I have started watching your videos and cannot tell you how much I appreciate them. I hope that you will continue on as I am starting to share the videos. I do own the dlx and it’s amazing!!!! Especially when paired with my Neumann mics! I use it more than my manly force. I have opened and saw the Carhill Transformers and the high end capacitors, it really is a beautiful unit. Stay up my friend.
The 1272 has more open presentation which is particularly evident in the higher frequency range. The GAP has more thicker "retro" vibe to it at the expense of the detail and clarity.
Oh yeah, the GA Premier 73DLX sounds excellent! Even compared to the original Neve preamp. I love it and with the EQ features, it would be hard to beat at that price range or much higher! Personally, I think they're equal on the acoustic guitar but the Neve has it on the vocals. Which is weird because the GA 73DLX definitely sounds high end and pristine but what is that s#it that makes the Neve's tuck in the vocals right under whatever and makes it sit right where we all want it to! Man! That's the thing. That's the magic right there. I don't what that is. I know it's all about saturation but there's more to it than that even! When you listen to the vocal and acoustic comparison at 3:50, it's like the vocal sits on TOP of the acoustic with the GA Premier 73DLX and the vocal sits in FRONT of the acoustic with the Neve 1272. That's the best way I can explain it. Do you know what I mean?!
@@johnlance3860 Yeah man. I'm beginning to understand depth that certain hardware imparts on sound sources that other hardware and plugins don't. It's obviously all about the combination of electronics used because in this example, there's no difference in the mix. We're just switching out pres and keeping everything the same but we're getting different dimension and depth.
The way you present your comparisons is stellar dude. Love the format. I own a pair of Brent Averill racked 1272's which I love to death but this GAP for $600 is beyond impressive on the sources you played. My next 2 wish list pre's I'll be buying are Chandler Redd.47's which make me cringe at the price, even more so when I hear what a $600 pre can do. Thanks for the video!
Thanks man! Yeah I really can't believe why the GAP isn't more hyped it's stellar. And the price! I'd love to do some sort of tube pre series in the future. Thanks for watching 💪✌️
First off, thank you for doing this shootout. Before I get to my experience doing a blind test with the files in my DAW, I noticed that the Guitar tracks for the shootout are not the same performance (i.e the neve gtr track is a different take than the gap or at least spliced in different locations of the same performance) which skews the test too much to use that as an example, given that there are too many variables in performance, movement, distance between each take. However, the vocals are the exact same performance so I have to go off that. In doing a blind shootout between the vocals, I swear to Rupert Neve, they were virtually indistinguishable. I am the first to call out failed copies but this was exact in sound. Any perceived difference appeared only once I knew which was the vintage and which was the GAP (which is confirmation bias).
dude the differences are so incredibly subtle. What will really make a decreeable difference is these pres stacked in a mix of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, vocals, etc. That's when you'll really hear and/or feel how different good/bad these are in comparison. The GAP is a touch more either colored/saturated/darker compared to the Neve. Then the Air comes on and it's like, "okay what the hell are we really doing here?" lol
Excellent review as usual, and I agree with all your points about the GAP vs Neve. Neve is the easy choice if you're going for a sound with more weight. It has a more vintage sound, and the GAP for more modern sound...both terms overused, but that's an easy way to describe it. I currently have the GAP GA-8000> GAP73 DLX> GAP Comp-3a. This is my lower cost alternative of the C-800g>1073>CL1B, and I must say, it does the job quite nicely. They really are turning out some nice gear. Thanks again for doing these reviews, they are very valuable and help out us gear junkies when we're in search of our next fix lol.
Thank you for the vid! I really like GAP 73! I even wanted to buy one for myself, but then I realized that from the preamp I only need amplification and the purest sound without coloration, and now I am looking on Camden EC1.
I have had the Pre 73 premier for a year. And switched to the HA73. Now Listening back the older sessions. No regrets I’ve sold it. But the Pre73 is an amazing piece of gear! And for a budget price that is within reach for most of us. I prefer without eq. But that’s just my taste. I would highly recommend the gear from GAP!
@@jaygerritmusic Interesting! Well, actually I'm a bit bipolar in terms of gear selection. Right now I really want a 1073, but building it myself... Original schematics, components... Wow, must be fat.
Hey Christian, so if really like to know, do you have a favorite 1073 style preamp brand? AMS, Heritage, BAE, Golden Age Premiere, etc? I hear the BAE in shootouts and the sound is so polished, but do you feel it’s bias or do you feel a type of way about some 1073 clones vs others?
Hey! To be honest I haven't tried that many. I do think the GApremier is great. A bit cleaner then my vintage 1272, which sometimes is preferable. Maybe I need to do "ones and for all" shootout with various Neve-style pres! 😂
@@Christian_svedin thanks for your thoughtful answer, Christian! Yeah, I really like your videos. I’ve always liked BAE, but OMG, the price, there’s just such a battle between clones. It’s so hard to pick haha
@@NoirEtBlancVie ha yeah! I would really like to settle that argument once and for all! I definitely think microphones are way more important. Basically get a quality preamp and forget about it. If you have the chance the best is of course to be able to a/b pres, but it's really splitting hairs.
Bonjour, n'ayant pas besoin d'eq, car j'utilise ceux de mon mixer, est ce que le golden age premier pre73 (pas dlx) aura la même qualité sonore? Merci pour vos vidéos !
I think for me it would be the Neve on the guitar and the 76 on the vocals. The Neve was a bit too harsh in that fundamental mic frequency in singing mic. They'd balance well maybe. That air EQ was a bit aggressive IMO. Prefer without. Thank you for the shoot out!
That was great thanks for content I just bought one I should be getting it tomorrow I have a Mojave MA -300 tube condenser to use with it and a Shure sm7b . And I bet my NT1A is gonna sound good with it. I'll probably use the Mojave though and I love that air switch on it
Great comparison. I have a GAP preamp too, it sounds great for the cost. Neve always has "that" point which is amazing everytime. BTW, maybe you already mentioned before before but.. Could you tell me what converters do you use? thank you.
Nice video comparison. You sparked my curiosity and started looking at Sweetwater and other vendors and found that the Premier DLX is kind of hard to find and that they have different versions (with EQ etc). I would like to ask you if you would recommend their 500 series 73 mic pre ? I’ll be looking at their lineup closely. I’ve been using a Camden 500 mic pre, very nice and clean with a lot of headroom. Thank you for the video.
I don't know if there is any difference then that it's in the 500 format. The 500 pre from GAP looks pretty much exactly like the deluxe version. Only difference I can spot is that the 1/2 RU has an additional attenuator. Their gear is great go for it 👍
Considering that your recording on a 10,000 mic wow the golden age is superb quality for its price that thing is amazing prestige clean and open full sound is this unit brand new or has it been out awhile wow
Yeah, you Gotto use what you have available right!? 😂 Yeah the GAP deserves way more attention. It's been out a couple of years. Should probably cost x2-3 as much judging it by the sound quality. Thanks for watching ✌️
Hey Christian. I got this unit… and love it. Just thinking about moving to the 500 version, and also getting a 500 series compressor and EQ. Do you know much about the EQ version of this, the Pre Q I think it’s called? And also do you like GAP’s compressors? Thanks
Golden Age Audio rocks. I don't hear a quintuple price difference here at all; I'd advise anyone to get the Golden Age stuff over the Neves, because it gets the characteristics very accurately. As preamps, they punch *way* above their price point and really deliver the goods.
Your presentations are among the best. I also appreciate that you provide the wav files to compare better. Thank you, best regards.
Thanks 😊
I have started watching your videos and cannot tell you how much I appreciate them. I hope that you will continue on as I am starting to share the videos. I do own the dlx and it’s amazing!!!! Especially when paired with my Neumann mics! I use it more than my manly force. I have opened and saw the Carhill Transformers and the high end capacitors, it really is a beautiful unit. Stay up my friend.
The 1272 has more open presentation which is particularly evident in the higher frequency range. The GAP has more thicker "retro" vibe to it at the expense of the detail and clarity.
The neve sounds brighter to me, also clearer. In a way more natural.
Oh yeah, the GA Premier 73DLX sounds excellent! Even compared to the original Neve preamp. I love it and with the EQ features, it would be hard to beat at that price range or much higher! Personally, I think they're equal on the acoustic guitar but the Neve has it on the vocals. Which is weird because the GA 73DLX definitely sounds high end and pristine but what is that s#it that makes the Neve's tuck in the vocals right under whatever and makes it sit right where we all want it to! Man! That's the thing. That's the magic right there. I don't what that is. I know it's all about saturation but there's more to it than that even! When you listen to the vocal and acoustic comparison at 3:50, it's like the vocal sits on TOP of the acoustic with the GA Premier 73DLX and the vocal sits in FRONT of the acoustic with the Neve 1272. That's the best way I can explain it. Do you know what I mean?!
Your description of the Gap sitting on top of the vocal and the Neve in front is something I've tried to explain to others. It's pretty amazing.
@@johnlance3860 Yeah man. I'm beginning to understand depth that certain hardware imparts on sound sources that other hardware and plugins don't. It's obviously all about the combination of electronics used because in this example, there's no difference in the mix. We're just switching out pres and keeping everything the same but we're getting different dimension and depth.
The way you present your comparisons is stellar dude. Love the format. I own a pair of Brent Averill racked 1272's which I love to death but this GAP for $600 is beyond impressive on the sources you played. My next 2 wish list pre's I'll be buying are Chandler Redd.47's which make me cringe at the price, even more so when I hear what a $600 pre can do. Thanks for the video!
Thanks man! Yeah I really can't believe why the GAP isn't more hyped it's stellar. And the price! I'd love to do some sort of tube pre series in the future. Thanks for watching 💪✌️
The test I waited for. Thanks a lot.
Thanks for watching ✌️
First off, thank you for doing this shootout. Before I get to my experience doing a blind test with the files in my DAW, I noticed that the Guitar tracks for the shootout are not the same performance (i.e the neve gtr track is a different take than the gap or at least spliced in different locations of the same performance) which skews the test too much to use that as an example, given that there are too many variables in performance, movement, distance between each take. However, the vocals are the exact same performance so I have to go off that. In doing a blind shootout between the vocals, I swear to Rupert Neve, they were virtually indistinguishable. I am the first to call out failed copies but this was exact in sound. Any perceived difference appeared only once I knew which was the vintage and which was the GAP (which is confirmation bias).
Great vid we need more low budget test 🎉
Excellent presentation and interesting comparison - I’ll keep GAPremium in mind if I need another pre next to my Vintage Design M73D
dude the differences are so incredibly subtle. What will really make a decreeable difference is these pres stacked in a mix of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, vocals, etc. That's when you'll really hear and/or feel how different good/bad these are in comparison. The GAP is a touch more either colored/saturated/darker compared to the Neve. Then the Air comes on and it's like, "okay what the hell are we really doing here?" lol
Excellent review as usual, and I agree with all your points about the GAP vs Neve. Neve is the easy choice if you're going for a sound with more weight. It has a more vintage sound, and the GAP for more modern sound...both terms overused, but that's an easy way to describe it. I currently have the GAP GA-8000> GAP73 DLX> GAP Comp-3a. This is my lower cost alternative of the C-800g>1073>CL1B, and I must say, it does the job quite nicely. They really are turning out some nice gear. Thanks again for doing these reviews, they are very valuable and help out us gear junkies when we're in search of our next fix lol.
Nice chain! Those are my top GAP units I've tried so far. The Comp3a is excellent and clean. Thanks for watching 💪✌️
can u post how it sounds with that combo?
Thank you for the vid! I really like GAP 73! I even wanted to buy one for myself, but then I realized that from the preamp I only need amplification and the purest sound without coloration, and now I am looking on Camden EC1.
I have had the Pre 73 premier for a year. And switched to the HA73. Now Listening back the older sessions. No regrets I’ve sold it. But the Pre73 is an amazing piece of gear! And for a budget price that is within reach for most of us. I prefer without eq. But that’s just my taste. I would highly recommend the gear from GAP!
@@jaygerritmusic
Interesting! Well, actually I'm a bit bipolar in terms of gear selection. Right now I really want a 1073, but building it myself... Original schematics, components... Wow, must be fat.
You should do a review of th Neve 88M and test the internal preamps vs a quality outboard pre.
If I could get my hands on one, that's the tricky part 🙈
Hey Christian, so if really like to know, do you have a favorite 1073 style preamp brand?
AMS, Heritage, BAE, Golden Age Premiere, etc?
I hear the BAE in shootouts and the sound is so polished, but do you feel it’s bias or do you feel a type of way about some 1073 clones vs others?
Hey! To be honest I haven't tried that many. I do think the GApremier is great. A bit cleaner then my vintage 1272, which sometimes is preferable. Maybe I need to do "ones and for all" shootout with various Neve-style pres! 😂
@@Christian_svedin thanks for your thoughtful answer, Christian! Yeah, I really like your videos. I’ve always liked BAE, but OMG, the price, there’s just such a battle between clones. It’s so hard to pick haha
@@NoirEtBlancVie ha yeah! I would really like to settle that argument once and for all! I definitely think microphones are way more important. Basically get a quality preamp and forget about it. If you have the chance the best is of course to be able to a/b pres, but it's really splitting hairs.
Bonjour, n'ayant pas besoin d'eq, car j'utilise ceux de mon mixer, est ce que le golden age premier pre73 (pas dlx) aura la même qualité sonore?
Merci pour vos vidéos !
I think for me it would be the Neve on the guitar and the 76 on the vocals. The Neve was a bit too harsh in that fundamental mic frequency in singing mic. They'd balance well maybe. That air EQ was a bit aggressive IMO. Prefer without. Thank you for the shoot out!
That was great thanks for content I just bought one I should be getting it tomorrow I have a Mojave MA -300 tube condenser to use with it and a Shure sm7b . And I bet my NT1A is gonna sound good with it. I'll probably use the Mojave though and I love that air switch on it
How is it?? Do u love it?
Great comparison. I have a GAP preamp too, it sounds great for the cost. Neve always has "that" point which is amazing everytime.
BTW, maybe you already mentioned before before but.. Could you tell me what converters do you use? thank you.
Yeah, I do think they're good compared to any price point. A bit on the clean side for Neve but still high quality. RME ufx gen1 👍
I just couldn't understand why the second sample compares GAP at +30 to NEVE at +50?
Thanks for all the interesting comparisons. It would be great to see a comparison including Retro powerstripe and neve shelford.
Thanks! I wouldn't mind I just have a hard time getting manufacturers sending me equipment at this point. Hopefully in the future 🙂
@@Christian_svedin yes I wish you to grow you deserve it. Keep it up.
Nice video comparison. You sparked my curiosity and started looking at Sweetwater and other vendors and found that the Premier DLX is kind of hard to find and that they have different versions (with EQ etc). I would like to ask you if you would recommend their 500 series 73 mic pre ? I’ll be looking at their lineup closely. I’ve been using a Camden 500 mic pre, very nice and clean with a lot of headroom. Thank you for the video.
I don't know if there is any difference then that it's in the 500 format. The 500 pre from GAP looks pretty much exactly like the deluxe version. Only difference I can spot is that the 1/2 RU has an additional attenuator. Their gear is great go for it 👍
Great
Considering that your recording on a 10,000 mic wow the golden age is superb quality for its price that thing is amazing prestige clean and open full sound is this unit brand new or has it been out awhile wow
Yeah, you Gotto use what you have available right!? 😂 Yeah the GAP deserves way more attention. It's been out a couple of years. Should probably cost x2-3 as much judging it by the sound quality. Thanks for watching ✌️
That air tho 🙌🏾💯🔥🔥🔥🔥
Hey Christian. I got this unit… and love it. Just thinking about moving to the 500 version, and also getting a 500 series compressor and EQ. Do you know much about the EQ version of this, the Pre Q I think it’s called? And also do you like GAP’s compressors? Thanks
Hey! I'm actually just about to start demoing the EQ73, so far all good. Broad strokes but sounds great! I really liked the Comp 3a 👍
Golden Age Audio rocks. I don't hear a quintuple price difference here at all; I'd advise anyone to get the Golden Age stuff over the Neves, because it gets the characteristics very accurately. As preamps, they punch *way* above their price point and really deliver the goods.
the difference is obvious on last part, GAP cannot handle well all that information as 1272 which sounds phenomenal!
The vintage 1272 is a bit bigger sounding but its close
I would like to know what audio interface you Connect the pre. Thanks!
Rme UFX gen 1 👍
@@Christian_svedin Thank you! 🙏
1272 sound brighter to my ears.
definitely sounds brighter!
yes, I agree!
i like the GAP more 😰
Does anyone know golden age work on 220v too? Or is 120v only? Or is it different versions for different market, since im travelling overseas
Do u still have your ga 8000
Nope only had one for demo purposes. But it is a great mic! Both clean, Bright and smooth. Quite the achievement 🙂
Nah, Sebatron all the way :)
Neve better