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Post by geoff738 on Oct 25, 2014 16:09:03 GMT -6
Ok, on the other site to have and use one of these is considered to be amateur stuff.
But how do people here view them? I think cowboy has said complimentary things about his.
Also, I own one. Bought the hype in the 90s. But you have to remember, there weren't many channel strips back then, and I can't think of another in the Avalon's price range until a few years later. And it was a clear step up from the other suff I had.
Currently mine has been lent out for three years or so. To a friend who records himself, and actually puts out records and stuff. Well, the records he was working on still aren't finished, so it's gathering dust at his place rather than mine.
What do you like/ dislike about it? I think the pre's ok - kinda vanilla but not in a bad way. I like the eq, but sometimes it seems a bit "plasticky" for lack of a better term. The comp? Is very slooooow. Mine is pre the Babyface mod and I haven't modded it. I think when I get it back I'll try and embrace the slowness and see how that goes.
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by yotonic on Oct 25, 2014 16:28:39 GMT -6
I can't speak for the 737 but I had been hearing for years what a great lead vocal channel the Avalon M5 was when paired with the Summit TLA 100 compressor. I was driving one day and was blown away with how great Colbie Caillait's vocal sounded. So I picked up an M5 and TLA 100. I love it, it's a fantastic combination, right there with a 1073 and 1176 while having a slightly different character.
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Avalon 737
Oct 25, 2014 16:44:39 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by tasteliketape on Oct 25, 2014 16:44:39 GMT -6
Never inpressed with mine then a friend said set it to the deesser setting in the manual for vocals.l did a short test with my rehab cv4 an at a quick listen i was suprised sounded a lot better than i remember it
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,099 
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Avalon 737
Oct 25, 2014 16:51:14 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2014 16:51:14 GMT -6
Never liked the Avalon Ch strip, the Avalon pre and DI I do like, but the 7 series I see as the high end piece in every GC is symbolic of GC I should be impressed but it I always feel disappointed and dirty in the end!
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Avalon 737
Oct 25, 2014 17:03:31 GMT -6
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Post by dreyes111 on Oct 25, 2014 17:03:31 GMT -6
I bought into the hype. I own a 737....to me my buddy's warm audio tone beast sounded as good or better. And it's a third the cost!
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Post by popmann on Oct 25, 2014 17:33:03 GMT -6
Avalons are perfectly fine pieces. While, I've never used the particular piece, M5s are gorgeous preamps....anyone telling you they're not will argue that a 1975 moongel'd, taped, driven to tape hard, distorted, then compressed and downward expanded into tight "bap" is a "realistic sounding" snare drum track. Sup, TOny? Anyway--I kid TOny only to point out that there are guys with absolute 70s transformer flat dimensionless sound fetishes.
They will think Martech and Millenia and Avalon and Grace--anyone making a clean or sweetened clean transformerless mic preamp is overpriced crap since it DOES sound like the one in your interface....only 50 times better in the reasons I OWN outboard preamps. They want something that loads down their mics and gives them immediate "old sound". They will appreciate better along WITH the color, but "old sound" rings their bell. No Avalon will ring that bell. It was actually designed specifically FOR engineers who didn't want to use those console pres. Before there were people wanting rack preamps because they didn't even HAVE a console....
I personally think that piece gets a bad rep because of the market that embraced it--the rap vocal chain of demand is C800 or U87 into 737. They make a great DI, preamp, EQ, and I"ve honestly never used their compressor....but, the others are crystal clean hi fi goodness...I don't know why they would simply make a turd when it came time to roll up a vocal channel strip. Maybe they did. More likely? There's a problem related to who buys it and their expectations of what it's gonna bring to the table.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,099
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Avalon 737
Oct 25, 2014 17:36:47 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by ericn on Oct 25, 2014 17:36:47 GMT -6
Avalons are perfectly fine pieces. While, I've never used the particular piece, M5s are gorgeous preamps....anyone telling you they're not will argue that a 1975 moongel'd, taped, driven to tape hard, distorted, then compressed and downward expanded into tight "bap" is a "realistic sounding" snare drum track. Sup, TOny? Anyway--I kid TOny only to point out that there are guys with absolute 70s transformer flat dimensionless sound fetishes. They will think Martech and Millenia and Avalon and Grace--anyone making a clean or sweetened clean transformerless mic preamp is overpriced crap since it DOES sound like the one in your interface....only 50 times better in the reasons I OWN outboard preamps. They want something that loads down their mics and gives them immediate "old sound". They will appreciate better along WITH the color, but "old sound" rings their bell. No Avalon will ring that bell. It was actually designed specifically FOR engineers who didn't want to use those console pres. Before there were people wanting rack preamps because they didn't even HAVE a console.... I personally think that piece gets a bad rep because of the market that embraced it--the rap vocal chain of demand is C800 or U87 into 737. They make a great DI, preamp, EQ, and I"ve honestly never used their compressor....but, the others are crystal clean hi fi goodness...I don't know why they would simply make a turd when it came time to roll up a vocal channel strip. Maybe they did. More likely? There's a problem related to who buys it and their expectations of what it's gonna bring to the table. As you said you haven't used the 737 it's not the same! M5 awesome, D5 awesome 737 different animal, same manufacture but different design. |
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Avalon 737
Oct 25, 2014 22:01:21 GMT -6
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Post by jcoutu1 on Oct 25, 2014 22:01:21 GMT -6
I really like the 737 on snare and have had good results with it in vocals. It's not the best thing out there, but far from the worst too. The eq works well too, IMO.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Oct 26, 2014 0:57:10 GMT -6
Of all my great gear, my 737 is the most versatile and I can ALWAYS get a great vocal out of it. I use it in line mode mostly in the mix. Just a wonderful piece. It's worth the price just for the eq. Never a better eq made IMO.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Oct 26, 2014 1:02:23 GMT -6
BTW, I can't figure out why people don't like the compressor in the 737 but say they love the Sta. It's the same gushy type compression, exactly. I don't want a fast compressor on a vocal that's already smooth, I just want to pin it in a spot and not hear compression. 737, boom.
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Post by unit7 on Oct 26, 2014 1:23:07 GMT -6
BTW, I can't figure out why people don't like the compressor in the 737 but say they love the Sta. It's the same gushy type compression, exactly. I don't want a fast compressor on a vocal that's already smooth, I just want to pin it in a spot and not hear compression. 737, boom. +1. I had two 737s that I recorded everything with for 5 yrs around year 2000. Worked great. Recently sold one, but keeping the other for occassional stuff. I agree w many that it's a great DI for bass. Also I got US Amperex tubes in the input stage in mine. |
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Post by geoff738 on Oct 26, 2014 13:53:47 GMT -6
Is it a good idea for me to do the Babyface mod?
Anybody here not have a modded one or prefer the non-modded version?
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by popmann on Oct 26, 2014 14:13:23 GMT -6
Cuz the h8rs gonna h8 h8 h8, yo.  |
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Oct 26, 2014 14:44:35 GMT -6
Mine isn't modded.
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Post by geoff738 on Oct 26, 2014 15:51:34 GMT -6
Ok. So let's say you're tracking a vocal. Do you ever use the 737 for that? And when it comes time to mix, if the 737 is going to be used on the vocal, how much are you compressing? I never liked the comp doing more than 3 or 4 db, but I think I was also trying to make it do things that it's not too good at - basically trying to make it as fast as possible, instead of using it for slow smoothing. User error, in other words. Cheers, Geoff |
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Oct 26, 2014 17:34:49 GMT -6
I have used it for tracking but as a general rule I never use anything for tracking (comp or eq). Track straight to storage with a pre only 99% of the time. The preamp in the 737 is nothing special. Kinna lack luster but perfectly fine like the UA 610 so I seldom use that. The all star of the unit is the HPF on it. It's the most natural sounding filter I've ever used. Same with the eq on the high side. Silky smooth. To answer your question, I never pull more than -3 to 5 db of reduction with it with a fast/medium attack and slow release. Like any good comp of this style, you can't hear it working which coinsidentaly is probably why most people think it's shitty. The comp DOES do it's job and does it the right way without artifacts. Whats not to like I say?
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Post by ben on Oct 26, 2014 17:55:18 GMT -6
If someone doesn't like the 737, then they probably don't know how to use it. To me, it sounds nothing like the UA610 and I use the 737 more often. Both are fine pieces of gear that do different things. The 737 is a nice, thick pre that pairs well with a U87 and other FET mics. I never saw the need to do the Babyface mod, but that's personal taste. Just like a UA610 doesn't sound like a Neve 1073, none of these mentioned pres suck. It all depends on your application.
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Post by Ward on Oct 26, 2014 19:54:05 GMT -6
Every 737 since about 2008 has the babyface mod, from the factory. And the 737 is a great preamp/channel strip. Fantastic on snare and vocal. Works on many other things too. The compressor and EQ are quite useful.
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Post by jeromemason on Oct 26, 2014 20:02:21 GMT -6
In the old studio the 737 and a c800g was killer for female vox, the eq and comp are by no means not useful either, it's a good box.
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mhep
Full Member
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Post by mhep on Oct 27, 2014 1:11:39 GMT -6
I don't typically like it for vocals, although with a strong female pop vocal and a U87, what should have been the most boring vocal chain possible was absolute magic!
Normally mine is used as a bass DI, though.
I would only miss it for that role if I sold it.
It CAN work for anything, though. Has flexibility, but it's pretty boring.
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