Omni vs HD 8x8x8 io and Omni Pre's

[Southsidemusic]

Hey Friends

I am lying awake thinking about the Omni's Preamps and when we bought our Pro Tools rig we got an new Omni as a loan until the 8x8x8 io came in again.
Before we had a Motu 896 HD and a Amek CIB as one of the Preamps and it sounded really good but, after selling Motu and getting the Omni on loan we were VERY impressed with the Preamps and using a Manley Ref Gold and Akg 414 BULS the omni's preamps sounds way better than now with Manley to Avid HD 8x8x8 io and when adding a preamp such as TK Audio The Strip or Focusrite Red 7 it doesn't sound as good as when connecting mic's directly into the Omni as we have not returned it yet so ... What preamps are in the Omni and why do they sound so clean and awesome as supposed to more expensive setups? We might just buy the omni aswell and use it as a preamp!

Best regards
Chris

[Emcha_audio]

The same as in the HD I/O, just not as many.

[albee1952]

Well, the HD IO has no mic preamps, but consider this. The OMNI is a great solution for someone that works alone or with maybe a musician/partner, and the total of 8 inputs is all they ever need(and I believe this is the intended market for it). The HD IO can handle 16 ins and outs, and that (to me) makes it a solution aimed at the studio that needs lots of IO, whether that means passing audio thru an analog desk, being able to use lots of hardware inserts, or being able to dial up lots of outputs for headphone mixes to cover an entire band. Consider your needs, more than the 2 great preamps of the OMNI, you can find dozens of great sounding preamps........... OMNI is a nice unit, for sure, but its a lot of money for 2 great mic pre's. If Avid had made the OMNI so it could actually USE all 14 possible inputs at once, within Pro Tools, they would sell a lot more of them

[groundcontrol]

Originally Posted by albee1952

......
OMNI is a nice unit, for sure, but its a lot of money for 2 great mic pre's. If Avid had made the OMNI so it could actually USE all 14 possible inputs at once, within Pro Tools, they would sell a lot more of them

+1

[Emcha_audio]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Well, the HD IO has no mic preamps, but consider this. The OMNI is a great solution for someone that works alone or with maybe a musician/partner, and the total of 8 inputs is all they ever need(and I believe this is the intended market for it). The HD IO can handle 16 ins and outs, and that (to me) makes it a solution aimed at the studio that needs lots of IO, whether that means passing audio thru an analog desk, being able to use lots of hardware inserts, or being able to dial up lots of outputs for headphone mixes to cover an entire band. Consider your needs, more than the 2 great preamps of the OMNI, you can find dozens of great sounding preamps........... OMNI is a nice unit, for sure, but its a lot of money for 2 great mic pre's. If Avid had made the OMNI so it could actually USE all 14 possible inputs at once, within Pro Tools, they would sell a lot more of them

Actually I though thte HD PRE had pre's ?

But.. after reviewing the specs I guess they don't share the same pre's, always thought they did. I suspect they share the same converters as the other HD interfaces though.

[nst7]

I don't think anyone answered the OP's question. He's strictly talking about the preamps in the Omni, not the conversion. He's comparing the external preamps to the ones in the Omni, and wanting to know more about the Omni's built in pre's because they sound great.

I don't think any of us have that info, but it would be nice if someone from Avid could shed some light on it.

[groundcontrol]

Maybe the OP should check out something like a Millenia HV3 and/or GML 8302/04 or 2020.

[Southsidemusic]

Hey Friends
As always, lots of great stuff here. I am sorry that I was a bit un-clear as to the question here, I was so impressed with the sound from the Mic Pre's on that thing that we are considering buying that OMNI we have on loan and to be clear as to what I hope to get answered, do you guys know of there are any external Preamps that sounds as similar as possible to the Omni Pre's and if not, what would be a good purchase otherwise even though we would be able to get that Omni with full warranty as it was new in box when we got it for 1200 USD and I think it is a great deal and we could use it in the future for a laptop ect I hope?

We have the following pre's in our studio so you maybe can give any advise on other pre's to get:

TK The Strip
Emperical Labs Mike-E
Amek CIB
Api lunchbox with 2 1073's and 2 1081's and 2 Great River
Focusrite Liquid Cannel
Focusrite ISA 430
Focusrite ISA 110
Focusrite Red 7
Dave Hill Europa 1
Millennia STT-1
And a rebuilt Calrec UA 8000 so we have a few options and still the omni sounded so awesome and that was why I posted this and wanted to know id anyone else have the same thoughts :)

Thank you in advance and I really appreciate all your thoughts and input!
Chris

[nst7]

If you can get it for that price, that's a steal.

It's very handy to have. Besides the preamps, you have 2 more analog inputs, 4 digital inputs, and 8 additional outputs. You might decide it's handy to have those additional inputs and outputs besides your HD 8x8. Like maybe additional outputs for a headphone distribution box or something. Or having more inputs for drum miking, etc. Plus the mixer function can be handy.

There's also a way to configure it to act as a standalone converter (A/D or D/A, one at a time, not both).

Many 2 channel preamps cost $1200 by themselves, and you would get all the other features as well by getting this.

[psmworld]

Originally Posted by Emcha_audio

Actually I though thte HD PRE had pre's ?

But.. after reviewing the specs I guess they don't share the same pre's, always thought they did. I suspect they share the same converters as the other HD interfaces though.

haha, moderate the mod!

he´s talking about omni VS. the HD io 8x8x8 converter (which has no preamps!) in combination with highend preamps

the OP definitely likes clean preamps. some preamps claim to be clean and are not. i´d bet a gml 8302 with an HD io is at least as good, or even better than the omni. but it´s way more expensive.

btw. the akg 414 uls is a very dull and dark mic, so this really needs a clean preamp to shine.

your list of preamps is nice, but all in the same ballpark. there´s no really clean pre in there. if you want to sell the mike-e to get an omni, i´d be interested!