Here are some audio files of the brand new Golden Age Premier PRE-73 Premier (the new premium line of Golden Age) in comparison with an original AMS NEVE 1073 DPA.

Golden Age Premier PRE-73 – Thomann UK
AMS Neve 1073 DPA Preamp Stereo – Thomann UK

One of them is named Preamp-A the other one is Preamp-B. Which one is the real NEVE?

Total guess at B being the Neve. In my experience the GAP's tend to sound a bit overdone with the Neve style warmth in comparison to the actual Neve's. Not a bad thing at all which is why I own one but this new one sounds great also

Sounds pretty close. Not sure which is which, and if I had to pick one, I would choose Preamp-A. Just seem to like that sound a little bit more.

So my guess is that A is the Neve DPA based on price alone.
I'm probably going to buy the GAP either way. So glad it's released!

Thanks for the great shootout!

I'll guess that A is the AMS and B is the GAP.
B sounded overdone, more closed and more boomy than A, I definitely liked A more, and I would imagine the clone will have an overdone sound instead of the "original" one.
I'd be happy to be proven wrong though...

Thanks for taking the time to do the shootout!

They do sound different to me in all the examples. Especially in the high range.

I would say that A is the GAP Premier and B is the Neve. I feel, that preamp B has a higher resolution and a more detail, especially in the highs.

I listened to the same examples in the other thread Golden Age Premier PRE-73 PREMIER (GAP) vs. AMS NEVE 1073 DPA where you show which is which one and I have the feeling I recognize the Neve here in the B Preamp samples.

However, I have the GAP Pre 73 (MKI) and use it on every recording and my productions never sounded so good before. I track 95% electric & acoustic guitars and it features the midrange in such a beautiful way. After the GAP comes my ART PRO VLA II in the signal chain and they team up greatly ! Sounds like a recording and mix ready without any plugin, thick and warm.

i think
A = Neve 1073
B = GAP premier 73

B reminds me the most of my mk1 GAP 73

i prefer B in this case on acoustic guitars and vocals
not what i expected if A is Neve

So which one is A, which one is B? I like B better.

Here's the naked truth:

A is the Golden Age Premier PRE-73 (Mono / 489.- €)
B is the AMS Neve 1073 DPA (Stereo / 2369.- €)

Cheers!

Wow, good for me!
Thanks again, and do keep it up

b sounds under the weather

Thanks Luca!

That's funny, I actually prefer the GAP 73 on the guitar clips in this example

The pre A and B sounds very different to me
Even on crappy tv speakers i prefer B miles over A in all cases
thats not splitting hairs

The way Pre B smoothens/softens the transients is so musical
im considering a original AMS NEVE or a BAE 1073 at this point

My GAP 73 pre mk1 sounds a bit dark in a good way to my other pres but at this point its clear it cant compete against the HW its inspired by

From memory i identify the GAP closer to B because of this darker sound i guess
i would love to be right in this shootout that GAP was the pre B but its a non contest
NEVE clones suck if the real mccoy is what you truly want


Thanks for the shootout roughgear


A ear opener, its time to save up for the real deal

A sounds good, B sounds like a record. More open, a little more detail. Kinda hard to explain.

I couldn't tell the difference. Nice shootout.

if you cant hear a difference between these two preamps then you have a hearing problem

Amusing that these strong opinions were only posted after he revealed which was which.

I'm still on my Mackie VLZpro preamps after 15 years of recording myself at home. I am in the process of deciding if I «need» to buy individual preamps to improve my recordings. This kind of shootout and the one on SoS really makes me wonder if I really should. After all, that means spending over a grand of CAD dollars with taxes for only 2 preamps. Money I could well put elsewhere, like on actual musical instruments... And then, my most expensive mics are a SM7b, a Aston Spirit, a KSM137 and a C214.

Yeah, sure I can hear a difference between both A and B. But which is which and which sounds better?... I had no real opinion. Vaguely different that's all.

I guess my ears need a checkup according to MCReef...

If you hear a difference between A and B then your ears works fine
If you dont have an opinion which you prefer than thats fine too

if you are doing killer recordings already on a Mackie VLZpro keep doing that

Great performances, good sounding instruments and vice microphone placements is the most important any day
The SM7B is a great mic, i love mine

My point is i wouldn't go for cheap Neve clones if you are going after the NEVE sound

Point taken.

The real difference probably comes once you start using EQ, stacking and panning the tracks. My tip is not to rely on a mono track in the middle.

I actually liked A better.. at least on my laptop-speakers (which emphasise often small differences) but i'm also a person, who records a full album on a behringer ada8200 and sell it as highend nobody can tell... it's so over-biased with all this preamps / big names. use good mics in good positions and everything is fine. the differences in preamps show up when you exaggerate the gain/input. with normal levels: i don't give a damn.

Mine was mixed . I like the AMS on the AC guitars better, expecially in the picking, the notes had a bit of weight to them over the GAP especially on the lower notes. Where I thought the GAP did a good job was on the vocals talk takes. Just a bit more top end. Overall for these tracks they both sound good.. How do they sound when you start pushing them quite a bit?

Interesting.....

To my ears (On a laptop, no headphones) A sounds a bit more neutral, while B sounds mid-scooped and hyped...

B sounds a bit more obvious, as in "HI! I'M THE PREAMP! DO YOU HEAR WHAT I'M DOING?"

I've never owned a real 73, although I have used them and they did seem quite BOLD. I'm really not sure.....But I don't recall thinking the Nieves sounding like they were scooped and hyped....

I did NOT read ahead to see which is which....

I'm going to say "A" was the Nieve and "B" was the GAP, mainly because it sounded as if "B" was trying to be obvious about what it was doing...I could definitely be wrong, for the exact same reasons....

But yeah, that's my answer A = Nieve, B = GAP

Now....let's see how I did......

FAILURE! SHAME! DISGRACE!

Interesting, and I'm not shocked. I couldn't decide whether the "Hyped" sound of "B" was actual "Nieve Quality" or an overly bold attempt to make "prosumer" level customers hear an obvious difference.

My thoughts were "Would this stack well? Would it start to sound obnoxious in the highs and lacking in the low mids if one were to record an entire song using only these pres?"

I now envision that the low mid response with the clarity and definition in the highs is exactly why Nieves are such a big deal. I envision that a song recorded using just these pres would not have the effect I considered, but instead would probably fit together like leggo (Good arrangement notwithstanding) with little or no EQ.

I liked B more, but assumed it was the GAP - I have a Pre73 Mk1 and it sounded more like what I think of when I hear it. Darker and rounder. I've heard the AMS neve's are "more open" up top than the originals, so I assumed it was A - which had a cleaner sound to me.

Turns out, I liked the Neve more, but thought it was the GAP. I wonder how different the Premier circuit is from my original GAP Pre73... maybe I prefer the old one.

Hello everybody. Currently Im taking vocal recording with my RME UCX' s own preamps.
Will GAP 73 take my recording quality higher? Will the purchase worth it??

Also I have Thermionic Phoenix. And may do this route:

GAP to Thermionic to RME A/D

Nice shootout! I guessed correctly, but probably only by chance. But in my ATH-M50 through which the Neve very surely had more low to it. I liked the Gap the best for the acoustic guitar, but the Neve was more upfront, albeit warm sounding, on voice. And with maybe more smooth distortion. But both sounded really nice, I think.

B's attack is quicker and more pronounced so I'll say Neve out of ignorance
That leaves A as the GAP

i listened to all the audio samples, and i by far picked A - mind you im listening on crappy panasonic earbuds but nevertheless it was A for me all the way.

amazing.