VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

tokyofan

I took advantage of the strong yen and recently bought a Harlan Hogan VO-1A mic and a Golden Age 73 pre...and just recorded some voice samples today.
I'm curious to get your thoughts....and wondering which gear might sound best for different reads., i.e. news, audiobook, corporate.

All files are dry...just offset DC and normalized to -3 dB. Everything is run through a RME AD-2 (AD-DA converter).

This has been my mainstay set-up: a U87ai into a Speck 5.0 pre (transformer engaged.)
http://www.chriskoprowski.com/mylinks/U87ai_Speck5.0.wav

This is the U87ai into the Golden Age 73 pre
http://www.chriskoprowski.com/mylinks/U87ai_GAP73pre.wav

The Harlan Hogan VO:1A into the Golden Age 73 pre
http://www.chriskoprowski.com/mylinks/AO-V1_GAP73pre.wav

Incidentally, I was getting constant hum pairing the VO:1A with the Speck or Grace 101. You can see a separate thread on that.
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Mike Sommer · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 1:55 am Post subject:

Wow!

I love both the U87 and the AO-V1 on the GAP73. They have a full rich sound- "mature" and "developed" are words that come to mind. A very classic sound

The AO-V1 is a little more open at the top end, with a crispness that I find pleasant. It has a wetness that adds intelligibility yo your rich voice.

Nothing wrong with the Speck, it's just a different sound. It does brighten the U87 sound, But i think I like the GAP better. I would be hard pressed to decide between the two preamps.

I really like the AO-V1.

And your little booth sound great!
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Bill Campbell · DC Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 621

The Golden Age pre does sound good. The MXL doesn't sound bad, but does have the typical Chinese ringing sound on the highs, and it's a little muddy.

The Neumann and the Golden Age is the winner for me.

Thanks for the samples.
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Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

Interesting thanks for sharing.

The Speck is wonderful, accurate and sharp...but it doesn't sound as pleasing or natural on voice. It's like when you crank the contrast or chroma on an image.

I went with the Focusrite ISA One recently instead of the Speck because it does some of that mojo that the GAP Pre73 does, (Lundhal transformer) but it also gets more like the Speck with the higher input impedance settings (Speck is 4.7 k ohms, which is pretty high - and the ISA does 2.4k and 6.8k on the higher settings - the GAP does 300 and 1.2k ohms)

It took me some time to learn, that I only like impedance settings from 600-3000 ohms and higher (Speck 4.7k and True 5k and Grace 8.1k) are just too hyped and scratchy sounding. Big tight lows and intense highs, but the mids and low mids are just lacking. Thoughts???

U87 with the GAP - is it 300 or 1200 impedance on this recording? I'll guess 300...probably will be wrong again.
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tokyofan · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:01 am Post subject: re:

Thanks for your thoughts!

Right, when the GAP's 'LOW-Z' switch is engaged it drops the input impedance of the mic from 1200 Ohms to 300 Ohms. But I didn't engage it for any of these recordings.

Are you saying pres with Ohms above 3000 are 'too hyped and scratchy sounding'? I haven't really thought about this.

Saw this in a FAQ on Great River's site:

Mike Sommer · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:54 am Post subject:

Yes Chris engage the HiZ button. This changes the input transformer to 300 ohm, and should be closer to were you need to be which is 600 ohm. There might be an increase in head room.

FYI: If one should ever use a passive ribbon mic with the GAP, HiZ would be the correct setting also.

I liked the Neumann w/ GAP
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Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

tokyofan · Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 3:22 am Post subject: re:

And here's the TLM103 with the GAP73.

At 100% output (no colorization):
http://www.chriskoprowski.com/mylinks/TLM103_GAP73_full.wav

At 50% output (50% colorization):
http://www.chriskoprowski.com/mylinks/TLM103_GAP73_half.wav

With the earlier mic tests I didn't make a note of the output settings. Oops.
Not sure how much I should drive the output.

I did try the LOW-Z switch with the U87ai the other day and didn't hear much difference. Will try again at some point.
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Sinocelt · Guest

I didn't think the preamp could make such a difference. With the U87Ai, I much prefer the GAP over the Speck: it sounds a lot smoother.

Mike Sommer · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 1:14 am Post subject:

Now you're starting to understand what's involved. There's more to mics and equipment than what meets the eye... er...um... ear.
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Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

Mike Sommer · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 1:46 am Post subject: Re: re:

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:25 am Post subject:

Does the audio interface matter here at all? Or is it merely a pass through into the computer?
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kgenus · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 12:52 pm Post subject:

Chris,

Did you buy the stock or upgraded unit? How hot does the unit get?

Kevin
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Mike Sommer · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:12 pm Post subject:

Jeff-

A good audio interface is always a must. This is why I prefer a stand alone interfaces (no preamps) or sound card.

As technology improves so does the quality of interfaces. Right now there have been a number of new interfaces that have come out on the market, especially USB interfaces. At this point I can't even keep up.

For example I use an Echo AudioFire 2, and I am very happy with it. But these days most of what's out there are just fine. But you can and do get what you pay for. So choose wisely.

Kgenus,

I believe Chris is using the stock model. The differences between the Stock and the Mod versions is better but I'm very sure you will be pleased with the stock unit.
Using the Carnhill transformer gives the unit a little more headroom before distortion, and an extended clarity in the low end and in the lower midrange. Installing tantalums capacitors will make the unit a little more accurate and are generally considered more “HiFi” than electrolytics. But I don't think the cost of a full Mod ($399) is worth the price.

In terms of Heat Output: None
In terms of Gain Output: 80 dB's
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Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

tokyofan · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 5:02 pm Post subject: re:

I went with the 'TT' MOD: Tantalum / Transistor upgrade, all capacitors replaced with original Neve value tantalum style, output transistor is replaced with new old stock Motorola 2N 3055 and re-biased.
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Mike Sommer · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:05 pm Post subject:

Wow You went full out!
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The Blog:
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Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.