002 Preamp quality/comparisons, please.

[seafra]

I just finished tricking out my G5 and will order a Digi 002 in the next few days. I'm very curious about the quality of the preamps on the 002. I've read some flattering professional reviews, but notice that many users on this board prefer to use their outboard preamps.

My work is mostly in classical and jazz; therefore, fast, quiet and transparent preamps are crucial. It would be a big help if you could make some comparisons between the 002 preamps and other pre's with which you are familiar.

THANKS!

[where02190]

The 002/002R pres are IMHO very neutral, quiet and clean, with a ton of gain. Unfortunately they do NOT have a pad, making them difficult and sometimes impossible to use with certain mics and sources, as they cannot handle the input level.

Another downfall on the 002R is the (hardware) phantom power switches are on the back of the (rack mount) unit.

They are certainly not top quality pres, but are a far cry better than the 001's, and much improved over the decent pres in the M-box as well.

[Windshore]

I've been using the 002 rack since it first came out. I'd say that the mic pre's are generally better than average. It depends very much on your perspective and budget as to how much you want to rely on them. Certainly considering the fact that the whole 002 unit is about $1000 and you get 4 built in mic pre's... they're much better than I expected. I did comparisons with a TL audio voice channel and the Presonus MP-20. The sound improved with the price. The TL Audio sounded the best ($1200 for one channel), the Presonus sounded very good, (around $700 for 2 channels) but not quite as good as the TL Audio. By comparison the 002 pre's sounded a bit thin on the low end and didn't have as much detail overall. (I"m never afraid to use them when I need extra pre's or need to be portable.) Overall, for contemporary "pop" recordings you'd probably rarely hear the difference without spending huge money. For your application though, where you record classical, and may need high gain etc., it might be worth buying outboard pre's,.... but only if you're ready to spend over a grand for the extra "sheen".

[seafra]

Thanks for the replies, folks. Hope to hear more, soon.

Thought it might help if I added a list of some of my preamps, so you'd know what I would comparing the 002 preamps with.

Grace Design V2 (same pre's as 101, 201 & 801)
Sytek MPX-4Aii
Presonus, Digimax 96
DBX 586
DBX 386
DBX 760X (with Jim Williams/Audio Upgrades modifications)

[Bhennies]

Thanks for the replies, folks. Hope to hear more, soon.

Thought it might help if I added a list of some of my preamps, so you'd know what I would comparing the 002 preamps with.

Grace Design V2 (same pre's as 101, 201 & 801)
Sytek MPX-4Aii
Presonus, Digimax 96
DBX 586
DBX 386
DBX 760X (with Jim Williams/Audio Upgrades modifications)

The Grace and Sytek are far better than the other pres you've listed. The Sytek is a steal and a fanastic unit. The 002 pres are ok, but I AB'd them against my Universal Audio 2108 (on low saturation) and even though the 2108 is a dark pre, it had a considerable difference in the high end- much more transient and life like on vox. However, as someone said above, they are quite capable and I wouldn't be afraid to use them when you run out of good pre (I use them on snare and toms).