Chandler Limited Germanium Preamp/DI Microphone Preamp Reviews

You have to love Chandler. Pretty much everything they build sounds great. This is no exception.

man, the germanium pre, is so slept on, i had a client belt into this thing and it just gave the vocal the most warm electric motion ive ever heard from any preamp, im genuinely amazed at how it sounds, its so unique. it makes me feel like im cheating. ive beein using the germ for pop/rnb/rock and even hip hop for the artists who use autotune, this is a must have for those wanting to add that electric motion to their vocals. i have a 610 pre and a 1073 clone, and none of them give the vocals the extreme color and motion like the germ, its so electric, almost as if it was created to give electric guitars a wobble affect when you aren't even trying to do that, all you have to do is push the thing, on top of that it gives a very smooth compression.. you can feel the motion, more than you hear it almost, they go hand and hand of course, but this feels like straight up magic. i think germanium transistors are soon about to make their way back into big/main stream studios. in these modern times, with all the autotune, you would expect that preamps would be made to compliment that type of sound, but ever since they stopped production half a century ago and main stream manufactures switched to silicone transistors , germanium has been long forgotten, if you are reading this and are geared toward recording present day artists or artists of the future, you need this preamp!!! this gives me new renaissance vibes, it sounds like it could lead the way for the new generation. its so colored it will lead you to be more creative, you feel limitless, almost opens up new doors. I love this so much im telling you guys to get ahead of the game so I can personally listen to more music made with this preamp. this preamp allows me to turn the auto tune off or down significantly, and even if I do leave it at the max speed, it just gives the vocal a smooth electric sparkle. when you are recording in hearing yourself, its like the color of the preamp Is whispering in the artist ear "try this while you are at it" I've seen artists make better decisions because of where the preamp leads them. not for all sources, but man, ive used on a lot so far, and it hasn't failed but it really stands out and shines on the harmozing vocalist. do not sleep not sleep on this preamp. you have to experiment with it, but when you dial up the sweet spot for your vocalist, this thing shows its magic.

I purchased this rather impulsively after getting a call from my sweetwater rep and chatting about it over the phone. I had already been looking at these germanium pres after reading a couple of reviews and being in the market for another flavor of DI and mic pre. I was a little skeptical at first to go with the Chandler considering you have to buy the Pre and then buy the power supply to go along with it which is not cheap but I went with it anyway. WOW this is the king's DI. I run my Marshall heads into a hotplate and then into the Chandler and then into my daw where I pair it up with cabinet impulses. I swear my guitar tracks are now bigger, wider and full of harmonics!..This is the best guitar pre I've used yet. Its just different sounding than other pres Ive tried recently. By the way, this thing is a work of art in its construction. Mark from Sweetwater told me about how its point to point hand wired and after taking the lid off and checking inside I noticed how beautifully built this was. If you want an awesome sounding bass DI you have found the holy grail in my opinion. The feedback knob adds a whole layer of butter to the tone that I just cant get with my UA LA-610 (which I love). This is definitely a keeper and unlike any other pre I own. I have other DI/pres that I love but this one is just beautiful and in its own little class by itself!...I would definitely give this a try. Its more than worth the expense. I have tried pres that cost 2-3 thousand dollars and have not been as happy as I am with this baby!..Enjoy!

Fantastic tone for guitar! Really opens up space in mixes. Would highly recommend for any home studio engineers!

After auditioning many mic/pre combinations I decided to try the Germanium out with my singer. She fell in love with the Germanium instantly! Although this isn't the Abbey Road series, it does remind me of the sound of the Beatles vocals. It's just smooth and full, and when you dig in it takes it well. After we tracked vocals I plugged in my bass and I knew it wasn't going back. Then we tracked DI'ed electric guitar - and it made a huge difference when we fed that signal to the amp sim! I've gone from "well, let's try it..." to "...maybe I should get a second one"!

My only wishes are very small: the rackmount option for the power supply (which you have to call the company for) is not simple and the faceplate doesn't match. And I always prefer detents in pots - I go back and forth between projects almost daily, and recall is an issue...

The sounds you can get from these preamps are impressive. I'm always looking to color my guitars, keyboards and bass, to give them a signature sound, and these babies certainly do the trick. The "Thick" button is flat out great!

My favorite pre for "troubled" rock vocalists and an amazing bass DI. The feedback circuit and Thick button are very useful.