hamptone jfet or tube pre.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

I built the tube pre because my friend that was letting me use his
Avalon 737s, took them back and I wanted to get some quality tube gear.

The kits are put together really well but there is alot to them. Take
your time, follow the instructions and you should be fine.

When I put the Hamptone up against the mic-pres in the 737s, I noticed
that the Hamptone was quieter. Scott had described the tube pre as
having a thunderous bottom end and it certainly does! This thing was
designed to be flat from 20hz to 20khz. There is some tube coloration,
but not too much. It really has a nice clean sound. I guess if you
really drive it you will get more "color", but since I record mostly
acoustical things, I've never tried this. Love it on piano, cello and
vocals. For $699, its a great deal and a great learning experience to
build one. I would like to eventually build one of the jfet units as
well.

I have used this pre with Schoeps, Sennheisers, Royers and various
large diaphragm condensors. In my opinion, it performs very well and
can hold its own against mic-pres costing twice as much or more. All
the components are top quality, no scrimping here. I upgraded to the
step attenuators ($125-$150? more) and it makes an even better pre! If
you want better control, I suggest you consider using the step switches
as well.

Scott is a great guy. He answers email and even phone calls! He is
always more than willing to offer his help. You should definitely get
one of these units while they're available. You'll be so proud not just
for the performance, but also because you built it! Plus it will get
you in practice for building the opto-compressor kit that Scott will be
putting out later this year!

-Steve


derrick.k.martin@gmail.com wrote:
> hi, in the next couple of weeks i am trying to buy either a hamptone
> jfet or tube pre. i am torn about which one to get first. right now i
> am just using the pres on my mbox and i want a good versatile pre
with
> some "character" that i can record acoustic guitar, electric guitar,
> vocals and maybe some analog synth to. can someone who has experience
> with either of these pres let me know what their experience with them
> have been like and how they stack up against other pres from their
> price point and higher.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

They are in fact based on the Silverbox. Scott took the design and
reworked the tube stage so as to be a little more affordable. Aside
from that, one big cost saving change was the use of potentiometers
instead of the step attenuators (which you can get as an option now).

Fletch's description about the Silverbox sounding "silky" is a great
description. The tube pre kit is definitely easy on the ears!

Hey Fletch, were you and Scott trying to get the Silverboxes available
through your website? I thought I heard something like that a while
ago...

Good luck Derrick. When you get your kit, don't forget to check out
some of the DIY forums linked through hamptone.com for help and tips on
putting it together.

-Steve


Fletcher wrote:
> derrick.k.martin@gmail.com Wrote:
> > hi, in the next couple of weeks i am trying to buy either a
hamptone
> > jfet or tube pre. i am torn about which one to get first. right now
i
> > am just using the pres on my mbox and i want a good versatile pre
with
> > some "character" that i can record acoustic guitar, electric
guitar,
> > vocals and maybe some analog synth to. can someone who has
experience
> > with either of these pres let me know what their experience with
them
> > have been like and how they stack up against other pres from their
> > price point and higher.
>
> I used a "Hamptone Silver Box" a couple of years ago and if the kits
> are anything similar to that unit, go with the tube unit. The one I
> used was one of the nicest, silkiest sounding pre's I'd ever heard...
> drop dead gorgeous!!
>
>
> --
> Fletcher

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

<derrick.k.martin@gmail.com> wrote:
>also, i read a little about the opto-compressor on scott's website. I'm
>definitely interested since the only outboard compressor i have is the
>rnc. I'm not very technical when it comes to gear, so excuse my
>ignorance but what exactly is an opto-compressor and what are some
>examples of some...

It's a light bulb (or an LED or a fluorescent panel) and a photosensor.
When the bulb lights up, the sensor drops in resistance and it's shunted
across the line so it drops the signal level.

It's a very slow way of doing compressing, but the shape of the knee mostly
depends on the light-emitting device.

Lots of older compressors used optos. Not so great if you are looking for
super-transparency, but it's a fun sound.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <1114536895.372275.155000@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
<derrick.k.martin@gmail.com> wrote:
>sounds interesting... what older compressor that i might know of are
>opto-compressors?


Just about any older compressor that doesn't use a variable-mu tube
uses an opto. Good clean variable-gain amplifiers didn't exist until
David Blackmer designed one in the seventies.

That means the LA-2 through LA-4, the Ureis, etc. Lots of things that
all sound different and don't have much in common other than that they
use an optocoupler.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."