Suggestions?: 9k, Green, etc

[AudioJunkie]

Hey guys, need your opinions.

Mostly what I do right now is location, stereo recording. I'm almost done assembling my G7 mics, (once i can ever afford two capsules), and would like to get a better pair of mic pres.

I'd love to build a G9, but that just won't be feasable financially for a while (some of you already know how hard it has been to afford the G7s). At the moment I've got a Focusrite Green 1 dual mic pre, and I suppose for now it's alright, but I'd like something better (quieter, cleaner transients, etc). But, of course, I can't afford Grace or Hardy or Great River, etc.

Was wondering if anyone thought any of the non-tube preamp projects floating around here would be a step up from the Focusrite, or if i should just suffer with it until i can afford to build a G9 and/or get/build something along the lines of the above mentioned pres.

I'm hoping to inaugurate my G7's at my clarinet teacher's recital in October (however it's not looking good unless I can come up with the money for the diaphragms), and having a better pre would be nice in addition to the mics.

Thanks guys,
Daniel

 

[SSLtech]

I did a location recording 3 weeks ago, and -guess what- I had a couple of Focusrite green pre/EQs as backups. -One spot mic (an AKG C451) started to "gurgle" and make "filtered-pink-noisey" type sounds at one point, so I switched the pres first, just to see if the pre was faulty.

-The pre was not the problem, though when I switched out the pre (an SSL SL571 2-channel) for the pair of Focusrite green pre/EQs, I was struck by how much of a step down it was. -The noise level was worse and the gain seemed to be very touchy... transient performance was definately not as impressive either...

It turned out that the capsule connection on the 451 was the problem, so I swapped it and it's companion for a couple of C414s, and went back to the SSL.

Moral of the story? -I've never been keen on the cheaper Focusrites, specially the green. -I'm always glad to have spare pres and spare mics of any caliber, (since even a "not-so-good" preamp is better than a dead preamp... same for mics!) but I really had an education as to how much the Focusrite greens were built 'down to a price' as opposed to "up to a standard", like the early Blues such as the ISA110 were.

Having used plenty of SSL 9ks and the equivalent of Peter C's Green Pres, I can attest that either will kick the ass of the Focusrite green.

I think I'd recommend Peter C's green pre as a project on the grounds of readily available components, -The MAT02 is tricky, and the DIY 9k pre never really evolved beyond the first attempt at laying it out. the PSU is more complicated in terms of the ±18V and the ±15V supplies, and the wiring to the gain controls is always confusing. Peter had done a much better job of tidying up his project than I did with the 9k... once it was working I sort of got tied up in other things and moved on.

Either pre is just excellent at location recording. Clear, quiet and neutral. -If you don't mind a complex challenge and have some more cash, by all means go for the 9k, but don't assume that the more expensive one is better... I'd say that Peter's green pre is every bit as good.

Keith

 

[Neeno]

Keith ROCKS ! And Peter TOO !!!! :grin:

 

[AudioJunkie]

Thanks Keith,

Just the kind of response I was hoping for. :thumb:

I was happy with the Focusrite Green at first cuz it seemed a step up from the junk I was using to begin with (too embarrassed to name what that was). And compared to my school's set-up (Crown SASS-II and Mackie 1604 mixer, plus idiots who have no idea what they're doing other than plugging everything in and hitting the red button), the Green plus my Rode NT-5's was 100X better. But after listening to a couple friends recitals that I recorded, I could tell there was something missing or being taken away.

Granted some of that could be the mics. But hey, maybe someday I'll be able to afford Schoeps or DPA's or something. But probably not any time soon.

Anyway, I think i may just try the PeterC's Green pre. As I know Kev would say the same. :green:

Thanks again,
Daniel

 

[peterc]

The Green pre is really good all round. Difficult to describe audio in words but it has a clean clear sound with a huge amount of headroom. & it's quiet too.

I still haven't tried the SSL version of Keiths'. No MAT 02's yet.

There's also a PCB available for the Green........

Peter