Tell me everything… I’m basically starting fresh. I traded my dealer so many boxes so I didnt have to come out of pocket much. I had a u67ri I wanted To klaus but his assistant wrote down my wrong number. We played tag so long I said F it and made the Sony move. Excited, it was my dream mic. I have a pair of shelfords and the sony. That’s about it. What pres are the GS team rocking with this? I’m eyeing a tube amp. How about eqs or comps? And any stories or info you’d like to share will be appreciated. I’m doing 99% hiphop/rnb/pop

Neveish preamps

Anything.

the top-of-the-line rap/r&b signal chain is this:

c800g >> neve 1073 >> tubetech cl1b

that's it. the holy grail.

you have the shelford, which gives you the 1073 preamp and compressor. use a cl1b for the compressor instead of the shelford compressor and you have the premier rap/r&b signal chain.
the shelford compressor is excellent. so you will be able to produce quality work easily until you get the cl1b.

i don't think there is that much fussiness regarding the 1073 part, as long as it is proper quality. people use vintech sometimes for the 1073 part, and nobody seems to complain. you should be fine with the shelford. keep all of that silk nonsense out of there, however.

A couple of top of the line "R&B" vocal C800G---> mic preamp that I have known of over the years:

1) R. Kelly-
C800G---> Neve 1081
2) Toni Braxton-
C800G----GML Mic preamp
3) Luther Vandross-
C800G----Focusrite Red
4) Brian Mcknight-
C800G----Api Mic pre

Also there are some other famous one's in pop, jazz and even classical (especially from the days at Sony Studios) that didn't use a 1073 as the tracking mic preamp for the C800G.

So what's really the point?
Any good mic preamp can and will work with the C800G especially when working with the top vocalists.

Lastly in terms of the Shelford, its actually one of the best matches as its impedance is close to what the original C800G designers intended for when it comes to tracking.

Electronaut has just designed a custom mic preamp especially for the C800G with the correct impedance:

??

That's a sweet looking device, but the designer was either unaware of the spectrum of input impedances available or was being disingenuous.

He was slagging off the Neve Shelford as having an input impedance lower than his device but was either unaware or failed to mention that the Neve Portico 5024 has an input impedance of 10 kohm; which blows away his 3.3 kohm.

It's kind of weird to specifically talk down one particular model of a brand in favor of your own device and then specifically not mention another model from that same brand which has a much better specification than your own device.

One thing I wish they had talked about was the output impedance. In my opinion that may be more differentiating than his input impedance. Many pres are the standard 600 ohm output Z. But this one is 100 ohm. What this does is protect the signal output from underpowered downstream load impedances. It's an interesting approach that MAAG also uses to protect their air band effect from low downstream load impedance. The MAAG output Z is 50 ohm.

See for example:
https://maag.audio/eq4-500-bk/

The electronaut hits it out of the park and is one of the FIRST new preamps to actually address the need of higher input impedances. It's going to take a few years for a bunch of preamps manufacturers to get the importance of input impedance.

We NEED options: 1200, 2400, 3000, 10,000, 30,000 to properly load all kinds of transistor, tube and ribbon mics - to get the sound out of them.

Some of you are saying the same thing, I know I'm preaching to the choir here.

If you got one of the variable input impedance preamps (like for example the JLM audios 200-3000 ohms) you already heard what it does. Some mics they like the difference, with others it's not so much an issue.
I guess my wife would approve of the Electronaut preamp. Maybe, after i got it i can argue that i will also need a c800.

Congratulations for getting your c800!

Did my 1st session and wow. Compared to the u67ri the Sony seems to self mix. Everything you want is there and everything you don’t want is not. The session seem to have more vibe and smiles as well, the Sony provided some “instant gratification”. I didn’t realize there was no plugins on vocals buss until the very end of the session. Just 1 external reverb send and the god particle on mixbuss. I’ll share some of the vocal takes when I get In the studio today. Compared to the u67ri it was just completely different. I usually track the 67 with a high band cranked and that was not needed with the Sony. I noticed Even whispers between takes cut through on the Sony, that didn’t happen with the 67. I have a full schedule until Monday since I posted It on IG so I’ll have more insight after these next few sessions.

Any idea when it’s available?

This is why its good to have both and have other options.
Because not everyone sounds great on a C800G (believe it or not) and sound better on the U67Ri or a Tele 251 or a C12 or U47, ETC.

Mic pre designers know. And this isn't the first of anything really. Variable impedance mic pres have been out for decades and pres with much, much higher input impedance (Gordon Model 5 & 6 were/are 2 Megaohm balanced input!)

As Rob said, somewhere else, it was a fun project for a client. But it's also too much hype about one measurement number.

No idea at this time. I haven't been in contact with them. I'll reach out

I have a c800g and a Beesnees bu67 and I've used Vintage u67s and I'd say a u67 is vibier. They both have their place in the studio. I've used a c800g for 10 years and I'm sick of that sound.

Anyway sorry I didn't mean to shit on your parade or anything, the c800g is a great mic, but it's like having sex with a hot woman, after 10-15 years you're sick of sleeping with her lol.

I have a new appreciation for the 67 now. I kinda Get it now that I have The Sony and hearing old files. Wish I could Have kept both for sure.

One thing you’ll find is the 67 is easy to sculpt, whereas the C800 kind of has a sound and that’s what you get, I find it doesn’t take EQ particularly well (but when used in the right context it won’t need any EQ). So you’ll know right away when using it on something if it’s going to work, whereas the U67 is good to have in fast moving sessions where you’re not sure what’s happening next, it always records something salvageable.

As for pre’s your Shelford should be great (or a Neve/BAE etc), and a CL1B will complement it well too. Pretty industry standard R&B chain these days. The good Neve style preamps seem to keep the top end in check and keeps the body really present, easy for them to get brittle with a clean preamp.

Good description. Exactly what I’m feeling. I feel The Sony moves the sessions along faster. It just sounds balanced out the gate without needing to whip it into shape. So far no real eq moves. Just time based effects and autotune.

Do you Sony owners leave it on 24/7 or do you turn it off after each session. What’s the best practice? I notice The tubes on Sony site are $500, seems kinda crazy where are you guys finding tubes and how often are you changing them?

No one should do that.
This isn't 1977.lol

Just take great care of it (don't let people smoke when using it) and store it properly.

Oh no, don't do that.

It's balanced but it still needs itb compression and de Essing. I still need to use the Softube Tubeteq pulteq to remove bass and add highs to it.

I've smoked weed around it for 7 years haha, still sounds good lol.

I meant cigarettes.

Wait, would cigarettes be a lot worse than smoking weed though?

Well I am allergic to cigarettes, so if you smoked in front of me, first of all it would piss me off to the point I would knock your block off.

Secondly, go ask people who have emphysema from smoking.

And thirdly the tar from the cigarettes will eventually damage the capsule.

You're funny, you assume you'd be able to touch me! I practice boxing 3 times a week at the gym!

Wing chun and Jeet Kune Do practioner here!
Lets just say I would try to end it quick.

The 800G really isn't that touchy about output impedance. The transformer in it is a pretty high ratio step-down so the effective output impedance is pretty low, and it's designed to be pretty lossy so it can handle a wide range of load impedances without ringing. The preamp impedance should make way less of a difference on the 800G than on a typical dynamic mike.

I don't even put a load impedance on the data sheet of my mike preamp, because it just causes people to start arguing about it. (And it's not a resistive load anyway and if I gave a complex impedance plot they'd argue even more.) Just pick a preamp that sounds good.
--scott

I know I know, you dream about this daily. One less annoying poster on the forum for you

I thought R. Kelly used a U87 into a 1073?...