Grace 101 mike Preamp

[electricvb]

I was wondering if anyone here on the forum was using a grace 101? How do you like it, is it warm at all, what are you using it for?
I thinking about selling my DBX 386 and replacing it with a 101, but i'd like to hear some opinions first. I use my preamp mostly for vocals and sometimes i run my keyboard instruments through the preamp for either a warmer signal or cleaner signal. My mike's are a baby bottle and a sure sm 57.
Thanks for any info.
Peace and the Lord Jesus Bless.
Vince

[michaelhoddy]

The Grace is warm, but in the silky, round, present, intimate, clean sense, not in the more traditional tube/transformer/even order harmonic distortion sense. Very much a "straight wire with gain." What you put in is what you'll get back out, without any coloration or much diminishment.

If you want a preamp to use as a tone color, the Grace probably isn't your best bet. You might want to have a look at a Great River MP-1NV, or even at the RNMP. But the Grace is one of the best single channels out there for the money, and will do well on many vocals, depending on the style and the mic, and will do exquisitely well on things like acoustic guitar, drum overheads, and acoustic instruments in general.

[electricvb]

Thanks MichaelHoddy for your info, i don't think that i have ever owned a preamp that wasn't a tube, so i was curious as to whether it was a cold sterile preamp or if it had any warmth at all. I have heard a lot of good things about it. I just wanted to get some user opinions. Thanks once again.
Peace and the Lord Jesus Bless.
Vince

[David Klausner]

I don't know that I would characterize the Grace as "warm". In it's price range (or anything close to it) I think it is the most accurate, transparent, natural sounding pre out there. I also wouldn't go so far as to call it "sterile" or "cold". Michael is correct when he says you will get out of it what you put into it, and nothing more (such as the harmonic coloration of a tube pre like the Universal Audio 2610) but also nothing less (as with lesser "clean" pre's).