We all know there’a a lot of audio gear on the market today. Some of it is very new and proactive engineering but some of it is a lot of hype based around buzz words like “vintage” or “classic” sound. Well, what does that mean exactly? What does “vintage” sound like? Is vintage gear a good investment? Is it easy and/or cheap to fix? Most importantly, how does it really sound? All good questions, let’s discuss.
When discussing microphone preamplifiers the word Neve comes up a lot, doesn’t it? Obviously this is with good reason. Rupert Neve has had an impressive career spanning many companies and a plethora of products. More so than not, the original 1073 modules get name dropped a lot. Pro audio salesman across the country get calls everyday from customers wanting that “Neve” or “Vintage” sound. This is certainly understandable. They are hard to get, a lot of classic albums were recorded with them and they are always referenced on forums and trade magazines as a source for comparison. That’s all well and good but the reality is most people making these phone calls have never even seen or heard a Neve module. Words associated with the 1073 sound are often “Warm”, “Punchy”, “Larger Than Life” or “Smooth”. Hold that thought a moment.
On the other side of the spectrum there are new products in today’s market that use the quest for vintage as their marketing platform to sale product. Some companies do an excellent job and others just have a big marketing budget. Granted, everyone has different tastes, but if we break this down by the terminology, I would suggest that our goals are probably fairly similar. So, back to the buzz words: “Warm”: This usually refers to bottom end or sonic character. So, if that’s the case than we would want a product that delivers that without distortion and a solid (not muddy) bottom end. “Punchy”: The word tone comes to mind-often associated with drums. We would want a rich tonal color that’s pleasing on percussive, high transient source material. “Larger Than Life”: Image (or thickness) of the sound in the stereo field. We would want full and present and not thin or weak. “Smooth”: From the upper mid range to the air on top (2k-12k) we want a clean, non abrasive sound that’s pleasing to the ear, not piercing or brittle and does not roll off at a certain point. With me so far? Good, now let’s take this one step further.
Below is a link to download a Pro Tools session. The purpose of this session is to compare the sonic differences between a current production Daking Mic Pre/EQ and a vintage Neve 1081. (the 1081 had a four band EQ like the Daking while the 1073 only had three-so we might as well compare apples and apples) The Daking design is based on the original Trident A Range design. Another “classic” console. A pair of Daking Mic Pre/EQs has a street price under $3000. A pair of vintage 1081s has a street price of about $10,000. The Daking modules are built in the USA and come with a warranty. The Neve modules are 30 years old and if broken would cost money to be repaired-plus the shipping to the one of the few people that know how to work on them. I encourage you to listen to this session in your own studio or listening environment and let your ears do the talking. I think you’ll be surprised how far you don’t have to go to get that sound you’ve been looking for.
BTW-We’ve also thrown in a third preamp from another current day and very popular manufacturer. It is labeled Preamp “A”. Our goal is not to get into a shooting match here (Neve 1081s are not currently in production) just to simply educate. The “Read Me” file should tell you everything you want to know about how the recording was made and not to worry, if you’re not a Pro Tools user the files are consolidated and labeled so they can be played back in other platforms. Until next time…