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Post by nick8801 on Jul 12, 2018 15:16:22 GMT -6
Got the preamp this morning, and had a chance to mess around a bit this afternoon. I dig it! It's very different than my Electrodynes. I have to do some more proper recording with it, but here's a few immediate impressions.....
The first thing I noticed was that the gain staging is different than my other pres. The pads are really useful. For example I just stuck my m160 in front of a little valve jr. The Electrodyne without a pad was on the first click which is 40 db of gain, with the output attenuator at 0. I got a nice full rich sound. The Sphere doesn't have an output knob, but I set the input till my meters were peaking about the same as the Electrodyne. When I hit playback the Sphere was distorting in a pretty unpleasant way. I engaged the 15db pad, and adjusted the gain. Boom. Nice pretty sound. Less bottom than the Electrodyne, but not lacking bottom in any way. Just tight. I also noticed the Sphere seemed to have more sparkle than the Electrodyne. Not like bright ugly sparkle, but like more of the harmonics pointed towards the upper end of the frequency spectrum. I could see doing very little eq'ing if I stacked a bunch of tracks with it. I also tested both pres with an SE T2 condenser on my voice. The results were pretty similar. The Sphere was nice and clear and sparkly, and the Electrodyne was a little noisier with that syrupy thing that I dig so much about it. I did engage the 30db pad and crank the gain on the Sphere and it was a pretty awesome sound. I think I wanna try that with some rock vocals. These were really informal tests. Just messing around, but I really dig it so far. It's a unique sound, and that's kind of what I was looking for. Once I record some proper stuff I'll post up samples.
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 11, 2018 23:08:11 GMT -6
The rumble bass stuff is really great. Fender really nailed it. I’m in the market for a 500. It’s light, powerful, and feels great to play. I've never liked them - lightness is, to me, not a desirable factor in choosing a bass amp.
But to each his own.
Have you tried the new ones yet? I wasn't a fan of the all black ones, but the silver face is really sweet. The lightness matters to me because I do a million different gigs and it's nice to grab an amp and my bass in one trip, without help. It's also easy to exit at the end of the night:)
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Sphere
Jul 8, 2018 12:55:41 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 8, 2018 12:55:41 GMT -6
That makes sense. I’ve heard they have an eq in the works too.
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Sphere
Jul 7, 2018 16:52:59 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 7, 2018 16:52:59 GMT -6
That would be cinemag. But my point was more - if the originals didn't have output transformers... how is this going to change the sound? That’s a great question, and one I’m definitely not qualified to answer!
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 7, 2018 16:14:43 GMT -6
The rumble bass stuff is really great. Fender really nailed it. I’m in the market for a 500. It’s light, powerful, and feels great to play.
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 7, 2018 15:05:32 GMT -6
Group buy vibes. Went through this with my bus comp. I'm still tempted here... but honestly I've been using the WA76 at a local studio and it's been absolutely STOKING my client on vox. I have a bunch of time on real silver and black face 1176s, FWIW. I still friggin love my WA76s. Have Hairball, had Mohog, have used Urei’s a good bit. Tried the KT version. WA76 stays in the rack and the others are gone. It’s just a great 1176. Same here. I like how it handles the midrange.
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Sphere
Jul 7, 2018 10:15:50 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 7, 2018 10:15:50 GMT -6
Ive seen schematics for the old console M1200 pres, I thought they ran unbalanced out? Do you know what output transformer they're using for this? I believe they are recreations of the old reichenbach transformers. Probably made by cinemag but I could be wrong.
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Sphere
Jul 7, 2018 6:22:43 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 7, 2018 6:22:43 GMT -6
Please report back on the sound of these . Will do. My main tracking pres are Electrodynes, so I’ll also make some comparisons between the two since they are sort of cousins.
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Sphere
Jul 7, 2018 6:19:18 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 7, 2018 6:19:18 GMT -6
Pair of original Sphere 1200B modules racked by Tom Gruning. Completely outclasses the original Quad Eight channels I have owned. Love them. View AttachmentView AttachmentSick! I had some pm1000’s racked up by him several years ago. He does great work. I’m actually replacing my A Designs P1 (quad 8) since it doesn’t see much use.
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 6, 2018 23:06:51 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 4, 2018 13:55:38 GMT -6
Definitely sounds really impressive with the input cranked. 10 o’clock sounds ok, but it seems cranked really illuminates the character of the preamp. I dig it.
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Post by nick8801 on Jun 22, 2018 9:17:21 GMT -6
Actually kind of interested in these. The price isnt too crazy considering how accurate to the original Avantone claims they are.....now let’s see if they come out with a Bryston copy to power them:)
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UA Apollo
Jun 14, 2018 19:21:06 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Jun 14, 2018 19:21:06 GMT -6
What exactly is it that you guys don’t like about the Apollo’s conversion? And what is a money track? All my tracks have to be money. Even the shaker. I mean wouldn’t you want the shaker to have all the depth the Burl can offer? Of course I’m being a little sarcastic here, but there are so many other variables that can affect recordings besides conversion. Like stand 2 feet closer to a wall, or put up a different mic. I guess I’m being a little defensive because I really do like the tracks I do with my Apollo. So what’s it missing, or what am I missing here?
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2 Bus EQ
Jun 11, 2018 5:49:53 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Jun 11, 2018 5:49:53 GMT -6
My Neve 8803 works great on the mix bus. It doesn’t really have a color per say, but it does make things sound a little more “real” to my ears. Usually set to high pass at 30, a little bass boost around 100, sometimes a cut around 250, and some presence at 3.5. These are subtle moves that help the mix to open up a bit. I’ll also use my rjr bax eq occasionally for the high end. Boosting a little top doesn’t really sound like eq, it just makes the mix sound really open up top. Sort of like a pultec. These are all on while I mix, not just tossed on at the end. I also use a pair of rnd 542’s, and while not being an eq, they do have a curve to them. Especially with the silk engaged. I mostly use those for a little saturation and compression on the upper frequencies.
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UA Apollo
Jun 10, 2018 19:17:03 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Jun 10, 2018 19:17:03 GMT -6
You guys are making me want a Symphony. I have to say, I’m very happy with my Apollo 16 though. It was a major upgrade from my old silver 8. The DA made me sell my Dangerous Source as well. I wouldn’t mind a nice stereo AD for critical tracks. I haven’t looked in the back of the 16 in a while though. I wonder what I could hook up?? You could hook up a highly modded pair of Ross Martin AD/DA converters. I know a guy who has a set for sale in the classifieds... ...they are outstanding, by the way. Better than 16 MKII conversion. I’ve heard great things about those!
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UA Apollo
Jun 10, 2018 16:21:23 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Jun 10, 2018 16:21:23 GMT -6
You guys are making me want a Symphony. I have to say, I’m very happy with my Apollo 16 though. It was a major upgrade from my old silver 8. The DA made me sell my Dangerous Source as well. I wouldn’t mind a nice stereo AD for critical tracks. I haven’t looked in the back of the 16 in a while though. I wonder what I could hook up??
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Post by nick8801 on Jun 7, 2018 8:30:29 GMT -6
Thanks!
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Post by nick8801 on Jun 7, 2018 8:02:29 GMT -6
Says Sony but it doesn’t look familiar. This album looks like it was super fun to make.
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Post by nick8801 on Jun 1, 2018 6:29:31 GMT -6
My main outboard eq is a Neve 8803. It has variable hi and low pass filters on it. Almost 100% of the time, just engaging the hi pass makes things tighter and cleaner. I rarely use the low pass unless I’m going for effect. I do like to low pass electric guitars sometimes. I recorded a band a few weeks ago where the guitar player’s recording amp was a 5 watt solid state Marshall practice amp. It required quite a bit of carving to sound right, and that included some low passing. But I’m with some of the other guys on the thread here. I just try to record as best as possible these days so I don’t have to use filters on the tracks.
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Post by nick8801 on May 30, 2018 18:10:49 GMT -6
Peluso makes one too, right?
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Post by nick8801 on May 30, 2018 14:51:37 GMT -6
I have the aea and love it. It can be dark, but with the right preamp I find it is incredibly natural and full. It’s important to remember how sensitive passive ribbons are to impedance. Never tried the royer, but I know some people just love those as well. It’s really all about taste. If you want a slightly more vintage vibe, the aea stuff is hard to beat.
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Post by nick8801 on May 20, 2018 19:36:39 GMT -6
Nice video....they really sound great. I’ve been using a pair of blue hummingbirds on toms lately. I really dig sdc’s on toms.
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Post by nick8801 on May 10, 2018 4:54:18 GMT -6
Should be receiving a lake placid blue, k line strat tomorrow! Can’t wait. I’ve had strats over the years, but foolishly sold them all off. I’ve been working on a lot of music lately that just calls for that sound, and I couldn’t justify a custom shop guitar, so I went with a used K line. Super siked! Also ordered a really pretty hand wound Peruvian guitar strap from Original Fuzz to go with it....pics coming soon.....
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Post by nick8801 on May 3, 2018 17:04:30 GMT -6
Ok. Still a little sick with bronchitis, but a little flutter on my high note isn't that big of a deal. Here is the BLUE B11 Cap on my Bottle Rocket Stage II vs the TLM 67. It's not 100% scientific as I pad the BLUE, because it's so loud and was clipping my preamps and had to use a little more gain on the UAD 1073 preamp I used than on the TLM67 (50 db vs 30 db of gain). I level matched them as well. Either way, it should give an idea of what the B11 sounds like. It reminds me a bit of the MK67 without the low mid push. The lows and low mids on all of the BLUE Caps on the Stage II are a little underwhelming. Still I like having it around and it beats the heck out of my old Slate VMS. Sounds great Vincent, and thank you for sharing! I like the b11 a lot compared to the TLM. To my ears it sounds a little sweeter and more balanced, but that could be the tube in the mic as well. I'm sure it would sound like a million bucks with the big bottle.
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Post by nick8801 on Apr 15, 2018 9:47:08 GMT -6
I love my p1! I agree with Brad that it has the electric feeling as well. I’m not sure how to describe it, but that’s what I titled my Sweetwater review several years ago! Love mine on female vocals and even bass. Bass always sounds nice and tight with a good presence.
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