DEMETER VTMP-2B STEREO TUBE MICROPHONE PREAMPLIFIER REVIEW

Pro Audio Review, October 1997
By Tom Carr

Preamp Shootout At The Annex (Partial Article)

Panelists Assemble

After Susan Muscarella finished playing piano for the group, I drew back the big black curtain to allow the panelists to see what preamps they had been auditioning. The range of reactions was as diverse as what was written down on the evaluation forms. I believe all were slightly taken aback at seeing only seven units in the rack and at hearing that the channel changes had occurred only in the "A" column of the form. One of the engineers was also surprised to learn that they had been listening to a Grace Model 201 all day, as this person owns two of them. Another noted with glee that their "sounds very British" notation corresponded to the English-made TL Audio preamp.

As for the subjective results, allow me to translate. Be aware that often there were conflicting reactions on individual points. For example, one person wrote "cloudy and unnatural" and another wrote "open". (You say 'tomato,' I say 'tomahto.') These summaries present the majority view with some individual comment.

Tube-Tech MP 1A

For vocal and guitar, our panelists called it a tie with the Grace 201, due in part to it being difficult to distinguish between them. Overall, both got "good overall" marks. The 201, however, was preferred a bit more on flute and piano. Words like "open" and "extended" were made by those who liked the sound of the flute. Another panelist, however, thought it to be more "colored" than the Grace.

Demeter VTMP-2b

The panelists preferred the Demeter over the 201 for flutes ("smooth," "pleasing"). For vocal and guitar, the word "smooth" popped up again in describing the Demeter. One panelist said the "two seemed very close" in sonic character. For piano, positive and negative reaction to both preamps were equal, but the Grace may have had the perceptual nod in accuracy for those instruments.

Manley Dual Mono

The reaction to this unit was interesting. Even though it was felt to be "not particularly accurate," a majority of the panel responded positively to the Manley as "warm" and "musical" for flute and piano. The big low-end sound was not always preferred on vocal and guitar ("mellow and warm," is how a panelist described the bass). The Grace, however, came across "vibrant."

TL Audio Pentode

For flute, there were enough comments said about the TL Audio and the Grace to make it a toss up. The 201 seemed to have a more favorable impression for vocal and guitar. For piano, the consensus was that the 201 was more accurate but did not provide the bass of the tube-based TL Audio. Although the TL Audio was actually preferred for piano by panelists, with comments such as "musical," others also described it as "a bit too full" at times.

Forssell M-2a

This was a cliff hanger. Among the panelists, the M-2a edged out the 201 for flute. In turn, the 201 was preferred over the M-2a for vocal and guitar. With piano, the opinions were equally divided in preference. One commented that the Forssell was "bright and open" while another heard it as "narrow."

D.W. Fearn VT-2

As classic a design as the D.W. Fearn preamp VT-2 is, the panelists seemed hard pressed to easily identify a preference between it and the Grace. Descriptions for piano reproduction were glowing for both preamps. Several of them termed the D.W. Fearn as "musical"; another said the Fearn had "excellent transient response." On vocal and guitar, however, several described the VT-2 as having a more prominent low end than the Grace.

Summary

At the end of the day Phil, Dale, Deanne, Leslie Ann, and Bruce all agreed on three points.

First, no single preamplifier in the group is likely to be the best choice for every type of recording application. Second, all the engineers said the six tube preamps and the Grace were of such high audio quality that they would fit right in to almost any high-end studio.

Thirdly, the panelists, during informal discussions with me, also said that to thoroughly evaluate a microphone preamp, an engineer needs to spend listening time in his or her own studio.

All in all, the listening comparison was quite an event for all parties involved, and gave us a chance to try out some nice tube gear and one equally nice solid state piece.

Special thanks and gratitude to: The High-Tweak Gang of Five; Kenny, Deborah, Susan; the manufacturers and distributors for graciously providing this equipment; John Gatski and Chris Nicholson at PAR; Keith Hatschek and Associates; Debra Haney, Janice Iraci, Bob Grudulis and the rest of the Music Annex staff.

Tom Carr is senior mixer/CD mastering engineer at the Music Annex Studios in Menlo Park, CA. He also is a contributor to Pro Audio Review.

Editor's note: PAR would like to thank Tom Carr for his hard work on this article. He concurrently worked on numerous mix sessions and was gracious to find the time to set up the listening panel and compile the information.