I can't believe Raphie won't have owned one at some stage? :D
They're looking like they're on my 'list' for all round outboard goodness.
Stereo too, so I can pretend to master stuff.
tehlord
Also while i'm here
Avalon 737SP vs UAD 710 twinfinity vs what else?
I'm really not wanting to go down the lunchbox route at this point.
cryophonik
Are you primarily looking for a front-end for tracking?
tehlord
quote:
Originally posted by cryophonik
Are you primarily looking for a front-end for tracking?
Tracking and running buses and mixes through.
I want the pre-amp for vocals and as a DI and maybe mic'd bass and guitar amps later on.
The comp and EQ need to be stereo so I can pass stereo signals through as well. But also for tracking (which is why the A Designs ones look so appealing for the price).
I'll probably use the outboard for random fattening up reprints as well.
One other option I was looking at was a summing mixer in addition, although I think that maybe financial overkill for not a lot of extra benefit. Saying that I've seen a Neve 8816 on Ebay for £1500 and it's apparently pixie dust on whatever you pass through it. 8 stereo stems through Neve channels could just be awesome.
cryophonik
The Avalon and UAD are both mono units, so you'd obviously need two for stereo mixes, if you were to go that route. The 2-1176 is a stereo unit, though, so you might want to consider that.
I don't have any experience with any of the three that you've mentioned, aside from the Avalon, which I strongly considered buying years ago. But, after I tried it several times, I just never heard a $2500 sound coming from it. A lot of people love them, though, particularly with the Babyface mod.
tehlord
Yeah I don't need the preamp to be stereo, just the compressor and EQ
You're the second person to be a bit 'meh' about the Avalon so I'll probably give it a miss. There's a few on sale over here for less than £1k which is almost half price, which is a bit odd for 'quality' outboard.
I can get a new 710 twinfinity for about £600 with all sorts of stuff like mics etc thrown in so I'll probably grab one of those and an FMR RNP as well just for a little extra.
Sadly there's nowhere to demo the A Series stuff over here that I've found, and the UK distributor has a ty website with a link to his address that shows up as looking like he runs his high end gear business from his loft. This country is a fcuking joke sometimes.
cryophonik
I really like my Drawmer DL241 for a stereo compressor (+expander/gate and limiter), but I use it primarily as a dual mono unit and insert it into my preamps for tracking. I occasionally run audio out of my DAW into it, but I don't use it for mastering or summing, nor do I have an outboard EQ for that. If I was going to do that, I'd consider stepping up to the Drawmer 1968 compressor, so there are two that you might want to look into.
Have you searched the Gearslutz high-end forum? That's a great way to find out that everything you're considering sucks ass. :p
tehlord
quote:
Originally posted by cryophonik
I really like my Drawmer DL241 for a stereo compressor (+expander/gate and limiter), but I use it primarily as a dual mono unit and insert it into my preamps for tracking. I occasionally run audio out of my DAW into it, but I don't use it for mastering or summing, nor do I have an outboard EQ for that. If I was going to do that, I'd consider stepping up to the Drawmer 1968 compressor, so there are two that you might want to look into.
Have you searched the Gearslutz high-end forum? That's a great way to find out that everything you're considering sucks ass. :p
Haha yeah I did post in the HE section but didn't get a bite, but saying that I've upped the outboard budget a bit since then anyway. The usual rule of thumb over there is unless you're spending $10k then you're just not trying.
The A Designs stuff seems pretty well respected though no matter where you look.
It's going to be a one hit deal for the studio upgrade so I thought i'd splash out on stuff I probably wouldn't be in a position to buy again for another year or two, not in one hit anyway.
I think in terms of overall awesomeness the Hammer and Nail are probably a step up from the Drawmer ones, although i've not even looked into those suggestions yet so I will.
I really am smitten by these two at the moment.
cryophonik
quote:
Originally posted by tehlord
I think in terms of overall awesomeness the Hammer and Nail are probably a step up from the Drawmer ones, although i've not even looked into those suggestions yet so I will.
Yeah, the Hammer & Nail are certainly several steps above the DL-series and maybe a notch above the 196X-series as well. Probably more comparable to Drawmer's Signature line, but then we're talking $5K+ and my pre-nup says that I'm not allowed to talk about compressors in that price range, so I'll kindly STFU now and bid you good luck with your gear and your marriage. :p
tehlord
I got her involved in the music a good while back.
She's literally all for it ;)
Looney4Clooney
It really depends on the source. Even the style of voice, microphone .....
I have the uad 610 and 110, 2x for stereo
Avalon u5
Twin finity
Manley mono
They are all rather transparent and not really great for coloring. I would suggest cheaper units for that. I recorded some vocals for a voice over artist and the mic made most of the difference. I mean there is a difference but nothing you couldn't fake with a chain of subtle plugins.
The twin finity offers a nice blend of tube and solid state and would go for that.
I do think you should get that other thing you wre talking abut first. Can't remember what it we but a preamp tend to only matter when you have something very singled out where things like noise floor matter and processing ie vocals is not something you want to hassle with.
tehlord
It's not so much either or as I'll be getting it all at the same time.
I'm pretty sold on the UAD 710 just because it looks fairly versatile, and there are some silly deals over here where they're giving away some pretty tasty mics with a new purchase as well.
It's the EQ and comp that I'm having a think about. Those A Designs ones are fairly comparable to the API 2500/5500 in price so I'll have to try and get an A/B demo to see which one I like best.
Getting some Event Opals as well and building some acoustic treatment.
