Mic Pre Modification – Not

Synths, an SM57, and some cheaper condenser mics that can use batteries don't require phantom power.

You can't build a pre with any character that small, but something for drum overheads and such is certainly possible.

I love my Great River pre too. I first heard about it from a producer who used on a whole mix when mastering along with a Manley Slam. That is a bit much, but the sound that Great River gets from ringing a large transformer is superb for rock.

My mastering chain is a Manley Vari-Mu and Massive Passive then I switch in Apogee's soft limit function. I've tried peak limiting with a new Chandler EMI and a UA 1178, but they both mess up the sound. So now I use them for tracking different things. My Manley Gold mic has enough gain that I use it straight in to a compressor without a pre. So you can see that I also like a little analog compression prior to going digital.

What is a Kultube?

The modification can't be done practically. It was just an idea that I posted here as a warning.

ThreeFingersOfLove:

Hi Mike,

if you want a warm analog compression before going digital why don't you try the AnaMod ATS-1? You can control how much is fed into the Orville with the Output control (so that you don't overload its converters). Just an idea.

Regards,
Yannis

Hi Yannis:

Four reasons:

1) I have too many expensive compressors now from trying to follow Manley's instructions on mastering and my own ideas about dynamics (do whatever it takes to make the sound move).

It isn't a mystery why Manley recommends an analog peak limiter. Maybe their ELOP & Slam second stage will put an edge on the sound without mucking things up, but Apogee's soft limit is a lot cheaper since I already have it on a couple converters; does the job; and is transparent. Though I do like the solid state crunch that the UA1178 can add, that unit and the Chandler compressor just muddy up a mix when used after the Vari-Mu.

I didn't mention that I have an Avalon UA pres purchased when I only had mono mics. Since those got stolen, I only use stereo mics now.

2) Nuendo comes with a tape compression plug-in, Dynamo(?) that sounds great on guitars, but not whole mixes.

3) Warm, I got too much of with all the tube gear. I also have a UA mic tube pre that is handy for DI, talkback, and side on M/S vocal tracks with the Avalon on mid.

4) I am almost out of space for these expensive toys and should have plenty enough already to do the job.

Though I would like to hear how Chandler's single channel EQ fattens up sound with feedback. This should be reproducible in principle with a harmonizer EQ patch and in practice by adding: compression, harmonix, and distortion (in moderation) modules.

Harmonizers I got. The idea was one for the studio and one for live work. After someone who should be dead stole my mics, I got sick of the whole field. If I was sure of who it was they would be dead and I would be in jail.

How do we post patches here? Or do we?

TC's AES mastering papers would tend to recommend the Anamod ATS-1 since nowadays a lot of music that isn't on tape tends to distort consumer gear. You may not hit a peak when mastering, but interpolation on the listener's gear can cause it to happen with ugly consequences. Mastering has gotten to be a war of Sound Pressure Levels. There was something to said for the limitations imposed by disk cutters – too loud and they skidded off the platter.

Thanks;
Mike

Hi Yannis:

I should be working with my audio stuff instead of being online. But I can't get this notion out of my head that there is way to use Harmonizers as character added channel strips – like tube and Great River pres. Bill Putnam Jr., the CEO and chief bottle washer of United Audio, claimed in an interview that they are using Physical Modeling and not Impulse Response like I had thought on their plug-ins. Of course UA puts the old circuit diagrams into DSP form first.

I've done Karplus-String Physical Modeling on the Orville. It is a very simple way to get a plucked string effect with a resonant delay line. However to make a Harmonizer sound like a Great River mic pre would probably require weeks of tweaking a lot of modules. Ironically in power lines at least loaded transformers produce odd and not even harmonics like triode tubes.

It may be possible to digitally get the best of all possible mic pres all selectable in one large patch. I've studied the Harmonizer patches of classic gear and they just translate the analog signal path into DSP without trying to capture any special sonic characteristics.

The Bose L1 Tonematch has some features that are halfway to the future of Public Address. You tell it the instrument and it sets the tone control range accordingly along with some undocumented slight EQ'ing. That much could easily be made into a Harmonizer patch. In the near future a sound man will send a signal through their PA to ascertain the room acoustics, then the reverb and EQ will be adjusted automatically to that used in the studio using Impulse Response modeling. As for stadiums… use weapons grade speakers.

Back in the dark ages of audio, a couple who had their own act tipped me off to always mastering to cassette tape in the red. One famous (at the time) producer had a channel on his mixing board modified to something like +12 dB to make sure he got tape saturation on guitars. The Nuendo tape saturation plug-in is called Magneto and not Dynamo like I wrote.

Chandler has the Curve Bender, a stereo EQ with the same layout as the Massive Passive. You might want to listen to it before buying a Massive Passive. I haven't heard the thing so I can't say much more than it looks like a serious competitor with a few more features. I think a big consideration is not to load up on too much tube gear (like I did) because it can make the sound muddy. Tubes have too slow of a response time for peak limiting and this limitation is probably applicable to general clarity. With a DAW some tube gear is essential to get rid of that shrill or crystal clear digital tone.

This place should be called "Klepto Rica." Seven years in LA (but not Tibet) and nothing disappeared.

Cheers;
Mike

Sonic Nomad:

?Mike,?

The Kultube is a rather nice compressor from German compant SPL. The same guys who make the Transient Designer. They make mastering consoles and all sorts of great alanog gear.

Sounds cool. I Googled the thing right after I asked what it was. It also does tube simulation and other things besides compression. The name is definitely weird though.

I really think that if they had the man or woman power to do it, Eventide would come up with all the modules needed to enable us to do anything imaginable with audio. It isn't like Eventide has a product line that would be endangered and their design philosophy is one of complete flexibility. So let's all chip in and buy Nick a large supply of Methedrine…

Cheers;
Mike