If you could only have one pair of Mic Pre's....

[Catoogie]

If you could only have one pair of mic pres what would they be?

[Rodgre]

A Neve style (Great River is my choice) and an API.

Roger

[The Gibbon]

The Midas XL42 is very nice.....but at $2000 it should be!

[scotsman]

A pair of API 512. Desert Island pres...Sound great on everything. Neves are great, but if you force me to choose the one pre I can never live without, that's it.

[janusmusic]

A pair of Hardy's

[tiger vomitt]

dr dre uses one mic pre exclusively as i understand it, a neve 1073. he only uses one mic for vocals too (a $6500 sony jobber, C8000G i think it is?)

my choice would be my great river too btw. it can do clean, it can do dirty - it's all good.

[Catoogie]

I'm not familiar with the specifics of the Great River of the Hardy's. Are there specifics models you are refering too?

[tiger vomitt]

the great river i was talking about is a me1nv (one channel merc edition) or the me2nv (2 channels of the same thing).

[Rodgre]

I love the MP2NV (Great River).

Here's what I like about it. It has that big Neve tone, without the EQ. If you're a newbie and you've never had the pleasure to work with a Neve 1073 preamp, what you get is this very full beefy tone that may be slightly darker on top than an super clean transparent pre, but what it may lack in extreme sibilance, it gains in "power". I'm not sure how else to describe it. It's the sound of those warm and fat 70's records we all wish we could make Pro Tools sound like

Now the thing about the MP2-NV that I love is that it has a gain and an output level control. This lets you step up the gain more and more, and before it gets to the point where it's actually clipping and distorting, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger sounding, almost as if there was a compressor on it. The transformers in this box sound really sweet, and I think they sound clearer, esp. in the low mids, than a real Neve.

I say a Neve style and an API because I feel like they're pretty different from eachother, yet compliment eachother well.

I haven't heard the Hardys but I hear people rave about those.... as well as Fearns.

Roger

[Catoogie]

Thanks Rodgre you did a great job of explaining that! Are there no API-style pres you like? I only say this 'casue you said Neve-style and API. Could you do the same tpe of explaining the API sound?

[Rodgre]

The API 512 is on my wish-list, and since I haven't put it through the paces like I have the Great River, I can't really do it justice.

From what I gather, the API still has that big, solid in your face tone, but has a different character. Maybe slightly less "dark" and a little more open sounding. I've used them on distorted guitar tracks and I liked them a lot. I think that the APIs might have a little better transient response, therefore might be better for things like snare drums. This might make them seem a little brighter than the Neve type, but to be honest, I'm talking out of my ass here. I would really need to spend time with the 512 to really figure out what it's doing. Now, I'm just guessing.

The other pres that I use are a pair of Troisis I got from the illustrious Darron Burke. They're way brighter than I'm used to, but have a nice sonic "weight" to them. They don't work on a lot of things, but in conjunction with a ribbon mic that's not hyped on the top end, I love the Troisi.

We just picked up a Tampa this week so I'll look forward to reviewing that. I spent ten minutes with it the other day and I think I love the compressor already.

I am a fan of the Aphex 107. It's an inexpensive pre, but it never fails me. It's not as colorful as a Neve, but I like it better than the board pres. I love the Symetrix 202 too. Awesome on electric guitars. I use a Digitech VTP-1 if I need a little EQ on something....acoustic guitars mainly. Behringer Ultra Tube Preamp...forget the name. It's a HUGE HUGE HUGE box, with absolutely nothing in it. As it is, it's not bad, and probably a copy of the Aphex circuit for all i can tell. Sometimes it's noisy, but it's okay for a hundred and fifty bucks.

I didn't think I would, but I like the pres in some SSL consoles too. I pictured them to be a little too clean for me, but they are punchy and have way more balls than I imagined they would.

Roger

[scotsman]

From what I gather, the API still has that big, solid in your face tone, but has a different character. Maybe slightly less "dark" and a little more open sounding. I've used them on distorted guitar tracks and I liked them a lot. I think that the APIs might have a little better transient response, therefore might be better for things like snare drums.

Good job! Your estimation of API is pretty much to dead on. They are a little more open, faster and a tad brighter tha Neve. Neve's are a little "edgier" or "snottier"--sort of agressive, where as the APIs are a bit sheenier, or dynamic, or something. Whatever it is, they are special. That's why they rule fro everything froms drums to vocals. Like a Neve, they are very round also.

Of course, I have 4 Neve 1272s too!

Drum pres: Neve 1272 or API 512 in kick, 512 on snare, 1272 on toms, API on overheads/hat.

RAWK!!!