7 Mic Preamps on Electric Guitar - API, UA, Rupert Neve etc!

I'm comparing 7 Microphone Preamps on electric guitar today! I'm recording a 1971 Marshall Superbass with a Gibson SG. The preamps are:
1. API 512C
2. Universal Audio 610 (LA-610)
3. Skibbe Electronics 736-5
4. Rupert Neve Design Portico 5032
5. Black Lion B173
6. Vintage Design M81
7. TC Electronics Studio Konnekt 48 onboard preamp.
Support the channel on Patreon to keep the videos going:
On Patreon I do a pre show and a post show each week with behind the scenes material and analysis.
www.patreon.com/user?u=59071214
You can also support the channel via PayPal:
www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_...

[@jcoulter43]

Each one adds its own cool coloration to the sound. And we thought we'd finally mastered all the tonal variations with speakers and mic placement! The tonal possibilities are endless. Great video as always. God bless and rock on 👍😎🎸

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks J!

[@PureToneAmps]

what an amazing video Johan! I love them all, I love all tones....

[@OssianOtt]

To my ears the 512c sounds really nice here, with the b173 coming second. Thanks for the test!

[@stevenmgyori3826]

Well done Brother! Great comparison, Loved it! Thanks for sharing and Be Well All!

[@Gearjunkie35]

This is gonna be good. Loved the last vid on the compressor...got me looking into plugin emulations

[@JohanSegeborn]

Glad to hear it

[@tyremanguitars]

I liked the sound of the neve preamps, listening on my studio monitors in my studio it sounds amazing, so smooth and big sounding.

[@VultCult]

They all sounded good. For the overdriven sounds, I liked the Neve one the most in that I thought it provided a degree of clarity to the tone. Your very last point is spot on - I have to remind myself of that all the time. When recording, I spend a lot of time listening to the frequencies such that I can easily that it's about the music. And that it's very important I try hard to focus first on the music guide where the sound should go to work best.

[@ThomasDiSanto]

I really liked the way the skibbes color the sound. Very cool. I like Neve in general...very even and balanced. Impressed by the TCs!!!

[@notthisnotthat]

You're doing God's work Johan. Thanks man.

[@oliverohaver1063]

They all sounded pretty similar and pretty good (including the interface). The UA on the clean guitar was the most drastic difference and that sounded really good

[@SeemoreDunkan]

Wow Johan thank you :) this is amazing

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Simon!

[@samclements8246]

Gold! Thanks for this video!!!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Sam!

[@Avalaraeon]

I feel like part of a special club because I know what he’s talking about!

[@leonardblack1375]

Great shoot out Johan! I felt Neve Portico provided great detail and UA-610 definitely was ultra harmonically reach. API 512 has the muscle, but as you and others mention, it needs to be attenuated and then it would be where Portico and UA shined!

[@sidvicioux]

this is exactly my impression as well. the warmer units impressed me more, and the neve had more depth than the rest to my ears.

[@CarstenGoeke]

Love this test Johan. They all sounded good in a way. For me the API, Rupert Neve 5032 and the 610 sounded interesting. Would be interesting to compare these physical preamps to the Universal Audio Unison Models. Thanks and greetz. Carsten ✌🏼

[@firatyildirim2288]

That's how a comparison video must be made. Thanks.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Firat!

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

The Neve sounds the best to me. But they are all so similar. Thank you !

[@benjaminheller3617]

Johan! Super informative... Definitely going to grab the Skibbe! My thought on API preamps (which I own a few) is that if you don't have some sort of volume control after them, it's really difficult to use them on loud sources because as you said, the pad on them doesn't sound all that great. The 512V is a great option or in my case, the 3124v handles the loud preamps nicely. Digital clipping is frustrating! Thanks again for the video. Cheers!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Benjamin, yeah 512v and 3124v seems really interesting!

[@Gearjunkie35]

Wow... TC unit sounding great here.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Yeah, and it’s from around 2007 and is an onboard soundcard preamp which I think is impressive

[@LucasNearingProducer]

those skibbe flickinger pres are my favourite with the portico coming second

[@DMSProduktions]

Oooh colouration galore!

[@AdamGotheridge]

Nice job as always. Sometimes it's hard to hear the differences with the source solo'd. When you are listening to a source where you are fitting it into a mix and only parts of the source are poking through the mix, those little differences can be a lot. Also, mic preamps with switchable input impedance can make a huge difference in tone, like more than we are kind of hearing here going from preamp to preamp. Thought it was interesting how I might prefer one preamp with the distortion tone and another one with volume dialed back. Cheers!

[@JesseJuup]

I liked the M81 best (to me) on guitar here, but the benefit/difference using great preamps only starts adding up when you have many tracks that add up, like 32 great channels of audio vs. 32 channels of budget sound. I would probably use the Apis on drums and the portico on vocals. This being said, I think basic prosumer Audio Interfaces like Focusrite Saffire and the likes have damn nice pres nowdays and will result in great recordings albeit not being as good as the likes you had in this (awesome) comparison. Great leveling Johan!!

[@deyanangelovangelov7471]

thanks very helpfull video

[@HarkoBarf]

This is a very interesting comparison. One I was quite curious about. I listened with studiomonitors and found the diffences to be subtle at best. I expected a more dramatic difference. Having said that, the Neve was the winner for me. It had a certain punch going.

[@DMSProduktions]

Neve HAS the reputation!

[@error8418]

Exactly the same here. I'm really not sure whether that extra 5% (at best) is worth that much money. I guess, if you have a high quality interface with decent preamps the money is better spent on microphones etc.

[@INeedsMoneys]

Heja blåvitt! Hade gött hajj

[@gainmeister4505]

M81 and especially the portico slayed the others.

[@somedood6621]

The portico and UA 610 just reaffirmed what I already love about them lol, I’m trusting my taste even if my bank account disagrees!

[@jeanemmanuelkrieger6001]

The Skibbe was interesting : good mix of low mid weight and clear highs All minus the TC added a fair amount of mids , as expected with vintage designs and transformers . Of course the more gain used the more colour you will get Also different mic types will react differently to each specific preamp, particularly true with ribbons, they are quite sensitive to the input impedance

[@theirritatedirishman5440]

Clean I wasn’t crazy about the API at all! Seemed a little sterile and lower volume output? The Skibbles and UA had a very airy sound which I liked. The TC was nice on a clean sound as well. I’m also listening through an IPhone 6

[@troutlaw4735]

Great video as always Johan, Have you tried going direct into the preamps with the guitar?

[@BigTrouble324]

All of them sounds good, but the Neve and API stands out with the most transparancy and depth. The Skibbes had a warmer characteristic, that can be preferred to smooth things up.

[@nolatone]

This is interesting. I'm ramping my rig to start publishing more content on my Nolatone tube amps. A combination of tracking into DAW and editing video, but because I have neither the time or desire to do that for every single clip, I'm working on getting multiple mics on amp plus voice narration all into a stereo track for iphone video recording to post without doing DAW work. To that end I just ordered an API 3124MV which has a built in stereo mixer, then I'll send that into my Apogee Duet then into the iphone camera app. What I'm also thinking about though is having an alternate preamp to add a smoother sound to the mix. Maybe a 1073, but the Universal Audio always sounds nice to me on these guitar amps.

[@brooks1700]

None bad just different. I like the Portico as a starting point though, it sounds detailed but relaxed somehow

[@semdallinga69]

I’ve been curious for a while: how would a mic preamp hold up as a clean boost in front of an amp?

[@LosFicosMusic]

Great

[@jamescassidy4045]

GAIN- TC- 2:27 API 512(1) -2:36 API 512(2)- 2:46 SKIBBE(1)- 2:55 SKIBBE(2)- 3:04 Vintage Design M81- 3:13 RND 5032- 3:23 BLA B173- 3:31 UA LA610- 3:40 CLEAN- TC- 4:37 SKIBBE(1)- 4:53 SKIBBE(2)- 5:10 API 512(1)- 5:23 API 512(2)- 5:45 Vintage Design M81- 6:00 RND 5032- 6:15 BLA B173- 6:49 UA 610- 7:05

[@nickangelo3283]

One of the things about mic preamps is that the differences in bandwidth, frequency response, attack, etc tend to be subtle, and are felt most when several tracks are stacked together. Individually these all sound great, and pretty similar. However if you recorded a many layers of instruments with each of these, the resulting recording would differ more. The cumulative effect is more noticeable this way.

[@craigjonlyon]

Could not tell much difference,from audio interface to the others - very interesting & considering the expense I really dont think it would make much difference in the mix with the rest of the instruments Gr8 video mate ,

[@charliestubbs6151]

imo your thinking is wrong, the differences made by good mic pres become MORE noticeable when all instruments are stacked together in a mix, not less.

[@SuprachargerMusic]

API all day. Sat perfectly, with just the right amount of low mids while still klanging like a mofo. Konnekt held up reaallly well. Was surprised at the Neve's lack of oomph.

[@siegfriedwashburn3484]

Hi, Johan! The second one Rupert, Black Lion and actually they all not bad at all. I liked M Audio, when I was on the stage. For now the best I have is at my work. Don't know, what is the name, because I never tried to see it. Must be Behringer... See you! Zigfrid

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Zigfrid, Cheers!

[@artysanmobile]

Never forget that all the console makers were the original mic preamp designers. And their console models were forever progressing (hopefully) in the preamp department. Having worked on such designs in the 70s, I can say that electric guitar was not considered a challenging signal to record. It still isn’t. Though I can understand your fascination with all things guitar as I am also a guitarist, capturing the hyper distorted sound of an amp was almost comically easy and about the least subtle thing we ever bothered working on. Rest easy, any preamp will do a fine job on the least finessed signal in our entire toolkit. Discrete class A (Neve, Helios, very early API) will have the flexibility to round off the higher harmonics but so would an EQ or a ribbon mic. All the op-amp pres are going to sound very, very similar. I’d say this is an exercise in futility.

[@ctld5266]

So wrong... distortion guitar sound is close to pink noise in way. that's the best way to see the difference between preamps.

[@mostyles328]

Sorry, but they all sounded like shit. If you had a clean signal (no dirty distortion) to begin with would have made this test viable. You can plug that crap right into your $100 interface and sound the same.

[@Twobarpsi]

One thing is un-debatable...Nothing beats a Marshall!!

[@hbrmetal]

God bless you

[@shotgunrebels]

I liked the UA best.

[@JBASH2011]

Neve was the clear winner for me.

[@Jakeman90210]

Great, I can save my money

[@erikr968]

Subtle differences, but differences indeed. I wonder how close you could get to each of the preamps using just a basic soundcard onboard preamp and the default EQ of your DAW.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Hi Erik, the TC is the onboard preamp reference here

[@SteveOuimette]

The TC held up really well. To be honest I think the TC would be totally fine with a great song, great playing and gear (as shown!), but I think I prefer the Portico overall. Sounded pretty tough and yet clear. Ballsy. The Black Lion was my least favorite.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Steve!

[@Myckey6]

Rupert Neve Design Portico 5032 for me... 100%

[@RaymondSolo]

API is sort of "punchie" but still a good choice. I liked the Rupert Neve best, its so crystal clear! The UA is nice to, with an old-school "warm" sound. That M81 is very transparent. The others are not as well balanced across the spectrum for my taste.

[@Morte_Deus]

Neve, followed by m81 and tc studio

[@robertogomesmusic]

Hi there! Please,what microphone is being used?

[@josefdepovic8495]

what converters did you use?

[@algarridm]

There's a pedal based on API: Milkman pop top boost

[@Emehanika]

For me it was 1) Neve 2) UA 610 3) TC

[@JayBeBerg]

M81 or Skibbe.

[@LosFicosMusic]

SKIBBIE vs API 4:53 😊

[@chrisjones8977]

NEVE the end!!!!!

[@nickangelo3283]

About the pads: they almost always muffle the sound. I’d generally rather have a lower quality preamp, without a pad vs a better pre that needed a pad. I’d even rather use an attenuator on the amp, and use no pad…

[@RocknJazzer]

What mic? Is that a beyer ribbon? Different mics would prob skew these tests in different ways, these results are only for this mic, I dont know why you didnt say what mic, that would help people. If you chose diff mics like a 57 or U87 or 421 etc you would prob choose a different "best" pre for every diff mic. Also I dont think you need to compare two of the same preamps, sure there is a little variance between each of same due to parts tolerances, but just pick one next time. Liked portico best here overall since was both clear, textured, and added big low end. But the TC's honest clarity was just fine, tho on a diff mic or source would prob be too thin or harsh, as most generic cheap preamps are like that, but on a semi muddy amp and mic it's lean clarity was good to help cut thru the mud. Again all depends on what mic and source, there is no one best pre on everything or for every mic.

[@otaviosmartins1]

Neve and API were my favorite but the neve still smokes the API to me

[@sylvainbebert3704]

Neve !

[@PuffyBroccolini]

if you really wanna hear as much difference between these as possible, try mic'ing an acoustic with a condenser through all of these

[@PHELCAN]

I would say favorite was api #2 and bl173, least favorite was the tc electronic. The skibs were amusing, neve portico was unimpressive to me.

[@fl7210]

Can hear huge differences on cell phone speaker. The TC is irritating to my ears. API #1 is my favorite. Number 2 also cool but imo would depend on riff. Neve didn’t do anything for me, seemed to flatten things out somehow. The black lion was quite decent except sounded a bit cramped up on high notes. The UA shined on high notes but lacked punch on the lows.

[@anandaperdana5054]

Very a little different, I Think amp and guitar more better upgrade than preamp DYOR

[@Fl4ppers]

And youtube messes the sound up in 3-2-1...

[@tobtomusic]

At last someone has ears.

[@soundsokok]

3:23 2:35

[@argiletonne]

the only huge difference I hear is in the LA610

[@FransvandenBergeMuziekschuur]

API.

[@cheallen1626]

I didn't hear much difference between any of them.

[@artwerkmedia8616]

Anybody else getting nauseous because of the pulsating camera?

[@joshsmith7033]

Getor....

[@owenjohns8097]

x1gu39 #von.ong

[@matrixmodulator]

Oh yes another demo with annoying digital clipping...

[@charliestubbs6151]

API and UA