Coil Audio Preamps

[Squawk]

I just ordered one of these preamps. I'm pretty excited to shoot it out against the Groove Tubes Vipre.

I'm already saving for a 286, which I'm hoping to shoot out against the Sonic Farm Berliner.

 

[Monkey Man]

Congrats Mr. T!

Hey, thanks for bringing the forum back to life, mate. Yours is the first post here in quite some time.

 

[Squawk]

I try my best Monkey Man! Had a busy past couple of months. New place, new studio setup, etc.

 

[Monkey Man]

Awesome, T!

 

[Squawk]

Having had this for a couple of weeks now, I can say that I really like the CA-70s. It's very easy to dial in a great sound with the controls. In comparison to the Groove Tubes Vipre that I have here to compare with, I do find the Vipre just a bit bigger and more up front sounding.

Since the Vipre is no longer made, the Coil audio is a great alternative if you are looking for that type of old school big sound from a tube preamp.

 

[Monkey Man]

Hey T, what's "NF" stand for?

I like the minimalist approach.

 

[Squawk]

That's the negative feedback control. Basically they put it on a pot, instead of either having it fixed, or on a switch. If it's turned all the way counter clockwise, NF is off, and you'll get a brighter, more open sound with more harmonics and a bit more gain. Turned clockwise, negative feedback is fed into the circuit, and it's a darker sound, less top end excitement and harmonics. Very useful to quickly dial in a good setting to match your microphone.

 

[Squawk]

What I found is that by adjusting the impedance settings on the Vipre, I was able to somewhat mimic the affect of negative feedback in or out of the circuit on the Coil CA-70s.

I still have a soft spot for the Groove Tubes Vipre. It was the first really good preamp that I purchased when starting out (after the Avalon 737), and it was a lot of cash at the time! That was maybe 18 years ago (damn!) and I still have it.

 

[Monkey Man]

That's the negative feedback control. Basically they put it on a pot, instead of either having it fixed, or on a switch. If it's turned all the way counter clockwise, NF is off, and you'll get a brighter, more open sound with more harmonics and a bit more gain. Turned clockwise, negative feedback is fed into the circuit, and it's a darker sound, less top end excitement and harmonics. Very useful to quickly dial in a good setting to match your microphone.

Brilliant!

Thank you, T.

 

[Squawk]

Just picked up the CS-286a! Got a decent deal as it was a Vintage King demo unit. I haven’t had a chance to test it out yet, but it should be fun to compare both on vocals. Even running the 286 into the 76 line input. There’s a few demos from Coil where they’ve done that.

Happy New Year!

 

[Monkey Man]

In every sense of the words, nice rack, T.

 

[dougwendal]

Just picked up the CS-286a! Got a decent deal as it was a Vintage King demo unit. I haven’t had a chance to test it out yet, but it should be fun to compare both on vocals. Even running the 286 into the 76 line input. There’s a few demos from Coil where they’ve done that.

Happy New Year!



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Hello!

Congratulations on the CA-286s purchase. I have a CA-70s on order. Waiting patiently for it to arrive.

Have you had a chance to compare the two? Curious to hear your what you think of it compared to the CA-70s.
Also, do you have a favorite source (or sources) where the CA-70s is your go to preamp?

Have you used it with the Splice? I'm hoping to pickup a Splice 500 in the next month or so.

Thanks!

 

[Squawk]

Hello!

Congratulations on the CA-286s purchase. I have a CA-70s on order. Waiting patiently for it to arrive.

Have you had a chance to compare the two? Curious to hear your what you think of it compared to the CA-70s.
Also, do you have a favorite source (or sources) where the CA-70s is your go to preamp?

Have you used it with the Splice? I'm hoping to pickup a Splice 500 in the next month or so.

Thanks!

Hi Doug, welcome!

I honestly haven't had the chance yet to compare, as I haven't been tracking acoustic instruments or vocals over the holidays. I'm planning to do some tracking with the 286 on vocals this month. (I notice that in a lot of the Coil videos, they are using a 286 into the 70 on vocals).

I'll post my thoughts and maybe some samples on vox once I have the time to do a shootout. I will say that I think the 70s can cover a lot of ground, including vocals. The negative feedback dial gives a lot of range.

Splice is great! I think it's the best modern take on an 1176, and gives you a great range of options. It's far nicer than the UA reissue I had before that.

Cheers!

 

[Squawk]

In every sense of the words, nice rack, T.

Thanks I just added an Airfield Audio Liminator to it (used to have one but sold it, and was finally able to replace it with a good deal from Reverb.com)

 

[Monkey Man]

D'Oh!

 

[Squawk]

Hello!

Congratulations on the CA-286s purchase. I have a CA-70s on order. Waiting patiently for it to arrive.

Have you had a chance to compare the two? Curious to hear your what you think of it compared to the CA-70s.
Also, do you have a favorite source (or sources) where the CA-70s is your go to preamp?

Have you used it with the Splice? I'm hoping to pickup a Splice 500 in the next month or so.

Thanks!

Did a mic shootout tonight with a new female artist I’m producing (voice is similar to Norah Jones meets Adele). I used the CA-286s on all of the mics. Blue Bottle with B6 and B0, Chandler REDD, and Wunder CM7.

They all sounded great with the Coil CA-286s. I did notice that the negative feedback control seems to have less of an impact on the overall sound thanon the CA-70s, where it’s far more dramatic a change.

 

[dougwendal]

Now that it has been a couple of months, do you have any additional thoughts on the CA-70s and CA-286s? When would use one instead of the other?
Can you get close to the hifi sound of the CA-286s with the CA-70s?

Thanks!

 

[Squawk]

Now that it has been a couple of months, do you have any additional thoughts on the CA-70s and CA-286s? When would use one instead of the other?
Can you get close to the hifi sound of the CA-286s with the CA-70s?

Thanks!

Hi Doug,

I think they are both great. The 286s is a little cleaner, perhaps not as thick and old school sounding as the 70s. However, I find the 70s more configurable due to the more dramatic nature of the negative feedback pot in the circuit, so it can go from more dark/dense to brighter. There's definitely a more pronounced difference in tone and vibe with the NG in the 70s than the 286s.

Both are great on vocals. I think if I had to choose one Coil over the other, I might be inclinded to choose the 70s, as least as a first one. It sounds great on vocals, and is more versatile on other instruments as an all rounder. Either way you can't go wrong though. Different shades of great. I also still really like my GT Vipre, which is in a similar vein. No NF control, but has impedence selection, etc.

 

[dougwendal]

Hi Doug,

I think they are both great. The 286s is a little cleaner, perhaps not as thick and old school sounding as the 70s. However, I find the 70s more configurable due to the more dramatic nature of the negative feedback pot in the circuit, so it can go from more dark/dense to brighter. There's definitely a more pronounced difference in tone and vibe with the NG in the 70s than the 286s.

Both are great on vocals. I think if I had to choose one Coil over the other, I might be inclinded to choose the 70s, as least as a first one. It sounds great on vocals, and is more versatile on other instruments as an all rounder. Either way you can't go wrong though. Different shades of great. I also still really like my GT Vipre, which is in a similar vein. No NF control, but has impedence selection, etc.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm still waiting for my 70s. I had no idea it would take so long when I ordered it. Given the current stay at home rules, I could really be putting it to good use. Since there is no onboard V48 power, what are you using to power condenser microphones?

 

[Squawk]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm still waiting for my 70s. I had no idea it would take so long when I ordered it. Given the current stay at home rules, I could really be putting it to good use. Since there is no onboard V48 power, what are you using to power condenser microphones?

Yeah, it's difficult right now. I've had to obviously cancel all tracking sessions as well.

Most of the microphones I use with it are tube, so they have their own power supply. The only solid state LDC's I have now are a Neumann FET 47 and a Shure KSM32 (great mic for cheap!).

So, it hasn't been an issue yet. I also have my Vipre, which does have phantom, so I've got some options. I know that Coil sells their phantom power unit now, but I haven't really thought about buying it at this stage yet.