What's the difference between Neve and API Preamps?

What is the actual difference between an API preamp and a Neve 1073 mic preamp? In our latest gear fighter we compared the Neve 1073 Vs API in a recording. In this video we analyse them both using Plugin Doctor.
Gear Fighter Episode #1 Neve Vs API - • Which 500 Series Pream...
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Song by oldmanrei
Recorded by Mitchell Rose at The DIY Recording Studio
Filmed and Produced by Mitch at The DIY Recording Studio
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GEAR USED IN THIS VIDEO:
COMPUTER:
Mac Studio M1 Max amzn.to/3MmOlbx
AUDIO:
Antelope Audio Zen Tour amzn.to/3VhgEvX
Rode Mic Go amzn.to/3ei3XAv
Shure SM7b amzn.to/3Tcw3Mg
Shure SM58 amzn.to/3T43FvS
Shure SM57 amzn.to/3EwGDtq
Neewer Boom Arm Stand amzn.to/3fWNhPt
Rode PS-1 Boom Arm: amzn.to/3SX0DcX
Midas L10 Legend 500 Series Rack: amzn.to/3yv36mT
Presonus Faderport8: amzn.to/3rPUNOs
SPEAKER STANDS: amzn.to/3COQOZ8
CAMERA:
Canon 80D amzn.to/3EAwFaj
Sandisk 256gb Extreme: amzn.to/3fYmkus
Batteries amzn.to/3fYmkus
LENSES:
Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 amzn.to/3Mk0Nsm
LIGHTING:
Yongnuo 600L 600 LED amzn.to/3rIUN2L
Viltrox Super Slim LED amzn.to/3MkaCXa
MIDI
Akai MPK Mini amzn.to/3Ewk7Rj
#homerecording #API #Neve1073 #thediyrecordingstudio

[@rocketsauce5067]

A lot of people don't get how much input this takes. I appreciate the work you do. Thank you.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Thanks I Really appreciate you taking the time to say that. It does take a lot of effort, but it's worth it for people like yourself to get good information about all this stuff. Thanks again!

[@lisabethlawrence]

Thank you for this comparison. I am looking to build one of the Capi mic pres but now of course I have my eye on that new DIYRe mic pre. Good thing I have a soldering station and workshop next to my studio LOL.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Sounds like you have the dream setup there! The CAPI stuff is great. I use them on gtrs and drums mostly. Nashville dudes and gals be using them on vocals too. I prefer neves for that personally. I’m literally building the DIYRE 73pre atm. I’m sure it’s gonna be great. I’ll have vids and shootouts soon

[@waves7300]

I appreciate this content regardless if it’s a neve or not, api or not, I’m just grateful for the free information and the amount of work it takes to make a video like this. People are so spoiled these days and don’t even stop to say thank you. Thank you 🙏

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Thanks so much for this comment. I appreciate it a lot. Thank you. Glad I could help

[@PaulThird]

If you use the fundamental sweep in the harmonic section you can view the frequency response after all the non linearities. Takes a while to load but it's the best test to show frequency response for gear in doctor. I think what's interesting to me is how hard these preamps need to be hit in order to make the harmonics audible. Even when the capi is cranked its only really the first 3 orders of harmonics that are actually audible from the 1k test tone. The rest is pretty much -100dbfs and below. All that high order harmonic stuff in the capi is inaudible anyway. I've always found it annoying cause its a static test of one frequency tone. Only shows a very limited picture of what's going on. I've found the best way to really evaluate the saturation is to print a sweep in the daw through the preamps, export it and import that into izotope RX. That'll give you a more realistic representation of where most of the harmonic energy is being made as you can set your colour grading to where you deem audibility to be. Hope that helps Hammerstein in doctor for plugins is an awesome test to show you the overall saturation over the entire frequency spectrum. But I'm not sure it works great for hardware for whatever reason. I was getting wierd results with it when testing 500 gear. The doctor harmonic test can be a little misleading because it shows information down to like -140dbFS so it's essentially showing you stuff you can't hear anyway, but you can see which can sometimes make you lose the bigger picture of whats important in regards to audibility. Nice to see more people using the hardware function of doctor though 🤓

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Paul, thanks for stopping by and leaving such awesome advice, i know you're all over this stuff. I'll definitely use some of those techniques in future videos. Thanks again!

[@eranddroory9987]

Thanks bro. Would have liked to see the frequency response of both units. But good stuff .. And I agree Api for transients and Neve for phatness 🙂

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Ahhh I’ll remember to add in frequency response in the next one.

[@eranddroory9987]

@@diyrecordingstudio awesome.. Thanks 😊

[@artiomsinelnikov9664]

Makes sense! Thanks for the video!

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Not a problem! Thanks for leaving a comment!

[@samz9121]

It pains me how much brand snobbery there is here in the comment section.

[@bigmike2149]

Didn’t you literally just ask for a comparison between API an Neve style pres? WTH?? 😂

[@samz9121]

@@bigmike2149 err, where is this comment?

[@adsertheblade]

Now, I didn't read the comments, but I can tell you this: I've got 3 preamps from 3 different manufacturers at my disposal: the bui in ones on my RME Fireface, a focus rite and a aharitage Audio 1073 style. They all sound different. I bought a new mic and was trying them out to see what fits best with it. To my taste, the Focus rite was the thinnest, HA somewhere in the middle, and the RME had the most body in the room, with the mic and the instrument that I was using. What I mean to say with this statement is that each brand is different and people like what they like. I've currently got 2 preamps gathering dust because I prefer the ones built into my interface. My disappointment was huge to realise I was back from where I started after spending on gear, but the reality for me is simple: if you are loyal to a brand because it works for you, that's not snobbery. On the other hand, if you've bought something just because someone said it's better and you haven't tried anything else, but sit there and plug your gear then yea, that's snobbery.

[@sparella]

The channel name starts with DIY. The context should be pretty clear.

[@nathanstanborough1550]

Really cool vid. I’m old enough to have started my recording journey back on tape and we used to have to drive thing a little hotter to get decent signal, especially if you were in a studio with not a lot of maintenance being done. This meant you were often pushing the preamps further into saturation than we do today into digital converters so we heard all the nice overtones. I think people are a little afraid to push things when tracking and leaving the harmonic stuff for latter in the process. It’s a shame.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Hey Nathan, Thanks for stopping by. Yeah i think everyone treats saturation as an effect to be added later with plugins, forgetting that all this beautiful analogue gear used to do it for you!

[@nathanstanborough1550]

I’m not saying I would ever go back to using tape - you are going to pry my HDX card from my cold dead hands, but I feel that many have been taught the old ‘as hot as possible without clipping’ when it comes to signal level. And when many only have interfaces without output attention you miss out on being able to drive the input stage. And what are you doing up at this hour! It’s like 6:20 😂

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Hahaha It's called having kids lol. Yeah I agree with you, I think we're lucky to have the best of both worlds. Hybrid setups are definitely a win for me.

[@officialmoondancer]

Maybe I'm lost but if you're going do a shootout between Neve and API... shouldn't you actually have Neve and Api preamp????

[@TheMelodyGod]

I literally just noticed that and I’m clicking off the video now 😂😂😂😂

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Can you tell me what is in a "Real" Neve or API? What is the difference in topology between these recreations and the "Real" thing? Which aPI and NEVE pres are you referring to anyway? The vintage or the modern? We could split hairs here all day if you want to get really into the weeds about preamps, but i think you both know what I'm really talkin about here.

[@officialmoondancer]

@@diyrecordingstudio come on bud don't overcomplicate something remedial. If it says Rupert Neve Designs or API trademark on it, then it's REAL. Doesn't matter what's inside . Heritage Audio makes their VERSION of a 1073. It's great, but it's not a Neve. They sound similar but different. Capi makes a great VERSION of a 312 but it's not an API. The "recreations" don't have the same sound though the vibe may be very similar. That's why they say API or Neve STYLE. As soon as you use different components based on availability or cost, the sound is different. Even if it's the same exact parts, the same guys aren't wiring and voicing them. So it's going to be different. Like the guys at Heritage Audio told me when I said they have a Fairchild Clone. "It's not a clone, it's OUR version. I use various types of APIs whether The Box onboard pres, UAD API, Plugin Alliance Lindell 50 and a pre made by API but a cheaper version under a different name. All sound great but different in noticeable ways because they aren't the same thing. I also have Neve 511's. Sound great, but they aren't 1073 or 1080. Point is. If you're going to title your video API and NEVE preamps, you should actually have pres from those makers. API and NEVE isn't a vibe or character. They're actual things that have their own sought-after character that others try to mimic or improve upon. And pick modern API AND NEVE pres because the vintage ones are insanely expensive and tech tends to get better not worse. Unless you're going for a vintage sound/vibe.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

@@officialmoondancer see, that’s where I have to disagree with completely. It is what’s inside that matters most. The windings on a carnhill transformer in a neve preamp or an inductor in a neve eq, the distortion characteristics of the 2520 opamp in an api or the various capacitors and resistors chosen in the circuit are exactly what makes the sound of a piece of hardware. The title of the video doesn’t matter, you’ve missed the point completely. This video is a discussion on whether these devices have that sound, what that sound is and what the differences between them are. If you want to deliberately misinterpret the information here to prove a point that’s fine though.

[@officialmoondancer]

@@diyrecordingstudio dude there were no Neves or API used in the video. Plain and simple. I don't say I have a Moog, then you come to my studio and find it's a Behringer Model D. I don't title a video "hear my API pres", then have nothing but Capi's in the video. Any way I have records to make with actual Neve and API gear lol ✌️

[@demodeiowa]

Neither are Neve nor API.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

You're right, theyre just very accurate , very good sounding clones. The CAPI are actually exactly faithful to the vintage api stuff. Do some research.

[@demodeiowa]

@@diyrecordingstudio i've done the research n tried them out before. They're cool but they're not the same as API

[@rouzbehamirazodi3001]

I don’t see any API or Neve equipment here only clones. Please change the title of the video and correct it. Your are comparing clones.

[@samz9121]

I’m actually with you on this one. Maybe a “API style and a Neve style preamp comparison?”

[@simonaustin1136]

I don’t think this is a very useful comparison as the CAPI stuff doesn’t sound exactly like the typical api 312 or 512s, and the m573 doesn’t sound like a real neve 1073 or clones from Vintech/ Bae. This is really not an API vs Neve comparison in any way for that reason, the characteristics of each aren’t being showcased in this video and you’re not helping your viewers making any sort of informed decision on which they like better other than the 2 model diy kits in your video.

[@MartinMartin-yi9to]

CAPI surely is NOT an API preamp. CAPI pres are barely a pale copy of the real thing.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Maybe do some research into the company, Jeff Steiger and his work with Paul Wolff. Look at the circuit topography of both and compare.

[@MartinMartin-yi9to]

@@diyrecordingstudio Than why does it NOT sound like an API? Please tell me.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

@@MartinMartin-yi9to what do you think is the sound of an API, how would you describe it?

[@user-gh9iw1of2y]

​@@diyrecordingstudio Topography? LOL. I think you meant topology. Do you understand the difference? For devices to sound the same, they need to have similar topography (to a lesser degree), topology, and components! Your clones don't use the same components as the originals! Period. So no, they can't sound the same as the originals, even if they have the same topology and topography. You think you know something, but you really don't.

[@waves7300]

@@MartinMartin-yi9to because you’re tone deaf