Ed, Good to see you around again... I know that you're a busy man, and just abour the best placed to comment on this subject these days! :wink:
Thanks for those input attenuators... they're the ones that I used in mine. -For what it's worth, they generated a couple of extra sales for Purple, since when the studio returned them to me, and determined that they didn't like the UA versions (which are basically the same output stage... almost) they called me and asked if there were ANY other 1176's out there that sounded like mine... I told them to try the Purple, -they did, and now they've ordered a pair. -They have a rev F/G 1176 and it's up for sale if anybody wants one...
From that account alone, and judging by the fact that the of two genuine UREI 1176's here, people generally reach for the top one (the older 'D' one, with the O-12 input tranny) thoughsome people profess to liking the lower one (the newer, transformerless-input 'G' version) for some specific things, like snares that need to stay particularly crisp under heavy GR...
I don't think that sound samples really help. Not everybody hears the same thing, different attack/release rates, differenc spectral content of (for example) different acoustic guitars mean that the 'boom' from some guitars will 'push' the GR harder, resulting in an overcompressed sound. The same amount of GR on a different guitar, or with the mic moved at an angle forther away from the soundhole exit, will produce a less 'pumped' sound even on the same comrpessor, so this really is a futile exercise in my opinion.
There are too many versions of the 1176 to generalise, but to my mind the best sounding revisions for overall work are D and E. The later ones compress fairly well, but the tonal characteristic is a little more 'spitty'. It's only slight, i hasten top point out, but it's vastly more significant to me than the difference between most mic preamps, which -to most people- is really only fairly slight. (I'm sure my mum couldn't tell the difference between any of 'em!)
So if you can't afford an early or even a late 1176, the G1176 is a phenomenally powerful tool to have at your disposal. But in my former life as a recording and mixing engineer, I know that you can move from studio to studio, see black-face 1176's in the rack, and STILL not be guaranteed of any particular sonic performance. You have to suck-it-and-see.
Let's face it. You build one, you learn something. You modify it, you learn even more. Personalise one, -hell, they're cheap enough! If you think Lundahl's are too clean (as I sometimes do) then whip them out and try something down-n-dirty, like OEP. Will they make your G1176 sound like a Revision D? -Never in a million years! There's no tertiary winding feedback, no class-A discrete output stage, and active electronics before the input control. Will you like the sound? -Very likely. And if you don't, there a re tons of people here who will trade transformers until everyone ends up with something that they're happy with.
But you simply can't say "the G1176 is less like a UREI than a Purple" or "the Purple is more like a Urei than a UA reissue"... You have to be quite specific.
And if you ever HAVE heard an 1176 and liked it? which one was it? Perhaps the Gyraf version will be exactly what you're looking for. -If however you're looking for deep, strong, rich sound under stiff compression and heavy GR, I rather suspect that -like the local studios who tried my Bloo/Purples- you really want the Rev D UREI, or the Purple.
The Purple has several significant advantages over the original UREI version: XLRs and other visible things are one small thing, but the fact that none of the two big transformers are mounted on the PCB is a HUGE reliability advantage... you might not think so unitl you drop one... I've had to repair more than a couple of snapped/cracked UREI PCBs in my time, and the Purple is just the same darned exact thing, but with better mechanical engineering, and transformers bolted to the CASE instead of the board. The Meter in the UREI is modutec and is reasonable, but the HOYT meter in the purple -while not my favourite meter- I do have to admit it's rather better than the modutec. Myself, I have now replaced my modutecs with Sifams inmy own units: the "swingy" modutec ballistic was making me dizzy!
Keith