Cheapest DIY 1073 or 312?

reverb.com/item/51129685-n-sonic-n73pre-500-series-1073-style-microphone-preamp

I have the Alctron branded version of these. They've been great.

Or you could go with the full EQ version too:

reverb.com/item/29137870-alctron-mp73eqv2-1073-channel-strip-microphone-preamp-and-equalizer


Sometimes DIY is not the cheapest option.

That's fantastic! Although I still need the rack for the 500 module. I've looked it up, and apparently is almost the same as GAP PRE73? That ALCTRON 73 pre with the eq is insane for $400!

But if I don't care much for the EQ, I wounder wether the GAP Premier 73 is closer to the quintessensial Neve sound because it has Carnhill in and out transformers? That's $400 used, including shipping and tax.

I don't mind taking a week carefully soldering a kit if it takes me closer to the BAE sound. I'll confess that I've spent far too many hours on Zen Pro Audio's clipalator comparing '73 clones, and although all sound great, there's something about the BAE that makes everything smoother; like I wouldn't want to make make any eq moves when mixing. I have the same gut feeling API 312, but it seems like vocals get a tad more aggressive.

Either way, I've shortened my list to:

* The Alctron with EQ $400
* The GAP Premier w/no EQ (Carnhill Transformers) $400

* A GAP Pre 73 Jr ($200) and then adding an output transformer from AML (should all be less than $300)

* AML 1081 w/used 500 rack $404
* The CAPI 312 with used 500 rack $417 (yes, API style, but if it sounds close to the 312, that's awesome)



Do the kit ones have a sonic quality edge? On the Clipalator samples, I hear that the GAP Premier sounds awesome, but the BAE still has an edge "rounding" the overall tone. It's very subtle, but it's there. Would the AML 1081 get me closer to the BAE roundness than the GAP?

Arggh! I wish there was a way to compare the kit ones before buying them.

I have some real 1290 preamps, some AML clones and the Alctrons.  They all sound like "neve" but with slightly different tonality.  I'd say that any clone or original will never sound the same to each other.  Even back in the day no two neve preamps sounded perfectly identical..  but then again nobody really listened that closely either.  

GAP is probably from the same company that does Alctron.  I'd bet they're pretty similar.

There's also this one:


reverb.com/item/29201697-alctron-mp73x2-2-channel-dual-1073-microphone-preamp

I don't really drive mine very hard. I just like the fat bottom and sparkly top that neve style preamps give. Can't say I've noticed a compressed attitude from any of them.

I’ve got a golden age 73 mk2 I can sell you, $250 shipped, then if you want you can upgrade the transformers.

I've never heard that before.  I would think a proper biasing of the 3055 would matter more to the tone than the part used.  

I certainly wouldn't expect the transistor to matter more than the transformers!  But, I think the design itself as a whole is where the tone lies and there isn't a single part that dictates the majority of the vintage neve sound.

Would this one be better than ST or ON?

www.zenproaudio.com/motorola-2n3055-nos-output-transistor

I don't know the ba283 circuit very well but usually ft won't matter much if the transistors have any kind of closed feedback. Also, the lowest bandwidth section of the circuit will define the maximum slew.

That said, the classic circuit likely used parts with a wide range of tolerance, so selection for bandwidth isn't really necessary. Besides, you won't get max gbw into the transformers anyway.

We've done a couple teardowns and a little investigative journalism into the whole GAP vs. Alctron (Astound Sound) progeny - it's an article we've had pretty much written, but just haven't pushed live. 

The basic gist is pretty much what you'd guess with any rudimentary knowledge of how China does things. A company approaches any one of the Shenjing Province's 42092385 factories with schematics/cad files/etc. to have their audio device manufactured - in this case Golden Age (who are already plagiarizing their term paper from other manufacturers, but that's another story). "Méi wèntí", replies your account representative over WhatsApp at 3AM US time. You put in your deposit for 5000 units and wait. And, with some luck, you receive a shipping container full of the thing you designed and they're largely functional. 

However, within a few months, a rudimentary search of sites like AliExpress for "mic preamp" or "compressor" turns up a somewhat familiar looking version of your product - along with some new marketing messages like "Sound to make happy the audio for many types of you are recording!" And that might be an Alctron. 

The colloquial term for this is "4th shift manufacturing". Somewhere between producing devices for the paying clients, a rebadged super-econo-version appears for 70% the price. Good luck arguing patent infringement or IP theft internationally. And even if you had an airtight case with all the king's horses backing you, the company/factory would disappear and reappear as a new shell corp / dba the next day. It's like whack-a-mole.

A friend of mine had a firearm company that made some impressive kit for the 'bang bang bang' crowd. Designed and tested his stuff over a long time in the US and, due to margins, blew on the dice and had a small batch of a couple designs manufactured in CN. Those same exact pieces with a different logo were on the Alibaba market within six months. And there's nothing. you. can. do. 

Do the Alctrons function? The ones we tested did. Putting them on the operating table, we started pulling out components and a/b-ing. You could not find worse tolerances or shoddier assembly/qc if you had a nursing home full of frightened old ladies making your gear. The transformers were an absolute treat, I need to dig the photos up! The core is wrapped in brown paper with some cryptic Mandarin markings. Some resistors / caps were outisde of +/- 10% tolerance.

NOW - an intrepid DIY-er can, with some spelunking can ID the values of the components. The Alctrons we did autopsies on were through-hole and much easier to work on. New Panasonic and WIMA caps, an equivalent Cinemag output transformer, and replacing out-of-tolerance components (we also replaced the dual-gang gain pot) and the sound - as you likely would expect - tightened up, we dropped about 7db of self-noise, etc. 

There are always exceptions, but generally speaking 'you get exactly what you pay for' in pro audio equipment. I'd just hate to think people are buying this stuff and thinking "this? this is the big Neve sound I watched that Dave Grohl documentary about? it sounds like a Mackie!"

i was kinda toplining it.... yeah 

I will say that for the lower budget entries, I like Warm Audio's TB12 Tone Beast. I had the rack mount one for a long time and sold it, but wanted another for guitar/bass DI. My site are tight with Bryce (the founder even did the original Warm logo) and as it turns out, he had one last 500 series version left as a refurb. So, somewhat as a joke, Bryce signed the output transformer to commemorate the last tb12 500 leaving the Warm warehouse.

Talking about how much "this 312" sounds like "that 312" is really relative - even API 312's made today sound much different than the way they first did (to say nothing of any maintenance over the years). But I think the overall mid-forward punch is well-represented.

The AML 73/81 kits are pretty on point. I've tracked through my fair share of 50-series boards and I'd sometimes have to work to find two adjacent channels that were close enough for stereo tracking. So being consistent from one Neve (or Neve-inspired) pre to the next isn't 1:1. I think Colin's stuff is rad. Forget about what it's supposed to be or not, they're just great sounding. Only mod I made was changing out a few resistor values so I could drive the input a little harder without clipping my converter. And output trim would be nice, but I can appreciate the minimal path.