't get one off ebay... You might save $15, but you probably won't be able to return it.

Fletcher, as far as the application... I'm surprised to hear something like that from a man who impaled a mackie (and an adat) and called it "Shit on a stick". (this by no mean is a critique of your artistic abilities) But when I think about it, you sell the unit, so your comments are predictable, especially the mention of other products you carry.

When I tried them out, I brought my mackie into the studio (it was a Neve VR room) so I could compare it to other mic pre's in the lower range. On drums individually, the usually suspects (api, neve, Great River) destroyed them on drums. That's not too surprising. But so did the Syteks (which are a much greater value) while holding their own against the API/GV/Neves. For 4 channels at about $800, that's cheaper than the RNP sans Hi Z input (which a countryman has a better tone). The RNC did sound a lot better on overheads (I used 2 C12's, 2 414's, 2 Earthworks Omni's). Perhaps even useable, till I compared it to the J Feted Sytek channels which again blew it away. The most notable failed application I used was a Les Paul into a Mystic Mother Dumble amp copy with a u47tube on it. It retained the top end decently, but the bottom end, a very VERY important part of the Dumble sound, was thin and smeared compared to the Sytek, Summit Audio, and Mackie pres. Some of the LED's flickered more on some units than others, and I also noticed when I had the exact same settings on each unit and switched through them, the gain structures were drastically different. The Syteks can have the same problem, but definitely not to this degree. If I kept mine, I'd also replace the cheap-ass plastic sleeves on the 1/4' jacks.

It's just too much money for a noisy, ugly (yeah, it matters to some clients), wall warted, inconsistent gain structured unit.

[foley]

It is always better to spend $1000 on a solid piece of gear 6 months from now, then to spend $200 on a mediocre piece of gear next week.

Gotta mow a few extra lawns, but it is usually worth it.

That is the problem with these new, cheap-o processors, compressors, etc. They are not quality throughout. It's the same with mics. You get what you pay for.

mf

[joel hamilton]

I have an RNC. I always pictured it as the "smokey amp" of comp's.

Like if you think it is neato, that someone built this cute little beige thingy, it gets cooler than if you think, "here is my super awesome new compressor! I can tell by its aggro beige/grey color that it is really gonna make my 4tracks frikkin rule the EARTH!!!!"

Then you plug it in and go, "oh, this sucks."

I think it is neat. Nice and small and ugly. It will look cool to me in 10 years. I will be like, "remember those weird little things everyone bought and wanted to be good but kinda wasnt but people still cheerleaded them out of pride?"

And my pal will go, "No."