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Post by Mister Chase on Feb 18, 2021 20:28:50 GMT -6
I know that sounds funny. It's not a piece of gear that you would think about missing. But man, it was a sound I used to great effect.
I listen back to tracks I did with that pre and it just worked. If you used the right mic in the right place then it just worked. It had a sound but just slightly. I don't know. Tracks just stacked nicely. Mixes weren't crazy sounding just "nice".
Now there is one for almost 1200 on reverb now. I think mine went for 650 several years ago. Ugh.
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Post by phdamage on Feb 18, 2021 21:14:39 GMT -6
Don’t get too nervous! I just sold my last one this week for $800. I just was never using it. What pres do you have these days? I guess I just prefer transformers. I feel like I see true systems pres for cheap fairly often as far as other transformerless options.
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Post by Mister Chase on Feb 18, 2021 21:29:17 GMT -6
Don’t get too nervous! I just sold my last one this week for $800. I just was never using it. What pres do you have these days? I guess I just prefer transformers. I feel like I see true systems pres for cheap fairly often as far as other transformerless options. Oh, I'm totally spoiled for preamps. Hardy m2, iron age qpp, a bunch of DRS by Phoenix, capi vp28s, Sebatron Axis, AEA RPQ. I don't really need the Sytek, but I don't have anything that really sounds like it. I would say the RPQ is probably closest. All my pres are amazing, though... |
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Post by jmoose on Feb 18, 2021 21:39:15 GMT -6
The syteks are cool but yeah seems like prices have been going up. Tried to find one myself about 2 years ago and either couldn't find one & when I did was more then I wanted to pay vs other options.
Not the same but similar vibe is the black lion auteur quad. High speed opamps transformer output... clean beefy gain. Nice meters too. That's what I ended up with as a compact 4 channel for a travel rig.
Only real complaint is the massive line lump supply is sort of annoying but easy enough to wrap up & forget about.
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Post by ericn on Feb 18, 2021 21:45:06 GMT -6
I know that sounds funny. It's not a piece of gear that you would think about missing. But man, it was a sound I used to great effect.
I listen back to tracks I did with that pre and it just worked. If you used the right mic in the right place then it just worked. It had a sound but just slightly. I don't know. Tracks just stacked nicely. Mixes weren't crazy sounding just "nice".
Now there is one for almost 1200 on reverb now. I think mine went for 650 several years ago. Ugh.
Oh where is Nobtwiddler with his famous Butch Vig Neotek story! Damn it you should miss that thing! |
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Post by nick8801 on Feb 19, 2021 6:01:03 GMT -6
I have a drummer friend who has used his since the early 2000’s. He wants to sell it for some CAPI stuff now. If anyone is interested I can connect you! His recordings always come out super clear and tight. I just think he wants a little more mojo.
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Post by EmRR on Feb 19, 2021 9:43:14 GMT -6
My first from 1996 died and I had to replace it, as you said sometimes it’s the best option. Seems like it’s almost always on something in any session here, amongst everything else being heavy color.
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Post by Omicron9 on Feb 19, 2021 9:46:13 GMT -6
Yeah. I had two; just sold the one I wasn't using. I won't be selling the other; I love those things. Sad that they're no longer being made.
-09
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Post by nobtwiddler on Feb 19, 2021 10:07:40 GMT -6
I loved my entire Neotek console, all 36 of them!
Not much talk about them, but people who have them know!
As for Butch, what the hell does he know.
Haha
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Post by Mister Chase on Feb 19, 2021 11:11:30 GMT -6
The syteks are cool but yeah seems like prices have been going up. Tried to find one myself about 2 years ago and either couldn't find one & when I did was more then I wanted to pay vs other options. Not the same but similar vibe is the black lion auteur quad. High speed opamps transformer output... clean beefy gain. Nice meters too. That's what I ended up with as a compact 4 channel for a travel rig. Only real complaint is the massive line lump supply is sort of annoying but easy enough to wrap up & forget about. I keep telling myself that my Hardy m-2 is a fine replacement for the same purposes, which it probably is. But, they are still different sounds. The M-2 is incredible, you think it's dead-clean but really it's got a sort of vibe. Very large, wide, deep - sort of a magic dust on it. Can't beat it. The Sytek was more plain-Jane but in the best possible way. It just sounded like the sound you recorded.
Might check out the Black Lion, but as I've sort of discovered, there really are no suitable gear substitutions in the audio world. If I want something that does a specific sound, I'll always be disappointed.
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Post by Mister Chase on Feb 19, 2021 11:12:17 GMT -6
I know that sounds funny. It's not a piece of gear that you would think about missing. But man, it was a sound I used to great effect.
I listen back to tracks I did with that pre and it just worked. If you used the right mic in the right place then it just worked. It had a sound but just slightly. I don't know. Tracks just stacked nicely. Mixes weren't crazy sounding just "nice".
Now there is one for almost 1200 on reverb now. I think mine went for 650 several years ago. Ugh.
Oh where is Nobtwiddler with his famous Butch Vig Neotek story! Damn it you should miss that thing!  |
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Post by EmRR on Feb 19, 2021 11:17:06 GMT -6
You would think some of the many THAT type units would be in the same general camp, but I haven't heard any.
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Post by Mister Chase on Feb 19, 2021 11:20:14 GMT -6
My first from 1996 died and I had to replace it, as you said sometimes it’s the best option. Seems like it’s almost always on something in any session here, amongst everything else being heavy color. Just wasn't repairable? I've never looked inside one. Is it a lot of surface-mount stuff?
Yea. I love all my flavors here, but some times I just want to record a song of my own and not think about the damn colors or gear. The Sytek was just eminently accurate, solid and no-fuss. The only thing I had to watch out for was how fast it was. If I used a clean condenser on a fast source, it could definitely punish me. But that's a problem I don't really have at this stage in my ability(and mic locker). The Hardy can sometimes do the same thing as it is also fast, just not as extreme. Switching over to a colored pre tends to lose some of that "wow" spaciousness but smooths things over. Vice versa some darker mics on colored preamps I fight for clarity... I digress...
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Post by Mister Chase on Feb 19, 2021 11:20:59 GMT -6
Yeah. I had two; just sold the one I wasn't using. I won't be selling the other; I love those things. Sad that they're no longer being made. -09 They have a sound without having a sound... somehow. |
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Post by Mister Chase on Feb 19, 2021 11:22:03 GMT -6
You would think some of the many THAT type units would be in the same general camp, but I haven't heard any. One would think.
Just for sake of clarity, do you mean you just haven't heard any other THAT designs or that you have heard them and they don't have the same sound as a Sytek? I am assuming the latter, of course.
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Post by EmRR on Feb 19, 2021 11:45:57 GMT -6
You would think some of the many THAT type units would be in the same general camp, but I haven't heard any. One would think.
Just for sake of clarity, do you mean you just haven't heard any other THAT designs or that you have heard them and they don't have the same sound as a Sytek? I am assuming the latter, of course.
I have not heard a THAT type unit. |
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Post by EmRR on Feb 19, 2021 11:52:00 GMT -6
My first from 1996 died and I had to replace it, as you said sometimes it’s the best option. Seems like it’s almost always on something in any session here, amongst everything else being heavy color. Just wasn't repairable? I've never looked inside one. Is it a lot of surface-mount stuff? Sytek had changed enough of the design along the way dealing with physical changes in the parts, they refused to repair it, instead offered me a B stock unit at a price similar to what a repair would be. So, great service, really. It would have required some serious hacking and hand wiring, and I think even the panel mounting cutout dimensions had changed. Sad to see them gone, but understandable that Mike would want to retire at some point. I think maybe he's pared back to just Neotek service? Not sure. |
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Post by Mister Chase on Feb 19, 2021 13:09:39 GMT -6
Just wasn't repairable? I've never looked inside one. Is it a lot of surface-mount stuff? Sytek had changed enough of the design along the way dealing with physical changes in the parts, they refused to repair it, instead offered me a B stock unit at a price similar to what a repair would be. So, great service, really. It would have required some serious hacking and hand wiring, and I think even the panel mounting cutout dimensions had changed. Sad to see them gone, but understandable that Mike would want to retire at some point. I think maybe he's pared back to just Neotek service? Not sure. Ah I understand. I got mine in 2013. If I find a used one, hopefully it's fairly recent.
Yea, one has to retire at some point. Really good design, I think.
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Post by Guitar on Feb 20, 2021 10:28:05 GMT -6
You would think some of the many THAT type units would be in the same general camp, but I haven't heard any. I had the Sytek, NE5532 and burr brown op amps, by the way, just to name the parts. Yeah, it was super plain sounding, almost annoying to me. But it "just worked" on a lot of parts. Very smooth sounding. No weight. I hated the lack of pads, that was the big annoyance. I also tried a THAT mic preamp, the SCA T15. They were more "blunt" and "round" than the Sytek. The transients were slower and more colored. But those are very neutral preamps as well. They Sytek was a lot faster, less color. What I "ended up with" eventually are the Tascam HDIA preamps in the UH-7000 and the Series 8p Dyna, I like them, they are very clean, pleasant. I also ended up with 16 channels of Yamaha MLA-8. They are a little more "sticky" sounding, but I like them, they have a very slight solid state color, I use them on drums. Probably not as "transparent" as the other ones that were just mentioned, not quite. Probably easily on par with the SCA T15 though, and much, much cheaper when you do the math of channels vs dollars. |
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Post by Mister Chase on Feb 20, 2021 12:59:16 GMT -6
You would think some of the many THAT type units would be in the same general camp, but I haven't heard any. I had the Sytek, NE5532 and burr brown op amps, by the way, just to name the parts. Yeah, it was super plain sounding, almost annoying to me. But it "just worked" on a lot of parts. Very smooth sounding. No weight. I hated the lack of pads, that was the big annoyance. I also tried a THAT mic preamp, the SCA T15. They were more "blunt" and "round" than the Sytek. The transients were slower and more colored. But those are very neutral preamps as well. They Sytek was a lot faster, less color. What I "ended up with" eventually are the Tascam HDIA preamps in the UH-7000 and the Series 8p Dyna, I like them, they are very clean, pleasant. I also ended up with 16 channels of Yamaha MLA-8. They are a little more "sticky" sounding, but I like them, they have a very slight solid state color, I use them on drums. Probably not as "transparent" as the other ones that were just mentioned, not quite. Probably easily on par with the SCA T15 though, and much, much cheaper when you do the math of channels vs dollars. Super plain, indeed. There is something I like about that sometimes, though. It takes a lot of the analysis paralysis away for me. Sometimes I spend too much time on "which pre color I should use" and experimenting. I never seemed to kick myself come mix time with the Sytek like I sometimes do with other colors. Plus I sort of have a dislike of uber produced polished sounding productions especially when it comes to my own art so it allowed me to just present a solid sound. No big wow factor but "hey, thats real nice and natural". I never had burr browns in mine, though. Thanks for sharing your other clean pre experiences! I remember the SCA stuff but never tried it... |
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Post by Guitar on Feb 20, 2021 13:34:44 GMT -6
I had the Sytek, NE5532 and burr brown op amps, by the way, just to name the parts. Yeah, it was super plain sounding, almost annoying to me. But it "just worked" on a lot of parts. Very smooth sounding. No weight. I hated the lack of pads, that was the big annoyance. I also tried a THAT mic preamp, the SCA T15. They were more "blunt" and "round" than the Sytek. The transients were slower and more colored. But those are very neutral preamps as well. They Sytek was a lot faster, less color. What I "ended up with" eventually are the Tascam HDIA preamps in the UH-7000 and the Series 8p Dyna, I like them, they are very clean, pleasant. I also ended up with 16 channels of Yamaha MLA-8. They are a little more "sticky" sounding, but I like them, they have a very slight solid state color, I use them on drums. Probably not as "transparent" as the other ones that were just mentioned, not quite. Probably easily on par with the SCA T15 though, and much, much cheaper when you do the math of channels vs dollars. Super plain, indeed. There is something I like about that sometimes, though. It takes a lot of the analysis paralysis away for me. Sometimes I spend too much time on "which pre color I should use" and experimenting. I never seemed to kick myself come mix time with the Sytek like I sometimes do with other colors. Plus I sort of have a dislike of uber produced polished sounding productions especially when it comes to my own art so it allowed me to just present a solid sound. No big wow factor but "hey, thats real nice and natural". I never had burr browns in mine, though. Thanks for sharing your other clean pre experiences! I remember the SCA stuff but never tried it... I can relate to that idea big time, never wanting things to sound too perfect or pretty. Always I'm seeking some grit or ugliness from somewhere. There are very few producers who do the "perfect" thing well, and they amaze me. I'm thinking George Massenburg, Nigel Godrich. The T15 is one of the better SCA clean pres, IMO. It's not "perfect" but that makes it appealing. The C84 I am not a fan of, too shiny sounding, almost hated that thing. Yeah, I hated that thing. The J99 I never tried, that's the Jensen/Hardy one, which is a different thing altogether. The T15 would be the "most" in the Sytek territory. |
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Post by drumsound on Feb 20, 2021 13:36:58 GMT -6
Just wasn't repairable? I've never looked inside one. Is it a lot of surface-mount stuff? Sytek had changed enough of the design along the way dealing with physical changes in the parts, they refused to repair it, instead offered me a B stock unit at a price similar to what a repair would be. So, great service, really. It would have required some serious hacking and hand wiring, and I think even the panel mounting cutout dimensions had changed. Sad to see them gone, but understandable that Mike would want to retire at some point. I think maybe he's pared back to just Neotek service? Not sure. I thought Mike was closing the whole operation. He repaired my Neotek PSU a couple summers ago and kind of implied that it wouldn't be on option much longer. He did have a lot of stuff that needed to be sold to clear out the space thought. |
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Post by chessparov on Feb 20, 2021 18:18:30 GMT -6
You would think some of the many THAT type units would be in the same general camp, but I haven't heard any. I had the Sytek, NE5532 and burr brown op amps, by the way, just to name the parts. Yeah, it was super plain sounding, almost annoying to me. But it "just worked" on a lot of parts. Very smooth sounding. No weight. I hated the lack of pads, that was the big annoyance. I also tried a THAT mic preamp, the SCA T15. They were more "blunt" and "round" than the Sytek. The transients were slower and more colored. But those are very neutral preamps as well. They Sytek was a lot faster, less color. What I "ended up with" eventually are the Tascam HDIA preamps in the UH-7000 and the Series 8p Dyna, I like them, they are very clean, pleasant. I also ended up with 16 channels of Yamaha MLA-8. They are a little more "sticky" sounding, but I like them, they have a very slight solid state color, I use them on drums. Probably not as "transparent" as the other ones that were just mentioned, not quite. Probably easily on par with the SCA T15 though, and much, much cheaper when you do the math of channels vs dollars. If/when I get a 24/96 Interface... I plan to get one of the newest Tascam HR Series. Partly as I have two "Character Pre's"... The SP VTB-1 (mild). The Soyuz Launcher (wild). Chris P.S. The VTB-1 is cool because it has one mic XLR in, and can have 2 Outputs/Same signal. |
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Post by thirdeye on Feb 21, 2021 20:36:13 GMT -6
I not really sorry I sold mine. I considered it nice sounding, but ultimately just a utility preamp. I'm definitely happier now to have less choices. These days we have 40 channels of preamp, but only 3 real choices, API, Neve "style", and an ADL 600. We still have one utility preamp, a 8 channel audient, used mostly for talkback mics or trigger inputs. We kept it mainly because it's 8 channels in one rack space, not because it was better than the Sytek.
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Post by chessparov on Feb 21, 2021 21:44:39 GMT -6
An SSL? Oops you said Audient.  Chris |
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