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Post by Guitar on Jul 6, 2016 13:47:43 GMT -6
VP28 still sounding great. Sytek not too bad either, but the VP28 to me is more flattering in the overall picture.
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Post by Mister Chase on Jul 7, 2016 11:11:08 GMT -6
I think the Sytek kind of gets a bad rap because it hardly does anything to the signal. Which in some cases, is just what you want. But most folks want a little something magic happening on the way in even if its subtle. For instance, the Millennia preamps I've heard seem to be very realistic and uncolored yes, but they also do something to "wow" the listener with their depth and width. I think the Sytek is pretty much a straight shooter. The Capi is nice because it gives you most of the transients still, but does a little something to the signal. Its tight and punchy while being quite clear. If I only had CAPI and Neve copies, I'd be just fine. They compliment each other nicely.
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Post by Guitar on Jul 7, 2016 15:16:17 GMT -6
Maybe it was the guitar, but the Sytek was doing something really cool on some of the specific sources.
But I agree with you, the VP28 just relaxes the sound or something, sounds more classic in terms of vintage sonics. It's amazing that Jeff was able to achieve that.
I totally would be happy with Neve and API clones for just about everything. I still think it's valuable to have some "clean" channels as a third option. The fourth option to me, seems to be big colored sounding tube preamps, which I am currently devoid of.
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Post by Mister Chase on Jul 7, 2016 19:15:41 GMT -6
Yea, I think you are right. The Sytek makes it really hard for me to put my finger on though, because it's so subtle. The VP28 is really nice. I honestly am getting more used to the tight bottom end. It does have a fatness up higher in the lows. The top is calmer, with the cool kind of aggressive mids. I'd love to track a whole rock band through VP28s.
I agree with the clean amps, too. I have some other kits I am working on for that kind of sound. I have a Sebatron Axis which is a very clean tube pre - it isn't what I would call big, but it is quite colored compared to the SS amps I have. The Sebatron VMP would be quite colored and nice. The clips I have heard of some of the Jensen xformer amps around the 990 op amp have a bigness to them.
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Post by scumbum on Jul 7, 2016 22:13:36 GMT -6
The Sytek sounds good but on some of the guitar parts it sounds too pointy with too much annoyance to my ears .
The VP28 smooths everything out so it sounds more pleasant .
The Sytek needs something , like compression or EQ , but the VP28's sound done just how they are .
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Post by Mister Chase on Jul 8, 2016 22:33:52 GMT -6
I think with a super honest pre like the Sytek, you do have to take special care with placement etc, or it will show the warts.
It's funny because while the VP28 is smooth, it's also more forward and aggressive. Go figure.
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Post by Tommy Harron on Jul 14, 2016 11:48:30 GMT -6
Thank you for this comparison.
I've been wondering about the sonic differences between all of the CAPI pres for awhile now. This gives a nice window into the line.
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Post by guitfiddler on Jul 16, 2016 7:13:01 GMT -6
I am looking at the CAPI preamps specifically a pair of VP28's. Jerome, what is the combination of the op amps? Are you saying to use all of Scott's op amps, or use these with red dots, 1731? Lite wire, blue dots, red dots...make up my mind already...lol. I guess the character is subtle, but I just don't know where to start without knowing some more info. I guess I need to call Jeff, can you guys help me out? I would like to put some iron in my master mix also.
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Post by Mister Chase on Jul 16, 2016 19:14:50 GMT -6
Thank you for this comparison. I've been wondering about the sonic differences between all of the CAPI pres for awhile now. This gives a nice window into the line. I am happy to contribute if it helps you guys out :-)
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Post by Mister Chase on Jul 16, 2016 19:15:38 GMT -6
I am looking at the CAPI preamps specifically a pair of VP28's. Jerome, what is the combination of the op amps? Are you saying to use all of Scott's op amps, or use these with red dots, 1731? Lite wire, blue dots, red dots...make up my mind already...lol. I guess the character is subtle, but I just don't know where to start without knowing some more info. I guess I need to call Jeff, can you guys help me out? I would like to put some iron in my master mix also. I have heard that using a 2520 and a 1731 together in the vp28 is quite a nice combination. Dr. Bill does this I think.
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Post by guitfiddler on Jul 16, 2016 19:32:28 GMT -6
I am looking at the CAPI preamps specifically a pair of VP28's. Jerome, what is the combination of the op amps? Are you saying to use all of Scott's op amps, or use these with red dots, 1731? Lite wire, blue dots, red dots...make up my mind already...lol. I guess the character is subtle, but I just don't know where to start without knowing some more info. I guess I need to call Jeff, can you guys help me out? I would like to put some iron in my master mix also. I have heard that using a 2520 and a 1731 together in the vp28 is quite a nice combination. Dr. Bill does this I think. I will check it out, thanks.
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Post by telecastertube on May 17, 2019 15:13:22 GMT -6
Extremely subtle difference for me…(if any) Did a blind (not knowing what you are listening to is the key) A/B test with the metric A/B plugin…Had a hard time guessing the right pre-amp. Flipped the phase and the tracks where just a hair of cancelling each other out. Genelec 8050 (but my ears are getting there) Great forum btw and thanks for posting the wav files!!
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Post by askomiko on May 18, 2019 1:25:11 GMT -6
The weirdest thing just happened to me:
Both my 312s lost all their low end. I thought i went crazy when same drums mics in same locations sounded like anemic bees where they were thunderous monsters last week. Troubleshooting indicated that the 312s have gone crazy, the vp28 and vp26s in adjacent slots in the same API VPR500 rack worked fine. I can't even begin to understand what would cause this kind of a phenomenon. Any experienced builders around? I have sessions midway so I can't spend hours on this now, but i'll focus on this later.
Can it be opamps? I think i swapped them around on my capi units, trying to have same opamps in same model pairs. (26, 28, 312)
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Post by Johnkenn on May 18, 2019 15:52:41 GMT -6
The weirdest thing just happened to me: Both my 312s lost all their low end. I thought i went crazy when same drums mics in same locations sounded like anemic bees where they were thunderous monsters last week. Troubleshooting indicated that the 312s have gone crazy, the vp28 and vp26s in adjacent slots in the same API VPR500 rack worked fine. I can't even begin to understand what would cause this kind of a phenomenon. Any experienced builders around? I have sessions midway so I can't spend hours on this now, but i'll focus on this later. Can it be opamps? I think i swapped them around on my capi units, trying to have same opamps in same model pairs. (26, 28, 312) You try removing all the other units in the rack and see if it still does it?
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