Hi,

I have a FF 400 UC and I am going to buy a preamp for it. I know the preamp inside the Rme is good but it’s a little bit too cold for me. So my idea is to buy the golden age pre 73 MK2.
Do you think that is a good idea or should I go with the Rme PRE and as use Plugins to get the sound done.
By the way my I have an AT 4040 Mic and my budget is to invest 300€. So if any of you can give me advise or a better idea what I should do I wold appreciate it.
It’s for Hip Hop and EDM production.


thx

 

I'll bite.

I did plenty of recordings with RME preamps. There are indeed on the clean side, clean being extremely PRISTINE.
I did experiment with overloading the preamp as well and got a lot of different colors out of it.
It worked and still works for me. I'm still using it, but have some 1176 style HW compression in the chain.
Your problem is that 300EUR its not a lot for a pre, and the 4040 is not a 1st choice mic for many.

To be of any advice, IMO it is more important to get a mic. Why. because having a lot of choices will suit a lot of voices. the RME pre works wonders with Peluso and 4050, 57, it has enough gain to even drive a Royer.
So, save more and invest in a better mic or 2 or 3. THEN add a new pre.
You can always degrade (warm it up!! ) with plugs

 

Hmm ok sounds that I have to invest in a good mic......

I know it is better to have 2 or 3 music because every voice has its own characteristic but I don’t have that money to buy me a Neumann u87 or such similar expensive Mics

My thoughts are to have the golden age pre 73 MK2 that sound like the NEVE 1073 to get nice sounds with AT4040. *yes*
I know the AT4040 is not the best mic but its sounds good.

But thanks for the advice I going to think about it to save money to get a really good mic for 1000€.

Just another question for you since you have the RME is there any way to change the setting of pre amp inside the RME or on the Total mix.

Thx for the help

 

Check out Warm Audio too for API type of sound.

 

the scenario when your "straight in the box sound" is too clean and boring.

I invested in a tube channel strip (Pre > Comp > EQ) and some ok mics. Thats my recipe.


You mean settings other than makeup gain and phantom power? I really dont thing there are other settings (fireface UC here)

However there is a newer fireface that has built in DSP for eq and such in total mix

 

Every pre has a sweet spot.
Do a test. Record 20 lines of vox, each with increased gain, go into distortion with it. Dont look at any meters,; your last 2 recordings should be the max gain...
Every time mark and write down the position if the gain knob. Resist the urge to compare the files the same day.
Next day compare the 20 recorded files. Edit them so they have the same apparent level (loudness). Listen to the colors You will learn a lot about the preamp .
I do this idiot test with any piece of equipment I rent or buy. Eye opener

 

Do you think the 4050 sounds different than the 4040?

I have a 4040 myself, and I always thought the 4050 is basically the same mic, just with 3 polar patterns instead of one.

 

Did any of you ever use the golden age Mk2 pre amp and can give some info...

My problem is I never use hardware like pre amp and compressors Sidechane EQ or whatever. I did everything with software never with hardware that’s why I want to buy the golden age its looks easy to use and that’s good for me right now. After I create my first hit with Rihanna and Jay Z ok I think about buying Stuff that’s cost about 1000 or 2000 bucks but my budget is amount 300€.

SO WHATS KNOW I Don’t REALY Know or should I keep some money and buy me a really good mic…..

I NEED
MONEY MONEY MONEY

 

You are right, its the "same" mic. I red somewhere that during the productions there were changes made to the electronic design . I had the 4040 for a while and it was indeed a little different. Might be placebo..
What I wanted to say that with 4040 he should be able to get many different colors for starters . The RMEs are good pres.
Just let them work LOL.

 

What I can tell you is that RME preamps are really good, and you should consider buying a few more mics first. Also, you can consider building your own preamp that could turn out to be really good. It's not as hard as all you have to do is buy a DIY kit and solder it. Here: http://www.fivefish.net/diy/ You can make a preamp for a few hundred squid that usually costs thousands. That's what I did, in addition to having a really good and pristine preamp in TC Konnekt 48. A different colour really comes handy.

However, as I said, having a few different microphones at disposal is more important since preamp doesn't colour the sound as much as mic does. So it is more important to have a few different mics. My taste in microphones is a bit retro, and I'd suggest you to look up AT-4047, AKG-C214 and even dynamic microphones like Shure SM7B or SM Beta57.

Cheers!