Daking MicPre+EQ

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Highwatt
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Daking MicPre+EQ

Post by Highwatt » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:17 am

Thinking pretty hard about this one. Seemed to rise to the top (for me anyway). Any real world thoughts/advise?

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MicPreEQ/

This is after also researching/checking out reviews for:

FMR RNP
Great River ME-1NV
UA 610
UA710 twinfinity
Vintech x73
API 312
Portico 5015
D.A.V BG1
WARM Audio Tone Beast
Grace Designs

There's a million...

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digitaldrummer
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Post by digitaldrummer » Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:22 am

really depends on what you are looking for sound wise. I own the UA LA-610 and like it for certain things (vocals, bass guitar). I went with 500-series for pretty much everything else.

Mike
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Highwatt
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Post by Highwatt » Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:40 am

The 500 series Portico stuff is very tempting as well.

I just picked up (last night) the SSL 4000 collection (waves), just started messing with it...also got the CLA Classic Compressors (both were on sale..ended last night).

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Post by Recycled_Brains » Tue Jul 01, 2014 1:36 pm

They're awesome. I have the pre/eq and FET II as my main overdub strip. Works for everything. Sounds great clean, and I love driving the shit out of the input when I want distortion on a vocal. I don't think about it in terms of if it works for this source or that source, I just know that I can plug in the right mic for the job and it'll sound good. They sound smooth, and have great fidelity. I love the gain staging. You can dial in any amount of grit you want, or just keep things wide open and clean, but not boring.

The EQ is cool. I haven't used it in any super heavy handed sort of way, but I have used it on just about every type of instrument and think it sounds good. A little goes a long way for sure. I think the frequency choices are well selected. The filters are handy.

My only complaints... I don't like that the EQ's gain knobs for each frequency don't have much resistance and no detents at 12 o'clock.

I also kind of hate the power supplies, because I am not a fan of D Sub connectors. The wires coming out of them are kinda thin and have too much give where they go into the connectors so you have to be careful with them. The boxes they connect to are heavy enough to pull on the wires and stress the connection. Definitely not rock solid. It is kind of a bummer, but it's certainly not a deal breaker.
Ryan Slowey
Albany, NY

http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com

Highwatt
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Post by Highwatt » Tue Jul 01, 2014 2:05 pm

Thanks for the input on the power supplies. I was wondering about those.

Also, is the power supply included? Or do you have to get it separate? Could solidify that in the searching...

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Post by jgimbel » Wed Jul 02, 2014 1:24 am

Recycled_Brains wrote:Sounds great clean, and I love driving the shit out of the input when I want distortion on a vocal.
Do you happen to have a song/clip on hand that would show the type of distortion you're getting on a vocal? I've got a number of outboard preamps but only one pair that will really distort. I love using them on vocals for some crunch but I'd love to have distortion options, especially in a unit that I can also use clean.
My first new personal album in four years - pay what you want - http://jessegimbel.bandcamp.com

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Recycled_Brains
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Post by Recycled_Brains » Wed Jul 02, 2014 10:15 am

jgimbel wrote:
Recycled_Brains wrote:Sounds great clean, and I love driving the shit out of the input when I want distortion on a vocal.
Do you happen to have a song/clip on hand that would show the type of distortion you're getting on a vocal? I've got a number of outboard preamps but only one pair that will really distort. I love using them on vocals for some crunch but I'd love to have distortion options, especially in a unit that I can also use clean.
Yup!

http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com/track/clearing
http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com/track ... -destroyer

Got it by just cranking the input gain to noon or higher, and using the output attenuator to dial it back down before hitting PT. Works like a charm. The background vocals are even more blown out, because I scream louder somehow than our main vocalist and am too lazy to adjust the preamp in between takes. haha.

(I don't think I have anything non-metal where I use it this way, but I'll look around quick)
Ryan Slowey
Albany, NY

http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com

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jgimbel
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Post by jgimbel » Wed Jul 02, 2014 10:54 pm

Recycled_Brains wrote:
jgimbel wrote:
Recycled_Brains wrote:Sounds great clean, and I love driving the shit out of the input when I want distortion on a vocal.
Do you happen to have a song/clip on hand that would show the type of distortion you're getting on a vocal? I've got a number of outboard preamps but only one pair that will really distort. I love using them on vocals for some crunch but I'd love to have distortion options, especially in a unit that I can also use clean.
Yup!

http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com/track/clearing
http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com/track ... -destroyer

Got it by just cranking the input gain to noon or higher, and using the output attenuator to dial it back down before hitting PT. Works like a charm. The background vocals are even more blown out, because I scream louder somehow than our main vocalist and am too lazy to adjust the preamp in between takes. haha.

(I don't think I have anything non-metal where I use it this way, but I'll look around quick)
Very cool, thanks! It's got a really interesting clipping/imploding kind of sound going on, very different from an old timey, more harmonica-into-amp kind of midrange breakup that I'm usually getting. If you've got any non-metal examples feel free, but the songs you posted give a good idea.
My first new personal album in four years - pay what you want - http://jessegimbel.bandcamp.com

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Post by Recycled_Brains » Thu Jul 03, 2014 12:43 pm

jgimbel wrote:If you've got any non-metal examples feel free, but the songs you posted give a good idea.
Found one!

http://charmboy.bandcamp.com/track/the-lost

It's mostly just a little gritty, but when he belts it gets pretty nasty sounding (in a good way haha). Responds nicely to dynamics.
Ryan Slowey
Albany, NY

http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com

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Post by jgimbel » Sun Jul 06, 2014 11:19 pm

Recycled_Brains wrote:
jgimbel wrote:If you've got any non-metal examples feel free, but the songs you posted give a good idea.
Found one!

http://charmboy.bandcamp.com/track/the-lost

It's mostly just a little gritty, but when he belts it gets pretty nasty sounding (in a good way haha). Responds nicely to dynamics.
Awesome, thanks again! I can really hear it around 1:46, it's a pretty distinct sound. Sometimes I feel like getting transparent and classic-enough sounds can be relatively easy, and as producers or mixing engineers our personal forms of clipping and drive and whatever we used to get them are a thing we can still very much keep distinct. I really love a lot of the classic pieces (I'm a sucker for an 1176 or LA2a) but distortion is a place we can give things our own idea of character that aren't necessarily as similar to what everyone else is doing. I always perk up when looking for how different boxes distort.
My first new personal album in four years - pay what you want - http://jessegimbel.bandcamp.com

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Post by Recycled_Brains » Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:40 am

jgimbel wrote:
Recycled_Brains wrote:
jgimbel wrote:If you've got any non-metal examples feel free, but the songs you posted give a good idea.
Found one!

http://charmboy.bandcamp.com/track/the-lost

It's mostly just a little gritty, but when he belts it gets pretty nasty sounding (in a good way haha). Responds nicely to dynamics.
Awesome, thanks again! I can really hear it around 1:46, it's a pretty distinct sound. Sometimes I feel like getting transparent and classic-enough sounds can be relatively easy, and as producers or mixing engineers our personal forms of clipping and drive and whatever we used to get them are a thing we can still very much keep distinct. I really love a lot of the classic pieces (I'm a sucker for an 1176 or LA2a) but distortion is a place we can give things our own idea of character that aren't necessarily as similar to what everyone else is doing. I always perk up when looking for how different boxes distort.
Agreed. And how a piece of gear distorts is a big contributing factor to whether or not it's something I end up holding on to long term. I like to do a lot of parallel distortion stuff with vocals too. Run a duplicate thru a Rat pedal or some other type of distortion, or the Massey Tape Head plugin and blend with the faders in PT, etc...

Stuff is real fun. One thing in those Maggot Brain tunes that might not be super apparent amidst the wall of guitars, is that the clipping in the low mids is interesting. Terrible at describing it, but it's fuzzy down there. Less abrasive as what you're hearing on the top end. Cool stuff.
Ryan Slowey
Albany, NY

http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com

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Post by cgarges » Wed Jul 16, 2014 10:24 pm

I have a pair of the original ones (52270) and I love them for certain things, not so much for others. I feel like the preamp is usually kind of unexciting until I start EQing things, but then it sounds fantastic. I like using it on drums where a thicker sound works. Like, a sort of swampy, organic vibe. I'll use them as the primary kick and snare mics for that kind of sound. They're also ridiculously awesome for a thick tom sound. I've had good luck with them on certain vocalists and on acoustic instruments, too. I know some people love them for guitar amps, but they've never been the right thing for me in that regard.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

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