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Post by Vincent R. on Mar 26, 2020 20:40:01 GMT -6
I’ve come across them a few times. They have some nice looking Neve style gear. Anyone here using their gear? I’m curious how it compares with BAE or AMS-Neve? It’s not inexpensive, but not quite as expensive either as the big guys either. auroraaudio.net
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Post by stratboy on Mar 26, 2020 21:15:25 GMT -6
I just sold all my preamps, and comps as part of a major studio downsize. I replaced them with two Aurora GTQC channel strips. I can't compare them with BAE or AMS-Neve or RND, but Geoff Tanner's gear came highly recommended by people I respect. Plus, I was acquainted with one of Geoff's partners, Alan Dickson, who owned Grandmaster Recorders, just down the street from where I worked in Hollywood. Alan ran a very high quality shop, so the Aurora brand benefitted by association in my mind. I got the two GTQCs from different sources, so they are at Aurora to get matched up spec-wise. After I get them back, I will let you know what I think. I can't imagine they won't live up to their reputation.
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Post by reddirt on Mar 26, 2020 22:37:11 GMT -6
I believe Geoff was with Neve in the halcyon days and has taken that knowledge and furthered it in the Aurora gear. I have no first hand knowledge but whenever I've seen him post it seems well considered with obvious Knowledege. Cheers, Ross (quarantinned for at least a month in my native New Zealand)
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Post by bricejchandler on Mar 27, 2020 5:36:16 GMT -6
They're great preamps. I'd say closer to the new AMS Neves. The Baes have that heavy low mid thing going than I've never heard in the Ams or Aurora. The AMS gets bashed quite a bit online but it's my personal favorite. The Aurora is a very close second and would be my choice if I lived in the US. The eq is very nice too. I've never heard the comp. Having one of their 8 channel Preamps + eqs would be my dream rig for tracking drums.
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Post by Ward on Mar 27, 2020 6:06:37 GMT -6
They're great preamps. I'd say closer to the new AMS Neves. The Baes have that heavy low mid thing going than I've never heard in the Ams or Aurora. The AMS gets bashed quite a bit online but it's my personal favorite. The Aurora is a very close second and would be my choice if I lived in the US. The eq is very nice too. I've never heard the comp. Having one of their 8 channel Preamps + eqs would be my dream rig for tracking drums. +1 on that assessment vis-à-vis the AMS-Neve stuff. And I am a fan of the AMS Neve stuff, by the way. Beautiful amplifier. Same classic Neve tone but a little less murky. For even less murkiness, there's the Vintech stuff. My favorites on Snares.
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Post by bricejchandler on Mar 27, 2020 6:20:07 GMT -6
They're great preamps. I'd say closer to the new AMS Neves. The Baes have that heavy low mid thing going than I've never heard in the Ams or Aurora. The AMS gets bashed quite a bit online but it's my personal favorite. The Aurora is a very close second and would be my choice if I lived in the US. The eq is very nice too. I've never heard the comp. Having one of their 8 channel Preamps + eqs would be my dream rig for tracking drums. +1 on that assessment vis-à-vis the AMS-Neve stuff. And I am a fan of the AMS Neve stuff, by the way. Beautiful amplifier. Same classic Neve tone but a little less murky. For even less murkiness, there's the Vintech stuff. My favorites on Snares. I've never heard the Vintech I'd love to check it out someday! My all time favorite nevish Preamp is the Reissue 1081, great preamp, great eq but just so expensive.
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Post by stratboy on Mar 27, 2020 7:06:05 GMT -6
+1 on that assessment vis-à-vis the AMS-Neve stuff. And I am a fan of the AMS Neve stuff, by the way. Beautiful amplifier. Same classic Neve tone but a little less murky. For even less murkiness, there's the Vintech stuff. My favorites on Snares. I've never heard the Vintech I'd love to check it out someday! My all time favorite nevish Preamp is the Reissue 1081, great preamp, great eq but just so expensive. I can personally vouch for the Vintech. Really beautiful preamps that I sold to get the Auroras.
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Post by notneeson on Mar 27, 2020 10:08:02 GMT -6
I've never heard the Vintech I'd love to check it out someday! My all time favorite nevish Preamp is the Reissue 1081, great preamp, great eq but just so expensive. I can personally vouch for the Vintech. Really beautiful preamps that I sold to get the Auroras. Vintechs are great, and a perfect example of how it is sometimes becomes trendy to pan great gear on certain boards. (This was way back, mind you).
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Post by the other mark williams on Mar 27, 2020 10:25:44 GMT -6
I can personally vouch for the Vintech. Really beautiful preamps that I sold to get the Auroras. Vintechs are great, and a perfect example of how it is sometimes becomes trendy to pan great gear on certain boards. (This was way back, mind you). I've never used a Vintech in person, but every time I’ve listened to them in blind shootouts (and I’ve done this a fair bit), I’ve never chosen them, not once. Doesn’t seem to have quite the “muscle” I’m looking for out of a Neve circuit. But hey, I know some people love them. I wonder how folks feel about the Heritage Elite Series now that they’ve been on the market awhile?
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Post by mike on Mar 27, 2020 11:04:30 GMT -6
I can personally vouch for the Vintech. Really beautiful preamps that I sold to get the Auroras. Vintechs are great, and a perfect example of how it is sometimes becomes trendy to pan great gear on certain boards. (This was way back, mind you).
I agree..... To me, Vintech like most good companies have some models that excel/are great value in their specific category along with other products in their line that are just ok I think. I had a Vintech X73i for many years I finally sold after liking the Stam SA1073EQ a little better, but the Vintech was a well built solid piece I have nothing but good things to say about. That unit sold in a matter of hours after posting it for fair market price.
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Post by bricejchandler on Mar 27, 2020 11:05:47 GMT -6
Vintechs are great, and a perfect example of how it is sometimes becomes trendy to pan great gear on certain boards. (This was way back, mind you). I've never used a Vintech in person, but every time I’ve listened to them in blind shootouts (and I’ve done this a fair bit), I’ve never chosen them, not once. Doesn’t seem to have quite the “muscle” I’m looking for out of a Neve circuit. But hey, I know some people love them. I wonder how folks feel about the Heritage Elite Series now that they’ve been on the market awhile? Didn't sound very good to me, definitely lacks muscle. For a similar price, I would pick an AML, sounds WAY better. I'd even pick the Golden Age Premier over the Heritage Elite, no question. Didn't like the Warm either, but then I haven't really like any of the Warm products to be honest, I feel like their color is just too much, and at the expense of definition. A lot of people like that sound but for what I do it just doesn't fit. I would still pick the Warm over the Heritage though. I really did not like the Heritage Elite. Their High end stuff sounds nice though.
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Post by Johnkenn on Mar 27, 2020 11:32:27 GMT -6
I really think it’s about the output transformers. This won’t be a popular opinion - but my favorite Neve clone is the Stam with the Sowter transformer. In fact, when I think of all the pres I have been fond of in the past, they’ve used Sowter input or output. Still haven’t tried the Great River (maybe years ago), but I bet I’d really like it.
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Post by the other mark williams on Mar 27, 2020 12:26:30 GMT -6
I really think it’s about the output transformers. This won’t be a popular opinion - but my favorite Neve clone is the Stam with the Sowter transformer. In fact, when I think of all the pres I have been fond of in the past, they’ve used Sowter input or output. Still haven’t tried the Great River (maybe years ago), but I bet I’d really like it. hey, that’s a popular opinion with me. I’ve got the Stam Neve MPA-2 (?) and I absolutely love it.
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Post by drumsound on Mar 27, 2020 12:31:37 GMT -6
I had an Aurora GTQ2 for a couple years. Its a really great sounding piece, with a really simple, but totally useful EQ. I got rid of it because I needed money after my divorce, or it would still be in the rack. Geoff Tanner was at Neve in the heyday. The Marinaire transformers he uses are built to vintage Neve spec.
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Post by Vincent R. on Mar 27, 2020 12:50:10 GMT -6
I’ve got my Dan Alexander over here, which is just a dual channel preamp, but it has original neve transformers in it. I’ve never had a BAE in here, but judging from samples I’ve heard online the BAE comes closer to what this unit does than the Neve, but it’s all really subjective. It’s good to hear the Aurora stuff compares to the AMS -Neve. That gives me an idea. I was looking at that 8 Channel EQ rack and 8 channel preamp rack. That would be an awesome set if you had the funds for drums or recording any sort of band, string section, brass section, etc.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Mar 27, 2020 13:02:49 GMT -6
No experience, but I'd love to have the sidecar with inserts for tracking. Great features for my needs.
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Post by notneeson on Mar 27, 2020 13:08:34 GMT -6
I've never used a Vintech in person, but every time I’ve listened to them in blind shootouts (and I’ve done this a fair bit), I’ve never chosen them, not once. Doesn’t seem to have quite the “muscle” I’m looking for out of a Neve circuit. But hey, I know some people love them. I wonder how folks feel about the Heritage Elite Series now that they’ve been on the market awhile? Didn't sound very good to me, definitely lacks muscle. For a similar price, I would pick an AML, sounds WAY better. I'd even pick the Golden Age Premier over the Heritage Elite, no question. Didn't like the Warm either, but then I haven't really like any of the Warm products to be honest, I feel like their color is just too much, and at the expense of definition. A lot of people like that sound but for what I do it just doesn't fit. I would still pick the Warm over the Heritage though. I really did not like the Heritage Elite. Their High end stuff sounds nice though. Have used the Vintechs interchangeably with actual Neves (albeit the class AB ones) on many projects for many paying customers. They work great. Granted, this is in a Wally Heider room so talk about having a leg up. Sidebar: recently used the Great River for the first time and thought that was quite a nice box, so maybe there is something to Fearless Leader's Sowter theory.
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Post by stratboy on Mar 27, 2020 13:35:28 GMT -6
Vintechs are great, and a perfect example of how it is sometimes becomes trendy to pan great gear on certain boards. (This was way back, mind you).
I agree..... To me, Vintech like most good companies have some models that excel/are great value in their specific category along with other products in their line that are just ok I think. I had a Vintech X73i for many years I finally sold after liking the Stam SA1073EQ a little better, but the Vintech was a well built solid piece I have nothing but good things to say about. That unit sold in a matter of hours after posting it for fair market price.
Yep. That's what happened to mine. I never had the privilege of comparing them head to head to BAE or AMS-Neve, but they had the sound I remembered from working on Neve consoles in the late 70's/early 80's. I was very happy with them and I'll bet the new owner will be, too. The thing I like about the Aurora GTQC channel strip is, it has a nice Neve pre, practical EQ, and a really versatile comp all in 1ru. Should be good for my new, much more modest circumstances. Hearing what people are saying in this discussion makes me feel I made a good choice.
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Post by Vincent R. on Mar 27, 2020 14:13:25 GMT -6
I used the Stam at Martin John Butler ‘s a while back and really liked what it did. I am seriously considering his channel 1073EQ down the road. Hopefully his time tables will improve. We’ll see.
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Post by Johnkenn on Mar 27, 2020 14:19:51 GMT -6
I had an Aurora GTQ2 for a couple years. Its a really great sounding piece, with a really simple, but totally useful EQ. I got rid of it because I needed money after my divorce, or it would still be in the rack. Geoff Tanner was at Neve in the heyday. The Marinaire transformers he uses are built to vintage Neve spec. I had QC issues with one that went back and forth several times at my own dime. Then not the most friendly exchange between Geoff and I when I mentioned it here. They sound great, but personally - after that experience - I wouldn't buy again.
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Post by Johnkenn on Mar 27, 2020 14:22:48 GMT -6
I was also testily mocked for asking whether Aurora was going to do a 500 series. Guess what they finally came out with?
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Post by the other mark williams on Mar 27, 2020 15:04:26 GMT -6
I had an Aurora GTQ2 for a couple years. Its a really great sounding piece, with a really simple, but totally useful EQ. I got rid of it because I needed money after my divorce, or it would still be in the rack. Geoff Tanner was at Neve in the heyday. The Marinaire transformers he uses are built to vintage Neve spec. I had QC issues with one that went back and forth several times at my own dime. Then not the most friendly exchange between Geoff and I when I mentioned it here. They sound great, but personally - after that experience - I wouldn't buy again. yikes. Sorry to hear this, John.
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Post by drumsound on Mar 27, 2020 15:21:42 GMT -6
I had an Aurora GTQ2 for a couple years. Its a really great sounding piece, with a really simple, but totally useful EQ. I got rid of it because I needed money after my divorce, or it would still be in the rack. Geoff Tanner was at Neve in the heyday. The Marinaire transformers he uses are built to vintage Neve spec. I had QC issues with one that went back and forth several times at my own dime. Then not the most friendly exchange between Geoff and I when I mentioned it here. They sound great, but personally - after that experience - I wouldn't buy again. Yeah, that's a drag. I've heard he can be a little "uneven." I traded my Manly VoxBox for the GTQ2, and even used, it never had a single issue.
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Post by Johnkenn on Mar 27, 2020 16:08:53 GMT -6
It totally could have been just one of those things. But if memory serves, I had to ship it out twice to LA and got it back twice still oscillating.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Mar 27, 2020 17:54:18 GMT -6
My buddy has the Great River and I've used it many times. It's a quality piece. That said, I would take the Stam over it any day. The Stam is the closest I've heard to sounding proper. So many clones of various things sound good, but miss the mark when it comes to the vibe. The Stam gets it right.
I haven't heard the Heritage, but a friend whose opinion I trust says it's the one he would choose now.
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