[Federico]

In your opinion how would you compare these two brands with Neve or Api or
John Hardy products?

http://www.soundskulptor.com/index.html
http://www.seventhcircleaudio.com/

F.

[drichard]

Hi Federico,

I have not heard these preamps, but I do appreciate that you posted
the link. Very interesting concept.

Dean

On Dec 4, 11:40 am, "Federico" wrote:
In your opinion how would you compare these two brands with Neve or Api or
John Hardy products?

http://www.soundskulptor.com/index.h...rcleaudio.com/

F.

[Geoff]

drichard wrote:
Hi Federico,

I have not heard these preamps, but I do appreciate that you posted
the link. Very interesting concept.

Dean

On Dec 4, 11:40 am, "Federico" wrote:
In your opinion how would you compare these two brands with Neve or
Api or John Hardy products?

http://www.soundskulptor.com/index.h...rcleaudio.com/

F.

Pretty expensive for kits. I suppose the output xformers might be not cheap
though ...

geoff

[Paul Stamler]

"Federico" wrote in message
...
In your opinion how would you compare these two brands with Neve or Api or
John Hardy products?

http://www.soundskulptor.com/index.html
http://www.seventhcircleaudio.com/

I can't compare them directly because I haven't heard them, but some things
can be learned from the descriptions.

It's clear that both companies are offering preamps derived from Neve and
API designs. They're probably pretty close electronically; how close they'll
be sonically will depend on how closely the transformers match the
originals. Seventh Circle seems to be offering designs that try to get as
close as possible to the originals; Sound Skulptor lets you mix-and-match
transformers to customize the sound as you like it.

John Hardy is a different kettle of fish. His preamps are designed to be as
uncolored as possible, while Neve and API preamps had certain colorations
which many people find appealing. I note that Sound Skulptor also includes a
preamp in their line which they say can be configured for very low
coloration.

The designers seem to have done their homework at both companies. If they
did good board layout and managed grounding well, these should be good
preamps, and you could save some money by investing the sweat equity.
They're still not cheap -- as someone else noted, the transformers are
fairly expensive. Some of them should also run warm -- one Sound Skulptor
design notes 70mA idle current -- so you should plan on good ventilation.

Peace,
Paul

[Jay Kadis]

In article ,
"geoff" wrote:

drichard wrote:
Hi Federico,

I have not heard these preamps, but I do appreciate that you posted
the link. Very interesting concept.

Dean

On Dec 4, 11:40 am, "Federico" wrote:
In your opinion how would you compare these two brands with Neve or
Api or John Hardy products?

http://www.soundskulptor.com/index.h...rcleaudio.com/

F.

Pretty expensive for kits. I suppose the output xformers might be not cheap
though ...

geoff

If you order a full system, Seventh Circle discounts the various
elements some.

-Jay

--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x ---- Jay's Attic Studio ----x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x---------- http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jay/ ------------x

[Federico]

I have not heard these preamps, but I do appreciate that you posted
the link. Very interesting concept.


I forgot this one
http://www.eisenaudio.com/diy500/
F.

[Rick Powell]

On Dec 4, 11:40 am, "Federico" wrote:
In your opinion how would you compare these two brands with Neve or Api or
John Hardy products?

http://www.soundskulptor.com/index.h...rcleaudio.com/

F.

I have 4 of the 5 SCA pre's.

The 1272 Neve clone sounds as good or better than the other 1272 knock-
offs. Thing is, Neve never made a console with the 1272 as a mic pre
but it has been adapted for that purpose by Neve scavengers for
years...it's in the same sonic ballpark as the Neve modules like the
1073 and 1081, minus the EQ, but with a little less maximum gain. I
wired mine with the overdrive option [real stock Neve modules don't do
this], which allows you to dial in some grit by turning the gain
control down and the input attenuator control up, but it can go
relatively clean, too. It's got a full bodied sound with a little
sheen on top.

The 312 clone sounds punchy and middy, similar to the original, but is
a little more open sounding. I used the SCA SC25 opamps, but many
others are compatible including the 2520 which was used in the
original API 312's.

The Jensen/Hardy 990 clone I can't make a direct comparison on because
I haven't really used the original. I used the John Hardy 990c
opamps. These pre's are cleaner and more transparent than the other 2
but still have that transformer sound, having input and output
trannies. With certain mic's like the Neumann KM 184, the high end
sheen will peel paint if you're not careful. Sounds great on acoustic
sources.

RP

[Peter Larsen[_2_]]

Federico wrote:

In your opinion how would you compare these two brands with Neve or
Api or John Hardy products?

http://www.soundskulptor.com/index.html
http://www.seventhcircleaudio.com/

I'd also consider Phil Allisons design if I were in mic pre diy mood. Some
australian webshop sells it as a kit.

F.


Kind regards

Peter Larsen