Greetings.

Not sure if this is possible, but could a list be posted of recordings on which the DAV BG series were used? Commercially released CDs, e.g.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
-O.9

I will shoot Mick an email and see if He can dig something up..

Teddy,

Thanks; I did just that.

Regards,
-O.9

Isn't it the case that the BG pre-amps are replicas of the pre's used to record much of Decca's recordings?...in which case a large ammount of the Decca catalogue has been recorded with BG equivalent pre's? (it's logical but I don't know if it's true )

Well I would imagine the next live recording of songs about crazy diamonds would be a safe bet. heh

Check Bridge Records release # 9178.
Now # 13 on the Billboard Classical chart.
The tracks, "Rilke Songs," by Peter Lieberson

It is the late great Lorraine Hunt Lieberson singing and Peter Serkin acompanying
her on piano. Both piano and voice are BG#1 mic amps.

Just talked to Mick one minute ago :-) (I was enquiring about BG-6 - I would love to try it how it would compare to the usual software mastering limiters and how it would work with my Pendulum OCL-2 for mastering purpose. Seems that no one here uses BG-6 or BG-4 ?).

I specifically asked him about the records made with his preamp.
He said all the Decca records used the 4ch "Decca preamp" which is identical with BG-1 and BG-2 (except the high pass filters present in the latter ones).

So a reply to your answer could be found here:

http://www.deccaclassics.com/index.html

and also here (they also use these preamps in the modified console):

http://www.classicsound.net/center.htm

(see also Awards)

Actually not very thin list ....

From the classicsound website:




and now look what and whom they record (from 3 tenors to Concertgebouw)

For me DAV was a great discovery and after hearing it I sold my whole Millennia collection immediately. Now I use DAV and Pendulum as my only preamps. In 3 of 5 cases I actually choose Pendulum (kind of "double cream" touch for solo instruments and vocals), DAV is great for violin,viola, flutes, spoken word and whatever I want very clean, yet sweet. So you will hear DAV preamp also on Savita Music records very soon. "Mystical Violin II" will be released within few months ...

In my experience with all gear from mics to amps to whatever, any change in design changes the sound of the piece. The BGs aren't EXACT replicas of every Decca preamp ever used over the entire history of their production...just like the billion neve clones out there don't all sound the same. I'm not saying anything negative about the preamp, but I think saying an example of the sound of the BGs is the entire Decca catalog is taking it a bit far.

I'm sure power supplies have varied from console designed preamps to rackmounted version, components have been updated, etc. I'm sure the basic concepts are the same, but the implementation of these must have changed over the years just like any other piece of gear.

Don't get me wrong, I love the BG stuff...

Mike

I agree with mds. Much as I like the BG preamps, without being quite as uncritical of them as some other people, any suggestion that the entire output of Decca has used that design is ..er.. a gross exaggeration!

Decca started in the late 1920s - somewhat before the BG or any other solid state preamp came into being. Arguably, it's "golden age", particularly for classical, was the 1950s and 1960s when most of their recording gear glowed. (Not that the two are necessarily linked - I couldn't care less whether a mic/pre/mixer uses valves or not, as long as it sounds good.)

For that matter, nowadays, not all Decca recordings are made by people using identical gear - and not all the people making their records choose/use BG preamps on every recording they do so it's no more true now than ever it has been.

It's true that some of the Decca catalogue uses the BGs, or their ancestors, but not by any means all of it, and not necessarily even the greatest highlights. (Imo of course.)

The BGs are good preamps - not technically immaculate but who cares - they're sonically very nice and, for a change in this wonderful commercial world, are generally good value. I'd say that they, and Mick, have well earned their reputation and stand up for themselves without needing the kind of "validation by association" that I seem to see so many people (not necessarily in this thread) seeking for their decision to buy them. Evaluate gear with your ears, not your keyboards. And trust your own opinions.


OK, rant over - having got a bit of a grumble out of my system, I'm going for a cold drink - it's way too hot here and I can't seem to shake a dose of the flu!


(And anyone with even a passing interest in recordings of vocal/piano music should check out the Rilke disc that Plush mentions above - it's superb! And I can only wonder what would the future have brought from this wonderful singer. LHL is sadly missed here.)

I use the BG6. It is utterly beautiful. Classical aside, if you've ever heard any mid-late 70s Decca pop records... there's a certain 'squishiness' going on, which I've been addicted to since I was a kid... I'd always hankered after that sound. I asked Mick about it and I was enlightened (at least he knew what I meant ) - they used the same circuits from the desks to the mastering suites - and one was ordered over the phone. Never looked back.

Barilla,

Samples man...we'll be kind!

Mick told me that it is basically a limiter. If you compare it to the top software limiters (like Waves, Voxengo, UAD etc.), what sound difference would you find ? I suppose BG-6 is not the kind of "brickwall" limiter ?

There's a useful button on the BG6 which goes from Limiter to a 2:1 compressor.

interesting..Id love to have some of those for extra insurance in the field.....(BG6)