Mic Pre blind Shootout. API, ISA, LA610, ZED-R16, ADA8000

[mickrich]

Did this for myself to see which mic pre I prefer.
I have been mainly using ISA828 lately so wanted to check all my available pres ahead of my next session.
Are expensive pres worth the money?

The contenders are, in no particular order:

API A2D
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/APIA2D
Universal Audio LA-610
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LA610mk2
Allen & Heath Zed-R16
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ZEDR16
Focusrite ISA 828
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ISA828/
Behringer ADA8000
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ADA8000

Each part of the clip starts with single centre panned guitar then left/right with backing track. Jeff's Rose of Sharyn pack. Thanks again Jeff. This pack is so good for tests.
TS808>6505>recto cab>E906
No processing of any kind used. 16 bit wav file normalized to 0db.
These guys range from pocket money to big bucks.
Pick your favourite and try and guess which is which.
Results in a couple of days.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2133088/MIC_PRE_TEST.wav

 

[Revson]

Listening through on my earbuds, I can't tell a huge difference between the clips. I can say that there's something I don't like about 3 and 4 but I can't really explain it.

 

[Deathmetal616]

I can't really tell huge differences either, but 2 and 5 have definitley the most significant ones.
Voted 5.

 

[xTomx]

Little to no difference at all.

 

[Ghoulscout]

There is less difference than I would have expected, but I think it's still clearly recognizable. I was thinking about buying more expensive preamps, but this shows me that it's propably not worth the money, at least for me as an amateur. But, I'd really like to know if Sample N5 is the Behringer ADA8000, because than I might think about exchanging at least that one to something better.

I have never used those preamps except for the behringer, so I can only guess according to specifications and the price:

1 - Allen & Heath Desk
2 - API
3 - Focusrite
4 - UAD 610
5 - Behringer ADA800

 

[Trevoire520]

Here's the notes I took while I was listening

1 leaner lows, more brightness, more "life" than the others
2 not as bright as 1/3 but not as dark as 4/5
3 brightness similar to 1 but without the lean lows
4 less highs than 1-3, but not as bad as 5
5 slightly choked sounding, lack of highs makes it sound boxy

In order of preference, and with a guess as to the result (probably wrong!):

1 API
3 ISA
2 A&H
4 Behringer
5 UA

Would love to find out the results via PM Mick as I'm an impatient bastard

 

[RedDog]

Behringer
API
A&H
ISA
UA

 

[Joematthews]

I couldn't really tell the difference when skipping through them. I think something of note here is that any difference you will hear is likely to be due to frequency response, as there is virtually no dynamics in heavily distorted guitars. As most pre's are neutral and flat the difference is minimal. Perhaps a better test would be on more dynamic and percussive material, drums, acoustic and clean guitars, pianos etc to see how each pre picks up the transients and therefore detail in the sound. Just a thought. On the positive side, unless you are after that extra .01% better guitar tone, any reasonable pre will do!

 

[RaNk]

I don't hear a difference at all to be honest. I cut smaller clips for the track and played them right after eachother but I feel they all sound the same. Couldn't even find small differences when looking at the spectrum, watching them closely. I'll try again later on, but now there's obvously no point in trying to guess which one is which for me, cause well... guessing is all that I would do. Nice test though, levels are perfectly matched for a test like this. Thanks for this one.

 

[mickrich]

Results!

1. ISA
2. API
3. Behringer
4. ZED-R16
5. LA-610

The differences are subtle and, as pointed out above, over a kit the differences are more obvious, but most of the guys here program drums and may be gassing over a top end mic pre so this really shows that for a driven guitar it's not really worth it.

I looped this myself and listened and stopped at what I thought was the best sound and it reaffirmed that I like the ISA. I think it is clearest and best balanced. API has a bit of a mid push that is good too.
The ADA8000 is a steal and the soon to be released update should be amazing for the price too.
I can hear it smearing the sound very slightly but in the mix you would hardly notice it. The 610 is brighter and it works great for vocals as it adds a bit of edge. The pres on the ZED are really good too and for the price of this desk you get 16 of them with really nice EQ, 16 AD and DA and auxes and monitor section etc. The ZED is about the same price as the 610 and cheaper than the API 2 channel.

I know I have been mentioning it a lot lately but the Sennheiser E906 is a fantastic mic.
Until I started using it I would never get such a good raw tone.
It sounds a bit darker than a 57 with less high mids so it is easy to think the 57 sounds clearer when you test them against each other but in the mix I always find myself stripping the 4-5k on a 57. The 906 generally needs a bit of cut at 7-900 but the high mids are nice and smooth.
So to cut a long story short, buy a 906 before you spend big bucks on a mic pre if you are just recording guitars.
Thanks to everyone who participated.

 

[colonel kurtz]

So to cut a long story short, buy a 906 before you spend big bucks on a mic pre if you are just recording guitars.

...and an i5, and a pr30, and a ribbon, and any of the other fucktons of mics you can buy for the price of a top-end pre!

 

[bryan_kilco]

Can barely hear a difference. Cut out first 2 bars of just single guitar of each pre, bounced around, maybe kinda SORTA hear a very, VERY minute difference....

But in a mix, forget it. I'd take that cheapie Behringer for $250 over any of those $2k+ pres ANYDAY. And I hate Behringer for the most part.

 

[FarBeyondMetal]

Initially I picked 1 and 3 as my favored tones but I held back posting because I was scurred of looking like an idiot. Now I know I am an idiot hahaha

 

[Trevoire520]

So turns out my favourites were the ISA followed by the Behringer! Think I might keep my eye out for an ISA on ebay. Gonna do the same for the 906 aswell, used to have one but ended up trading it. Really should give it another go!

I've actually got a ADA8000 in the studio at the moment for DA into the Zed's stereo channels (was using a Profire but it died) Have been using it for triggers but nice to know it'll hold up if I need a couple of more channels on the way in.

What impedance setting did you use on the ISA Mick?

 

[MatrixClaw]

I can definitely see how people would like the Behringer on guitar. In my experience with the two I've had, they give a clean signal a "dirtier" sound. Was pretty cool for a little extra edge on bass, so I can see how it'd be appealing on an aggressive guitar tone. However, in the context of heavily distorted guitars, hearing any kind of quality imparted on the track by a mic pre is going to be fairly null.

On a clean source like bass or even vocals, people should be able to tell the differences a little easier, especially since you'll hear how the pre reacts to the lowend.

 

[colonel_claypoo]

The ADA8000 is a steal and the soon to be released update should be amazing for the price too.

where can I read about that?

 

[mickrich]

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/ADA8200.aspx

 

[amarshism]

I haven't listened yet but how much gain were you applying? In my experience the cheaper pres totally crumble under a bunch of gain and distort poorly. I like distortion.

 

[Charles J]

I haven't listened yet but how much gain were you applying? In my experience the cheaper pres totally crumble under a bunch of gain and distort poorly. I like distortion.

+1 to this, VERY curious... Marshy hit it right on the head... you really notice the difference in pre's when you start stacking stuff recorded through the same pre's AND as mentioned, how hard you're hitting them.

My favorites were 1 + 2 by far. I thought 1 was the API but DAMN, I knew the ISA pre's were excellent but now I've definitely got to put some form of an ISA at the top of my 'mic pre' list....

 

[MatrixClaw]

+1 to this, VERY curious... Marshy hit it right on the head... you really notice the difference in pre's when you start stacking stuff recorded through the same pre's AND as mentioned, how hard you're hitting them.

My favorites were 1 + 2 by far. I thought 1 was the API but DAMN, I knew the ISA pre's were excellent but now I've definitely got to put some form of an ISA at the top of my 'mic pre' list....

Yeah, the ISAs are great. Don't have a lot of color like an API or Neve would, but I sure do love them on bass, vocals and overheads