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Post by basspro on Aug 21, 2024 9:54:07 GMT -6
I just got an RPQ3 yesterday and this thing is incredible!!!
I previously had a TRP2, which I liked, but it still seemed to get a bit noisy. Not sure if it was the preamp or maybe just my setup/power situation at the time, but the RPQ3 is dead silent. The EQ is also really great, and they added the ability to boost or cut highs and lows. (RPQ2 was low cut only and high boost only)
Very excited to put this thing to use. Did a quick test with my R88 last night and was incredibly impressed. I've always been a big transformer-based preamp guy and have found a lot of cleaner preamps to be a bit sterile and boring, but this is definitely not that.
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Post by Johnkenn on Aug 21, 2024 10:08:43 GMT -6
I'm sure this sounds fantastic. I've heard great things about these. Reading about this and the impedance statement was in the copy:
"High Impedance Makes a Huge Difference
The sound and tonality of dynamic microphones like ribbons and moving-coils are directly affected by the impedance of a preamp. The higher the impedance, the better the sound. The RPQ3 boasts an extra high input impedance of 68K Ohms (phantom power off).
Preamps with an impedance of under 10k ohms will limit the lows, highs, and transients of your passive microphones. The RPQ3’s high impedance will reveal your microphone’s true nature– a thick low-end, open top-end, and articulate transient response that you will need to hear to believe. Both condensers and active microphones also benefit from the RPQ3’s impedance."
The CAPI Heiders have really low impedance. Like 450 and lower. I think it's 800 with the pad engaged. I don't find them limiting lows or highs at all. In fact, quite the opposite. Can anyone explain that relationship?
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Post by damoongo on Aug 21, 2024 11:17:28 GMT -6
I'm sure this sounds fantastic. I've heard great things about these. Reading about this and the impedance statement was in the copy: "High Impedance Makes a Huge Difference The sound and tonality of dynamic microphones like ribbons and moving-coils are directly affected by the impedance of a preamp. The higher the impedance, the better the sound. The RPQ3 boasts an extra high input impedance of 68K Ohms (phantom power off). Preamps with an impedance of under 10k ohms will limit the lows, highs, and transients of your passive microphones. The RPQ3’s high impedance will reveal your microphone’s true nature– a thick low-end, open top-end, and articulate transient response that you will need to hear to believe. Both condensers and active microphones also benefit from the RPQ3’s impedance." The CAPI Heiders have really low impedance. Like 450 and lower. I think it's 800 with the pad engaged. I don't find them limiting lows or highs at all. In fact, quite the opposite. Can anyone explain that relationship? This is specific to dynamic / ribbon (passive) mics. Are you using condensers with your Heiders? Or are you noticing that with passive mics? |
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Post by Johnkenn on Aug 21, 2024 11:33:51 GMT -6
I'm sure this sounds fantastic. I've heard great things about these. Reading about this and the impedance statement was in the copy: "High Impedance Makes a Huge Difference The sound and tonality of dynamic microphones like ribbons and moving-coils are directly affected by the impedance of a preamp. The higher the impedance, the better the sound. The RPQ3 boasts an extra high input impedance of 68K Ohms (phantom power off). Preamps with an impedance of under 10k ohms will limit the lows, highs, and transients of your passive microphones. The RPQ3’s high impedance will reveal your microphone’s true nature– a thick low-end, open top-end, and articulate transient response that you will need to hear to believe. Both condensers and active microphones also benefit from the RPQ3’s impedance." The CAPI Heiders have really low impedance. Like 450 and lower. I think it's 800 with the pad engaged. I don't find them limiting lows or highs at all. In fact, quite the opposite. Can anyone explain that relationship? This is specific to dynamic / ribbon (passive) mics. Are you using condensers with your Heiders? Or are you noticing that with passive mics? Oh just condensers. |
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Post by thehightenor on Aug 21, 2024 11:43:56 GMT -6
I just got an RPQ3 yesterday and this thing is incredible!!! I previously had a TRP2, which I liked, but it still seemed to get a bit noisy. Not sure if it was the preamp or maybe just my setup/power situation at the time, but the RPQ3 is dead silent. The EQ is also really great, and they added the ability to boost or cut highs and lows. (RPQ2 was low cut only and high boost only) Very excited to put this thing to use. Did a quick test with my R88 last night and was incredibly impressed. I've always been a big transformer-based preamp guy and have found a lot of cleaner preamps to be a bit sterile and boring, but this is definitely not that. Nice! I've had an RPQ500 for a few years I use mainly with an AEA R92 but it also sounds great with dynamic and condenser mics. Fred Forrsell designed J-FET pre .... I think they're fantastic. It looks like your unit is essentially two RPQ500 in a dedicated box - I'd love one for stereo recordings, cheaper now for me to just add another RPQ 500. |
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Post by lanapop on Aug 21, 2024 12:29:17 GMT -6
Congrats on the new RPQ3! Glad to hear it's living up to the hype. The added EQ features are a nice touch. I'm curious, how's the tone shaping with the R88? Does it bring out the best in your mic?
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Post by basspro on Aug 21, 2024 13:42:56 GMT -6
Congrats on the new RPQ3! Glad to hear it's living up to the hype. The added EQ features are a nice touch. I'm curious, how's the tone shaping with the R88? Does it bring out the best in your mic? I've only done a brief acoustic guitar recording so far, but I thought it sounded great! I was able to roll off the lows to tame proximity and give it some sparkle up top. But even without the EQ engaged, it's giving the R88 some clarity that I don't think I'm getting from any of my transformer-based pres. There really is something to the ultra-high impedance. I have quite a few passive ribbons and really wanted to be able to use them on quieter sources so I think this thing is going to get a lot of use. I have some singer/songwriter videos coming up that I'll be using this setup for - I'll check back in with my thoughts. |
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Post by ab101 on Aug 21, 2024 14:56:12 GMT -6
The genius of Fred Forssell!
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Post by Mister Chase on Aug 21, 2024 17:41:11 GMT -6
My RPQ500 is killer. My Hardy M-2 bests it a little on ribbons for clean gain, but it's pretty close. I love the sound of both of those "clean" preamps. I did a whole ukulele album with Coles 4038/AEA R84 with mostly the Hardy but one tune on the RPQ. It has a very nice super clean sound. Very natural.
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Post by dok on Aug 22, 2024 12:08:32 GMT -6
I LOVE my RPQ2. Makes me think about selling my API A2D and getting something Neve-ish instead since they lean in a similar direction.
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Post by EmRR on Aug 23, 2024 12:42:00 GMT -6
This is specific to dynamic / ribbon (passive) mics. Are you using condensers with your Heiders? Or are you noticing that with passive mics? Oh just condensers. With condensers, both headroom is lowered and distortion increases in the mic. So sayeth Steve Dove in the Handbook for Sound Engineers (Audio Cyclopedia). Since he wrote that there's a tendency for condensers to be even lower output Z and/or have build out resistors to look more like 150-200Ω, so probably less of an effect on average now versus then. Case by case for sure. It states a ribbon or dynamic with a low Z preamp has a 6dB/oct LPF starting at some point, unpredictable since based on the combination. It might be high enough to be hardly noticed, it might be very obvious. |
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