Orchestral preamp: Forssell, Gordon or John Hardy

[Johns]

My orchestral recording is done with a Crane Song Spider. Beautiful. I have used the Precision 8, Millennia HV3, and Hardy. They all work well, but I love the Spider.

[Bob Olhsson]

A number of people I know rate the Forssell Fetcode as the best they've used. I'd love to hear a comparison to the Gordon. A number of top scoring mixers still swear by GML in the context of a mix. One of the very best I've ever used was a prototype that Deane Jensen never lived to put into production himself. The Hardy's are his previous design and certainly remain among the very best.

[PPA]

Grace design preamps?

[Rich Mays]

I am pretty sure Grace was mentioned many pages ago. The reality (IMO) with preamps in classical is that the mic choice and position and the hall itself account for at least 95% of the final sound. Much more obvious when the $$ was spent on mics.

Rich

[PPA]

reading this thread seem that the most important sound look that should have a preamp for classic music is the neutrality and the clear sound, isn't it?

Pier Paolo

[Haigbabe]

reading this thread seem that the most important sound look that should have a preamp for classic music is the neutrality and the clear sound, isn't it?

Pier Paolo

Hi Pier, and welcome to 3db.

Yes, it's a commonly held belief that neutral and transparent are sought after requirements for mic pres for classical recordings.

It's largely correct.

There are of course times when selction of tools is based on the tastes and abilities and experience of the practioners rather than a generalisation. For instance, there may be times that a bit of mojo might suit an overly bright acoustic, or mics with a touch of sizzle may be better in a dull room. You get my drift.

But as a starting point, the idea is to try to recreate the beauty that an acoustic musician is producing. Assuming that the sound is beautiful to begin with. Otherwise, it's then all about creating a euphonic illusion while no-one is any the wiser. That is skill and art.

Cheers,

Haigbabe

[Scott Fraser]

reading this thread seem that the most important sound look that should have a preamp for classic music is the neutrality and the clear sound, isn't it?
Pier Paolo

That is certainly a good starting point. Personally I use a lot of Neve designed transformer-based preamp channels for my spot mics, but usually a Millennia on the main pair.

Scott Fraser

[Didier]

A number of people I know rate the Forssell Fetcode as the best they've used. I'd love to hear a comparison to the Gordon. A number of top scoring mixers still swear by GML in the context of a mix. One of the very best I've ever used was a prototype that Deane Jensen never lived to put into production himself. The Hardy's are his previous design and certainly remain among the very best.

Do you konow this test comparing the Forsell SMP2 and the Gordon Model 5 ?