Seventh Circle Preamps

Hello there,

Has anyone had experience with Seventh Circle Preamps such as the C84 and T15?

How does it hold against the competition?

Mike

Have you built mic pre's before? What will you be recording with them?

boji said:

Have you built mic pre's before? What will you be recording with them?

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Nope I didn't but a neighbor, doing dashboards for GM will help me out.

mostly drums such as kick, snare & overheads.

well I have N72s, A12s, and J99s, and they are great. Sorry, haven't tried the T15 or C84.

I think my J99s w/ John Hardy 990c opamps are probably my favorite all-arounders right now, but they are all awesome.

Great kits to learn on, too.

I would definitely recommend them.  I've got a rack loaded with N72, A12 and T15 modules that I use in my drum room.  The T15s get used less than the other two.  They are basically my spillover pres.  They are great for the money, but don't have the same heft and vibe as the others.  I haven't used a C84, but it's a similar design to the "Green Pre" project here, and the Neve 9098.  I've used a Green Pre before and was unimpressed.  Others here love them.  I also used to own a rack mount Neve 9098.  My advice is to pass on the C84.

If drums are your application, you might want to consider mixing A12s and T15s.  You can get an A12 and a T15 for about the same price as two C84's.

Most of the clones are in the ball park , compare parts lists & schematics if you can read them
you are stuck with their format if you buy into the rack , which i don't believe is supported by
any other company , If the price was good enough you could build into your own 1 or 2RU

I have a pair of C84's and I have to be honest, I use them the least. I strongly advise you to spend the extra money and go with a pair of A12's to start.
Use them on kick and snare or on some electric guitar tracks- you'll be happy you chose them over the C84's, especially for rock drums.
This is not to say the C84 is a bad design. It does well on cello, dulcimer, thumb piano, drum room, or some other acoustic instruments where you want to capture the sound accurately.

Good luck, and also I'd say only call your dashboard guy when you get stumped on the build. Try to do it yourself, you'll get a real nice feeling afterwards when you know you are recording with something you took the time to make.
-Don

Thanks for all your responses!

I think I'm gonna get A12s for kick and snare and do a mixture of everything else on the remaining slots.

How good is the T15 compared to a focusrite isa one for example?

Or the C89 ?

Love the C84's on the right sources - stereo room, natural sounding instruments, female vox - it's not a pre to add character like the A12's and N72's, but I have 4 of them, 2xJ99's with 990's and 2x N72's and I always find a place for them -

Tungstengruvsten said:

Love the C84's on the right sources - stereo room, natural sounding instruments, female vox - it's not a pre to add character like the A12's and N72's, but I have 4 of them, 2xJ99's with 990's and 2x N72's and I always find a place for them -

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alright so the C84 is rather the transparent type!

still I would like to know how the t15 & C84 hold up against a focusrite isa one because anything that does outperform the classic isa is a huge step up for my preamp stage.

got the four channel and two single isas but they're pretty much isa ones.

I built the c84

It is clean....not like mellenia clean though IMHO. Could be the right tool depending. Once I got my Neve module I never really used the c84 as much.

I would recommend getting something like the API or NEVE pre, Its great how you can wire the trim on the neve pre, to really saturate it,
Sounds horrible on VOX when you push it, but really fantastic on other stuff.

Going strictly on memory, comparing the T15 to the Green Pre and Neve 9098 (C84 style amps), I'd build the T15.  Both designs fall into the transparent category, but I was always more pleased with the results I got from the T15.  I've used the 9098 extensively (eventually sold it), and never found myself saying "wow", even on wire-with-gain applications.  The T15 seems to get me there a little faster.  From memory, without any direct comparison, the T15 strikes me as the cleaner, faster, and more detailed pre.  But I'm not much of a wire-with-gain kind of guy anyway, so perhaps the C84 is actually the cleaner pre and I just don't respond well to clean.

Emperor Tomato Ketchup said:

Going strictly on memory, comparing the T15 to the Green Pre and Neve 9098 (C84 style amps), I'd build the T15.  Both designs fall into the transparent category, but I was always more pleased with the results I got from the T15.  I've used the 9098 extensively (eventually sold it), and never found myself saying "wow", even on wire-with-gain applications.  The T15 seems to get me there a little faster.  From memory, without any direct comparison, the T15 strikes me as the cleaner, faster, and more detailed pre.  But I'm not much of a wire-with-gain kind of guy anyway, so perhaps the C84 is actually the cleaner pre and I just don't respond well to clean.

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guessing I'll choose two of the t15 for transparency then. Any advice when putting neves along with the t15 in one unit (4 in 19")? Something i should better heed before making the step?

atticmike said:

Any advice when putting neves along with the t15 in one unit (4 in 19")?

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The SCA N72 is classic Neve.  Their box & PSU allows a mix of any 8 of their modules.  Not expensive  in comparison with PSU & box for a single G9.

ricardo said:

atticmike said:

Any advice when putting neves along with the t15 in one unit (4 in 19")?

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The SCA N72 is classic Neve.  Their box & PSU allows a mix of any 8 of their modules.  Not expensive  in comparison with PSU & box for a single G9.

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You could build quite a few channels of G9 for the price of just the chassis and power supply.

If you buy a preamp kit, the chassis and power supply is only $300.  I wouldn't even consider making my own chassis and power supply for modules, unless you were trying to show off.  The materials will not be that much cheaper than $300.  Lets say you could do it for $200 (but I'm not even sure of this, a toroid and chassis alone will be $150).  The metal work will be a total pain in the butt.  You have to deal with supporting the modules, card connectors, etc.  I wouldn't deal with trying to make my own API lunchbox rack either, with a good option available here on the board.  Ask the 51X alliance guys how easy it was to throw their first chassis together ;-)

Emperor Tomato Ketchup said:

If you buy a preamp kit, the chassis and power supply is only $300.  I wouldn't even consider making my own chassis and power supply for modules, unless you were trying to show off.  The materials will not be that much cheaper than $300.  Lets say you could do it for $200 (but I'm not even sure of this, a toroid and chassis alone will be $150).  The metal work will be a total pain in the butt.  You have to deal with supporting the modules, card connectors, etc.  I wouldn't deal with trying to make my own API lunchbox rack either, with a good option available here on the board.  Ask the 51X alliance guys how easy it was to throw their first chassis together ;-)

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Ah, ok I was thinking 650$ for the chassis, but that must of been what I paid for everything including a c84 kit.

Another endorsement for the N72.
Best pres I have—but how can you go wrong with classic Neve?

I love the n72 and j99's.  I would get n72 before j99 however.  I have a few of the Api's as well but I like Jeff's VP312 and VP26 better.  So stick with the n72 and j99's for the SCA stuff.