Preamps. the definitive characteristics and sounds

I think good preamps make a massive difference. Now the differences between those different preamps to my ears aren’t massive 95% of the time in my experience. Like a BAE vs Electrodyne vs Phoenix Audio etc. yea there are differences but you have to hear them close listening tests most times. But to your point there are certain preamps that tend to bring a little extra special sauce out of certain microphones. For example, an SM7B sounds good through my BAE 1073, but it loves my Retro 500pre. Little something extra happening there. More exciting without even hitting a compressor or EQ.

Ahhh ok looking for a breakdown of sonic characteristics. Got it now lol

BAE1073 - pretty much that Neve sound. Solid low end, can bring some low mid heft which can be a good thing or a problem depending. I use this for everything pretty much but usually a go to for vocals when using a condenser. Love it for a thick bass sound as well. I like it for outside bass drum for that pillowy thing. And of course probably my favorite electric guitar cab preamp. Has that compression thing that happens when it subtly saturates.

Phoenix DRS - these are my favorite all around preamps. I use them on drums all the time. The input is transformerless so they can be clean if desired but when you hit the output transformer hard you get in the Neve/BAE ballpark with less low mids and more open top.

Hairball Lola - well mine has a GAR opamp in it but with the stock transformer they recommend. It’s similar to my CAPI’s but more bottom end.

CAPI VP25’s - has that fast API transient response. Nice tight bottom end. Not super open up to ala API. Like these on drums and sometimes guitars.

Retro 500pre - as mentioned in my previous post this thing rocks with an SM7B. Also like to use it as the preamp on bass after the DI. These also rock when juiced on a ribbon mic on drums. Like really awesome here.

Sphere Fab Preamps - I did a shootout with these and the BAE’s and on guitars I couldn’t tell a difference. Big bottom. Maybe a hint less low mids. Maybe a hint more open up top but real subtle differences here. Big difference on drums. The way these saturate on drums isn’t something I’ve ever heard before. Probably can be a love/hate thing for people but man I love them on drums. Sometimes snare for a really distinct sound. Really hard to describe. They’re my go to on drum room.

in essence all preamps have a big aura which in all honesty in reality are tiny differences. one today can make a record with only audiointerface preamps and it will sound good. in my opionion neve/ssl/api/clones preamps just get you there a bit earlier delivering a more „sounds like a record“ sound earlier. yeah you will hear a difference when you stack like 20-30 tracks recorded eg with neve preamps, vs. all api tracks. but mics, mic position, instruments and mixing have waaay more effect in the end.
what i personally like in using preamps is when they offer something more in terms of workflow, like a locut or the possibility to overdrive them and still sound good.

You kind of lifted that out of context. I also said this; "I mean once you moved into high-end it's a subtle difference between brands and styles."

I do think there is a difference, but a Golden Age Premier 73 preamp for 600$ is sounding just as good as a 2k Neve clone just different. Clean interface preamps are ok but a standalone preamp made with quality components does sound better.

I agree with Svart here.
Once you're into quality pres, you're in the subtleties. 
Can't lie though, I often use certain pres on certain things but in the many cases when I just grabbed what was available it was 100% fine. 

I have fairly often used the same pre (API) on every track and felt I noticed a nice cohesion but I could be full of it. 

a couple years back, I got a UA 2108 for cheap (comparative to what they normally went for). Not long after, Audioscape released the v108, which was meant to be similar (at least), so I bought it to compare. I reamped a guitar part through a few different amps and mics and patched in different pres. at first, i just wanted to compare the V108 with the 2108 but then started using others. I was shocked by how damn similar sounding they all were. hell, my CAPI VP26 was just barely distinguishable from either the v108 or the 2108! the only pres I had that really sounded a bit different were the Chandler germs and the little devils, but even that wasn't night and day or anything.

it definitely made me rethink my preamp choices and I really backed off on buying new ones. been looking to do this again soon, as I have some new flavors in the mix right now - Stam's tube 1073 and tube 312, respectively. i need to thin the herd, anyways.

I love preamps in general (and have a problem buying more than a I need), but I generally agree that the differences can be subtle from pre to pre when you're doing standard AB testing. That is, if I gain match a VP312plat to an Audioscape Golden58, the differences between the two will feasibly be something I could EQ in either direction within the context of a mix.

The bigger differences become apparent in the use and feature set of each. I'm going to be able to get some interesting saturation or breakup with the variable pad on the CAPI (in theory at least? I'll be honest, I haven't experimented as much as I should here), whereas the same degree of audio abuse on the Golden58 would require an output pad before hitting my converters.

Not to say I wouldn't perceive a difference, but I doubt I'd be able to identify the preamps correctly on a regular basis unless I had some familiarity with the source/microphone.

One thing to remember when we talk about the Sonics of preamps is that the Sonics can be effected by the impendance of the microphone.

I do agree with 1073 style being thick on bottom with a little bit of fairy dust up top. I have kind of a thick voice anyway, so it doesn’t always need the additional heft, especially with something like an SM7B.

I can hear differences, but overall the miced sources I’ve recorded in a good room with a decent mic and an interface were be more useable than those in a bad room with a better pre.

Pre-amps just like mics have different focuses and that's why it's great to have a range of each.

Like having lot's of different sized hands and a drawer full of different sized gloves.

You reach into the drawer and try to find the best match.

Most 1073 clones sound similar to each other. However, if you take a BAE and compare it to the GAP, the BAE adds something that sounds like compression, which I haven't heard in other clones. Another preamp that adds this "compression"-like feel is the VP28, although subtler than the BAE.

I'm interested in hearing which preamps create an apparent change in dynamics, and not just frequency response. It's a weird thing to ask, because I know that if you put a preamp through an Audio Precision, you're not going to see any sort of compression.