A Designs Pacifica Reviews

4.9/5.0 based on 7 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Carson McClain

Trying to get an amazing, minimal, acoustic drum sound? Get the Pacifica and a matched pair of Earthworks microphones. Your entire world of drum recording will be changed forever. This is a must-have preamp for the minimalist or the full-blown recording studio.

Nick Schenkel

This preamp has changed everything for me. My guitar tracks have never sounded this good with this little effort. Vocals sit beautifully in the mix. I tried for months to justify buying a Pacifica, and now that I have one I can’t believe that I waited so long. The classic “Quad-Eight” sound that I’ve been longing for is now a reality!

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Customer Reviews

from
March 18, 2012Music Background:
Recording/Mixing Engineer

This is it!

Its a top notch weapon for synths. I love it on vocals and on Drum but it shines the most on synths to me

Gallery Acoustics Recording Studio
from Buffalo, NY
August 12, 2011Music Background:
Pro Studio

Worth every Penny

Bought this pre from Sweetwater several months ago. Extremely versatile. This pre gets used as much as possible @ my studio. I find it really excels at electric guitar, acoustic guitar and snare drum specifically. Sounds really good on everything else too, but there are usually better pres for other applications. This pre will work perfectly for all applications if its your first high end preamp (and I recommend this for your first).

As compared to the 1073, I find this has a far more balanced frequency response. Nothing seems hyped at all. The 1073 is my 1st choice for vocals, bass and kick drum though.

Carling
from Middle, GA
July 14, 2011Music Background:
Musician, Engineer

What a Pre!

First project out of the box was a male vocal(country/rock) paired with a Shure SM7. I was so blown away, i ordered another Pacifica! I've tracked kick drum, snare drum, toms, and acoustic guitar through it so far with a variety of condenser and dynamic microphones. You just can't go wrong with this guy!

Chuck Chambers
from Watkinsville, GA
March 23, 2010Music Background:
Home Recording Engineer, Guitar Builder, Tube Amp Builder, Pickup Winder,

Has the Magic

I've had this preamp for about 1.5 years and I am still amazed by it. Nothing sounds bad and nothing sounds colored. Just a BIGGER and more OPEN and ARTICULATE version of the original!!!! One of the most refreshing things about A-Designs is their customer service. I had an issue with the PAD buttons and within 30 minutes of contacting A-Designs by e-mail, Peter personally called me back and was very eager to get the problem solved and me back up and running. After several troubleshooting questions, he recommended I send it back to him and he would check it out ASAP. It was back to me within a couple of days and was working perfectly. His primary concern was to make sure that I was completely satisfied and everything was working correctly. I felt like an award winning engineer after the way I was treated. A-Designs is truly a class act in terms of quality and dedication to producing a superior product. I would highly recommend the Pacifica.

G. Scott
from Allentown, PA
September 15, 2008Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Live Sound Engineer

What Can I Say.......WOW!!!!

This is my first dedicated mic pre for my studio, I've been using the mic pre's on my Allen & Heath GL2400 for a while (which are not bad mic pre's at all), and I wanted dedicated mic pre for vocals. At the recomendation of my sweetwater representative, Mike Picotte, he suggested the Pacifica, along with other mic pre's. So did some online research I decided to go with the Pacifica and I'm very happy. THANKS MIKE!!!!

Chris Pickenpaugh
from So. California
May 5, 2007Music Background:
Composer / Multi-Instrumentalist

Well worth the investment

My go-to preamp for most pop/rock tracking applications. Sounds great on electric guitars and vocals. Quick and punchy like an API, but with a really nice top end.

Need a great dual-channel pre? This is it.

Pershing Wells
from Houma, LA
August 27, 2007Music Background:
Professional- Producer/Arranger

THE mic pre

I would have given the 'blown away' rating on the horn tracks I cut with this pre. My first impression was 'this sounds like the Tonight Show!' I WAS blown away!... Then the vocal tracks I cut with this pre (I thought, initially) were "better" but 'not quite what I expected'... After listening to this preamp against what I was using before, I've come to realize, this is the real deal. The mixes are MUCH cleaner with more depth and clarity. This amp IS the real deal! Buy it!