Capi Preamps Comparison

I’ll just copy paste a post I wrote a couple years back in another thread:

I've had the VP26, 28, Heider and I've used the 312 a lot.

I don't find the differences subtle at all, They're obviously all in a similar family of sound but they're different enough where it's worth it to try and see what works best with your mics and setup.

Now you can also get a very large variation in sound with the opamps. I found for my tastes I liked Red Dots a lot more than the Gar2520s.
So all my impressions here are using red dots.

The VP26 is rather mid focused, not a ton of high end and not a huge low end making it a great all around preamp. It's not hifi, to me it really has a 70s record vibe. It compresses everything a little bit. Maybe it sounds a tiny bit blurry compared to like a modern 512c but it's actually a sound that works great in a mix.

The VP28, is more muscular, it sounds a little more agressive in the upper mids, a tiny bit tighter but overall a similar vibe to the 26. The HP filter is really really great and I miss it on the other Capi preamps. Great on drums, electric guitars.

The Heider; I've read a lot of people say it's very close to the 312 but to me it's really somewhere between the 28 and the 312 and a BAE1073. A little more High and low end extension that the 28 but it retains a certain muscular character of the vp28 that I don't hear so much in the 312.
It's probably the best preamp I've ever heard on guitar amps. The low mids are very very thick, almost like a BAE1073. It's great to thicken up an instrument, I've had great success using it on ukulele for example. I also like it on bass to really push some mid presence.
I haven't been lucky with it on vocals though, I find it too thick in the 500-1000Hz region for my mics. I can imagine it would really help thicken up a bright microphone though. The esses are super smooth.

The 312 is the cleanest, most transparent to my ear. Extended High end, rather flat mids ( for an APish preamp) and the transients seem faster than on the others, but maybe that's just the frequency balance. If you find the 26 a bit dull and too vintage I think the 312 is the ticket. It's probably the safest bet in the Capi range for most people as I feel it would work on pretty much any style of music.


Now if I were to have only one, I think I personally would go the VP26 for my taste. I know it's the cheapest but there's something simple and elegant about that preamp, it just works for the sounds I like. I do mostly folk, americana, roots acoustic stuff and when using the 312 for example I'd often end up, cutting a little high end and smoothing the transients a bit. The vp26 gives me that sound right off the bat.


BTW, if you haven't seen it already, go download the shootout that Colt Capperrune did where he compares all the preamps on drums, egit and bass. It really gives a great presentation of their differences and if anybody is wondering which one to get, that shootout is an invaluable resource.

I'd be surprised if you liked any of them on vocals if the VP28 doesn't suit you. Ultimately you probably just don't like the API flavor on vocals.

I have Heider FD312 & VP28 and FD312 works really well for vocals. I feel FD312 is really different sound to VP28. FD312 has some sparkle highs without lack of low end.

I sure appreciate your sharing this . . . it's an odd thing to listen to, there's some much going on that's distracting me from the main content being captured . . . The recording space for the vocal doesn't seem prepared and the room tone is really clouding things for me.

Funny, the less colored the preamp, the better it sounds. Color with her voice just doesn't work. She has a naturally perfect voice, and needs to be left alone IMHO. Sometimes the best magic is natural magic. ericn's favorite non-colored mic (and mine), the Beyer 834 might prove a better choice for her. OMG, what a beautiful sounding instrument she has, and her ornamentation and inflections are flawless.

And because of that, I like the CAPI 312. And I have one.

It was recorded at me of the busiest studios in town.

Duly noted and I'm sure they do lots of great work.
Doesn't change a thing about the room tone and the need for keeping the gear out of the way of an incredible voice.
but I do get your point about it being a trusted recording studio.

I liked listening to that band play that song and forgot that I was listening out for preamps

Hate it when that happens.