Joemeek VC6Q

XLR and 1/4"Rack Input and the sound is all JOE MEEK. If you like the sound you will love this unit. This is a great sounding unit for the money. Are there better ones, yes. Does it have it's own sound, yes. So if you like to hear your pre amp working then this unit will suit you well. It has about everything you would need for a pre amp at a cheap range. It will be hard to mess up with this unit for the price but I find it very colored sounding and I liked it best on guitars to be honest. I do like the ease of the unit and for the students I teach it is a good unit at a good price point which makes it appealing. I do think that you will notice the sound of the pre amp immediately. The only thing I like about the color that it provides is that it is not to saturated and over done or intruding. I have heard most pre amps in this price range and they have a real specific tone and you it is not a classic sounding as this. It has a great almost old school sound and it is noticeable on hotter input levels. I ran a bass guitar through the unit and once the input gain was close to zero it was evident that the unit has specific sound. I might even say that it is close to a dbx older one that is. Bass and guitars is all I have used this unit on and it sounds really good for the money.

UTILIZATION

Easy as hell to use and it is very very user friendly. It's not any rocket science. Get a strong input, adjust the output to give you headroom in Pro Tools and then decide how much coloring you want. The more input you hit this unit with the more the JOE MEEK sound will appear. I call the sound a it more processed that clean or clear. I have never head a clean or clear Joe Meek and I also have their twin EQ and use if for drums.

SOUND QUALITY

The sound quality if very good but the effected sound is definitely colored. I think that if you are on a budget this pre amp is a good buy and you will get some good mileage out of it. Resale on these units is a bit low. I would buy this if I were on a budget and needed a diverse pre amp.

OVERALL OPINION

Pretty good Pre Amp and a good sound but very specific. I think if you are use to the JOE MEEK sound then you will like the ease of use of this Pre, but if you like a real transparent Pre Amp, then consider one of the ISA's from Focusrite.

This is one ugly unit, its GREEN. I've been tempted to repaint it but just never got around to it but anywhere lets let at what we're getting out of this channel strip pre

Mic Preamp
Compressor
Equalizer
Insert Point
Dual Outputs
Mic/Instrument input
Ugly green color
Phantom Power


UTILIZATION

This preamp is easy to configure (manual not needed. The manual is very easy to follow, I mean my son can go over it and understand what the preamp does and exactly how to use it.

The features (listed above) are simple to use and modify the manual even gives some tips on how and when to use them.

Most people use mic preamps to amplify their mic signal others use it for instruments as well as other audio signals

SOUND QUALITY

Unlike a lot of other preamps in the price range of $100-$250 this one has a very unique sound. It's very warm and crunchy but not the crunchy you'd hear from like an S950 sample. It's sound is called the "British Sound" in fact, the best comparison I can give is the sound the Beatles had back in their day..

The meek sounds good on both and male and female vocals. I haven't tested many mics on this unit the only ones I have tested were the following:

Behringer B2
Studio Projects B3
Nueman U87
Nady Scm 90
JM47 (joe meek)

all mics complimented well.

OVERALL OPINION

My only gripe with this preamp is it's cosmestic look (the green color) aside from that it's a great unit. I use it a lot for sound designing (more than vocals) my clients have no complaints and neither do I. There are a lot of other preamps out there and maybe I'm attached to this one because it was my 1st? There is some truth to that but for the money its a steal, especially these days because they're cheaper than what I paid for it back in 00.

Other preamps I've worked with over the years include

Mindprints
Art (Pro channel to be specific)
Avalon
Grace

I've worked with a lot of quality once but the meek get's my vote because it's quality and the sound is unique.

(Originally written by Lonewolf/translated from Audiofanzine FR)
Channel strip with preamp, compressor, 3-band EQ (fully parametric mid). Each section can be switched on/off.

Front panel:

Preamp section

- High-Z 1/4" jack input for instruments (guitar, bass, etc.)

- Pad - 20dB

- Phantom power

- Line switch

- Phase invert switch

- Input gain control (with Clip LED)

Compressor section

- On/off switch

- Level control

- Attack and release controls

EQ section

- On/off switch

- High

- Mid (parametric)

- Low

- Output level control with LED meter

- On/off switch

Rear panel

- XLR input

- Line input

- Insert (for external signal processors)

- Two 1/4" jack balanced outputs (parallel outputs, not stereo)

- Power socket with fuse holder for mains power selection

Cheap finish (as if it were home-made) but it's not really that important.

UTILIZATION

Intuitive use. It's not always simple to use a compressor but this one is quite easy to set. The controls are effective and allow you to quickly find the adequate setting. The same applies to the EQ. A beginner won't have any problems with this unit.

No noise even when the unit is connected to a cheap mixer.

SOUND QUALITY

Here is where it becomes interesting. Don't expect a preamp with the most transparent sound! It has a nice sound character with a slight growling effect in the low mids (the name "British Channel" is not a coincidence) and the compressor section adds a bit of thickness to the sound.

I've read several times that this Joemeek preamp generation (I never tried out the new 6Q, 1Q, 3Q, etc.) is very useful for male vocals and I totally agree. But the unit is also great to record bass and electro-acoustic guitars live.

OVERALL OPINION

I used to own the Meekbox (a previous generation) but I had to sell it and I regret it a lot. The VC6Q is a logic development of the Meekbox where the enhancer section has been replaced with an EQ (which is a good thing).

I use this preamp for thrash/death metal vocals. It sounds perfect since I have a deep voice. The dynamic response, sound color and thickness of the VC6 make it the perfect tool for this particular application.

For rehearsals I feed the preamp with a Sennheiser E835 and its output goes to a TC M300 effects processor I use for deessing and reverb.

I haven't had the chance to do a recording with my Oktava MK219 but I don't see any reason why the result shouldn't be good.

As a summary, you might find this jewel secondhand for a nice price, but it's getting tougher because the owners don't have any real reason to sell it... It's worth the money.

(Originally written by Olivier_lg/translated from Audiofanzine FR)

Analog, "warmer" than a lot of tube preamps
Conceived by Ted Fletcher who worked on the famous Trident mixing consoles
+ "Meequalizer" + optical compressor

2 XLR + line/instrument inputs

UTILIZATION

Simple and effective with all sorts of signals

SOUND QUALITY

Very good and with a lot of character, no hi-fi sound...

but still very versatile (vocals, instruments, gun shots...)

See on ProRec homepage http://www.prorec.com/

OVERALL OPINION

1 year of use.
In my opinion, it has a very "manly" rock sound.
The front panel is rather simple and it surely doesn't do justice to the fabulous electronics inside.
I don't like the black on green labeling on the front panel, you can't read a thing.
You need a good sight...
I replaced the input XLR connector with a Neutrik one because the quality wasn't as good as the electronics.
Excellent price for money. It can easily be compared with a top-of-the-range preamp even if it can't replace them all (of course)...
I give it an 8 because I own much more expensive gear and it made me start wearing glasses!
If it ever gets stolen, I'll buy it again without hesitation.