[jeffontheleft]

I'm considering picking up one of these used for $1100. It seems like
I should jump on it now because of the price. And while I've never
heard on myself, I'm pretty sure I can get my money back if I decide I
don't like it. So, that being said, could anyone who uses one of
these give me their opinion of it? I'll be using it primarily for
drum overheads as an alternate to my Hamptone J-FET, but also possibly
piano and acoustic guitar. Also for your consideration, I'd have to
sell my VMP2 to afford the Neve. Would it be a better investment to
send the VMP2 to Jim Williams for an upgrade? I like the idea of
having the balance of one dual channel tube pre and one J-FET. Would
the Neve and Hamptone make a good balance in their own? Thanks.

[Scott Dorsey]

In article ,
jeffontheleft wrote:
I'm considering picking up one of these used for $1100. It seems like
I should jump on it now because of the price. And while I've never
heard on myself, I'm pretty sure I can get my money back if I decide I
don't like it.

I have not used the Portico, but I have used the consoles that it's modelled
after, and they are entirely usable. They are not the cleanest thing around,
but they are a familiar sound that you'll recognize when you hear it.

The way I think about deals like this is that, if you have the money, you
should buy it. Because if you don't like it, you can always sell it for
more than you paid for it.

So, that being said, could anyone who uses one of
these give me their opinion of it? I'll be using it primarily for
drum overheads as an alternate to my Hamptone J-FET, but also possibly
piano and acoustic guitar. Also for your consideration, I'd have to
sell my VMP2 to afford the Neve. Would it be a better investment to
send the VMP2 to Jim Williams for an upgrade? I like the idea of
having the balance of one dual channel tube pre and one J-FET. Would
the Neve and Hamptone make a good balance in their own? Thanks.

My personal feeling is that VMP2 is one hell of a nice piece of gear,
and it's already gone up in value since it was last sold. I would not
sell a VMP2 to buy anything, no matter what, no matter HOW good it is.
The longer you keep the VMP2, the more it will be worth, and in the
meantime it's really one of the best sounding preamps in its price range.

But, that's just me, and I tend to prefer a cleaner sound than a lot of
people do today. But I would not sell something that I know sounds great
and will appreciate in value in order to get something I don't know if I
like the sound of.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Peter Larsen[_3_]]

jeffontheleft wrote:

I'm considering picking up one of these used for $1100. It seems like
I should jump on it now because of the price. And while I've never
heard on myself, I'm pretty sure I can get my money back if I decide I
don't like it.

No, not when you factor the selling of the rnp2 into this.

So, that being said, could anyone who uses one of
these give me their opinion of it? I'll be using it primarily for
drum overheads as an alternate to my Hamptone J-FET, but also possibly
piano and acoustic guitar. Also for your consideration, I'd have to
sell my VMP2 to afford the Neve. Would it be a better investment to
send the VMP2 to Jim Williams for an upgrade? I like the idea of
having the balance of one dual channel tube pre and one J-FET. Would
the Neve and Hamptone make a good balance in their own? Thanks.

I like the concept of treating all channels reasonably equally, so I'd want
to settle on a standard mic pre, in fact I just did by getting the six
channel version of a mixer I already have in its 12 channel version for
smaller events because I want to use that mic pre instead of the one I used
previously. From that viewpoint I'd get another RNP if I were you. As I read
Scott that really is what he also hints at in a very indirect way ....

Remember: ya can't make it clean if it starts out unclean, but you can
always loop it an extra time through whatever implement of coloration you
want to use ....

Kind regards

Peter Larsen