![]() They were also class A throughout using only discrete transistors, so there was no cross-over distortion, which isn't terribly musical anyway, and some of them were balanced from front to back (a remarkable engineering trick given the tolerances for passives that were available at the time.) API, and similar designs took a very different approach, most have input transformers, some have output transformers, I don't think any of them have interstage transformers. Tough call, because it is (of course) your sensibilities that need to be addressed.Ī really great sounding microphone preamplifier should really be a wire with gain! The Neve preamplifiers from their golden age had input, output, and inter-stage transformers, and these would saturate a little bit in the lower octaves, and that does lend a certain sound to whatever you pass through them. It's going to be very subtle, and I'd imagine most synthesized sounds are already complex enough that the change won't be dramatic, and may not even be useful. So, yeah, I guess in this case you might get some useful/usable coloration from a preamplifier, but (hate to be the buzz kill again) if it is a decent preamplifier I don't think you'll get a really audible change. all of the audio from Massive (and some from Arturia) is not sampled, but rather generated, so it never went through analog electronics (or probably didn't, who knows?) until it left your computer to hit your monitors. Running your synth tracks out to guitar amplifiers and re micing them, or using amp simulation plugins, saturation, and tape simulation plugins can also be effective way of accomplishing what you're looking for.Ĭlick to expand.OK, that's a slightly different case. The UAD Neve 1073 Unison gets allot of raves. Then there is also the virtual world which can be quite good. I have also heard that Warm Audio is working on a Neve clone preamp with their current price range that would be something I would keep an eye on. You would also need a lunch box of some sort to mount themy in. How about a modern, affordable Neve preamp designed by the real Dr. The results can be mixed depending on the situation, mix, instrument, Etc. You can certainly run your synths tracks out to hardware and back into your DAW if you want. If you consider them effects you may find what you are looking for. There are others, look for a tube preamplifier that claims to "warm up" the sound, and does not require 110VAC for power. Sometimes it is exactly what I am looking for! ![]() It isn't all bad, although it is once again on my spring cleaning pile - not sure if I'll really ditch though. Then I tried using it as a DI or reamp box for hardware synths. It sounds pretty cool for that, not quite so much as a DI for guitar. It made it worse! So I put it back to original with the intent of selling it. I purchased it with the intent of providing a real power supply and running the tubes at their rated voltages. It is a downright awful microphone preamplifier!!! Awful I tell you. ![]() Of the bunch my favorite (if you can call it that) is the original Bellari Tube Microphone preamplifier - mine said Bellari RP220, I think they are now sold by Rolls Music. If you are handy you can build one in an afternoon, they don't have a lot of parts and they don't need high voltage supplies. If you have your heart set on hardware (and there is nothing wrong with that) look at some of the el-cheapo "starved tube" preamplifier designs. These days I'd suggest plugins - more control, more flexibility, more choices. ![]() So how do you get it? You have to override it with something that is grossly distorted (using the classic definition of distortion - a non-linear process that changes the original signal). Whether it is highly colored or neutral you will have a difficult time changing that impact. Ironic ain't it?Īnd a big part of that is that the 80% was already imprinted during the recording process. If what you are looking for is the infamous (and somewhat vague) "tube sound" or "transformer sound" or just plain old "vintage character" I don't think you'll get that from a well designed preamplifier. There is an old wives tale that says the first gain stage adds about 80% of the final character to an audio signal, that's what so much effort goes into the design of that first stage. ![]() most best-of-class microphone preamplifiers won't have much effect on recorded material. ![]()
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