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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 25, 2023 12:52:16 GMT -6
I thought the Heritage with the tube saturation engaged got fairly close.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 25, 2023 4:13:44 GMT -6
My guess is these are made in China. Probably similar to the Mic Parts kits. Still, buy one of the kits and then your own transformer, tube, and capsule, particularly for their LDCs, and you could build something very nice.
If you’re looking at the 84s, I would just get one or a pair of the Serrano’s. They sounded so good when I had them in here.
Most of the cloner’s and replica builders we love owe a lot to DIY open source forums. So I wouldn’t stress about that.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 17, 2023 18:42:32 GMT -6
I gladly take constructive criticism and if someone has a better way of conducting a test like this please I'm all ears. Listening back on 99% of YTers they either have badly level matched exampels, or the talk over saying on and off offsetting your ears, or most of the time it sounds so bad you can't take them seriously haha.. Anyways my channel hasn't really taken off and after 3 years and probably spending 3000h creating content basically for free I feel like I'm done. I might do a test if something fun comes my way or maybe I'll feel different in a couple of months but as for now I don't feel it at all. This forum is a nice one! Keep the spirit up, usually these forums crumble after a few years because of trolls. It's always nice to have a civil discussion about stuff we're passionate about. I feel you.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 17, 2023 9:34:26 GMT -6
I had the Axis for a little while. I didn't have the best monitoring setup at the time. I thought it sounded good but I wasn't blown away so I sold it. I really appreciate the flexibility the VMP provides and they seem to be pretty damn cheap on the regular - I think they relist their B stock on Ebay. My experience with the Axis is it is a solid general tube preamp. It's not V72 or Hendy. Just looking for a little tube color for my rig to use with my FET mics.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 17, 2023 5:40:27 GMT -6
I think the Stam tube 1073 might be my new fave if you’re in the 500 series game. I have a ton of fancy pres - Chandler, JLM, hamptone, CAPI, Audioscape, etc and the tube 73 is my go to right now. Could be honeymoon phase but really digging it and price is tough to beat. I will also say I am quite smitten with my Sebatron VMP. You can often find four channel units for just over $1k. I think they’re the most flexible pres I have. You can drive it hard, leave it squeaky clean and then you can do additional tone shaping with the eq switches. I’ve been looking at the VMP. I’ve only ever used the Axis 200. I thought it was really nice sounding. I’m curious how these two compare.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 16, 2023 19:58:53 GMT -6
Just received my Hamburg 67T. Quick test showed it was mellow up top. Has a deeper low end than the TLM67 did. Looking forward to running it through it's paces. Run it through a nice tube pre. It benefits from the soft saturation a nice tube pre imparts. Yeah. I need to pick up another Demeter VTMP2.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 16, 2023 14:35:26 GMT -6
Just received my Hamburg 67T. Quick test showed it was mellow up top. Has a deeper low end than the TLM67 did. Looking forward to running it through it's paces.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 16, 2023 6:31:53 GMT -6
Nice video. I liked the AT-3 on your vocal. It worked really well. They all had their benefits. You need to get a 1073 in there. The 1272 is a very different beast than a 1073. The 1073 is more open and more balanced. It’s doesn’t have all that midrange girth you hear in the 1272. Ok, should be the same before the second gainstage hits though. I wouldn't mind a/b but I only have one friend that owns a pair of 1073 so we'll see and I'm not paying 10-15k for one preamp haha 😂 Yes, in the second gain stage they are very similar, but that second gain stage doesn't hit until 55db. Unless you are recording very quite sources, using a ribbon or dynamic mics, or deliberately padding most sources going in, you're not going to hit that second gain stage. If you push a 1073 they start to distort right away. My voice is big, but even on a typical voice, I'm only pushing 30-35db of gain. The 1073 has an input gain, and a fader. The fader doesn't help reduce the distortion, it only helps by allowing you to reduce the overall output in order to push into the distortion of the gain circuit for effect. The 1272 doesn't distort that way. So, for your typical vocal you're going to get the much more open sound of that first gain stage. Also, Neve is known for their beefy quality. API, SSL, transformer based preamps are cleaner and more open still.
For example, here is a quick little preamp shootout I did on a vocal. It starts with a Link Audio SL4K-E01 4K SSL style preamp, then I engage the Royal Blue Colour Module in the Link Audio unit which is supposed to emulate a 1081 premap, then I hit an AMS Neve 1073 DPX, and finally (2) channels of my Dan Alexander 1272, both of which has a slightly different flavor. The SSL, which uses a jenson transformer, is much cleaner. The Link Audio with the Royal Blue engaged is very similar to the 1272. This is probably because it appears to use the same transformer style as that second gain stage of the 1073 and the one used in the 1272 to provide the Neve emulation. Anyway, I think you can hear the differences between the 1073 and 1272 here.
Anyway, back to the tubes. Try a Demeter VTMP 2B. On FET mics it is magic.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 15, 2023 21:07:03 GMT -6
Hey, I just released a video of a preamp test I did where I tried out some very nice high-end tube preamps ranging from 800-6000$. So I think this kind of concludes my tube preamp test if not anything cool comes my way. Personal favourite was definitely the AT-3 and D.W Fearn. The Chandler was quite bright and that's compared to these tube preamps that all have a midrange push ha! The WT-72 did great especially looking at the price. I could easily use that instead of the Chandler if I wanted that type of sound. Nice video. I liked the AT-3 on your vocal. It worked really well. They all had their benefits. You need to get a 1073 in there. The 1272 is a very different beast than a 1073. The 1073 is more open and more balanced. It’s doesn’t have all that midrange girth you hear in the 1272.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 14, 2023 6:28:12 GMT -6
Probably not ideal for a screamo type of voice, but your standard raspy, airy, or power rock vocal, why not? Steve Perry used an M49 quite a bit. You can hear my take on a rock vocal in my FleA vs FleA video on my FleA 49C. My voice is rather big. 😉 It’s toward the end. See the time stamps.
Just give the vocalist some room. Don’t eat the mic.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 14, 2023 6:16:10 GMT -6
I did some recording recently with my Carbon preamps. They are really nice. They have a really good low end reach and neutral top end, and worked really well on Emily’s voice.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 14, 2023 6:10:40 GMT -6
The Warm gear is never bad, but never great. It’s usable. But they are smart about trying to fill this niche. I would wait for Stam’s though.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 12, 2023 20:14:09 GMT -6
Your assessment of the FleA 49 is why I went with their F47 capsule in mine. It’s much closer to the way I wanted the mic to sound. I’d love to put Ben’s BM49 up next to my FleA’s. I’d still probably want his K47 capsule in it though. I really like that style capsule in a 49. I wish I had gotten a chance to go back to Barber Shop studios to hear my FleA 49 next to their M49C. That mic has magic. Still want to get in front of the M49V at some point. I don’t have the cash for a purchase like that though. Not at this moment anyway. You do't want to do that. If you put your Flea up against Ben's mic, you'd sell the flea and buy at least one BN if not a pair. paulcheeba isn't lying. They really are that good. Just talk to mics . We owe him that much Once I’m in the new place I have a feeling Ben and I will have a few conversations.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 12, 2023 19:13:24 GMT -6
Fun fact: It's not actually stereo. It's a psycho-acoustic pseudo-stereo effect. I had a Flea 49, wasn’t impressed at all I also had a Beesneez B49, that sounded a little better using the same tube as the Flea. To me, the flea was compressed in way too dark the best 49 I’ve had so far was an RMS 49 I had Robert Sestilli the owner build me one around a Phaedrus 7012 now although the Phaedrus has similar tones to the AC 701 it lacks a little bit of that richness to me I would not spend $8000 on a Neumann M 49 re-issue because that tube is not gonna be the same as what it used to be just my opinion but if you’re going to use a 6S6B tube you might as well get a flea for cheaper or a Beesneez b49. Your assessment of the FleA 49 is why I went with their F47 capsule in mine. It’s much closer to the way I wanted the mic to sound. I’d love to put Ben’s BM49 up next to my FleA’s. I’d still probably want his K47 capsule in it though. I really like that style capsule in a 49. I wish I had gotten a chance to go back to Barber Shop studios to hear my FleA 49 next to their M49C. That mic has magic. Still want to get in front of the M49V at some point. I don’t have the cash for a purchase like that though. Not at this moment anyway.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 11, 2023 20:15:00 GMT -6
Just letting anyone in the area know, we’ll be performing at the Feast of Little Italy in Jupiter, FL on November 4th at 1pm. If you’re in the area come check it out. It’s our first big gig down here.
Plus the food. Always come to the Italian Feasts for the food... zeppoli, cannoli, sausage and peppers. Admittedly, these all make for great post show snacks and meals.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 10, 2023 10:19:14 GMT -6
I caved. Just ordered an ADK Hamburg 67T-FET. I have a session coming up, so I’ll be turning my current space into a small studio space (what a pain). So I’ll have things set up to mess around with. Looking forward to hearing it. Where did you purchase it from? Any sales going on? Off of eBay. It was brand new from a dealer, and up at the typical on sale price. So I figured, why not?
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 10, 2023 9:12:10 GMT -6
I love the QSC stuff. They sound great. If I remember correctly, when I bought my Yamahas my budget allowed for either the QSC K12s or the Yamaha DXR15s. I ended up going with the Yamahas, because they were bigger, and we were worried about the 12s giving us enough sound in some of the bigger spaces I had lined up to play. We all preferred the sound of the QSC. I eventually picked up a DXR12 as a monitor, which has also been my small rig ever since. If I'm being honest, other than the one time I had to bring my own sound rig at an outdoor Italian festival, the 12s probably would have suited me fine. I'm keeping my DXR12 for now.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 10, 2023 9:01:17 GMT -6
I caved. Just ordered an ADK Hamburg 67T-FET. I have a session coming up, so I’ll be turning my current space into a small studio space (what a pain). So I’ll have things set up to mess around with. Looking forward to hearing it. Interested in hearing your opinion. I think it’s a great mic myself but I have to admit that I’m about to sell mine…im saving up for one of Ben’s Bu67’s… Ben's is the next big mic purchase on my list. I'm just waiting to be in our new place first.
I'm really hoping to see how it compares to the TLM67. I had that for a while, and really liked it. I only sold it to purchase my MK67 and help pay for the mods.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 10, 2023 4:13:03 GMT -6
I caved. Just ordered an ADK Hamburg 67T-FET. I have a session coming up, so I’ll be turning my current space into a small studio space (what a pain). So I’ll have things set up to mess around with. Looking forward to hearing it.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 9, 2023 19:44:18 GMT -6
Hello ericn , thank you for your thoughts as usual. I think a pair of Meyer UPA JRs is well beyond anything I would ever need at this stage. Anything beyond my small Yamaha set up usually puts me at a venue with it's own rig. I wish I could keep the Yamaha's too, as they're really good for what I've done so far. I've had them for 10 years now. I know thm. Just not sure I have the space for all of these, and I could use the cash to help with the brunt of this purchase. These array's are not cheap, and even shifting to a different brand doesn't save all that much.
wiz & teejay , thanks for your thoughts. I think the Model II is closer to the new L1 32 Pro. Still, it's nice to hear your thoughts on this. My experience was with good with the original compact unit that a singing partner of mine had for some of the smaller Three Tenors gigs we used to do. Todd, like you I'm generally carting these things to churches, community centers, etc. So I get it. Mostly this is about more convenience for Emily and I; lighter more compact speakers, less set up and strike time. Sounds like both of you endorse these, which is good. But both of you would sound fantastic through UPA JRs 😁 You my friend, are an instigator. 😉
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 9, 2023 11:10:32 GMT -6
ericn and I have had a lot of conversations about the varying array systems. People aren’t ambivalent about Bose. They either love the Bose sound or hate it. I keep going back and and forth on whether this is the way I want to go. The RCF arrays get a lot of love. One of my friends just got a pair of the RCF Jmix 8s. It's one of the reasons I started really considering this jump.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 9, 2023 11:09:36 GMT -6
Hello ericn, thank you for your thoughts as usual. I think a pair of Meyer UPA JRs is well beyond anything I would ever need at this stage. Anything beyond my small Yamaha set up usually puts me at a venue with it's own rig. I wish I could keep the Yamaha's too, as they're really good for what I've done so far. I've had them for 10 years now. I know thm. Just not sure I have the space for all of these, and I could use the cash to help with the brunt of this purchase. These array's are not cheap, and even shifting to a different brand doesn't save all that much.
wiz & teejay, thanks for your thoughts. I think the Model II is closer to the new L1 32 Pro. Still, it's nice to hear your thoughts on this. My experience was with good with the original compact unit that a singing partner of mine had for some of the smaller Three Tenors gigs we used to do. Todd, like you I'm generally carting these things to churches, community centers, etc. So I get it. Mostly this is about more convenience for Emily and I; lighter more compact speakers, less set up and strike time. Sounds like both of you endorse these, which is good.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 8, 2023 7:04:10 GMT -6
For years I’ve been using a pair of Yamaha DRX15s as my mains for my live rig. I’m considering selling both of these to help fund a pair of Bose L1 PRO16s. I have experience with the original L1 Compact, which I thought was great. I’m curious if anyone has some experience with these. I know a number of companies have their own tower array speakers, but I like the dispersion of the Bose, making it easy to use (1) for a small live gig. I also like the sound. These smaller units will be more convenient than my current set up.
In my research I’ve seen a number of articles and videos on the various issues that come with the Bose unit. Some of these apparently have a hum issue, although, I’ve dealt with something similar with my Yamahas and the issue ended up not being the speakers at all. I’m also aware of the “wobble” issue. I perform primarily in community centers/theaters, country clubs, and high end restaurants/catering halls. I’m not gigging in bars like many people, so I’m not as worried about the unit being touched bay anyone or knocked over, nor am I rocking music with huge bass. Anyway, I was curious if anyone here had some real world experience with this unit.
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Post by Vincent R. on Oct 6, 2023 19:59:41 GMT -6
Seriously, as soon as I’m in the new studio, I’m grabbing one of these.
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Post by Vincent R. on Sept 26, 2023 21:34:35 GMT -6
This was a nice listen. Thanks Dan!
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