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chrislieck « MUST HAVE FOR VOCALS »
Published on 09/25/12 at 22:04Simple not much to it but a must have for vocalist that have no technique. I have used this piece for over 7 years and it never disappoints me. It is a must have on the front end of singers that have little or zero mic technique.
In 2005 I had a rock singer that came to the studio www.chrislieckstudios.com and he was all over the place as for levels. I looked around for pre amp that soften the hard notes but did not sound to compressed. After a long search I gave up and almost used my SSL to control the sound by over compressing.
So it was suggested to me by a friend to buy this unit with the Summit Levelor as well (a must have as well) and I live on both of them. I took that singer and placed him in the booth and turned on the unit and the Levelor and there it was. The controls are simple and self explanatory. The Levelor has two knobs, but back to the Pre Amp, it can take great deal of level and input aside from the TUBE control. The Tube control is a bit sensitive. You have to use the pad when turning the tube up.
I love this unit for vocals. We use it daily and no matter what other units I have I go back to it all the time. It is a bit sensitive on the input surprisingly and I don't like that but I normally pad the signal down if it is a vocalist. The tube control knob is very easy, turn it one way and you have more tube, the other less. It has a roll off for the lows and the highs. It has a line input on the front. I love it.
UTILIZATION
Simple as can be. Plug in mic, turn up the tube and enjoy. Not complicated at all. I have a few settings I use but not much to the unit. The input has a pad like most and there is one knob that allows more of the tube saturation and the tube is quite dirty on some mics and a bit cleaner on others. I use it with an AKG and it can be a bit dirty at times. The less tube the better in that you don't need a great deal of tube on must instrumentation such as acoustic guitars and other acoustic instruments. There is a roll off for the lows and a sweeping set frequency roll off for the top or high end. I don't use either of those much at all as I will use a plug in first or a one band digi EQ to roll off any low end noise that I get from the unit's tube that I do get at times.
SOUND QUALITY
It is a clean transparent pre amp with little color and very high quality. I put it up there with and against any other pre-amp in the world. I have been so satisfied from this purchase and it has saved my vocal sessions for years. Like I said it is a bit sensitive not like an API but still really great sounding and solid. The construction is really good.
OVERALL OPINION
A must have if you want that tube sound and old school sound. I have it in my rack and use it every day. I would buy it again today. I tell guys all the time that this pre is really great and if I had one pre amp that I had to have it would be this unit. I do love the Levelor along with it. I recommend that piece to go along with this pre amp. I paid about 1000.00 for both of the units and I would not trade them for anything or any pre amp out there in the market.
In 2005 I had a rock singer that came to the studio www.chrislieckstudios.com and he was all over the place as for levels. I looked around for pre amp that soften the hard notes but did not sound to compressed. After a long search I gave up and almost used my SSL to control the sound by over compressing.
So it was suggested to me by a friend to buy this unit with the Summit Levelor as well (a must have as well) and I live on both of them. I took that singer and placed him in the booth and turned on the unit and the Levelor and there it was. The controls are simple and self explanatory. The Levelor has two knobs, but back to the Pre Amp, it can take great deal of level and input aside from the TUBE control. The Tube control is a bit sensitive. You have to use the pad when turning the tube up.
I love this unit for vocals. We use it daily and no matter what other units I have I go back to it all the time. It is a bit sensitive on the input surprisingly and I don't like that but I normally pad the signal down if it is a vocalist. The tube control knob is very easy, turn it one way and you have more tube, the other less. It has a roll off for the lows and the highs. It has a line input on the front. I love it.
UTILIZATION
Simple as can be. Plug in mic, turn up the tube and enjoy. Not complicated at all. I have a few settings I use but not much to the unit. The input has a pad like most and there is one knob that allows more of the tube saturation and the tube is quite dirty on some mics and a bit cleaner on others. I use it with an AKG and it can be a bit dirty at times. The less tube the better in that you don't need a great deal of tube on must instrumentation such as acoustic guitars and other acoustic instruments. There is a roll off for the lows and a sweeping set frequency roll off for the top or high end. I don't use either of those much at all as I will use a plug in first or a one band digi EQ to roll off any low end noise that I get from the unit's tube that I do get at times.
SOUND QUALITY
It is a clean transparent pre amp with little color and very high quality. I put it up there with and against any other pre-amp in the world. I have been so satisfied from this purchase and it has saved my vocal sessions for years. Like I said it is a bit sensitive not like an API but still really great sounding and solid. The construction is really good.
OVERALL OPINION
A must have if you want that tube sound and old school sound. I have it in my rack and use it every day. I would buy it again today. I tell guys all the time that this pre is really great and if I had one pre amp that I had to have it would be this unit. I do love the Levelor along with it. I recommend that piece to go along with this pre amp. I paid about 1000.00 for both of the units and I would not trade them for anything or any pre amp out there in the market.
