Millennia HV-35 500 Series Microphone Preamp Reviews
Add the unrivaled sound quality of a genuine Millennia preamp in your 500 series rack, with the Millennia HV-35. Perfect for low-gain dynamic microphones such as ribbon mic, the HV-35 delivers up to 75dB of freakishly noise-free gain. A front-panel instrument input also makes the HV-35 a fantastic pre for tracking bass direct, particularly instruments with high-character/low-gain passive pickups. Other onboard functions, such as an 80Hz highpass filter and a 15dB pad add extra versatility to the HV-35, and an impressive sub-3Hz to over-300kHz frequency response ensures that no nuances, however subtle, are lost in translation.
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Highest Rated Reviews
Absolute Perfection
These are the best preamps I've ever used - I've personally owned API and Neve in the past, and have also used Chandler. I record a lot of delicate felt piano and analog synths and the clarity of these preamps is insane. My piano has never sounded better. The frequency response is very natural and sounds like what your ears hear. I'm also using Schoeps Mk4's and it is the absolute perfect pairing!
Worth the investment
It"s my third pre and I wish it was my first.
Using: a Fredstein bento 6, a Focusrite 18i20 and every mic in my collection.
It"s a remarkably transparent and very reliable preamp. With a 48v boost, I have turned the gain past 12 o clock (starts near 6 o clock) and still have found zero signal noise. Even if my signal clips, the device handles dynamics with nearly no audible distortion. It has lived up to its prestigious reputation for my works in:
Guitar
Singing
Percussion
V/O
Foley
Great for intimate/ live in person feeling recordings.
This!
Have a bunch of preamps, Neve 1073lb, API 512c, Avedis MA5, 6176....
Been looking for a clean pre to round out the sonic options and I finally found it. Had a Grace m101 and just could not make myself like it no matter how hard I tried. It was just TOO perfect and... glassy.... for my taste.
Hooked up this bad boy today and there IT is. To my ears, what I have been looking for in a clean pre. Can't wait to really put it through the paces but I can already tell I am going to love it. There is just a smidge of buttery warmth, almost inaudible but it's there, to go along with clean signal with a bunch of headroom. The search is over.
By Far My Favorite PreAmp
As an Engineer and a Hip-Hop artist the Millennia is my go to preamp of choice, its clarity is head and shoulders above anything else, and in my experience it shines on vocals. I've had experience with the Avalon, Neve 1073, and SSL pre's... and the clarity and resolution of the millennia works every time.
refreshingly refreshing
I have to say i did not expect this preamp to be this impressive, i also have the API512c, neve1073lb and ua610-2 but the Millennia takes front seat right now... I recorded acoustic guitar and was really impressed, it sounded open, wide and articulate... But not until i recorded an upright piano with them that i was blown away..... wide open sound, tight low end... It just sat perfectly in the mix... awesome!!
I highly recommend it... Get a pair and you won't regret it i promise!!!
Outstanding
Bought a pair of HV-35's blindly, having not heard them before, based on the copious great reviews I had read; The goal was an excellent pair of pre's on the 'clean, neutral, and balanced' side, to offset my other pair of excellent pre's in my lunchbox, a pair of API 512c's.
The HV-35's are, simply put, astounding. I was afraid they might not be 'exciting', since their primary characteristic is their neutrality. But that's not the case at all. In fact, they excite like MAD, since they make everything sound so unexpectedly good; Deep, full, wide, even tone...You get the sense they're capturing every overtone available to the mic, while handling transients effortlessly.
A pair of Royer R 121's overhead on my drum kit into the HV-35's yield a...perfect...sound. Natural, completely reflective of the sound of the kit in the room. And a funny thing happened a few months ago: One of the pair was making some noise when I turned the input gain before plugging in a mic. So, I plugged in an SM58 real quick to check it out. Yup, it was dead (Millennia took care of it in warranty no prob). Just to A/B it against the other, I plugged the 58 into the second HV-35, and went "Check, check....OMG!" I'm not trying to be dramatic here; I've never heard an SM58 sound that good in my life.
Totally outstanding pre, and quite a value for it's quality, in fact.
Really Impressive Preamp
I recently purchased the HV-35 primarily because I wanted a clean preamp with which to record acoustic guitars. I was hoping it would help me capture my acoustic guitar as it really sounds in the room. In order to decide on the setup I liked best, I did an unscientific shootout. I set up a Miktek CV4 and a Shure SM81 in a spaced pair arrangement and ran each mic through either the HV-35, an A Designs P-1, an A Designs Electrodyne 501, or an Electro Harmonix 12AY7. I rotated the preamps and then swapped the mic positions, recording the same simple rhythm strumming pattern with each setup. I also recorded each mic and preamp combination in a mono mic setup.
The results were interesting. The P-1 is a fantastic preamp on almost everything and sounded great wherever it was used. The Electrodyne sounded a bit boxy to my ears in this application. The surprise of the bunch was the 12AY7 – when gain was compensated it sounded very close to the HV-35. But the HV-35 was the clear winner in my mind. The image it gave was so clean and came across as so accurate to what was really in the room. And it seemed to capture some harmonic overtones in such a flattering, sweet way that I just kept coming back to it. The arrangement I finally decided on was the CV4/HV-35 off the picking hand and the SM81/P-1 combo aimed at the 12th fret. I felt like the richness of the CV4 rounded out the cleanness of the HV-35 and the P-1 gave a little bit of heft to the SM81.
The differences were very subtle. I would’ve been pretty happy recording with any of the HV-35, the P-1, or the 12AY7 (which says a lot about the $200 12AY7). But given the choice, I would choose the HV-35. And if something happened to the one I have, I would definitely buy another one. Or five.
Side note – I also shot out bass through the DI on these preamps (except the 12AY7, it doesn’t have one). I liked the Electrodyne the best there and the P-1 and HV-35 were tied at a very close second with my P-Bass, at least.
Putting Coloration into Pespective
I have owned and used two other brands of transparent preamps, grace and p-solo. I liked the p-solo on acoustic guitar but when using a pair on a symphonic choir I actually prefered a Pacifica for the session. From that point I had a tendency towards some coloration rather than transparency. I have always heard and read good things about millennia and when I found they had a 500 series module I decided to try it because of its reputation. I am happy to report I ended up buying two of the modules. Not really thinking about transparency I really like the sound on many sources. I really feel that now a I have choices in my pres. I currently own a great River, a 610, API and a Pacifica. The millennia really adds another dimension and options to the proverbial sonic palette. I was very skeptical at first but I now really enjoy my options and turn to the millennia on many instances. There is a difference in transparent pres and in my experience the transparency of the millennia is very usable and preferred.
Very clean full and new age
I think millennia hv 35 sounds great very new age and modern sounding preamp also has a fuller sound I am very happy with the unit and my special mention to sweetwater service the way they helped me buying the unit was very special and amazing I was very very impressed and happy and will continue shopping with sweetwater...the only drawback in hv 35 is the buttons they aren't very solid....
