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Systems Precision 8 EIGHT-CHANNEL MIC PRE Page 1, 2 |
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In Use I tried the Precision 8 on voice, acoustic guitar, drum overheads and percussion, and each time met with astonishing results. It’s a shame that my DAT and MDMs only record at 48 kHz, because they’re missing some of the glorious top end provided by these fine preamps. My AKG 414s sounded better than ever; I heard exactly what they picked up, with no noticeable coloration of the sound. I compared the unit to a few other solid state preamps, and, in terms of clarity, presence and absence of noise, the Precision 8 won every shoot-out. When I set up an M/S pair for the drums, I chose to record the Mid and Side channels straight—undecoded by the P 8—to two tracks. The P 8 allows one to record a decoded M/S image to two tracks (via the direct outs of channels one and two), but I chose to do the decoding in the mix with three channels of the console. This allows one to change the width of the stereo picture at a later date. But I used the preamp’s internal decoder to check the M/S pair for alignment during set up and found it quite the luxury. The DI channels also came in handy on some live to ADAT sessions. Samplers, drum machines and synthesizers all sounded perfect, driven by the Precision 8 down a long snake. Clean, Clean, Clean With its compact size, splitting capability, peak hold metering and transparent sound quality, the Precision 8 is ideal for location recording. It does get fairly hot after being powered up for an hour, but proper ventilation should take care of that. This is one of the cleanest preamps I have ever heard, only adding discernable noise after 45 dB of gain. Even if you are looking for a tube preamp to warm up your digital recordings, you might want to hear one of the best preamps the solid state realm can offer. Sold separately, eight preamps, two DIs and an M/S decoder might run as high as $5,000, but True Systems’ suggested retail price for the Precision 8 is $2,695. Distributed by Neumann USA; 1 Enterprise Drive, Old Lyme, CT 06371; 860/434-5220; www.neumannusa.com. David Ogilvy is a field recordist, producer and engineer working at studios, concerts and radio stations in California. |
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