Opinions on the RNP?

[fantastico]

I'm looking to buy a good preamp for under $1,000, and I've been told this is one of the few contenders. Thoughts? Thanks.

[UstadKhanAli]

 

I'm looking to buy a good preamp for under $1,000, and I've been told this is one of the few contenders. Thoughts? Thanks.

 

 

Yes. It rules.

[UstadKhanAli]

It's really clear and transparent, and is one of the great bargains in pro audio. Two high quality mic preamps for under $500. I own two of these and cannot say enough nice things about them. I also own a Peavey VMP-2 and Neve Portico for different "flavors", but I have no hesitation in using the RNPs right alongside either of these.

[Hard Truth]

The other one on that price range to consider is the Grace 101.

[rasputin1963]

I use the RNP in line with the RNC and I like them.

[Magpel]

Don't forget also the Sytek 4-channel, which comes in at slightly less than the RNP per channel and is quite decent. I have the Sytek and the same Peavey Ken has (though we prefer to call it an AMR here )

[UstadKhanAli]

Don't forget also the Sytek 4-channel, which comes in at slightly less than the RNP per channel and is quite decent. I have the Sytek and the same Peavey Ken has (though we prefer to call it an AMR here )

 

 

That's right, I need to change my faceplate!!!

 

I've heard great things about the Sytek, but have never used it.

[fantastico]

Thanks. That's what I wanted to hear.

[Cirrus]

 

Thanks. That's what I wanted to hear.

 

 

Can I make you hear it again? The RNP is a great, great preamp. I just had to sell mine due to guitar rig expansion, which was a bit gutting but it's got headroom, and amazing clarity. I loved using mine as a bass D.I. because it picked up the depth and grittiness of rock bass so well. Also great for things like drums because fo the headroom.

[Phil O'Keefe]

FMR products = some of the best bargains in Pro Audio.

 

Highly recommended. :phil:

[MikeRivers]

 

It's really clear and transparent, and is one of the great bargains in pro audio.

 

The RNP is indeed a good bargain. "Transparent" is a kind of wishy-washy term, but according to the designer, Marc McQuillen, it's not designed to be transparent, it's designed to have a Neve-like coloration. (as is the Neve Portico, but different). It's also not the quietest preamp in the rack, with a couple more dB of quiescent noise than many. The EIN spec doesn't look all that great on paper, but as I've noted here before, EIN is a good way to specify noise performance of a device or circuit, but it isn't really the best way to specify noise performance for a box.

 

But in trade, it has 65 dB maximum gain where most of the pack has 60 dB. It's worth noting that gain control isn't continuous, but is in 6 dB steps. Many don't like this because they can't squeeze the last dB of record level out of it because one more step would take the A/D converter into overload. Secondarily, you usually can't make a small adjustment while a recording is in progress because the step change, even in background noise, would be audible. I think it's a great idea, though, because it encourages you to use a little less gain, record at a conservative level, and let those 20+ bits do some good for you.

 

A lot of people who buy the RNP also buy an RNC to go along with it (and vice versa). They plug together, it makes a nice recording front end, and it's a way of having a balanced input and output on the RNC.

[Lee Knight]

I don't particularly think it is transparent. I use it along side 2 channels of API and a few channels of an old Urei design. It holds its own next to those. For band tracking sessions it usually finds itself on OH duties and it does a great job there. Not as punchy as the APIs but plenty of headroom letting those overhead drum tracks really sound open but not sterile by any means.

 

I love mine.

[UstadKhanAli]

Yes, I'd say that it's open but not sterile, but it's definitely on the clean side. How would you describe it then? And I would strongly disagree that it sounds anything like the Neve Portico, assuming that you are talking about the Portico in Silk Mode. When I hear the RNP working, I never think, "Wow, that's some cool harmonic distortion!"

 

And people make too big a deal of its noise. It's considerably quieter than a lot of tube mic preamps, in yet no one seems to make a big deal of noise in tube mic preamps. It's mostly because Mark posted that on his website.

[Lee Knight]

Yes, I'd say that it's open but not sterile, but it's definitely on the clean side. How would you describe it then? And I would strongly disagree that it sounds anything like the Neve Portico, assuming that you are talking about the Portico in Silk Mode. When I hear the RNP working, I never think, "Wow, that's some cool harmonic distortion!" And people make too big a deal of its noise. It's considerably quieter than a lot of tube mic preamps, in yet no one seems to make a big deal of noise in tube mic preamps. It's mostly because Mark posted that on his website.

 

Well, yeah... that's the tough bit talking about sound. I have these old Urie pres that are transparent. I mean, it is uncanny how real they sound. Plug an RE20 into one it it sounds like some test lab set up. With an RE20. You are there.

 

That's transparent to me.

 

Too transpartent for drums. To me. So where does that leave the RNP? You got me.

 

How about, "Open but not sterile"?

[MikeRivers]

 

I would strongly disagree that it sounds anything like the Neve Portico

 

Never having heard a Protico, I'd probably say that it sounded different, too. Maybe what I wrote wasn't all that clear. Marc had some Neve preamp in mind when he was working on the tonal character of the RNP. Rupert said he designed the Portico to not sound like a famous Neve preamp. He's Mr. Neve and he designed a preamp the way he wanted to sound in 2005 or whenever it came out. So, the two preamps aren't aiming to sound like the same "classic Neve" whatever that is.

 

And, yes, people often make too much of the RNP noise, but a really quiet preamp can make a difference when trying to pull a classic ribbon mic back from a fingerpicked guitar. What's a really quiet preamp? I dunno. I haven't found one yet that I can't hear hiss when I crank it wide open. That's what was so good about analog tape - even with noise reduction, there was always more tape hiss than the noise from any other reasonably well designed component in the recording chain.

[UstadKhanAli]

If you're recording rock, this talk about quiet mic preamps goes right out the window the minute you add drums and guitar amps with hiss and all that anyway. You've got more than enough stuff to mask your tiny bit of mic preamp hiss.

[sventvkg]

Black Lion Audio....Auteur...2 Channels, Under $500....Very very good reviews....Check it out.

[MikeRivers]

 

If you're recording rock, this talk about quiet mic preamps goes right out the window the minute you add drums and guitar amps with hiss and all that anyway.

 

That's part of the reason why I rarely talk about recording rock.

[UstadKhanAli]

That's part of the reason why I rarely talk about recording rock.

 

It's not because you can't stand it?

[Ronan Murphy]

I have been reviewing one for a low cost mic pre show I am putting together, but in short I can say its a cool pre with a very cool feature set. It definitely has a color to it, that can be very cool on the right sound source. It does not put my high end pres out of business, but is a very nice unit at a good price point.

[UstadKhanAli]

Exactly. How would you characterize its color?

[Cirrus]

Well, I'm trying to work out what it does to bass that makes me like it so much. It's deep sounding, i think it brings out some fret/string attack noise which i suppose is up at 2-5k. So I guess it's quite forward in that region, rather than the kind of artificial brightness at 10k+ that can make for harsh recordings?