Members KillerV Posted June 10, 2010 Members Share Posted June 10, 2010 I've been using FMR Audio RNP's for everything over the last couple of years and I'm pretty happy with it. I got it after just about everyone I asked told me that it's basically the first step into pro-territory preamp-wise. It was basically a case of getting something decent and forgetting about it while I've been concentrating on upgrading more important parts of my studio (monitors, room treatment, mic collection, instruments, etc.) to the point where I feel that I'm happy with those now. I've been asking the question above to a couple of my friends who are accomplished engineers and I get 2 different answers: 1) What you have is fine, don't worry about pre's2) The RNP is nice but you need something more high-end So, what will higher end preamps (Neve's, API's, etc.) give me that my RNP's don't? Or is it just color? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted June 10, 2010 Members Share Posted June 10, 2010 Depends on the quality of everything else, notably your instruments, playing, microphones, and monitoring. If they're all good, better preamps could provide better clarity and/or different colors. If all that other stuff is mediocre, then you may not notice any difference. Find a dealer with good customer service and a liberal return policy and try one out. -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KillerV Posted June 10, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 10, 2010 Find a dealer with good customer service and a liberal return policy and try one out.-Dan. Not really possible for me as I'm in South Africa. Not having access to Neve's, API's, etc. to compare is pretty annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 1) What you have is fine, don't worry about pre's 2) The RNP is nice but you need something more high-end Neither one of those answers is comprehensive enough in my opinion. The RNP is a good preamp - you don't really need anything else to make good recordings... however, you may want other tonal colors and sonic flavors. Or you may want something with a touch less noise under some demanding circumstances (although to be frank, noise has never really been an issue for me with the RNP). I think you were wise to concentrate on other areas first, such as your monitoring, acoustics, sound sources and microphones. But just as different microphones have different sonic characteristics and excel at certain applications over other models, so do mic preamps; and while it's certainly quite possible to do an entire project with just a single "flavor" (as many classic albums that just used the console preamps proved), I personally like having a few different models available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted June 10, 2010 Members Share Posted June 10, 2010 Not really possible for me as I'm in South Africa. Not having access to Neve's, API's, etc. to compare is pretty annoying. API has a dealer in South Africa. http://apiaudio.com/dealers.html So does Neve:http://rupertneve.com/wheretobuy/international/ If things in S.Africa work the way they do in the US, you could have them ship it to you so you can try it and then return it for a refund if you didn't like it. You'd have to eat the shipping both ways. -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 10, 2010 Members Share Posted June 10, 2010 The RNP is good enough that you can make pro-level recordings and not have to make any excuses. It's a high quality mic preamp. If you use higher-end mic preamps, you get more, but it's with the law of diminishing returns. You might get, oh, say, 5% "better" (clearer, more physicality, more dimensionality, whatever) more, which can show itself a little over time when you are "stacking" tracks...in other words, using the same mic preamps over 20-30 tracks. I own two RNPs, a Neve Portico, and a Peavey VMP-2. I have no problems using the RNPs right along side the other two. No hesitation whatsoever. The other two simply sound different, and the Neve is nominally "clearer" sounding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KillerV Posted June 10, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 10, 2010 I own two RNPs, a Neve Portico, and a Peavey VMP-2. I have no problems using the RNPs right along side the other two. No hesitation whatsoever. The other two simply sound different, and the Neve is nominally "clearer" sounding. That's sorta what I've been gathering - that it's more a case of different colors. It's hard for me to justify spending that much cash on something that will only be a different color and not really a serious upgrade in terms of quality. Even more so because you can get color in many other (sometimes easier) ways as well - mics, compressors, EQ, etc. I've also not found the RNP to be very noisy. I do all sorts of stuff in my studio and noise has never been a problem. Mostly metal and different forms of rock, but I also get the odd classical recording, choir, voice-over, etc. The RNP has served me well on every project I've used it on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 10, 2010 Members Share Posted June 10, 2010 I should have mentioned that the Neve Portico is nominally clearer than the RNP in regular mode, but in Silk Mode has the girth and distortion. I was not speaking of other Neves, which may be different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 11, 2010 Members Share Posted June 11, 2010 I should have mentioned that the Neve Portico is nominally clearer than the RNP in regular mode, but in Silk Mode has the girth and distortion. I was not speaking of other Neves, which may be different. Yo, Ken, how does the Portico in regular mode compare to some of the other Neves, like the 1272? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 11, 2010 Members Share Posted June 11, 2010 Yo, Ken, how does the Portico in regular mode compare to some of the other Neves, like the 1272? Y'know, I honestly don't know. I haven't used the 1272 as an engineer, only a while back when I was recording guitar tracks, so I'm not entirely sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jon Chappell Posted June 11, 2010 Members Share Posted June 11, 2010 Y'know, I honestly don't know. I haven't used the 1272 as an engineer, only a while back when I was recording guitar tracks, so I'm not entirely sure. Ken, why do you let that guy talk to you like that? "Yo, Ken"? A little presumptuous, don'tcha think? Seriously, thanks for that info. Broaching the question of the Portico vs. other Neves (e.g., the 1272) was like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Which Portico do you have? The 5032? The 5012? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 12, 2010 Members Share Posted June 12, 2010 Ken, why do you let that guy talk to you like that? " Yo, Ken"? A little presumptuous, don'tcha think? And do I always talk to myself? Seriously, thanks for that info. Broaching the question of the Portico vs. other Neves (e.g., the 1272) was like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Which Portico do you have? The 5032? The 5012? I have the 5012. I have the black-faced version, which the first versions looked like. I have no idea if that has any bearing on the sound. I just thought I'd mention it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 12, 2010 Members Share Posted June 12, 2010 I have the 5012. I have the black-faced version, which the first versions looked like. I have no idea if that has any bearing on the sound. I just thought I'd mention it. Was that really important to mention? I mean really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 12, 2010 Members Share Posted June 12, 2010 Was that really important to mention? I mean really? Hey, back off, man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rimmer Posted June 15, 2010 Members Share Posted June 15, 2010 Hey, back off, man. heh.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KillerV Posted June 16, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 16, 2010 Hey, back off, man. Sheesh, I know this whole preamp-thing can make folks pretty crazy, but man... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Nick Posted June 21, 2010 Members Share Posted June 21, 2010 What are you using as far as converters? That's one thing that we seem to be neglecting in this discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted June 21, 2010 Members Share Posted June 21, 2010 i own an rnp....i like it... but i believe the difference between it and something live an avalon 737 is night and day... i'm about to buy a universal audio 6176... which is a 610 pre and 1176 ln compressor combo... my rnp will still see use though, together with my rnc... i like the idea of having options Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zooey Posted June 21, 2010 Members Share Posted June 21, 2010 i own an rnp....i like it... but i believe the difference between it and something live an avalon 737 is night and day... RNP that much better, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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