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Author Topic: Millennia Mic Pre's  (Read 23458 times)

02R96

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Millennia Mic Pre's
« on: June 28, 2007, 09:56:54 PM »

Hello Fletcher,

Has Mercenary ever evaluated Millennia equipment? If so, wadda you think?  Shocked

Dan
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Jeff Goodman

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2007, 05:38:52 PM »

hmmm...

can't wait for this answer.
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02R96

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2007, 12:13:13 AM »

Does that mean they suck?
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George_

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2007, 11:52:13 PM »

I am not fletcher..  happy me Laughing

millenias are great preamps sonically. the main problem is in the cards.. in the 4 or 8 channel preamp ur tech-department or dealer needs to have one replacement-card spare because one channel will fuck up for sure in the first year (that was like a profecy with the new messias.. but.. I stick with it Laughing)  Twisted Evil

I love them besides this technical issue. they have less balls and are not as coloring as US-preamps-brands, but the sound is in your face, absolutely fantastci on drums and vocals. never tried em guitars or something..

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02R96

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2007, 08:40:11 AM »

Thanks for the reply.

I've been hearing a lot about these boxes lately. Seems like more people are starting to use them and are very happy with 'em. That being said, the last thing I would want is to have one tank during a "magic" monent.

Maybe I'll wait and see a little longer before I consider purchasing one...
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Jim Williams

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2007, 10:59:46 AM »

Fletcher's lack of response says it all.

Sometimes one can read into what one doesn't say.

If you are interested in this brand, rent before you buy!

Don't do the samashguitarcentersweetwaterfullcompass two step, it's a very expensive dance.
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Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

Etch-A-Sketch

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2007, 05:35:44 PM »

Got an HV-3D and a TD-1 here.  Great sounding, no problems.  I'm surprised to hear about the  8 channel having a channel crap out.  We've had our 8-channel for almost 3 years now and have never had a problem.

We use them on drums, guitar, brass and string sections all the time.  They're great.
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locosoundman

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2007, 10:04:16 PM »

I own an 8-channel HV3D.  Had one channel crap out, but they sent me a card in the mail which was no big deal to swap out.

I am not sorry I have it - it sounds great and it's a great deal.
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bananahill

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2007, 12:10:20 AM »

emperor's new clothes...
I've never understood the hype about these mic pres.
there are so many better options.

Pendulum MDP-1
Aphex 1100
DAV BG-1
Summit TPA 200B

I admit the packaging of the Millennias looks great, but as said above
rent and listen.  I own all of the above and have compared them to the Millennias,
one on one blind.  I purchased what liked.

They are a big seller, however.  So, as always, try it.  If you like it, buy it.
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Stephen Krause

Andrew Hamilton

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2007, 06:17:32 PM »

I have the two-channel HV-3C standard (no 130V Phtm. power).  It sounds fantastically clean with the right mic and source.  Though I can't use a 130V B&K with this preamp, the U87ai sounds very good through it.  I use a Manley El-Op as limiter between the Millennia HV-3C and a Mytek 8X96 ADC.  On voice overs and Rap, this works very well.  I think if the sound in the room is good, this preamp would not ruin it.  That's what it's for.  It's not a color box or Art pre.


Andrew
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klaukholm

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2007, 05:27:49 AM »

We have 24 channels of HV3D here.
Never any problems, always sounds good.
The only problem is we don't have enough channels for some clients who love them.
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Kjetil Laukholm
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Malmö Symphony Orchestra

Jim Williams

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #11 on: July 16, 2007, 11:16:58 AM »

Then whip out that soldering iron and make some. Get those knockoff kits from Seventh Circle and save $$$. Pop in some MAT-02 front end transistors in place of the LM394's and use some decent opamps, (not the dirty OPA604).

You do remember how to solder?
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Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

Fletcher

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #12 on: July 18, 2007, 07:18:47 AM »

There are a several options for "clean" pre-amps... for that matter, "clean" is it's own color.  Much like there are about 4000 shades of white at the paint store there are 4000 shades of "clean" when it comes to mic amplifiers.

In the amazing world of "clean" I have found the Millennia to be an amazingly boring version of the species... the GML, the Martech, the John Hardy all have more soul and depth.  There are even tube based units like the DW Fearn, the EAR, the Pendulum MDP-1 that are exciting and [dare I say] "sexier" versions of "clean".

My current favorite bit of "clean" is set to come out in a couple weeks.  It's made in Atlanta by a company called "NPNG".  I've been dicking around with the proto-type for more than a year and have to say that I've never experienced "clean" like this "clean"... it is a very "deep" sounding "clean"... a "clean" with size, a front, a back, a depth and a definite soul.

The Millennia specs better than anything I've ever heard about... my only problem is that I don't record specifications, I record music... so while there are many [MANY!] who seem to feel that the HV-3 is a great pre for their applications in "clean" world, I find the thing damn near useless as it brings nothing to the table to make my music more exciting.

As always, YMMV.

Peace.
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CN Fletcher

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If you've spent most of your life with a few thousand dollars worth of musicians in the studio, making a decision every second and a half... and you and  they are going to have to live with it for the rest of your lives, you'll get pretty arrogant too.  It takes a certain amount of balls to do that... something around three"
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Jim Williams

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #13 on: July 18, 2007, 10:52:59 AM »

The Millenia does test well on some tests on the Audio Precision, but other tests reveal what you are hearing. THD+noise is very low, around .0005% at low gains.

Run it into a FFT test and then you hear "the rest of the story".

Nothing like adding 11 orders of harmonics all looking like a picket fence rather than a 3rd and small 5th harmonic and nothing else. This is a result of the BurrBrown OPA604 opamp, one of the dirtiest modern opamps ever made for audio.

The only reason this part is used is that they will work (for a while as mentioned above) at + - 24 volts. This is the manufacturer's maximum rating which they don't recommend for reliability reasons. That amount of output is not needed in a world where analog tape saturates at +13 dbu and most converters zero out at +20 dbu. A small dip heatsink glued to the opamps may add to their lifetime as the dip package is limited in heat dissapation.
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Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

Hank Alrich

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Re: Millennia Mic Pre's
« Reply #14 on: July 18, 2007, 01:49:17 PM »

Fletcher wrote on Wed, 18 July 2007 04:18



In the amazing world of "clean" I have found the Millennia to be an amazingly boring version of the species... the GML, the Martech, the John Hardy all have more soul and depth.  There are even tube based units like the DW Fearn, the EAR, the Pendulum MDP-1 that are exciting and [dare I say] "sexier" versions of "clean".

...

The Millennia specs better than anything I've ever heard about...



Sometimes my Millennia 4-banger sounds like a million bucks and other times it sounds like a dime. Sometimes it's like a view through a glassless window and other times it's like hearing why there is no glass in the window.

Contrast with my GV MP2-MH, which always sounds very good.

As for keen specs, the Gordon is killer, and it sounds as if the specs there actually mean something. For a super clean pre I personally won't bother looking elsewhere.
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