DIY Recording CP5 Colour

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Ricardus

WILL SOLDER FOR FOOD
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Dec 2, 2018
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No longer in NY and below the Mason Dixon line.
Who here owns or has used the CP5? I only just discovered this pre recently.

This strikes me as a brilliant idea. A super clean pre you can add some color too with circuit "plugins."

I've listened to a bunch of the Colour circuits and the ones that stand out so far are the 15IPS Tape Saturation Colour module, the Colourupter Optical Disrupter which gives you some 1176 smashing by just turning a knob, and the Pentode Tube Saturation Colour mkII adds some nice girth too.

A lot of them are one-time gimmicky plugs like AM radio sounds or weird distortions that you might use once in a special case, but not something you can use every day.

The samples I heard on their site sounded convincing and killer but I wonder how they got those samples. I asked them in fact.

I'm assuming they used the CP5 to track all of the audio samples with the color disengaged, and they're running the pre-recorded audio samples through their "Colour 500-Series Palette mkII" unit with the various Colour modules installed.

Anyway, if these things really sound as good as the videos I'm wondering why this isn't the best and most versatile preamp on the planet...
 
Ricardus said:
Anyway, if these things really sound as good as the videos I'm wondering why this isn't the best and most versatile preamp on the planet...

I had a few of those CP5 preamps with different colours and also a Palette module stuffed with colours. I sold all of them after a year or so because I was just not using them really that much.

For me it doesn't really make sense to have "extreme" sounding colour modules in your daily tracking preamps. I also had one preamp with a compression (slammed 1176) module that I wanted to use on mono drum room mics, but it never felt right in any situation due to the lack of threshold control.

The more subtle distortion colours were usable, but I always had the feeling that their sonic imprint will add up quite fast on multiple tracks. And it was annoying for me to always patch preamps around to access the sound of different modules.

The colour palette was more fun since you can easily switch between three different modules, but as you have already mentioned it's more for special effects and not for your daily vocal or drum tracking.

The modules I liked most were the one that gives you a telephone sound and the one that is basically a tube screamer.
 
I feel like I could use a little of the 15 IPS tape thing all the time. The tube module too. I need to hear the Ethan Winer module.

Not sure there would be and difference between the accumulated distortion from these modules or the distortion from any other classic mic pre building up in a mix.
 
Majestic12 said:
I had a few of those CP5 preamps with different colours and also a Palette module stuffed with colours. I sold all of them after a year or so because I was just not using them really that much.

What do you use instead?

I've been listening to more samples and I think having a bunch of these in a rack for live remote recording would be pretty cool, and inexpensive.
 
Ricardus said:
Got two of these kits in today. Will build over the weekend.

Hopefully my CAPI 500 rack will come tomorrow as is expected, so I can actually test these units once they're built.
Sounds like a fun weekend.  You should get some CAPI modules to build as well. The quality from CAPI is outstanding
 
Fuzz Face said:
Sounds like a fun weekend.  You should get some CAPI modules to build as well. The quality from CAPI is outstanding

Oh, absolutely. They're on the short list.

Right now I'm building up some SSL 9000 modules from Gustav. My plan is to make 8 or 12 of these, then some CAPI, then a few more of these DIYRE modules.
 
Ricardus said:
Almost done with the CAPI rack. Will finish tomorrow. Can't wait to power it up and try out these CP5s and the other 500 series modules I recently finished.
I’m looking forward to seeing your projects. I just ordered a BT50 from CAPI this morning  8)
 
I have a CP5 with a Royal Blue British module... the one with the transformer. It's not an "extreme colour" at all. It adds a lot of high-end shimmer if you have the high freq boost engaged. It doesn't really get "extreme" distortion but it does add a nice heft that you can hear and feel compared to without it.

But I also have a Hairball Copper which is usually my go-to for that N-like vibe. I use the CP5 if I want a nice clean "transparent" feel though. Definitely beats the preamps in my interface.
 
dp said:
I have a CP5 with a Royal Blue British module... the one with the transformer. It's not an "extreme colour" at all. It adds a lot of high-end shimmer if you have the high freq boost engaged. It doesn't really get "extreme" distortion but it does add a nice heft that you can hear and feel compared to without it.

But I also have a Hairball Copper which is usually my go-to for that N-like vibe. I use the CP5 if I want a nice clean "transparent" feel though. Definitely beats the preamps in my interface.

I haven't used them a lot yet, but I can't wait to do more sessions with them.

I think I'm going to try the British Console color module from Bart HRK, and also the Mojo Maestro.
 

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