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Rack mounted Hardware Mic Preamp needed


jesse g

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Hey All,

I've been using a two single channel  Presonus Eureka's for quite a while now, and although I have grown to love them and their clean sound, It's now time to upgrade to a dual channel Mic Preamp as one of my Eureeka's has gone on to Preamp heaven.   I am looking at getting  a dual channel Mic Preamp but I'm not that favorable about getting one that requires tubes, due to the maintenance of changing the tubes.

I'm looking for testimonies on rack mounted Mic Preamp that you have in your studio so I can decide on what to get.
 

Thanks for your help.

 

 

Edited by jesse g
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Focusrite isa two , exellent bang for the buck , isa preamp is imho one of the most underatted mic pre around and only pro s know it ;) ( precise , warm , neveLundahl transfos)

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ISATwo--focusrite-isa-two

Everytime one of my students grabbed one they re crazy on why no more people have those ... (and they compare it usually to big dogs we have a t school ) 

other option is bae stuff if you want that 1073 sound but really isa will be solid for all your carrier ...

Edited by Zo
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8 minutes ago, Bapu said:

I was going to suggest the 2-CH Warm audio unit but it's $100 more.

 

On my side I want to add 4 more mic preamps and have my sights set on this one:
Warm Audio WA-412 4-channel Microphone Preamp | Sweetwater
$300 more than the Focusrite ISA 2 and I get two more preamps.

Bapu , no so fan of Warm audio , it all depends on what you want to record , for main stuff and crucial stuff , i rather have less channelk but quality instead of a lot of medium quality unless it is for stuff like secondary drums ect ....you tell us if it's really a cheap API ;)

Isa is really imho the best bang for the buck no matter the number of channels , quality wise if you want pristine , Millenia is superb as well as some portico RND stuff but budget isn't the same ..... Black lion usually have great stuff and affordable but i didn't tried their quad mic

 

Edited by Zo
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By the way guyz the ISA one is king , and think twice cause isa one allows for mic and instrument + DI so it is veritually 3 IN !!! witch means 2 ISA can handle 6 IN or at least 2 mic and 2 Ins simultaneous (if you don't need DI ) 

So depending on what you need , this could be exellent and imho the VU and cue mix Headphone control is just superb addition

This is the one i used for my videos  (with a RODE K2 by the way )  and Tube mic + Solid state PReamp = bingo !!!

Edited by Zo
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Thanks Guys,

 

Right now, I am looking at the Focusrite ISA Two 2-channel Microphone Preamp & the Warm Audio WA273 2-channel Microphone Preamp  
I just need to make up my mind. 

I am looking around to see if I can find either one for just a bit lower with a sale price.  I may order on line  from Guitar Center and then drive 20 minutes to Delaware which doesn't have sales tax and buy it.

Thanks .

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FWIW, I've got Neve Shelford, Neve Portico-II, and two Warm Audio WA273-EQ channels strips.

 

The Warm units aren't quite the same level as a real Neve... but they're pretty good.

QC isn't as tight as with a real Neve. 

One of my WA273-EQ units, developed an issue that sounded like ground noise... but it was the unit itself (not a ground loop).

Had to get it swapped out.

Haven't had any issues since.

 

Comparing side-by-side with my Neve preamps and a Neve 8816 Summing mixer, the WA273-EQ has similar character (round/full, detailed, not harsh in the upper mids).

 

The ISA Two is a nice preamp.

It's not going to impart as much character as something like the Shelford... but it's a lot more affordable.

Focusrite QC is tighter than Warm Audio.

 

Can't go too far wrong with either choice.

If you're not wanting the 1073 type inductive EQ (WA273-EQ), I'd opt for the ISA Two.

It's $100 less...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Jim Roseberry said:

FWIW, I've got Neve Shelford, Neve Portico-II, and two Warm Audio WA273-EQ channels strips.

Can't go too far wrong with either choice.

If you're not wanting the 1073 type inductive EQ (WA273-EQ), I'd opt for the ISA Two.

It's $100 less...

 

I appreciate the comments Jim, 

However, 4K is a bit too steep for my budget..., but I so much like your taste in equipment 👍👍

Edited by jesse g
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11 minutes ago, jesse g said:

 

I appreciate the comments Jim, 

However, 4K is a bit too steep for my budget..., but I so much like your taste in equipment 👍👍

Just for Support / build quality and QC , go for ISA series imho , really not because i have it , but really because the build quality is superior .

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20 hours ago, jesse g said:

I appreciate the comments Jim, 

However, 4K is a bit too steep for my budget..., but I so much like your taste in equipment 👍👍

Don't rule out ART gear. It's cheap, but it's in almost every pro studio I've ever seen a picture of.

See my signature for the two I have. The tubes are super easy to change, but it's extremely rare you have to do that. I've had mine for almost 15 years iirc and I've never had a problem with the tubes. I had one defective one from the factory and Sweetwater swapped the whole unit out and I've never had a problem since. These run on low voltage and don't take a beating like the high powered type. If you step up to the high voltage powered tube pre's then you're talking at least the 4K range and more and it's not worth it in my opinion.

ART makes a mic pre that has the same features as your old Presonus but I don't think it's dual channel. I could be wrong. It's best to check their site because their products do change from time to time.

I use the two in my signature all the time, simply just turned on, without ever adjusting the compression. The variable mic impedance adjustment has proven to be invaluable and I'm surprised I don't see it more on other mic pre's. They just add something that I can't emulate going DI. They are incredibly clean but can be driven. Zero line noise especially with balanced cables. I've even started using the compressor to master. It took forever to figure out how to loop them using my Presonus 1810C but once I got it figured out it's very simple. They are absolutely dead silent. No hiss or line noise whatsoever. I do use the compressor when mastering but when tracking I just have it chained with the mic pre with all the settings at minimum. Both pieces of gear in my sig are dual channel and the mic pre can be set to mid/side.

All this inexpensive gear performs far better than I'll ever need and in reality I'd venture to say better than 99% of us need. Unless you have a professionally treated recording space where you can hear and capture such subtleties, mic placement is going to have a far greater effect on your sound than the pre's themselves for the vast majority of us.

In my opinion.

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For Neve clone's I'd recommend Warm Audio if you're in the US, and maybe Golden Age if you're in Europe/UK.  

Other things to look at are a 2nd hand JoeMeek  MQ3 or ThreeQ  (  the TFPro P3 is basically an MQ3 in a red box).  VC3Q is a slightly older model, but basically the same. You get a preamp, optical compressor & EQ in a half rack unit.  The VC6Q  is the stereo 1U version.

Don't discount older mixing desks that have individual outs too... I absolutely love my Allen & Heath MixWizard / GL2400  and my Alice 828.

You can pick up Allen & Heath's at around a 10th of the cost they were, as so many live hire companies are selling them due to them going bust cos of Covid.

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22 hours ago, jesse g said:

However, 4K is a bit too steep for my budget..., but I so much like your taste in equipment 👍👍

FWIW, I was just using my channels strips as a point of reference.

I actually meant between the two choices you listed (ISA Two and WA273).  😉

I'd go with the ISA Two as it's $100 less than the WA273.

 

Everything has gone up in cost.

Got the Shelford channel at GearFest (several years back) and I want to say it was under $3000.

Still not cheap... but not what it is currently.

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On 2/14/2022 at 8:38 AM, jesse g said:

Thanks Guys,

 

Right now, I am looking at the Focusrite ISA Two 2-channel Microphone Preamp & the Warm Audio WA273 2-channel Microphone Preamp  
I just need to make up my mind. 

I am looking around to see if I can find either one for just a bit lower with a sale price.  I may order on line  from Guitar Center and then drive 20 minutes to Delaware which doesn't have sales tax and buy it.

Thanks .

Focusrite…..  but that’s personal preference. I’ve been using their gear for at least the last 10 years…. Maybe more. 

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1 hour ago, craigb said:

One of mine was a Focusrite (see pic below), but mine would get so hot that I thought it was going to catch on fire!

 

MainDesk.jpg

My favorite was the Event Layla24 that you can kind of see at the bottom of this rack. 🙂

Graig,

Your studio desk was the first studio desk I owned,  I took off the rack and the 2 CD holders and top shelf, which gave more desk space to add dual monitors and then build a standing studio rack for my gear.
 

 

Edited by jesse g
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OK, I bit the bullet and purchased the Warm Audio WA73-EQ to replaced my Dead Presonus Eureka. 

Thanks everyone for giving me good advice, but my decision came down to sound and price, plus some goodies that was added along with the purchase. (4 Mic cables,  2 instrument cables and one floor surge protector). 

I'm a a sucker for freebies

 

Edited by jesse g
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