UA 710 or 2x GAP pre73s

[Nelson89]

Ok everyone, the time has come to start thinking about my original "golden channel" idea. i.e. i have a focusrite octopre dynamic mkII and an m-audio profire 2626, so 16 channels of decent pretty clean pre's. My idea is that i wanted to have 1 or 2 more pre's, whether they're on top of the 16 channels or patched into 2 of them doesn't bother me.

The objective - i already have 16 clean pre's so:
1. i want something with a little bit of colour
2. i want something thats possibly a step up from what i've got

The two deals i've been looking at are either the Universal Audio 710 twin finity or 2 GAP pre73s in a single unit rack for about the same price. I like the idea of the 710 with its blending capabilities between the tube and solid state section, but i've also heard good things about the GAP pre73.

Which one do you think is the better buy? Note: i'd like to know your reasons for the choice, oh and anyone who owns one of these, please let me know your impressions.

 

[Jim Roseberry]

Ok everyone, the time has come to start thinking about my original "golden channel" idea. i.e. i have a focusrite octopre dynamic mkII and an m-audio profire 2626, so 16 channels of decent pretty clean pre's. My idea is that i wanted to have 1 or 2 more pre's, whether they're on top of the 16 channels or patched into 2 of them doesn't bother me.

The objective - i already have 16 clean pre's so:
1. i want something with a little bit of colour
2. i want something thats possibly a step up from what i've got

The two deals i've been looking at are either the Universal Audio 710 twin finity or 2 GAP pre73s in a single unit rack for about the same price. I like the idea of the 710 with its blending capabilities between the tube and solid state section, but i've also heard good things about the GAP pre73.

Which one do you think is the better buy? Note: i'd like to know your reasons for the choice, oh and anyone who owns one of these, please let me know your impressions.

One's a Neve clone... and the other is similar to the UA 610 and 110.
Have a listen to both types of preamp... and you'll likely have a favorite.
That's a tough call...
You really won't make a bad decision either way.

 

[GuitarsFromMars]

The GAP-73 pre is fairly nice bang for the buck, as it sits.

I have not spent time with the UA.

 

[Scott Whigham]

I'm with Jim - those just aren't that similar. I prefer the Neve sounds but that's my preference. A lot of folks don't like the UA x10s b/c of headroom issues but I have no experience with them.

Again: as Jim says, go listen to a few shootouts and you'll figure it out.

 

[Nelson89]

Yeh thats what i thought...problem is that i don't have the option of properly trying them out first, not until christmas time anyway. I'm thinking of going with the 710 mainly cause its about $400 off, and the GAP pre73 is cheap enough to get a few weeks later anyway, if i like that i'll just get a second one. Thanks for the replies. I'll try and give some sort of review on the 710 once i've got it in use, oh and Scott, i was worried about headroom issues as well, but this one has a 30dB pad, so i think they fixed that issue. I'd be mainly recording my drums through my focusrite octopre dynamic's pre's anyway, and just run the signal through this preamp as an outboard effect if i want to dirty it up a little. This preamp is more for recording vocals and a 15w guitar amp.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.