Is an Avalon preamp overkill for pulsar?

elisha · Post by **elisha** » Thu Nov 28, 2002 1:35 am

I'm new to the forum and have learned a great deal from reading all of your comments... I'm in the middle of upgrading A/D converters and also want to get some killer mic/inst. preamps.... In your opinion if I were to purchase an Avalon preamp, would I get the full benefit of its sound with pulsar? I'm also looking at other preamps that many of you have commented on.
Thanks!

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Thu Nov 28, 2002 9:11 am

Absolutely!

snoopy4ever · Post by **snoopy4ever** » Thu Nov 28, 2002 9:17 am

IMHO Avalon is the way to go, I'm sure you won't regret about it.

Snoopy

elisha · Post by **elisha** » Thu Nov 28, 2002 10:17 am

On 2002-11-28 09:11, krizrox wrote:
Absolutely!

Absolutely overkill or absolutely I'll get the most out of it?

Post by **garyb** » Thu Nov 28, 2002 3:23 pm

it'll be great! i just got a manley langevin dual vocal combo.you might want to check that out too.

http://www.manleylabs.com/containerpages/LDVC.html

[ This Message was edited by: garyb on 2002-11-28 15:25 ]

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Fri Nov 29, 2002 11:48 am

Sorry for my short and confusing response before. I have an Avalon 737sp and a bunch of other hi-end preamps. They all sound great with Pulsar/Scope. CW products are pretty clean and clear so there is no fear of losing the character of the preamp during the AD conversion. Anything decent you buy will maintain it's sonic character in front of Pulsar/Scope.

I also recommend JoeMeek stuff - sounds great and not as expensive as Avalon. There are just too many choices out there which is not a bad thing at all. Have fun finding the perfect gear!

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Fri Nov 29, 2002 12:26 pm

I have a JOeMeek ProChannel VC3, and it's great for everything you want to put into the Pulsar, it sounds warm and precise. Great tool if you want to try out something cheap but profesionaly sounding....

spacef · Post by **spacef** » Fri Nov 29, 2002 12:50 pm

about Joe meek, they just released a 16 channel pre-amp current sense, it seems to be made for the a16 (it's like adding 16 high quality preamp + volume control + vu meters to an a16). May be that would limit the kind of colors you want to get from a preamp (may be having choice is something good).

I can't comment on avalon etc, as i don't use them, but there's certainly a difference (the joemeek stuff is so cheap in comparison). May be the diffeence is on the "non preamp features" (comp, eqs etc) ?

I have joemeek vc1qs, mq3, and they are both excellent (i use a JoeMeek TB47 mic, great). I love the power it gives in front of the a16, and ultra clean sound.

elisha · Post by **elisha** » Fri Nov 29, 2002 1:34 pm

Thanks for all the good leads....
I looked for the JoeMeek iX-oneCS and found it on JoeMeek.net (http://www.joemeek.net/press/ixonecspress.htm) But I haven't found a distributor yet in the USA... Also, who distributes Manley Langevin in the USA?
Thanks!

spacef · Post by **spacef** » Fri Nov 29, 2002 6:26 pm

myself i order everythin directly from Joemeek... (the few shop which had JoeMeek stuff, went bankrupt, not because of JoeMeek

and there's no official distributor in France).
If you think ordering directly to JoeMeek, they are very honest and reliable persons. I live in France, which is not far from UK, but i guess they give the same service over the usa. mail to joemekk sales for details (please note that i have no stock option in JoeMeek, but i'm a convinced fan of their products, since, using the MQ3 on a Rode NT2 3 month ago on a laptop with a basic soundcard, and I must thank planetZ people for leading me to JoeMeek stuff, but again, i don't know the other "higher priced" stuff.

MAy be it's interesting ; we used the MQ3 to save a string sound in a mix, in a pro studio with amek 2500 mixtable and tubetech stuff: the joemeek equalizer clearly brought "something" for us. no other gear (that we tested) was "right". We didn't keep the strings at the end (cause the sound didn't fit from the begining), but the meekalizer was clearly the best option for getting "a sound", and i can tell you we tried many thing before this, and it was the best. I think JoeMeek is a "sure thing".
well, enough propaganda

[ This Message was edited by: spacef on 2002-11-29 18:43 ]

The Z Station · Post by **The Z Station** » Sat Nov 30, 2002 3:52 am

Hey there!

If budget permitting, then, the Avalon is the way to go. I went for the Aphex 207 and I absolutely love the thing, especially upgrading from the Mackie 1402vlz's mic pre's. And, the price is very right!

elisha · Post by **elisha** » Sat Nov 30, 2002 9:14 am

Have any of you heard of the TL Audio stuff? (TLA-PA1) Or Summit? (TPA-200B)

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Sat Nov 30, 2002 9:55 am

At least here in the US you can order JoeMeek stuff from http://www.soundpure.com

Ask for Todd Atlas

They have great pricing.

Kamurah · Post by **Kamurah** » Mon Dec 02, 2002 2:05 am

Thought I might contribute since we are talking about front ends.....

I use an Amek 9098 DMA pre into an Apogee Rosetta for A/D and it sounds outstanding. The Amek unit is a good bargain (IMO) for two channels of high end pre. (plus it was designed by Rupert Neve...so how can you go wrong?)

http://www.amek.com

Cheers

Sunshine · Post by **Sunshine** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 10:44 am

It surely depends on the genre of music...

My favorite is Amek on most of the things. But if you´re looking for transparency whith a little less colour go for the Avalon. But if you want that industry sound you´ll need a Great-River 1073 clone or a Manley, paired whith a vintage tube-mic . If you´re more into classical recordings or instrumental recordings in general there´s no way around an Amek or Focusrite, paired whith a Neumann imo. It`s up to you.....

Regards,
Bernhard

spacef · Post by **spacef** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 2:53 pm

sure that AMEK is a reference.
Using it, i suddenly understood many things (home production vs studio production). Eventhough i used the amek 2500 mixtable (a reference by itself, super equalizers). I whish i had one of those new amek preamps at home...
Using amek 2500 + neumann, we recorded all kind of things from female chorus, acoustic guitar (wow), rap/hip hop vocals and so on...

(and i must add, like a real fanatic, that the joemeek mq3 wasn't ashamed, plugged into the amek, we needed something different, and it was good... all a question of budget, but i think all the brands that have been quoted are trusty in quality, then, i think it 's up to you and the kind of sound you want to get etc...one will dsilike such and such because it's cold, will like something else because it's warm etc etc (i like it hot), with the amek may be it's easier to get that "industry" or "major record company" sound... well, nuff said)

[ This Message was edited by: spacef on 2002-12-05 16:04 ]

dallas · Post by **dallas** » Sun Dec 08, 2002 10:02 am

I think amek is one of the best you can find, but is one of the most expensive to buy. I recorded voice with U87ai and amek directly into pulsar A/Dconverter. sounds marvellous good.
instead of the amek i think you got to think about the kind of sound you want obtain: hot(suggest tube pre), or dynamic(transistor pre).don' t forget that you shoudn't use high qality pre and connected a raw or not hi pro equipments.
for ex. if you record voice it' s better have good mike(like U87ai) than superb pre.
In front of buying an amek pre(i use it in big studio) i use (in my little rec.studio), a focusrite trackmaster(without its A/D converter that sounds not great like pulsar conv.), with a newmannU87.
this pre and its low prices give me what i need. when you use low prices pre i suggest don't use their COMP or EQ but just use pre 'cause they' re can give you noise or change the colour of the original sound. better edit it after the record using good plugins.

[ This Message was edited by: dallas on 2002-12-08 10:06 ]

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Mon Dec 09, 2002 2:33 pm

I think the Amek above said, as well as the Avalon named here are very good indeed. The JoeMeek stuff is not really better nowadays if you compare to them to each other.

I think we have reached, talking about these P.A, a group of state of the art performance tools for recording and mastering. So the question is not which is better… it’s rather which you should choose for you, which one is THE SOUND you like better, cos they all are good enough to say, yes, go buy it!

Now you have to decide which is the sound you like most, and this is important!

You could, for instance give me an Avalon to work with, but I find it a bit cold sounding for my taste, great perhaps, for certain modern sound treatment, but I still prefer by far… the sound of the JoeMeek, with it’s classical old Genesis vocal sounds.

stelibo · Post by **stelibo** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 6:22 pm

On 2002-12-02 02:05, Kamurah wrote:
Thought I might contribute since we are talking about front ends.....

I use an Amek 9098 DMA pre into an Apogee Rosetta for A/D and it sounds outstanding. The Amek unit is a good bargain (IMO) for two channels of high end pre. (plus it was designed by Rupert Neve...so how can you go wrong?)

http://www.amek.com

Cheers

Hey people,
what do You think about new Focusrite VoiceMaster Pro. Am I going wrong way to buy a new one?

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 7:55 pm

I use the older Voicemaster, and since the new Voicemaster Pro makes it better with just a couple more bucks... I'd recommend it. Definitely works for me. But I've heard people say that Focusrite stuff sounds too "cold". It's a matter of preference I guess.