Preamp "Grit"

[Melodeath]

I had a friend over today and we were recording some of his vocals (not metal...blues and pop stuff). He usually puts on some distortion with an amp sim when he records vocals for himself. He wanted to hear the Neve emulation on my new Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56. But he wanted to hear more distortion. The harmonics knob didn't give him what he was looking for. And if you put the preamp gain into the red, it just clips the A/D, and doesn't sound like what a pushed Neve would sound like (I assume). I always figured if you push an API or Neve into the red, it just adds more "color," and doesn't sound like digital clipping. Is my thinking sound?

So here's the question: What does a pushed API or Neve really sound like? How much "dirt" does one of these pushed pres add? Is it a subtle thing, or is it very noticeable distortion?

How high you put the preamp gain on the emulation on the Focusrite doesn't seem to make a difference in the sound of the pre, just the volume.

How would you emulate this API or Neve preamp dirtyness? Maybe use a saturation plugin once the track is recorded? Are there preamp emulation plugins out there? Maybe ones that have transformer saturation modeling?

Is this maybe something that Nebula is for? Modelling pres pushed really hard?

Thanks guys

 

[greyskull]

With an api you need an inline attenuator or atty to REALLY push it.
But most 'coloured' pres which have an output control can do this. The tg2 rules at this

 

[Omega_Void]

Are there preamp emulation plugins out there? Maybe ones that have transformer saturation modeling?

IIRC the Tessla SE (VST plug, free) includes transformer saturation emulation.
http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/downloads/

Never played with Neve or API, but every pre sounds different when you push it.

You could always try chaining one pre into another) with maybe a passive DI between) if you can't get it distorting with one stage, but if it's designed for headroom I wouldn't be optimistic about how nicely it will clip when it finally does get there....

 

[Melodeath]

Thanks, Omega. That's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

I tested out Tessla SE a bit. It's a fairly subtle effect if you ask me. Not really that "dirty" sounding.

 

[colonel kurtz]

yea, but most high-end pres won't sound all that "dirty", either - even when pushed into the red

 

[Melodeath]

That's what I was wondering. Very interesting...

So maybe I can emulate a pushed API by using the API emulation on my interface, and then putting on some transformer saturation with Tessla SE.