Can't have just one!!

I had always been a Neve/Vintech guy for drums and everything else. I played on a session in Nashville at a drummers home studio. Super nice studio. Anyways, he ran all of his close mics, OH and 2 pairs of room mics through 3 3124 pres and wow. Extremely clear. So I had to get one for my studio. This is a very fast Pre, which is perfect for drums. I've also cut bass and acoustic with it and they both sound great. When you drive the Pre there seems to be a slight distortion on the higher frequencies. I plan to buy a second one soon! If you don't have one, I strongly recommend to try it.

Re-Review

I'm using these in a session right now, and being sweetwater fans, the band says I have to review this item haha.. If you pair these preamps with Sennheiser MD-421s, Shure SM57s, (name your favorite dynamic mic), you will be blown away, I promise. So happy I have two of these... yes, I bought another one :) ... they are a little harsh with some condenser mics, but other than that, you can use these to amplify any microphone up to line level (and a very nice sounding line out it is) with any instrument for excellent results. The DI will make any bass SMOKE. My $250 Peavey bass (for beating on) sounds like thunder through this. I frequently use both the DI's and the mic amps on this... the mic amps LOVE dynamic mics! Can't stress that enough.

A great front end...

Stop here. Pair this with any high end converter that can handle its +24db output. Bright but not harsh. Punchy mids but not popping. Smooth bass without the boom. Works really well with just about any mic and has loads of gain. A great standard workhorse. I have this alongside a Brent Averill reracked pair of vintage 1272s. Two different animals, but both ferocious =). The 3124+ sounds professional because it is professional. Very simple circuitry, with almost no noise. It's very clean, yet puts a nice focused and balanced touch on everything. Great for instruments and LOVES dynamic mics...say goodbye to mic incompatibility. It just works with ANYTHING... if you prefer solid state to tubes. If you find yourself using a lot of plugins to "tone-shape", skip 'em and get this. You will never need to EQ for faulty tone again, as it loves to show you the differences in mic placement and always displays the full spectrum of tones how the mic picks them up, it doesn't mask or emphasize really. Again, very clear with a classic signature sound that you will instantly recognize, as long as your monitoring is in the right place =P Had it for a while ... I'm considering writing in my will that I should be buried with it. Just kidding of course, but I am considering getting another one.

Phenomenal--For the Rock Producer and Beyond.

This preamp is AMAZING. For the price, there is nothing better you can do for your rock music. It's punchy, it's warm, it's thick, it's a CLASSIC.

PROS: This is an awesome unit. Very quiet operation, great for rock, especially on drums. If anyone ever asks me what preamp to use for drums, I say API or Neve. Nothing else does the job like them. They also sound amazing on electric guitars, clean or distorted. Huge amounts of gain, easy to use, no problems at all.

The One (yes, only one) CON: the input stage of this thing is very hot, so you may want to buy a few inline mic pads to go with it (unless your mics have pads on them) of maybe 10 or 15dB. This is because your signal can overdrive slightly if you're not careful--sometimes it sounds great...a bit of analog saturation works well...sometimes. Usually this happens when a clean sound is desired, like for acoustic, perhaps vocals. It's not like it will damage anything, but because all you have is a single GAIN knob, you've got to be a lot more conscious of the volume you put into the pre and the volume you get out. Buy a few ProCo 10dB mic pads to have lying around just in case.