Tube Preamp for Recording acoustic guitar....or Solid State?

Use a tube preamp to record acoustic guitar and you'll probably be glad you did.  Use a solid state mic preamp for acoustic guitar, and you'll probably also be glad.... We could call this Tube vs. Solid state, but I'd call SS AND Tube.  Or just: Get a good sound.

This is a demonstration of 2 different microphone preamplifiers.  One is a tube only preamp, and one is a solid state preamp mixer.

TUBE PREAMP:

The first is an all tube Mic preamp, featuring a 12AX7 and an EF86 (and tube rectifier - 6X4)
         This is a modified AKAI M8 Two channel preamp.  This was formerly a tape recorder preamp, and they are exceptionally quiet and well built.

PROS:
  When the gain levels are properly adjusted, this unit sounds great.
  Warm, smooth, round (but not dull) tube sound.
  Distortion options, if you want the source overdriven nicely.
  Great presence, and gentle compression effects

CONS:
  The units can be expensive if you don't modify a tape recorder yourself($600 for pre-made units).
  Searching for a donor unit can be a timely process.  Modding is also a time consuming process (between 8 and 16 hours, depending on skill level)
  Gain levels can be tricky to set at first- (but you rely more on your ears, which may be a good thing.
  This unit has no EQ
  No onboard phantom power.

SOLID STATE:
The second is a modern Solid State preamp which is available new at a street price of around $200 U.S.  It's a Mackie 802VLZ3, which has 3 very dynamic yet quiet mic preamps.
PROS:
  Somewhat inexpensive($200 street price for 3 solid mic preamp channels)
  Gain levels are easy to set with the onboard solo meter.
  Sound is great- clean and professional.
  Nice EQ section.  Good for nailing down a sound as it's going to tape.
  They are easy to find and use on the same day (vs. modding a used tape deck unit)
  Onboard phantom power.

CONS:
  The transients can be peaky, so you may need compressor software or an outboard compressor/Limiter
  People are generally skeptical of mass produced- compact units, so it may take time to convince artists of their crediblity.
Distortion appears as "Clipping" which is not a pleasant sound.
  Wall wart style power supply is annoying to carry around.


Common Factors:
The guitar is a Yamaha FG160 dreadnaught acoustic.
The microphone is an SM57, a very popular dynamic mic designed for miking instruments.
The mic cable is a hand made star-quad cable- canare brand(I think it's the best and it's my personal favorite!).

This is a very short, quiet signal chain, so It's easy to get professional results!

The sound card is an Emu 24bit/96k AD converter, recording at 24/96k.

The individual files were recorded at 96khz, 24bit and rendered to 16bit/44.1k to be inserted into the proper points of the video.

While this isn't really a shoot out, it should give you some idea of the sonic differences of each of these two mic preamplifiers.  Consider this more of a comparison.

Also, you get a pretty good idea of what a Yamaha dreadnaught FG160 sounds like miked with an sm57 pointed directly at the 12th fret, about 4 inches away. (hint: an sm58 will sound pretty much the same way...)

For each take, I was careful to play the same chords, in the same style and volume- with some arpeggios near the end of the pattern.  I was also careful about holding the guitar at the same distance/position from the mic.

It's true, there's a lot to consider when thinking about purchasing each of these mic preamps, but I hope this comparison has give you some insight about which might be better for your project!

At home or in the studio, the best gear to record your music is the usually the gear you know how to use the best.  That said, if you're looking for a new piece of gear and you are weighing your options about which way to go- either tube or solid state, I hope this entry helps you out.

Enjoy!

Ampex Reel to Reel, Recording a song to tape RTR

Record a song with a reel to reel recorder...a little bit of how to...

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This is a mix of a song that I recorded using an Ampex Reel to reel tape recorder.   Each take is recorded to one side of the tape machine and subsequently recorded onto my DAW.  Then, all four tracks are bounced back to this stereo tape recorder.  Drums are recorded to one side, rhythm guitar to the other side, and bass guitar and solo are in the center of the stereo image.


This is a fully tube operated unit, and the sound quality is second to none.  It happens to have a mix of vintage tubes, including some Telefunken 12AT7's in the preamps(from my personal stash).

The format is 1/4" half track ,7.5 ips.

This rtr recording was made using direct guitars and bass.

The machine pictured above is a Roberts 192 Ft (which stands for Full Track), 1/4" tape machine.  Like many of the Akai/Roberts tape recorders of the 1960's, this was modeled after the Ampex 600/601 portable recorder.

Though the Akai/Roberts units were popular, they never achieved the reputation as broadcast standard recorders that the Ampex units did.  This model was intended to change that!

The roberts recorder was fitted with full track (mono) erase, record, and playback heads.  Though running at 7.5ips, the fidelity is great.

However, Ampex was committed to quality and through the 50's and 60's, nothing about their tape machines was budget quality.  This changed many year later as they produced consumer format tape machines, but they still offered studio and high end consumer tape recorders in a variety of formats.

Here is one such high end consumer machine, made by the Ampex Professional division!


I love, collect, and use vintage tape recorders...

UPDATE:  Here's a record I made with analog tape as well as some vintage and modern gear, including a stereo tape recorder...Click Below to check it out!

Bandcamp

Here's a great sounding multitrack recorder:

https://www.zzounds.com/a--3960122/item--TASDP006 

Enjoy!

Welcome to Vintage Music Tech.!

This is a place where we'll be talking about vintage music gear and it's place in the vast music making landscape of today.

Tube gear, reel to reel tape recorders, microphones, preamplifiers- these important bits of gear and how to get the most from them.

In general I shoot demonstration videos, but I'm always happy to talk gear with any interested party!

So here is one to kick it off!


This video is of a microphone preamp that I modified from an old tube reel to reel machine (Roberts 720 or 990, as I recall).

 Also featured in the video is a popular microphone and line mixer- the Mackie 802VLZ3.

This video gives just a quick example of the differences between tube mic preamps, and solid state preamps.  I would say they are approximately equally priced "for their time."

The tube preamp is 100 percent all tube path, including the recctifier tube/ power supply.
Tubes are 12AX7, EF86, and 6x4 (rectifier).

To be honest, I'm not sure about the opamp/chips that the Mackie uses, but it performs well and it has mixer features that the tube preamp doesn't have.

I suggest listening a few times over speakers as well as in headphones to really catch the subtle (and not so subtle) sonic differences of each instance.

The microphone is a Shure SM57.

Enjoy!