[quote author="wiz1der"]I just want something to make the sound of my akai mpc2000xl "FAT" and "WARM" before going to tape, that's better than the pre's on my soundtracs board. (I know, I hated using those terms too, but it's the only way I can describe it.)
I do have a 2 channel M*nley dual mono pre, and that's o.k., but If i can build 8 channels of something that will blow that out of the water, I would like to do that. If I can come out of this pre and go straight to tape, bypassing my board gain.
I'd have to check my manual on the mpc2000xl for more details as far as what level is coming out of it, but i do know it's 1/4" unbalanced.
Thanks for the quick reply![/quote]
When you say your going to tape, do you mean analog tape?
99V pres would certainly help, but my experience is that 'warmth' and 'fatness' in programmed drums comes from a lots of things and cant be had simply but passing all the tracks thru single bit of gear. Unless you happen to have an A80 (or similar) lying around, which might be the only exception to that statement.
I find that making programmed drums sound the biz requires a lot of processing, in several stages. In plugin land, its common for me to have 6-8 different eq/compressor/distortion over a drum mix aswell as plugs on each track.
In analog land (and usually im somwhere between these two places) its usually just involves some really good compression and perhaps some eq from the computer or console. The real key tho is to treat the whole drum mix together, not individual tracks.
I love my AWA fet limiters, and more recently my two CBS Audimax II mu comps that Joe figured out a great mod for. They both can take programmed drums to that next level. However if you dont have pretty good sounds in the first place, theres not much that can be done.
M
