What's the tube-iest sounding preamp?

For a clean & transparent signal, the preamps on my soundcard work great. But now I'm looking to go in the opposite direction... something really warm, colored and smooth sounding. I've got some Groove Tube mics which have me halfway there, but I think I need the right preamp.

Price is not really a concern. Although I'm not rich, I'm willing to spend a lot for this type of gear. I've been looking at the Avalon VT-737sp and the Groove Tubes VIPre. Anyone have any comments/advice about those or any other?

P.S. It's a bonus if the preamp is rack mountable and if it looks cool

I use a UA Solo/610, which can go from reasonably clean to quite tubey and it has a vintage sort of sound either way. It's a lunch box type like the Groove Tube Brick (which is a less expensive option.)

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I looked them up, and it seems promising. On the Aphex site I also happened to notice the 207D which has internal 96kHz A/D converters for S/PDIF output. I never considered making the preamp part of the digital signal chain, but heck why not. 'course the price tag gets bumped up a few bills...

With the UA solo/610 I run into the same problem I would have with the GT Brick... I'm trying to keep my setup portable, so that's why it would be great if everything were rack mounted (less stuff to stumble over, too ). Is the solo/610 the same as the LA-610 rack model?

And is the GT Brick pretty much the same as the VIPre?

The LA-610 is more than the Solo/610. It's the 610 pre-amp, plus Eq and an LA-2A'ish type of opto-compressor. It's quite a nice unit for a pretty good price given what it provides. Lots of people really love them.

It's not tube-based, but the A-Designs Pacifica is very much liked by a lot of folks, and supposedly very vintage sounding in a very nice way. But if you already have a solid state pre, then it might not be different enough to justify. The 610's are good choices on the tube front without breaking the bank.

With the UA solo/610 I run into the same problem I would have with the GT Brick... I'm trying to keep my setup portable, so that's why it would be great if everything were rack mounted (less stuff to stumble over, too ). Is the solo/610 the same as the LA-610 rack model?

I have the Universal Audio 6176 which is the same pre-amp as the LA-610 has but it has the 1176 compressor rather than the LA-2A style compressor/limitor.

I love the 6176 but I am also considering picking up the LA-610 as well. You can't go wrong with either unit. They are both 2 space rack mountable units.

If you don't want the associated compressor with the 6176 or LA-610 they also make a rack mount 2-610 unit which is just 2 of the 610 pre-amps in a single 2-space rack mount unit.

Good luck and take care,


Bob

ORIGINAL: droddey

Yeh, given how much fetishism there is out there about Avalon, when you really start looking around, you'll find that a lot of people who have spent the time to go through a lot of equipment and see what's worth it for the bucks feel that they aren't really in that category. I ran across the same thing about Neumann mics. An awful lot of people think that they are mostly trading on the name at this point and not really as good as one would think based on how much people fetishize them (unless it's an old U47 or something, which alomst everyone thinks is one of the holy grails.)

I was thinking the same thing (even though I've never owned an Avalon OR a u47)! I guess it always happens when a piece of equipent becomes "the industry standard". People flock to it because they know they can't go wrong. Or they say "Jon Bon Jovi used an Avalon, so if I use one I'll sound like him!"

Btw, Jon Bon Jovi's used Avalons happen to be on sale on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/Avalon-VT-737-SP-Pair-From-Bon-Jovis-Personal-Studio_W0QQitemZ270230476026QQihZ017QQcategoryZ119018QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for pointing that out, about your 737, skullsession. Yah I definitely want "the total tube experience" whatever that is. I'd love to try out a Neve to find out if those are as good as people say, or if it's another case of "industry standard syndrome"

ORIGINAL: aaronk

A bit sideways of your specific request, but the Tassman softsynth includes an exquisite tube enhancement effect. Like having a whole rack full of tube pre-amps to choose from!

Unfortunately since it's software it's not easily rackmountable, although I suppose if you printed out all the code you could put that in a rack, and if you covered it with glitter it might look sort of cool . . .

That's the sucky thing about software. No matter how good it sounds, no matter how much $$ you drop on it, you have nothing to show for it! They ought to ship the stuff with a rack-mountable faceplate at least!

ORIGINAL: droddey

The Portico is and isn't a 'Neve'. It's not from the Neve company, but it's from Mr. Neve who has gone out on his own. As always, any time there's new stuff from an existing classic company or individual, you'll get all kinds of disagreement about it. People will say it's not as good as the old stuff and other people will like it. There's a fair amount of that kind of back and forth about the current Rupert Neve stuff.

Let's be clear - the Portico IS a Neve. Plug something into it and you'll hear the "Neve" characteristics of this device. The problem with the nay-sayer's (and damn if I can find anyone who doesn't like this box - there may be folks that bought it expecting something else but I've yet to find anyone who says anything bad about it) is that they buy the Neve name expecting this thing to sound exactly like a console they worked in in 1974.

I can't compare it to every mic-pre Neve ever built - but the thing is damn good. I bought a Vintech, Great River and this box and played with them all for a week. The Portico won.

Is the Portico stuff for everyone - no. But for what I do, it was exactly what the Dr. ordered. I assure you that Mr. Neve only got smarter...and better with age.

Agreed, Avalon 737 is really transparent.
I would go for the brick or one of the other choices.
By the way, for 29.99 at guitar center, the art tube preamp is a good idea to try. A lot of people like it.

As far as rack mountable, that aphex might be nice? Never heard of it. Somebody here, does it really have a nice "tubey" sound?

The price is pretty, and it looks like a nice solid piece of gear.

I remember a while back the Bellari preamps were said to have a very exaggerated tube sound.