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Post by skav on May 29, 2022 2:10:16 GMT -6
Forgive me for creating yet another thread like this..
My situation is I have the WA273 clone w EQ and like it, but am curious (GAS?) of what I can gain by switching it out with the BAE 1073 MP.
Any experiences with comparing these two? The BAE unit is not easily available or testable in my country
Help me settle my mind! 😊
My chain: SM7B into pre into Aurora(n) into computer. I am comfortable tracking without an HPF & EQ.
If you vote, please explain your reasoning.
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Post by Vincent R. on May 29, 2022 5:11:23 GMT -6
A: Vintech X73i B: Great River MP-2NV C: Warm WA-273EQ D: BAE 1073EQ The BAE is clearly the warmest and richest sounding of the 4. The Great River seems to be the most detailed of the group, and also very balanced. IMO the Warm is similar, but less polished than the Great River. The Vintech sounds nice, but it seems to lack a touch of low end. I own the AMS-Neve 1073 DPX. It’s really nice sounding. Maybe a touch more open than I was expecting, but the price is great in comparison to BAE. In comparison the the BAE the AMS has a deeper, but more even low end, more open top end, but doesn’t have as big a mid push as the BAE. You can also hear samples of the Warm, BAE, AMS Neve, and Great River MP-2NV in Sweetwater’s Mic Preamp review: www.sweetwater.com/insync/vocal-mic-preamplifiers-can-you-hear-a-difference/Frankly, I think Stam has a run of his 1073EQs on preorder for release in June or July. I might look that. Stam’s unit sounds great. Another option would be to send your Warm to Revive Audio for an upgrade. They will upgrade the cheap capacitors among other things for a more polished sound. They have sound samples on their site. www.reviveaudio.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=103_117&product_id=362
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Post by skav on May 29, 2022 8:57:45 GMT -6
A: Vintech X73i B: Great River MP-2NV C: Warm WA-273EQ D: BAE 1073EQ The BAE is clearly the warmest and richest sounding of the 4. The Great River seems to be the most detailed of the group, and also very balanced. IMO the Warm is similar, but less polished than the Great River. The Vintech sounds nice, but it seems to lack a touch of low end. I own the AMS-Neve 1073 DPX. It’s really nice sounding. Maybe a touch more open than I was expecting, but the price is great in comparison to BAE. In comparison the the BAE the AMS has a deeper, but more even low end, more open top end, but doesn’t have as big a mid push as the BAE. You can also hear samples of the Warm, BAE, AMS Neve, and Great River MP-2NV in Sweetwater’s Mic Preamp review: www.sweetwater.com/insync/vocal-mic-preamplifiers-can-you-hear-a-difference/Frankly, I think Stam has a run of his 1073EQs on preorder for release in June or July. I might look that. Stam’s unit sounds great. Another option would be to send your Warm to Revive Audio for an upgrade. They will upgrade the cheap capacitors among other things for a more polished sound. They have sound samples on their site. www.reviveaudio.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=103_117&product_id=362Thank you for your input Vincent. If you don't mind me asking, did you make a compromise by going with the DPX to get all the features you wanted, or? Did you test a BAE yourself?
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Post by thehightenor on May 29, 2022 9:14:49 GMT -6
I have a BAE 1073D Pre and EQ and aside from internally it being a work of art - (it truly is beautifully constructed - all proper point to point wiring and direct soldered resistors to pots etc - the component quality is no expense spared) I find it's sound to be close enough to vintage Neve units for me to be able to forget about it and just enjoy it as a 1073.
I personally found the Neve AMS 1073 DPA unit I demoed to sound a touch vanilla for my taste in a 1073, I've only heard the WA unit in clips but again to my ear it also sounded a touch vanilla.
For me the BAE has that Rock 'n' Roll girth I associate with a Neve 1073 and a classy smooth top end with slightly forward detailed mid's - it's a great unit.
I like to engage the EQ even if I'm not making any EQ moves - it seems to add some magic to my ear.
Highly subjective of course :-)
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Post by tkaitkai on May 29, 2022 10:43:37 GMT -6
I've had the Vintech X73 and AMS Neve 1073 SPX here at different points. I'd go BAE or Vintech, personally. Other options might be Aurora GTQ2, Chandler LDT-1, or Avedis MA5.
I don't know how the DPX compares, but when I had the SPX, I found the top end a little too shrill for my tastes. Caught me off guard, as I definitely wasn't expecting that from a 1073.
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Post by Vincent R. on May 29, 2022 11:26:07 GMT -6
I've had the Vintech X73 and AMS Neve 1073 SPX here at different points. I'd go BAE or Vintech, personally. Other options might be Aurora GTQ2, Chandler LDT-1, or Avedis MA5. I don't know how the DPX compares, but when I had the SPX, I found the top end a little too shrill for my tastes. Caught me off guard, as I definitely wasn't expecting that from a 1073. Same thing. It’s the same dual channel version of the SPX. Yeah, the DPX was far more open than I expected. The Aurora is very open as well.
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Post by Johnkenn on May 29, 2022 13:46:31 GMT -6
Another Stam with Sowters vote. In all honesty, I think you’d get better results putting the money into a different mic. I love the SM7, but they’re not particularly detailed on top. I’d check out the the United Twin 87 or a Soyuz.
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Post by Vincent R. on May 29, 2022 13:53:23 GMT -6
Found a used BAE 1073 DMP for a good deal locally. I think I bought it ten minutes after it was announced, haha! Looks like I'll be able to do a real comparison myself! Just got myself a signalsplitter, so this will be interesting. Please post some stuff here.
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Post by chessparov on May 29, 2022 14:53:23 GMT -6
GAP's Premier 73 or less $$. For us in the cheap seats. I know Paul G and Crille dig the Premier.
Agree with John K. though... Chris
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Post by paulcheeba on May 29, 2022 15:10:11 GMT -6
GAP's Premier 73 or less $$. For us in the cheap seats. I know Paul G and Crille dig the Premier. Agree with John K. though... Chris I have 16 Heritage and Bae original modules I bought after I sold my Neve OG’s because the Heritage were indistinguishable. The Golden Age sound as good as the BAE side by side and make great stand-alone units.
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Post by Johnkenn on May 29, 2022 15:36:38 GMT -6
I failed to mention CAPI. those Platinums are nice and thick
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Post by mike on May 29, 2022 15:53:36 GMT -6
Another Stam with Sowters vote. In all honesty, I think you’d get better results putting the money into a different mic. I love the SM7, but they’re not particularly detailed on top. I’d check out the the United Twin 87 or a Soyuz. While the small differences between most of these is subjective personal preference IMO, I agree with John here and think the right mic matching the source will make a larger impact on the sonics than which of these 1073 pre's mentioned will. The subtle differences I've found comparing several 1073 type units, is some are very slightly more hifi, some subtly thicker, some have a subtle low mid thing, some are slightly deeper, open or dimensional attributes that are brought out more or less depending on the mic and source matching it IMO. I compared an excellent sounding BAE MPF unit I was prepared to buy to my Stam 1073EQ's (sowter) (with the EQ off) on my vocals using a 67 and Flea 47 and I kept the Stam's and sent the BAE back after preferring the Stam's a little bit more. Different mics or a different vocal could have altered the preference the other way I'd guess with both units sounding good. I always wanted to try the AMS-Neve 80-series point-to-point wiring ones some day, but a pair of those in a dual external power supply rack is for a wallet that is not faint of heart!
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Post by levon on May 30, 2022 4:30:33 GMT -6
I have no experience with Warm Audio, but I own a couple of BAE 1073MP, a 1073 DMP and a couple of 1028s and they all sound gorgeous. My hunger for vintage Neves is gone.
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Post by Vincent R. on May 30, 2022 7:16:24 GMT -6
skav in answer to your question, I purchased my AMS Neve DPX 1073 right as I started recording vocals for my Christmas Album. I needed a good pair of matching Neve Style preamps. I strongly debated grabbing a BAE 1073MP and my budget would not allow for the full 1073 or 1084 pair which would have been 6k+. The AMS Neve 1073 DPX was only a little more than BAE 1073MP and offered 2 full channel strips so I opted for that. I already owned a very cheap pair of TNC ACMP84 preamps, which are probably closer sounding to the current Alctron than anything else, but with a 1084 style EQ. I also own a Dan Alexander Dual Channel Class A preamp, which is a 1272 with original Neve transformers. To this day, the Dan Alexander tends to win out on lead vocals. It’s warmer and richer sounding and doesn’t distort as quickly as the Neve. Considering how big and dynamic mine and my wife’s voices are, that’s a plus. Still both channels are slightly different from each other, which is why I opted to get the Neve. The Neve is nice on dense mixes where I want the vocal to cut more. Some of the big band stuff on the album was done with the Neve for that purpose. I’ve sold the ACMP84s. thehightenor is right though. It is very open. Not bad, just more so than I expected. I imagine at some point I’ll grab a BAE 1073 MPF though. I like the idea of having multiple Neve style channels that are all a little different. I’ll probably grab Revive Audio’s Vintage Audio M72 1272 preamp at some point as well, in the hopes in matches up with my Dan Alexander well. You can hear a quick comparison I did of the Dan Alexander, Neve, and TNC below: www.dropbox.com/s/o8b3ov3jh6n5fsz/Quick%20Neve%20Test.wav?dl=0
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Post by brenta on May 30, 2022 9:18:32 GMT -6
I compared the Warm (w EQ) and BAE (w/o EQ) here for a couple weeks. The BAE is much richer and more detailed. The Warm kinda smears things in a way, is slower with the transients, and missing something down low. It’s still a fantastic value for what it costs. I ended up returning the Warm. The Heritage Elite didn’t do it for me either. I also have a Stam mk1 with Sowters which is great but quite different tonally than the BAE. I also have a Great River which is fantastic, but quite different than other Neve clones. Not really a Neve clone IMO, more an evolution of the sound.
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Post by Vincent R. on May 30, 2022 10:38:29 GMT -6
I compared the Warm (w EQ) and BAE (w/o EQ) here for a couple weeks. The BAE is much richer and more detailed. The Warm kinda smears things in a way, is slower with the transients, and missing something down low. It’s still a fantastic value for what it costs. I ended up returning the Warm. The Heritage Elite didn’t do it for me either. I also have a Stam mk1 with Sowters which is great but quite different tonally than the BAE. I also have a Great River which is fantastic, but quite different than other Neve clones. Not really a Neve clone IMO, more an evolution of the sound. When I tried the Stam with the Sowters it reminded me of my Dan Alexander 1272 in quality more so than my Neve.
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Post by chessparov on May 30, 2022 11:57:40 GMT -6
Grasshopper asks... How close can you get with just a 1073 style Pre. Then using other Processing later?
Now and then I think of picking up a GAP-73 Junior. Which is only the Pre. Thanks, Chris
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Post by ml on May 30, 2022 12:54:17 GMT -6
Never used the Warm, but I have a BAE mp and a GAP here. The BAE is built like a tank and comes with a robust external power supply. The GAP is also good, but it broke a few years ago and is sitting in the closet. I don’t think the Warm will hold you back from making a great recording. Although I will say that I usually see BAEs in peoples racks, people with way better ears than me!
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Post by tkaitkai on May 30, 2022 13:10:06 GMT -6
Grasshopper asks... How close can you get with just a 1073 style Pre. Then using other Processing later? Now and then I think of picking up a GAP-73 Junior. Which is only the Pre. Thanks, Chris
If you can, I'd hold out for the GAP 73 Premier, which is also just the mic pre, but higher quality build and parts. Maybe look around used, I'm sure you can find a good deal if you're patient.
I do think putting the EQ in the signal path makes a difference, but not really worth losing sleep over if you can't afford it. I'd take any good 1073 clone with no EQ over most interface preamps any day.
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Post by chessparov on May 30, 2022 13:20:29 GMT -6
Thanks T. As an alternative, I may pick up the Useful Arts Hornet eventually instead, for experimentation. Chris
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Post by skav on May 30, 2022 15:43:28 GMT -6
Another Stam with Sowters vote. In all honesty, I think you’d get better results putting the money into a different mic. I love the SM7, but they’re not particularly detailed on top. I’d check out the the United Twin 87 or a Soyuz. Unfortunately the room I record in is not the most acoustically charming, Even though It's packed with rockwool, hehe. It's a neccessary compromise at This stage, I think, as I can't do Any major changes to the Room in this time. But thanks for the tip!
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Post by skav on May 30, 2022 15:51:18 GMT -6
GAP's Premier 73 or less $$. For us in the cheap seats. I know Paul G and Crille dig the Premier. Agree with John K. though... Chris I have 16 Heritage and Bae original modules I bought after I sold my Neve OG’s because the Heritage were indistinguishable. The Golden Age sound as good as the BAE side by side and make great stand-alone units. I've read great things about the GA lately. GA premiere DLX seems to have the most quality build I think. I'm not a fan of their looks tho, to be honest. Call me whatever you want, but beautiful looks is inspires me, you know? I've always found the classic 1073 look appealing.
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Post by skav on May 30, 2022 15:55:32 GMT -6
I compared the Warm (w EQ) and BAE (w/o EQ) here for a couple weeks. The BAE is much richer and more detailed. The Warm kinda smears things in a way, is slower with the transients, and missing something down low. It’s still a fantastic value for what it costs. I ended up returning the Warm. The Heritage Elite didn’t do it for me either. I also have a Stam mk1 with Sowters which is great but quite different tonally than the BAE. I also have a Great River which is fantastic, but quite different than other Neve clones. Not really a Neve clone IMO, more an evolution of the sound. This is what I'm expecting and hoping to find. Thank you!
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Post by skav on May 31, 2022 4:37:58 GMT -6
skav in answer to your question, I purchased my AMS Neve DPX 1073 right as I started recording vocals for my Christmas Album. I needed a good pair of matching Neve Style preamps. I strongly debated grabbing a BAE 1073MP and my budget would not allow for the full 1073 or 1084 pair which would have been 6k+. The AMS Neve 1073 DPX was only a little more than BAE 1073MP and offered 2 full channel strips so I opted for that. I already owned a very cheap pair of TNC ACMP84 preamps, which are probably closer sounding to the current Alctron than anything else, but with a 1084 style EQ. I also own a Dan Alexander Dual Channel Class A preamp, which is a 1272 with original Neve transformers. To this day, the Dan Alexander tends to win out on lead vocals. It’s warmer and richer sounding and doesn’t distort as quickly as the Neve. Considering how big and dynamic mine and my wife’s voices are, that’s a plus. Still both channels are slightly different from each other, which is why I opted to get the Neve. The Neve is nice on dense mixes where I want the vocal to cut more. Some of the big band stuff on the album was done with the Neve for that purpose. I’ve sold the ACMP84s. thehightenor is right though. It is very open. Not bad, just more so than I expected. I imagine at some point I’ll grab a BAE 1073 MPF though. I like the idea of having multiple Neve style channels that are all a little different. I’ll probably grab Revive Audio’s Vintage Audio M72 1272 preamp at some point as well, in the hopes in matches up with my Dan Alexander well. You can hear a quick comparison I did of the Dan Alexander, Neve, and TNC below: www.dropbox.com/s/o8b3ov3jh6n5fsz/Quick%20Neve%20Test.wav?dl=0 I understand. That's very reasonable. Love the DA, but with your talent I think I can listen to any three of them and just enjoy! Link me your music on a private message?
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Post by stam on May 31, 2022 7:47:41 GMT -6
I have a little batch of both the 1073EQ plus and MPA MK2 cooking that will be out in 8 weeks with the Sowters
They can be reserved at the time.
Someone said it reminded them of their Dan Alexander 1272, since the MK1 had just 2 stages like the BAE it makes a lot of sense!
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