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I foolishly didn't buy the Apollo8P with 8 preamps. I have the version with 4 excellent, perfect-for-my-needs preamps. I have a Culture Vulture plugged into inputs 5/6 which I'm pleased enough with, but I just need a pair of preamps with clean gain.

Sort of looking at some FMR Audio Really Nice Preamps (I love their leveling amp) and maybe the stereo Focusrite pre.

Anyone have anything they are super jazzed on these days?

Budget?

@ $1000 or so.

Do you mean the Focusrite ISA Two? I have an ISA One, and clean is what it does. It's a fine choice for the money, just uncolored preamplification is what you'll have there, decent on any material.

I do.

Sure, well, like I say, if you are looking for a no frills, clean, uncolored preamp, that's the ISA. There's choices that might be more exciting, there's choices that might be more flattering for some things, but the ISA is a solid contender.

A good all-arounder.

I will vouch for the ISA Two.

I replaced my Oram MWS with one as I was never using the EQ and the Focusrite has much more flexible i/o. It’s clean but not too sterile sounding. The variable high pass filter is nice too. The metering is worse than useless though.

My other pre in the rack is a Great River MP2-NV, and I definitely prefer it for a lot of things, especially vocals. They complement each other well.

Okay, I went through this over the past year, when I had to return the API A2D that my friend had been letting me borrow for the last three years. I did direct comparisons with:

Manley Langevin Dual Vocal Combo
Daking Pre II
Phoenix DRS Q4 MKII

The end result? I bought another API A2D. It fucking rules on everything and as a bonus it has a SPDIF output and excellent conversion. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a high pass filter but it's just too good for that to matter to me anymore. You'll have to be patient to find one under $1500 but they're out there.

I have only one fancy "expensive" pre. A Great River Me 1. For the longest time i thought all the talk of how important pres are, was snake oil and i was using an RME Octamic and an Behringer Ada 8000 (which strangely sound very similar)...But boy does it make a difference! Especially on vocals. Also just as a Bass DI the Great River works wonders. But i still think it is only worth investing in an expensive pre it if you already have a really good/decent mic.

Dok wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 15, 2021 8:15 pm

The end result? I bought another API A2D. It fucking rules on everything and as a bonus it has a SPDIF output and excellent conversion. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a high pass filter but it's just too good for that to matter to me anymore. You'll have to be patient to find one under $1500 but they're out there.

of all the preamps I've owned and sold I miss my 3124 the most. My favorite bass DI as well
When I build my studio next year (depending on finances)
the first thing ill be looking at is 3 or 4 3124s..

The only preamp I currently own of any note, is a late 80s Focusrite ISA 215.. I do want more of those or an 8 packed racked of the 110s.. but I guess that's more of an opportunity issue once I have financing, they don't show up very often on the used market.

Wound up just getting another Sytek. Someone a mile was selling one, and I couldn't pass it up.

Sounds great.

northern_dirt wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 18, 2021 4:17 pm

Dok wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 15, 2021 8:15 pm

The end result? I bought another API A2D. It fucking rules on everything and as a bonus it has a SPDIF output and excellent conversion. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a high pass filter but it's just too good for that to matter to me anymore. You'll have to be patient to find one under $1500 but they're out there.

of all the preamps I've owned and sold I miss my 3124 the most. My favorite bass DI as well
When I build my studio next year (depending on finances)
the first thing ill be looking at is 3 or 4 3124s..

The only preamp I currently own of any note, is a late 80s Focusrite ISA 215.. I do want more of those or an 8 packed racked of the 110s.. but I guess that's more of an opportunity issue once I have financing, they don't show up very often on the used market.

I've heard some really good things about the WA412 again lately - I know people like to drag them but I think they make great gear. In the API 312 camp if I was going to buy a 4-preamp rack unit, I'd seriously take a look at the Warm but also the Iron Age QPP https://www.ironageaudioworks.com/qpp (seriously, look at it), and the Revive Audio M12 (https://www.reviveaudio.com/index.php?r ... uct_id=170). All great, all cheaper than the API but with tons of positive reviews.

The $$ won't matter when I build the studio. So I'm just going to get why I know and like off the bat. Adding those RND 8 channels second.. all DANTE from tracking room to control.. RAVENNA for all monitoring 7.1.4 and 2-3 sets of other speakers.. and all the Preamps in the control room through RAVENNA too. All the non pre outboard in the control room DANTE via Lynx converters..

I'll most likely do a build post once I get going on it..

8 channels of RND?!?! That sounds amazing!