Avalon U5

[Steel City]

Hello,

I've heard some good things about the Avalon U5 preamp, and I'm thinking of getting one, but wanted to see if anybody has experiance using it, and can offer up any advice. I'm set up with a Digi 002 Rack in my apartment right now, and I need a quality preamp so that I can run direct into the digi instead of micing up my amp and blasting out my neighbors. Ideally, I'd like a good all around pre-amp that I could use DI with guitars and bass, and that I could also use with mics.

Any suggestions before I place my order?

Russ

[maxithev]

to my knowledge, the U5 is a DI box, not a preamp. You should go to the Avalon web site and search for the M5, wich is a great preamp. see avalon preamp

[Steel City]

Sorry, I'm kind of new at this stuff. What's the difference between a DI box and a preamp. I looked on the Avalon Website, and from what I can tell, they both boost the signal, so I'm not sure what the difference is. Also, maybe a DI would accomplish my goal. What I really want is to be able to run a signal direct into my 002R instead of micing an amp. I'm in an apartment, and the neighbors get annoyed when I crank it up to record. I just ordered amplitube to color the tone, but I want to make sure I have a good warm signal to begin with. I was also hoping to find something that I could use for both guitar and bass. Guitar is where I'm looking to get the best overall tone, but I don't even have a bass amp right now, so I'd like to be able to plug in, and just have a strong backing bass tone to work on some demo recordings for the time being. I'll worry about bass tone in a couple of months.

Thanks for your advice,

Russ

[Ronni]

The U5 is a D/I box and a preamp. But just a instrument preamp. Not a micpre. You can use it for gtr/bass/keys you can also use it like a bass preamp. Run the U5 into a power amp then to a cab.

It sounds great. But if you are needing a micpre also you will need to get something for that.
If money is tight and you not sure about getting both U5 and micpre. You should look at the Langevin DVC (Dual Vocal Combo) it's 2ch's of micpre/eq/limiter and very good D/I. The D/I sounds very good bass. But the one thing I like on the U5 is the pass thru jack. You may not use that in an apartment but I use it to run the bass signal into a amp. That way I can record the D/I signal and amped signal at the same time. But if you are not going to do a lot of micing because it's to noise then just get the U5 for your instruments. Goodluck

[Steel City]

Thanks for the advice. I'm kind of torn now though. Do you know of a Website where I could do some research on the Langevin DVC? Mic Pres wouldn't be a bad thing to have, because I'm going to be doing vocals as well. I've alway's got the built in pres on the 002R though. I've heard that they are pretty good quality, but I really haven't had the opportunity to make a comparison yet.

[georgia]

The U5 is great! We use it all the time. Bass gtr, Acoustic gtr ( with internal pickups), keyboards, all sorts of stuff......we also have it's brother the M5 ( Mic Pre ) I highly recommend both units.... great sound and they even have a reasonable price.

cheers
georgia

[Rusty G.]

Check out the FMR RNP and RNC. The RNP (Really Nice Pre-Amp) is a great sounding mic pre that also can be used to run direct. You get two channels of fairly high quality mic pre for about $500. The RNC (Really Nice Compressor) is a two channel compressor that does a great job for about $200. I've got the pair and the RNP is one of the Mic Pre's I use on my Mix Plus system (Along with my Grace and Great River).

I know that you didn't ask about the RNP, but I thought I would offer it as a suggestion since you were looking for something like the U5 which is in the $500 price range.

Good luck!

[Steel City]

Are those also Avalon products?

[Eddie D]

Are those also Avalon products?

No, those are from FMR Audio, I have read good things from them and you definatley cant beat the prices. Go to ebay and type RNP for the preamp and RNC 1773 for the compressor. They are not much to look at as far as apperence goes but the internal design is great. The company has got top reviews from these two products.

Eddie D

[Ronni]

Steelcity,
You can find info on http://www.mercenary.com/ and http://www.manleylabs.com/

I like the DVC it's a very nice sounding unit. much better pres then the 002 would be.
Plus the eq/limiters are nice.

I have not heard the RNP. I do have two RNC compressors they are great for the price.
I tend to like a little more color on my pres. I like pres with some hair. But for
clean pres I do like Great River and Avalon.

Goodluck,