Review - Warm Audio WA73 EQ

[@IKnokBeats]

Great units. I just got the WA273-EQ and I'm loving it. Definitely a smart purchase if you have the cash to spare.

[@tonebonemarone3089]

I would love to get that unit some day but for now 1 channel is all I need. Let’s be real, I’d love to have a full rack of 73s some day, haha

[@dannydaniel8975]

I liked the warm audio unit a lot when I used it to track sounds to my Tascam 688 cassette 8 track. Hitting the warm audio's pre amps hard, instead of the Tascam's made a Hugh difference in the sound quality, and it blew me away, however, I didn't like it at all on protools...it didn't kill protool's natural born icy cold sound, but the Avalon 737 worked a whole lot better than that the warm, in that regard. You have to remember, when these pre amps first appeared, they were used with analog tape, not a cold sounding digital daw....

[@studioalpan9559]

You made a very good point

[@romelloverture]

best demo by far!

[@tonebonemarone3089]

Thanks man! It would be super helpful to me if you shared it!

[@wesstarmedia]

I like warm and owned that exact preamp. After a few months, I had scratchy pots, which is something I wouldn't expect after a few months. At the same time I bought a wa47 which sounded great. But after a few years the power supply developed a hum, which I couldn't fix. The bottom line with warm is that they sell good enough products, but slightly more expensive than other clone products but watch out for reliability issues. I now now a GAP 73 preamp with a an avantone cv12, which to my ears sounds like a more radio ready vocal sound. I never did use the eq whilst tracking anyway.

[@aarronjsymonds]

Love your work man! Thanks for sharing bro - legend.

[@tonebonemarone3089]

Thank you!

[@jerrygleam]

So when recording vocals would it be better to turn output knob all the way up and use minimal gain or turn output knob down and use more gain? I’m confused with how those work together.. and the LED meter shows signal reaching zero but it’s not near 0 in the DAW

[@tonebonemarone3089]

I usually play around with the input and output gain until I get a sound I’m happy with. By pushing both transformers you can get some interesting saturation. With that in mind, pushing one or the other can give good results too so it’s really a matter of taste. As for the meter in reaper, I may have cut a few dB where the 73 ran in to my interface, or it could be because Reapers metering is post fader by default

[@uptownphotography]

Well done video and great info. Phil NYC Area

[@owenbarger1907]

Nice review. One of the better ones on this piece.

[@ferabra8939]

Just ordered the 273-EQ, for tracking and summing (passive) into it. WA stuff might be clone and affordable, but puts you right in the ballpark of the "big guys" like plugins never have. I own the 1176, bus comp, and a couple of pultecs.

[@tonebonemarone3089]

I love my 1073 and I’ll be getting more Warm gear in the near future, hopefully starting with a 1176

[@larryjefferson9956]

I purchased the 273eq in February And plugged my guitars in and hit the tone switch but nothing changed.I contacted Warm and they told me that the tone switch Is not connected to the instrument jacks?! Is this really true?Anybody else have any input on this matter?

[@tonebonemarone3089]

@@larryjefferson9956 The Tone button is really just an impedance switcher. On the BAE clones I've used in the past it switches between 300 and 1200 ohms. Now, seeing as the instrument input is essentially performing the duties of a DI box built in to the unit, its purpose would be to convert the impedance of your guitars pickups to a compatible level with the circuitry in the unit, so being able to switch that again would be redundant and potentially damaging the gear. I'm not tech though, so that is just an educated guess. If you wanted to take advantage of that feature with your instrument, plug in to a DI box first then run the output of that into the microphone input of your unit. In my experience though, you get a fair amount of tone options just by adjusting the input and output gain so I haven't felt the need to mess around with that method.

[@larryjefferson9956]

Ok thanks so much for your expertise! 👍Do you have any Problems with hiss in the mid and highs when you engage the eq button?

[@tonebonemarone3089]

@@larryjefferson9956 I haven’t experienced that issue personally. Perhaps it’s something with your unit specifically

[@haatock]

Like your choice of gear as standard for most of us in fact it is not all people that can buy expensive gears.

[@barneschris5148]

Do you think I could use the headphone output of an SSL2 interface so I can monitor on my speakers whilst using the wa73 as an insert in logic?

[@tonebonemarone3089]

I wouldn’t recommend doing so but it could work in a pinch. Your headphone output will send a much stronger signal than the WA73 line input is expecting so if you do go that route, be very careful about the signal level coming from the headphone out. I’d suggest starting the output at 0 and slowly bringing it up until you have enough signal going to the unit. Again though, Using a line output would be a much safer bet. I believe the SSL 2+ has 2 extra line outs

[@barneschris5148]

@@tonebonemarone3089 thanks for getting back to me. Ok, the SSL2+ does have two RCA unbalanced outputs. Would that be ok to use? Cheers

[@queefbros11]

How’s the pre amp? I got the mark ii but I returned it and I wanna get this with the eq as well mainly for VOCALS!!

[@krissheehy]

The knobs on my unit are very stiff. It's strange to watch yours being able to turn so fast! I wonder if maybe you can just send it in and have them repair it under warranty?

[@tonebonemarone3089]

That is strange. If I remember right, mine were much more stiff when I got the unit, but it gets a lot of use so it could have something to do with that?

[@krissheehy]

@@tonebonemarone3089 Perhaps. I don't reach for the EQ too much so that could make sense. I mostly just use the HPF

[@whalesofili5195]

What would you recommend as starting point to set the eq for airy male vocals? I bought it last year and have been recording with it basically with no settings at all. I often use just dry settings with no eq or tone and would really love to dig in dipper. I am very new to analog gears. Nice review by the way. Cheers

[@jvonnjvonn4688]

nice i have a question if i hook up the warm 73 single channel to a stereo bus comp dose it make the eq work in a stereo mode like dose it makes it a stereo compr can i use it hook in to a stereo dose it become a stereo eq cause its hook to a stereo comp i have a buss comp warm audio

[@tonebonemarone3089]

Unfortunately no, a single channel unit will always be a mono unit. If you had 2 single channel units you could hook 1 to the left channel and 1 to the right channel for stereo but with only 1 unit you’re out of luck

[@jvonnjvonn4688]

@@tonebonemarone3089 so what would it do to the stereo bus comp signal if i run the mono eq thru it the warm audio allows me to run a eq thru the signal path thu the send n return

[@nosivo13]

I noticed you switching off from kicks, bass, & vocals on just one wa73 at the end of vid. If I have an 8 piece drum kit do I need 8 wa 73’s or can I switch like you did and use 1 wa73 on all my kit?

[@dburridgemusic]

Ace vid thank you mate!

[@tonebonemarone3089]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@dknstrkt]

Nice, I love Warm Audio's gear.. For even more 'bang for the buck', Check out the Alctron/N-Sonic N73 Strip - Incredible 'white label' Neve channel strip, $200. Can accept Carnhills if you choose to replace the stock transformers, but what comes stock is more than usable. Incredible warm driven tone.

[@tonebonemarone3089]

Cool, I’ll definitely check those out, thanks!

[@BrentHarmon]

It would be awesome if you can do a side by side comparison of the BAE Audio VS Warm Audio just see the difference between the two sound wise.

[@tonebonemarone3089]

Brent Harmon Funny that you should mention that, keep an eye on this channel this weekend!

[@BrentHarmon]

@@tonebonemarone3089 OK I will sub.

[@BrentHarmon]

@@tonebonemarone3089 If you can BAE 1073mp Dual Channel vs wa273 if that's possible

[@tonebonemarone3089]

Brent Harmon That’s our of my price range unfortunately, haha

[@BrentHarmon]

@@tonebonemarone3089 OK well I have gotten my used on Reverb so I understand.

[@Illusionsofgrandeur]

Informative review , thanks

[@heartland3887]

Sometimes i m confused about gain and output trim. Find gain first to be strong n good and trim with output knob right ? At the same time it must be the right recording level eg,(-18)dbfs on protools. What u think?

[@tonebonemarone3089]

Gain is the input level of the audio signal going in to your gear or plugin, output trim or “volume” is the level of the signal leaving your gear or plugin

[@heartland3887]

@@tonebonemarone3089 Yeah i know, what i mean is find sweet spot on input gain knob and trim with output knob. input gain and output trim should be in unity?

[@bensonaw3251]

does the eq detents at 12 o clock position ?

[@tonebonemarone3089]

Yes, it does

[@smtonlinevideos]

Great video, thanks!

[@larryjefferson9956]

Anybody having a hiss problem when using the mids and highs on this unit?

[@searchiemusic]

we have so much of the same gear lmao, makes me want this

[@YoYaDude]

It's not a "hand wired clone"! It's maybe a great sounding, close sounding, but has PCB printed circuits!

[@widgetlocsta2305]

Why is the 828x smoking the Warm Audio? A blind man can hear that the Warm is clearly chopping off the higher frequencies, it sounds dull in comparison, why would anyone buy this if it cant beat a standard audio interface pre amp?

[@jvonnjvonn4688]

maybe its the way he set it i have the heritage audio 73 they both have the same transformers but i see alot of ppl with the warm 73 then i do with the heritage you wont know whats good until u mess with one

[@elianmusic7452]

idk how to say this without being rude, but youre wrong. The wa73 sounds 10x better than the motu lol. So much smoother in the mids.

[@KeenApollo]

You're saying that because it's louder that's literally it

[@imnotjacob.]

You have to be listening through a phone speaker or something. Also being blind doesn't effect your hearing. I believe the word you were looking for was "deaf". Which is kind of ironic when you think about the content of your post.

[@widgetlocsta2305]

Sound should be your only judgement when it comes to judging pre amps! You guys are looking at names, transformers and other stuff that just don’t matter🤣😂

[@franciscapintohermosilla5539]

casi pura gente visual en cuanto a sonido paradoja

[@RepublicAllegiance]

My rock is comfy #NeveWho

[@jabobihlman541]

Great vid! Thanks man.