PreSonus ADL 600 Reviews

4.7/5.0 based on 17 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

David Klausner

PreSonus was kind enough to let me borrow the prototype of the ADL600 for the recording of Sonny Landreth's Grant Street album. I was so blown away by the sound - big, three-dimensional "vintage" tube flavor, but with an incredibly open top end and gobs of headroom - that I immediately got on the list to get one of the first production units.

Tim Holsinger

I use the PreSonus ADL 600 in my studio to record vocals and it blows me away! This preamp is incredible! I'm able to record fantastic-sounding vocal tracks that always fit perfectly in the mix. It has tons of headroom, which allows you to really push the tubes and get a rich sound! I'd recommend one to anyone who's serious about getting great sounds on their recordings.

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Customer Reviews

Jackie Baker
from Tifton, GA
May 5, 2012Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Composer, Pro Musician

Fantastic!!!

I have enjoyed this thing from day 1. It's rich, detailed, the transients are beautiful. It can go from tame and neutral to tubey and gritty. If using a ribbon, you definitely need the Cloudlifter. This thing is whisper quiet at moderate levels but can introduce a slight hiss at higher volumes. I've never experienced this with condensers on this pre.

Love it!

Brian
from Hampton, VA
February 8, 2012Music Background:
Studio Owner / Hobbyist

Dream Preamp

Super excellent and versatile preamp. Easy to use: you can easily dial in a little drive to warm up a track. Set the right gain amount, and proper impedance for your mic and add a little high pass with the simple front panel dials. Great, great piece of gear. Thank you to David Hess, my Sweetwater sales rep (1398). Sweetwater as always delivered right on time.

John Polk
from
October 22, 2011

Best Investment I ever made

I have Neumann's, AKG's, the Mojave MA-200, and the improvement the ADL-600 made in everything I've put through it is nothing short of astounding. My 414 is over 25 years old, and sounds better than I've ever heard it. I do voice-over work for a living, and record small vocal groups, and after they hear how they sound in my studio, they don't want to record anywhere else! The ADL-600 is by far the best pre-amp I've ever heard or tested. Probably worth twice the money.

AKB
from New York, NY USA
October 23, 2008Music Background:
Recording Engineer/Producer

Talk about a "wow" effect!

The first time I heard this thing in action was as an intern working on a major project. We flipped the switch on this thing during the mixing process and immediately patched it into the majority of the mixes for that album. This thing does wonders for vocals, bringing clarity and warmth, and it even adds a little spice to mixes when you run your two-track through it. A must have.

La Forest Gray
from El Paso, TX
July 17, 2008Music Background:
Producer/Engineer/Song-writer/Composer

Great addition

I recently got the ADL-600 last week Friday (11 July, 2008) and I must say that I really love the "warmth, clarity & full-sound" that this preamp is able to provide. Using it with Blue Bluebird & CAD Trion mics & I love the clarity of this preamp (Used Presonus BlueTube, Art's Gold MPA, Focusrite VM Pro, Avalon 737sp & UA LA-3A) & IMHO it beats them all (not sure if that's correct, but it gives me what I need).

I had looked & researched this preamp since 2005 & kept going back & forth between this & the Liquid Channel (Thanks for being out of stock, still going to add).

Bottom-line: This is not a "budget/semi-pro" preamp, this is a professional preamp that will add to your arsenal, but yet & still you have to develop a ear in all that you do.

EV
from Palm Bay, Florida
March 17, 2008Music Background:
Musician, Sound writer, Recording Engineer

Sue and EV's ADL 600 Review

To state things simply.... this pre amp is stunning. The sound is alway rich and "creamy". Thank you Mike Arango of Sweetwater for giving us the scoop about this wonderful piece!

EV

GTT
from CT. USA
December 26, 2007Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Live Sound Engineer, Pro Musician, Hobbyist, Student, etc

SIMPLE & EFFECTIVE

ALTHOUGH THE WORD "WOW" IS A "STRETCH" (JUST A METAL BOX WITH COMPONENTS..NOT PAMELA ANDERSON)...I WOULD RATE THIS AS AN EXTREMELY WELL BUILT UNIT WORTHY OF ANY RECORDING SITUATION. NO OP-AMPS MEANS NO DOWN TIME TRYING TO FIND OUT WHICH ONE HAS "FRIED". THE STRAIGHT WIRE TYPE OF DESIGN IS WHAT GIVES THIS UNIT ITS' "DICTION". NO UNNECESSARY & MENACING FEATURES. JUST A PURE SIGNAL PATH HOPEFULLY COMING FROM PURE TALENT. ANTHONY IS AN INTELLIGENT & EXTREMELY AMIABLE PERSON TO DEAL WITH AND AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED..HE MAKES THE BEST LA-2A OUT THERE. SO HOW CAN YOU LOSE BUYING A PREAMP DESIGNED BY HIM?

Neurojammer
from Houston, TX
March 14, 2007Music Background:
Producer, Session Musician, Recording Engineer

The Vacuum-Tubed Heart and Soul of My Studio

I've recorded in some amazing studios. The kind of studios that mic my drums with about 20k worth of microphones alone (throw in front-end gear and you're getting closer to 6 figures). Those same studios used by artists like The Rolling Stones and Destiny's Child. Places listed as being amongst 'the best places to record in the country' by Billboard Magazine.

So I've obviously heard a variety of preamps (from the latest and greatest to Sothebys-worthy vintage models) and what they're capable of doing to a variety of sound sources.

The ADL 600 simply blew my mind when I first heard what it could do. I had a hard time believing it was really a Presonus. Presonus admittedly carries some cheaper, somewhat middle-of-the-road gear. They make good stuff but they're not really known for offering an across-the-board 'Mercedes Benz' level of gear.
They just don't quite have the same name status garnered by such elitists as Avalon, Manley, or Cranesong. But the proof is in the hearing.

I'm so glad I saved some money by not going with the Avalon or any of the other highbrow heavyweights. And my recordings sound like I spent nearly twice as much. My clients are just as happy with the sound as me, and most of them don't know the difference between a condenser and a ribbon microphone. But they do know when something sounds good. And that's really all that matters.

Any source put through the ADL takes on new life, whether vocals, drum overheads, or acoustic guitar. It will bring your mic's to life. Go get one. Trust me, you'll be thrilled you didn't spend the extra on the Avalon.

If you're after a stratosphere of headroom, crystalline clarity, and that big warm, organic sound of vintage (yet pristine) tubes, then you'll never look back.
It's become my production studio's primary front-end. I have RODE mic's that now sound every bit as good as Neumanns when run through this thing. I will now save thousands by not buying some of the microphones I would have bought prior to getting the ADL. And no, I don't work for Presonus. I pray this is their new benchmark.

Shaun Combs
from Orlando, FL
May 7, 2010Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Bassist, Producer, www.secombs.com

Beautiful sound, Very versatile

I've owned the ADL600 for 2 months and it has gotten use on vocals, acoustic, bass, drum overheads. It sounds great on everything I've used it on so far. It's not overly colored but the impedance selection and variable gain control allow you to get a nice variety of sounds, from clean/transparent to thick and warm. Plenty of gain! I received this right before an electric guitar overdub session and the guitarist just said "wow" after getting tones with this.. so much better than my previous stock pres in my 003. We were blown away and every other instrument I've recorded through it has sounded equally impressive. Definitely a quality piece and one that I will be using on every recording from now on.

Joe
from Orlando, Florida
December 25, 2006Music Background:
Mix Engineer, FOH Engineer, Recording Engineer as well

Get One of these, You'll Love it

This pre is an excellent mic pre but thats almost only what it's good for but it is good on some instruments like acoustic guitars and a couple others as well, It's also a VERY CLEAN pre NICE and BIG WARM SOUND

I would recommend it over a 737.

Johnny V
from Preskill
March 31, 2007Music Background:
Studio Owner, Producer, Engineer

ADL600

Its pretty solid but spend the extra few hundred and go with a 2022 by avalon. THe ADL is a bit tinnier in the live room. I like it on iso'd vocals a lot though.

Anonymous
March 25, 2006

Presonus ADL 600 Preamp

This preamp blew me away. Extremely warm and clean. Built solid with old school "easy to grab" switches and knobs. I run just about everything through it before going into my DAW.

Anonymous
March 25, 2006

The ADL600 is a stellar unit.

So far I've used the ADL600 for drum overheads, vocals, keys, ac.gtr. and it certainly shines on all of them. I find the highs are silky smooth and the presence and detail have real depth....its not what I call neutral, which is GOOD.....it definitely has character - and more of it the harder you hit it on the input......there is tons of headroom which is quite impressive as well as being super quiet.....the HP filter is quite useful at 40/80/120.....I like that it has 3 choices unlike other units.......theÂ_low and upper midrange has a very nice presence, that was quite evident on acoustic piano.
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I don't consider myself an expert on this stuff, but I know what I like and the ADL600 is now my go-to piece of gear. I also own the Vintech 1272 and Universal Audio LA610 and it makes its home nicely along side those units....this is a super combination of preamps to capture a variety of color and character, so needless to say I am quite happy with what I'm hearing. So in my mind the ADL600 is a stellar unit.

"Diamond Jim" Hewitt
from Oracle, Arizona
February 26, 2006

Warmer Upper Thingey

We just finished tracking an acoustic guitar with vocals through the ADL 600. The singer has been looking for "that sound" for some time, and we came close a few weeks ago with the Marshall V69 tube mic on vocals, but when adding the new ADL 600 up front, and running the guitar through an Earthworks TC-20 omni condensor, the sound was stunning! Very full and clear. It sounds as good raw as any track I have ever mastered, and this one has no treatment whatsoever.

Needless to way I am keeping this unit, and my wife now feels better about the money spent on that "warmer upper thingey".

Thanks, Mark, for the recommendation and the upsell. You hit it on the mark!

Jack Waren
from Princeton, New Jersey
February 24, 2006

My new secret weapon!

Since I got the ADL600, I soon began to run pretty much everything through it going into my ProTools - even to warm up final mixes! It renders a rich and warm tube sound, yet adds punch and edge. They call it a "tube pre-amp"...I call it my "tube processor"...or better yet...my new secret weapon!

Anonymous
November 1, 2005

Wow!!!

I have had the ADL600 for a few weeks now and I must say, WOW!!! This unit is very clean, but with tons of detail and warmth. It absolutly sounds amazing on kick and has a nice smooth character on vocals. Worth every single penny!!!

John Swihart
from Los Angeles, CA
November 1, 2005

ADL 600

I've have an ADL 1000 for many years and have considered it one of the best purchases I ever made. The ADL 600 is just as rewarding to hear and own. I've only been using it for a couple days but its making my upright piano blend beautifully with all the guitar and bass stuff I record through and old 512b. the ADL 600 is clean, clear, quiet, flexible, and has nice tube softness to make my upright from 1911 sound silky smooth. It's less colored than the 512b, but still had a hint of a vintage style sound with a lot less noise. Thanks PreSonus and Anthony.

PreSonus ADL 600

2-channel Tube Microphone Preamplifier with Phantom Power and Wide Dynamic Range

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