Over the years, I have used many different mic pres. From low-end to vintage Neve pres. Mic pres play a very important role in the clarity of a recording. Cheap pres often sound like you are looking through a cloudy piece of glass. The more layers of glass you stack up, the farther you are away from seeing an accurate picture of what is on the other side. I believe the same is true for using cheap pres on a recording. You might not realize how cloudy the mix is until you work on a mix with good pres. However, I don't feel a vintage Neve is necessary to make a high quality recording. I have used my Seventh Circle Audio (SCA) pres for over 5 years. I have compared them straight up to many more expensive options. I have API clones, Neve clones and clean pre options from SCA. I think SCA got it right by designing a system of pres that were made for quality and not looks. While I can't say that the SCA pres are exact copies of their vintage counterparts, I do believe that they deliver all the sought after traits of the different pres, and for all except special circumstances I feel I need to look no further for preamps. The SCA pres consistently make me smile through the character they impart on the source and the clarity of recording they allow me to achieve.

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