Summit Audio 2BA-221 Reviews

4.9/5.0 based on 15 customer reviews

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Customer Reviews

D.Crenshaw
from Birmingham Al
March 6, 2012 Music Background:
Hobbyist

Tone! Tone! Tone!

Amazing it was a big up grade from my interface pres

Philip C Riddle
from Sierra Vista Arizona
September 6, 2010 Music Background:
Life long Musician with 2 CD'S

Built like no other product in the world..Bravo Summit

I purchased this from Sweetwater about a year ago and the first thing I noticed, when It arrived, was haw well this unit is built. Totally professional all the way. I believe it even has redundant circutry to make this rock solid and dependabl. I have a home studio and read and read before buying this unit. Boy am I glad I did. For a few extra hundred dollars you move from barebones to professional.
If you are like me, a struggling musician who has decided to make music for music's sake and want the best quality for the buck then throw away the come on adds and buy this unit. For great service from beginning to this is sitting in your lap. Ask for Mark at Sweetwater. He walked me thru this purchase with no sells pressure. A total Pro when it comes to knowing his equipment.

Thank's Sweetwater for making my studio top of the line. PCR

Puffer Fish
from south-central Pennsylvania
December 23, 2009 Music Background:
performing musician, recording engineer

Excellent value

I must agree with most of what other folks have written regarding the2BA-221. It is very impressive, solid, can go from clean to very warm and it has a very useful series of input and out put options. I have compared it to my Presonus Firepod preamps (blew it away), my Allen & Heath mic pres (they sound boxy by comparison and an older TL Audio P-2--the TL Audio P-2 has a similar sound from my tests, but only after I spent money on some NOS Sylvania tubes for the P-2. The summit Audio 2BA-221 sounds wonderful with no mods. Given that the 2BA-221 is so much more flexible than any of the other mic pres I have, it is for sure a 'go to' part of my signal chain. Given that I can vary the sound by such a wide amount, I can use the 2BA-221 for a lot of tracks and it does not start to sound the same, as long as I remember to adjust the pre accordingly! This mic pre is a real solid value given its flexibility and the fact that it does some stuff very few other products can, no matter the price.

James Murphy
from Nashville, TN, USA
May 4, 2009 Music Background:
Songwriter, producer, engineer

This is a GREAT pre!

This thing is GREAT! I've had it about three months now and It still blows me away. It is not "just"a quality pre, it is like having a "tone and texture" box as well. It has the ability to go from "thick and rich" to "bright and airy" and everything in between. I spent a lot of time researching mic pre's in this price range and finally decided on the Summit and I'm glad I did. I was looking for versatility and I definitely found it in the 2ba 221. It took a while to figure out how to get the sound I was after but once I got used to how the mic pre,impedance and tube circuit all interact and affect each other, I was able to get the results I was looking for quickly. As regards Summit's customer service, I e-mailed the company with a question soon after I bought the unit and within ten minutes I received a phone call from the president of the company to answer my question! I am very happy with this unit and recommend it to anyone looking for a great mid-priced pre. It has far exceeded my expectations and it is a quantum leap in quality over the lower priced pre's I've had. AND I didn't go broke in the process!

MR. KING
from Los Angeles, California
October 30, 2008 Music Background:
hip hop artist/producer

quality of the pros for the low!

SIMPLY THE BEST VERSATILE UNIT IN PRICE RANGE!!!!!! EVRYONE LOVED IT!!!!
i used this pre for the first time today... i have a C414, MA-200, rode K2, TLM 103, and jus recently bought a blue baby bottle to accompany my 2ba-221 purchase. i used every mic but the rode with this pre amp recording a few mixtape verses with my people on different productions in the last 8 hours jus to test it out and EVERYONE LOVED IT!!!!... the results came out AMAZING and warm with perfect clarity and virtually no noise what-so-ever...given we took the time to "match" impedance with different mics and tune the tube/solid state gains to our likings which was simple to adopt and familiarize. its unmatched by any pre in its price range. it can be warm as u want or completely transparent using the solid state stack output. variable impedance is extremely more versatile then most units with fixed settings and it can be dual outputed for zero-latency monitoring with mixer/interface (great for pro tools LE users). ive used the solo 610, grace 101, vt737, ME-1NV. i own a p-solo, eureka and the trakmaster pro( now only use for zero-latency monitor section). BOTTOM LINE THIS IS SIMPLY THE BEST PRE AMP IN ITS PRICE RANGE I'VE USED AND IT SUITS WELL FOR A VARIETY OF VOCALISTS BASED ON MY FIRST FEW RUNS WITH IT! blows my eureka and p-solo away in presence and clarity!! A MUST BUY FOR THE PRICE IF YOU WANT CRISP VOCAL TAKES. call MAC ext. 1358 and buy one if you looking for a high end vocal/instrument pre in this price range!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i promise you will be amazed at the sound!

( 610, great river and grace 101 are all great pres but i feel they are nowhere as close in versatility of the 2ba-221, as all our vocal tracks sounded amazing!

Bud
from Orange County, CA
May 20, 2008 Music Background:
Jack of all, master of none.

Jackpot!

I was using my Mackie Onyx pre's until I got this little thing. The difference wasn't immediately noticeable until I a/b'd between them both. I am now drunk with joy!

Litvak
from Ventura Co, CA
April 25, 2008 Music Background:
Hobby player since 1964

Have your cake and eat it too

I’m a (guitar) tube amp freak. I love the old Fenders and Marshalls as well as the modern boutiques. But when I record at home, I can’t play at gig volume. If I fine tune my signal path (eq, compression, reverb, and delay), I get better sounds line-in than miking an overly attenuated amp. For direct recording I’ve used a tube pre (Aphex) to retain warmth, but have also turned to solid state (Eureka) when going for an articulate sound. I always felt those two approaches were mutually exclusive. Once you put a tube in the signal chain, you loose the clarity of solid state, but without a tube you don’t get the overtones that fatten the signal. With the 2BA-221, however, I can have my cake and eat it too! I set up the signal path without the tube and then blend in the tube as needed. The result is stunning. Fat but clearly defined. I've tried a couple of cheaper tube-blend preamps but they didn't have the "pro" sound that this unit does. The insert lets me eliminate the mixer I used to have in front of my A2D (MAudio 1814) for incredible S/N. It may appear somewhat expensive to the average home recorder, but IMHO you're getting a lot of bang for the buck. I hope Summit Audio keeps thinking of us little guys with their half-rack gear.

Billy B
from Pasadena, CA
January 9, 2008 Music Background:
Home Recording Studio, Vocalists

Great with my Mojave Audio MA-200

Excellent Mic Pre. If you can afford this, go out and get it! Don't waste your money on a $300-400 Mic pre. This baby rocks. Sounds so silky smooth with my Mojave MA 200. I had a Eureka Presonus before this that was actually a great deal at $499 and great sound. This definitely has an even smoother sound.

calaveras
from Oakland
September 22, 2007 Music Background:
playing and recording for about 25 years now?

Guitar sound

i spend a lot of time trying to get different guitar sounds out of the same small limited set of gear. I picked this guy up a while ago, thinking I would use it on vocals. I tried it on guitar and it is great! With a 609 or 57 it pretty much give you your guitar, but bigger. Then I found the key to unlocking the truly huge sounds in there. Put a compressor/limiter in teh sidechain. This gets the signal post mic pre, but before the tube stage. Dial in a tiny amount of gain reduction. Then smooth it out more with the tube. Pretty much turns my 5watt 10" amp into a 50 foot tall montser. Add canyon-like reverb to taste.

As with other Summit stuff, the pre is slightly bright so you pretty much are always going to smoosh it into the tube to smooth it out a bit.
Also besides the variable impedance which is great, you also get a very useful high pass filter. Nice to be able to high pass at 180hz or higher going into the DAW.

TCS Voices
from PA
September 21, 2007 Music Background:
Home Studio Owner

Daddy's New Toy

My official excuse for spending so much time in my home studio these days is that I'm experimenting with the variable impedance control on this unit. Truth is, I'll find any excuse to turn the thing on.

This is exactly what I needed to get the most from my new Mojave Audio MA-200. I had previously been using an Aphex 207 which didn't quite bring out the full potential of the mic. I plugged it into the 2BA-221 and WOW! What a difference. Didn't take long to coax a variety of sounds out of it either. Tracks are simultaneously crisp, warm, smooth and punchy.

Good mics crave a good pre and this has to be one of the best in its price range for power and versatility. Buy it at the risk of neglecting your friends and family!

from
July 31, 2007 Music Background:
producer

For professionals only

This thing is for professionals only, because you need good ears and experience to find the best sound. It's not a plug and play unit, and it surely doesn't sound like one!

The best thing is that it can be perfect with any mic, not like other preamps with only 1, 2 or 3 impedance setting. Once you find THE "sweet spot" for your mics, your compressors, or whatever you us with it, you'll be more than happy. You can work as a painter and add different colours if you wish, or keep it neutral. Playing with both the tube gain and the impedance knob gives you a world of possibilities. I would describe it as the "Sarah McLachlan" sound. I don't know what they are using on her voice, but this thing's got the same texture, warmth and openness no matter what colour you choose. I got amazing results with both cheep MXL mics, and high end AKG mics.

You know it's a great preamp when you can sing directly into a bright condenser, and not even need de-essing in the mix.

Eric Majetich Jr.
from Pittsburgh, PA USA
August 18, 2007 Music Background:
Producer, Engineer, Musician, DJ, Lyricist

Best of both worlds

I've been looking for a new mic preamp. I couldn't decide whether to get the Universal Audio SOLO/610 (tube), or the SOLO/110 (solid state). They each run about $700 to $800. When a friend told me about this one, I was very excited. I took a chance and really lucked out. This thing sounds great. Summit Audio has made this thing so flexible with the ability to run a line and a mic at the same time, not to mention the stackability option. You can use the precision of solid state and then warm it up with the tube for as much or as little saturation as you prefer. If you want to get rid of any mud, just turn the high pass filter up. This thing can get an infinite amount of sound combinations. For my particular setup, this makes an excellent front end for the Mbox 2. I am using a R0DE NT1-A as well as a Shure SM58. It does give off some background noise but instead of using the pad on the preamp, use the pad on the Mbox. It gets rid of virtually all excess noise. You then can crank the settings for the best sound. I'm looking forward to production with this valuable tool.

Tracy
from Nashville, TN
June 7, 2007 Music Background:
Banjo Picker

All the preamp I need!

When I bought my 2BA-221 I already owned a Millennia HV-3 preamp. This gave me an excellent point of comparison. In all the tests I did with acoustic folk instruments and vocals, the 2BA-221 was more dynamic and brighter. The Millennia in comparison was smoother and fatter. The tracks I recorded with the 2BA-221 mixed more easily without any muddiness. My final conclusion was that these two preamps complimented each other nicely, but, if I had to keep only one, it would be the 2BA-221.

Chris
from Cincinnati, Ohio
March 23, 2012 Music Background:
Recording Engineer

Impressed...

Received this today and only have several hours of use so far. my first impressions are very positive. its heavy and the case is solid. The sound is quality and the versatility is exactly what I had hoped for. thick and warm, clean and transparent, or everything in between. I'm upgrading from a presonus studio channel and although the eq/comp was a fun feature, the pre on here I would say is bigger thus making it more practical. 4/5 because to me, the knobs feel a little weak, which is surprising since everything else is SOLID... including the switches... I chose this over the grace because I wanted something that could be clean but also colored if needed, and ive heard that the grace is sometimes unforgivingly transparent. overall Im very satisfied.

Sunsinger
from Santa Fe
July 1, 2004

Clean or warm-U pick it

This is the first mic pre I have encountered, in its price range, that has enough gain to run through Protools HD without having to use a second stage gain boost, like a Waves L1 . Also very cool is a tube stage dial. You can use this to warm up your mic sound to varying degrees by adding tube sound to the solid state pre on board. From nice clean sound to warm and fuzzy. U pick it. Ranks with higher priced preamps for audio quality. Also has a Hi-Z D/I input stage as well as many other useful features.

inSync Review

Scott Wynn
7-11-2006

Single-channel preamps are becoming all the rage these days, with the sprouting of huge numbers of home studios, and digital commercial studios. The Summit 2BA-221 is fast becoming a popular addition to both commerical and home studios. Taking the Summit 2BA-221 to my home studio I quickly realized the quality associated with the Summit name. The first thing I noticed after unpacking it, is that this thing is built like a tank. It is heavy and solid, there�s no messing around here. With the large ventalation holes on the top you can see the massive amount of circuitry that Summit has packed into this small unit to give it its huge sound.

Once I began patching it into my home studio I realized the flexibility of this unit. This thing offers three different inputs: mic, line, and instrument, with the ability to use the mic input in combination with either the line or instrument inputs, with separate gain controls for each. It essentially makes this thing a small two-channel mixer. Not only that, these units are �stackable.� Take the �stack� output of one unit into the �stack� input of another, and you�ve got four independent channels coming out of one tube output. There is also a separate output gain control for tube output. Turn it down to get clean solid-state sound, or crank it up to add as much real tube sound as you like. You can monitor the tube stage with the three-step LED.

So I plugged in my Rode NTK and broke out the acoustic guitar. Starting clean, I slowly started cranking up the tube output, which really brought out the bottom end, but still kept the highs nice and clear. The variable impedance control is great too: you can dial in the perfect impedance up to four times the impedance of the mic you have. Or you can play around with it like I did, to try and get some different sounds with just one mic, very cool! And this thing can tackle anything you can throw at it, not just acoustic guitar.

Whether you're in a commercial studio looking for a nice tube piece of gear, or in your home studio looking to make the move up in preamps, this unit is for you. Its compact size will add huge sound to your recordings without breaking the bank. I was really impressed with quality and versatility of this unit, and I encourage anyone to check it out.