Great River MP-1NV
The recording-studio market is abundant with many mic-pre offerings under $1,000 that claim to "run with the big boys." And while some of the claims may be true, what if one of the real "big boys" made a microphone preamplifier available at a street price of under $1,000? Welcome to the Great River Electronics MP-1NV. With a list price of $1,299 and a street price of $975, the MP-1NV is a half-rack, single-channel desktop version of the Great River MP-2NV. The 2NV, which has become, according to many, the mic pre to envy — is based on the classic Neve 1073 module. The big brother of the MP-1NV, the MP-2NV, began with conversations between Dan Kennedy of Great River Electronics and Fletcher of Mercenary Audio. The idea was to emulate the best characteristics of the Neve 1073, while taming the well-known looseness and mushiness of the original Neve 1073. The noisefloor of the 1073 does not sit well with many recordists operating digital recording systems. While the 1073 is well-known for its "big" sound, characteristic of the iron in the transformer, the 1073 can easily get out of hand when stacked over several tracks of a recording. If you have a good selection of mic pres in your studio, the 1073 might be just the perfect selection for a well-cranked amp, bass, kick or snare — but it's not a mic preamp to use for recording too many tracks, because the definition of the mix would begin to become loose. [an error occurred while processing this directive]
| MP-1NV Specs and Features |
| • XLR balanced in and out connections 1Z4" -10dbV output for 'no-latency' DAW monitoring |
| • High-Z input on front panel |
| • Adjustable gain in 5db steps to 60db |
| • Output gain from -25 to +10db; maximum overall gain 70db |
| • Input and output monitor meters on each channel |
| • 2 or 3 stages of single ended solid state amplifier gain blocks |
| • Gold plated switching contacts |
| • Front panel polarity, phantom power, input impedance, and output loading switches |
| • High quality, custom wound Sowter transformers |
| • Output transistor and transformer with heavy 70ma Class A bias |
| • Local regulating of each channel |
| • Long service life components |
| • TRS insert patch for compressor or equalizer ahead of the output amplifier |
| • 110, 220 volts, either 50 or 60 Hz operation with external switching |
| • 2 year warranty with registration |
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| MP-1NV rear view |
Pulling the MP-1NV out of the box, it feels heavy and solid. The faceplate is an attractive deep blue. The knobs, buttons and meters are all well laid out and we found the MP-1NV to be one of the most intuitive units we've tried. The gain-input knob is nice and large and feels good in the hand. Input is stepped up at 5db increments from 5db to 60db, while the output level is fully variable from -25bd to +10db. Working with the input and output together reveals a variety of tonal variations.
The front panel includes buttons for 48V phantom power, polarity reverse [for the XLR output], impedance selector between 300 ohms and 1200 ohm for the input load of the microphones and Hi-Z buffer and a loading switch, which controls the output termination relay -- between unloaded and a 600 ohm resistor.
The back panel includes a variable 110V or 220V power connector, XLR mic in, XLR line out, 1/4" TRS patch jack for inserting external devices such as a compressor, EQ, gate, etc. and also a -10 dBv unbalanced output.
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| MP-1NV front view |
We used the MP-1NV on a variety of sources with a variety of mics, amps and instruments and also alongside other preamps. On bass, the MP-1NV delivered a tight, well-defined tone while adding just enough "color" so as to make it reminiscent of vintage gear. On several vocal takes with different singers on different mics, the MP-1NV showed itself to be versatile and a "team player" as it seamlessly incorporated into the system and worked effortlessly and without an overbearing sonic personality.
As a direct box, the MP-1NV is excellent, giving all the texture and tone of vintage preamps while remaining tight and focused. The "iron" sound via the Hi-Z input is increased by an input transformer, which interestingly is preceded by a FET impedance converter. We tested the DI on bass, keyboards, drum machine and guitar run through a POD. The MP-1NV accurately focused the sounds in the soundfield while providing just enough character to give a colored "edge" to the sounds. The MP-1NV has balls!
The only personal "objection" I have is that at a price hovering around $1,000, I — and I'm sure many others — would like to see a 19" rackmountable version of the MP-1NV, or at least an optional faceplate that would become available.
So, Who Needs This Mic Pre?
Anyone who's working on Rock, Pop, R&B, Hip Hop, Electronica and is looking to get into the sound afforded by more expensive and vintage mic pres. Anyone who is looking to make their first investment in a serious pre and will be using that same pre to record many, most or all of the tracks on their recordings. The MP-1NV will actually hold your music together better than the vintage pres.
I highly recommend this new offering from Dan Kennedy and company. To have something of this level of design, build and sonic quality on the southside of one thousand dollars has been a long time coming. We're glad the Great River MP-1NV is finally here.
Various MP3 audio clips of the Great River MP-1NV and other mic pres are available for download at The Listening Sessions.
For more information about the MP-1NV, go to Great River Electronics.
Dan Richards is a Contributing Editor for Digital Pro Sound and is currently producing The Listening Sessions.
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