Does AC Power Quality REALLY Matter? CLIPS+POLL

[BLUElightCory]

I'm going to go ahead and say that you're probably wrong. You can easily trick someone into thinking a higher quality preamp is used by "eq-ing" a preamp to sound like another. Preamps do make a difference when stacked, but Andy told me that the FF800 preamps are "fine." They're not great, but they won't prevent you from achieving professional results.

In double blind tests, people preferred the Behringer ADA8000 to Aurora Lynx converters... why? Does it mean that they're better?

My point here, is that you can't argue with results. Take any of the wav files I recorded of the solo'd guitars. Put them in your DAW, flip the phase of one pair, and listen to all the extra material. That missing material could be the foundation of some of your tones/recorded sounds. It could make them wider in the mix... it could make them "richer."

I plan on upgrading my preamps next. It's more important to start at the source- electricity. It powers EVERY piece of gear in your rig in some way or another, so optimizing it will help each link in the chain become a bit stronger.

I'm not trying to argue that clean, constant power isn't a good thing - It's definitely much better for your gear and will drastically reduce the chance of equipment damage and/or wonky performance if you have unreliable power in your studio. These things can be fixed by any decent line voltage regulator for a few hundred dollars at the most. I'm sure Andy would tell you that a simple Furman line regulator would be "fine" as well, and you'd save $1300 or so.

But if you're trying to make the argument that a power conditioner will affect the sound more than a mic pre, an A/D converter, room treatment, a better guitar amp, or any of a HUGE number of things that you can put your money into (and that the actual signal will pass through), you're just misguided.

You can't EQ a mic pre to alter it's harmonic characteristics/color or to change how it responds to transients, which are really two of the main things that give a mic pre its sonic identity. A good mic pre is not "pre-EQ'd" and you can't replicate a good pre with EQ (though I'll admit that different pres do sometimes put a little extra emphasis on certain aspects of the sound, though this usually still comes down to harmonic distortion and transient response).

I'm not trying to argue for argument's sake, I just think you'd be better off putting your money elsewhere. I guess it's none of my business, but you DID post this on the internet.

Either way, if you're happy with your purchase then hats off.

 

[lolzgreg]

It definitely is your business. I posted here for people to talk about it.

I should have probably said it will have a very similar affect, similar to the increase in quality due to using upgraded microphone preamplifiers.

Remember, once you hit a certain level of quality (like good conversion or good preamplification) it's more of a difference in flavor or color than a difference in quality.

 

[Mikaël-ange]

Thanks for take the time to do this Greg

 

[lolzgreg]

Any time. There has been an incredible amount of helpful shootouts on this forum that have made my life easier. It's always a good thing to give back.

 

[CatharsisStudios]

you could have bought a fuck ton of 703 traps. or new monitors, or a nice pre

 

[lolzgreg]

My whole room is bass trapped and treated. The area surrounding my monitors is completely reflection free. The wall behind my monitors is completely dead. My ceiling is completely dead.

My monitoring sounds a lot better since I hooked everything up through the power regenerator. It also broke the ground loops my monitors had. I'm not digging these KRKs much, but they're good. I'm going to consult someone I trust very much about monitoring in the near future.

I'm buying preamps today. I need to make a choice. Maybe everyone here can help.

Check the equipment thread

 

[Ben Johnson]

I can't think of a less fun piece of gear than a voltage regulator.

That being said, the differences between wall and powerplant are more noticeable than I would've expected. The clips with regulated power seem to be stronger and more focused.

However, I don't think I could ever talk myself into buying a slutty power regulator. Maybe if I had ALL my other bases covered.

 

[lolzgreg]

I just bought new microphone preamps about 15 minutes ago.

All I need now is some ridiculous monitors, but between my KRKs, my computer speakers, two pairs of headphones, and my car, my mixes have been translating incredibly well.

 

[Mikaël-ange]

That being said, the differences between wall and powerplant are more noticeable than I would've expected. The clips with regulated power seem to be stronger and more focused.

It's my conclusion too
Now I need to consider buying something similar

 

[Sacha]

Tube amps definitely need good clean power to operate at thier best (as does any other gear i'm sure). I was always fighting bad power in shitty clubs until I got a voltage regulator. Expensive but at least I can count on my tone being somewhat consistent now. Of course rooms are always a variable...

Anyway a lot of people overlook the not fun parts of a rig that are super important - clean power, proper wiring and grounding, cables etc. etc.

fuck that was my 666th post too! HAIL TEH GOAT

 

[lolzgreg]

\m/

Every part of the chain is important!