Golden Age Pre-73 MKII w/003+

[jrichview]

Got this GAP Pre-73 MKII and I'd like to determine the best way to hook it into my Digi 003 Rack+. Much is made about the line inputs going through the built in preamps (yes, I know. Don't tell me to buy another interface. It's not happening for awhile).

As popular as this pre is, it doesn't have A/D so I can't hook up to digital ins on the rack.

But...

Any reason I can't just patch into one of the AUX inputs to bypass the built-in preamps?

[albee1952]

Balanced cable from the Pre-73 line out to one of the line/DI inputs on the 003 and crank the 003 GAIN all the way down. It will work fine.

[Craig F]

I thought AUX was only a monitor input, not a recordable input
but what do I know

I'd say don't worry about it and go with the line ins
all interfaces have an amplifier stage between the jack and the A/D chip

[jasonthurley]

Originally Posted by Craig F

I thought AUX was only a monitor input, not a recordable input
but what do I know
chip

I thought the opposite... but where is the record enable button then?

[jasonthurley]

That would be a great feature for some cases though... might put in a request with Avid

[Craig F]

I don't know, I've never used a 002/3 but id the Aux in was recordable it would be a 10 inout box wouldn't it? not 8

[serio]

Your AUX idea should work and its actually a cool idea. There's a magic button on the front of the 003 that sends the AUX to a pair of inputs, for the posters that didn't know. But I will also say that going into the preamps is not the end of the world. Plus it gives you another gain stage that you can use to give you yet more flexibility with that preamp. I've done this with an OG pre73. Say you want a bit of a clean signal for something, turn down the pre output and turn up the 003 input.

[albee1952]

I think some are confusing AUX INPUT with AUX TRACK Using an AUX input offers no particular advantage over the line/DI inputs(1 thru 8). While that won't bypass the 003 preamp completely, it will bypass a gain stage and you will retain the tone character of the Pre-73(as much as can be retained going thru any of the 003's analog circuit and converters). Just my 2 cents, but I've never been a huge fan of the 003r+ unit. With the stock preamps being so "plain vanilla", I don't want to have 8 of them(4 was plenty). On my current setup(003 mixer), I am actually using a Focusrite OctoPre Mk II Dynamic via the 8 analog inputs(lightpipe is used for an ISA-428 w/digital for all my better preamps). One affordable way around this "issue" would be to buy a used DBX-386(about $200) and connect the the SPDIF input, then connect the Pre-73 to one of the line inputs. Using the mic/line button on the DBX, you would have easy access to either the DBX pre or the Pre-73, AND you would bypass ALL the 003's analog input stage(including converters).

[Jacksonland]

Here's what I do with similar equipment, and it sounds great. Line out of my two 1073's into line in 5&6 on my 002 rack. On the 002, inputs 5-6 have no gain control, so it is about as direct a signal path as I can get. The 003 may be slightly different.

[jasonthurley]

Originally Posted by albee1952

I think some are confusing AUX INPUT with AUX TRACK .

Righto...

Aux input on hardware would work fine routed to an audio track for recording.... this seems to be a whatever your flavor... aux ins our direct inputs, but obviously you dont want to use the mic ins and preamps...