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Deirdre · Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 6:57 am Post subject: Avalon 737/ 737sp

Are they the same except for the fancy knobage on the sp?

—Curious Geardre
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Yoda117 · Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:30 am Post subject:

Pretty much by the looks of it

http://mercenary.com/vtspecmered.html

gives a bit more info. I think the 737sm uses a different transformer (the babyface mod), it used to say so on the page, but doesn't anymore... so I'd check that out if you're interested.
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Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

I just got the 737 SP from Sweetwater. A definite improvement over the Focusrite Platinum...especially when you run a Neumann TLM103 through it...

tackerman · Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:00 am Post subject:

One is shinier than the other. Wink

Ebay's a GREAT place to score a lightly used to practically brand new 737. There are always a few listed. Worked for me!

Deirdre · Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:43 pm Post subject:

Has anyone put the M5 and the 737 head-to-head?

I loves me some solid state amps. I just wonder about the comparison.
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Edo · Guest

I did compare an M5 and a 737SP... not the 737, the SP had a little more magic when using a RODE NT-2 and the Blue Kiwi mic, but.... when I was allowed to testdrive the 747sp that was WAY BETTER than the 737sp at only some $300 more than the 737sp. Far more detail and the ability to make very narrow EQ alterations did it for me.

Then ofcourse... I did not purchase the Avalon for I found (or should I say it found me...) the Millennia STT-1.

If you have a tube mic and no sound engineering skills, I'd probably strongly advice you to go with the M5. Crisp and very low noise! Great circuits.

anthonyVO · 14th Avenue Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1470 Location: NYC

da M5 eez for girly man
Ninja

BenWils · Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:14 pm Post subject:

Edo · Guest

Ben, whatever you decide to choose... let it work for YOU. I specifically had to find something to really make the mentioned mics sparkle. And I was lucky enough to testdrive a lot of awesome preamps including an Manley VoxBox which by the way is greatly overpriced in my opinion.

I had wonderful results using a $ 700 TL Audio 5051 Ivory Series tube pre and for recording acoustic instruments I will keep it forever. It works a s well as a $ 3000 piece of equipment on SOME mics. I would NEVER say purchasing a 737sp is a bad thing, we're talking Avalon Design here, they know their stuff! And with a budget Neumann TLM-103 or 127 it can work miracles. It just wasn't good for me, for there were more options within that pricerange. Furthermore I also still have my Symetrix 528 (no E) that I will never part with...

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Hey Ben,

Thanks for the concern, but no remorse here. Plus, I don't do much EQing or stuff like that with the Avalon. I am mostly a Banksey-type proponent of little or no processing (okay, I put a little compression on my auditions) and the Avalon unprocessed delivers a nice sound for my ear.

And my previous post was by no means a slam against the Focusrite Platinum Voicemaster. But again, with a TLM103 the Avalon does a better job of smoothing out the sharpness (as I believe Lance Blair described it)

Plus, some additional bass traps and mic positioning have really made me a true believer in the validity of the TLM103.

I will get a U-87 someday, after I've made enough money with the 103

Yoda117 · Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:30 am Post subject:

Rellis, not to cause issues, but the Avalon already adds enough HF to the sound... you wouldn't really need much EQ anyway.

Avalons are nice units, but as another poster here stated, it's probably better to cruise gearslutz.com or eBay and snag one that hasn't been used too much. It's a love/hate thing for a lot of people... either they swear by them, or swear at them (personally it's just a tool, like anything else, so much like the Neumann bashing, I don't get it).

Edo: what tubes are you using in the STT-1? I just replaced a set with some NOS Mazda and HOLY COW!!!!

/liked it better than the Mullards, much nicer than the Teles that I'd heard with them
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Edo · Guest

Hey Yoda,

I'd have to guess from the top of my mind for I'm in the Dutch Caribbean at the moment and the Millennia sits in my rack in my studio in The Netherlands... but if I remember correctly there's 3 or more different types of tubes. Amongst them I recall ECC83/12AX7, 12AT7 and probably 12AU7 as well, not quite sure. I got NOS tubes with the unit, the ones that were in there (the demo unit traveled around quite a bit for a number of months) went back to the pro audio dealer.

Would you know whether your replacement tubes have similar specs to mine? I am not that familiar with internal structure of the tubes in question, hence I'm not very anxious to replace them next time I go back to Holland.

BenWils · Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:30 am Post subject:

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

Enjoy the 737!

Hey, it's like any craft...get something good that works well for you and make the most out of it.
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