http://www.adesignsaudio.com



http://www.studioreviews.com/6-05-05-pacifica.htm

This is an exclusive first sneak peek of a new Quad Eight-inspired Pacifica mic pre / DI by A Designs Audio. We have a Pacifica coming in for reviewing shortly, and will report blow by blow as we put it on the bench and take it through the paces.

We've been hearing about this pre while it was in the works for quite some time, and are psyched to get our hands on it.

Some of the Quad Eight company history is a bit sketchy, and depending on whom you talk to you'll get different stories. For some background and insight there's an excellent Quad Eight topic at Gear Slutz. There is also a Quad Eight User's Group with some info and a gallery.

Describing the sound of Quad Eight it's typical to hear "somewhere in between API and Neve". Quad Eight was a rival and contemporary of API and Neve back in the '70's. Among all the API and Neve attention on the market Quad Eight has been somewhat overlooked. But that appears to be changing, as the consoles and the Quad Eight sound are coming back into the audio recording community culture. TapeOp magazine is doing a big write-up on Quad Eight in an upcoming issue, and editor Larry Crane is a former Quad Eight console owner. According to Bob Olhsson of Motown fame, Quad-Eight was the second high-end recording console manufacturer in the United States...

When I first heard A Designs was doing something with a Quad Eight design, I put owner Peter Montessi in touch with Dave Pearlman of Rotund Rascal Studios in LA, where Dave's been running a Quad Eight Ventura for many years. Peter took a prototype Pacifica over to Dave's. Dave listened. Dave liked. A Designs took the general styling for its Pacifica preamp from Dave's Quad Eight Ventura. The Pacifica made the rounds to several Quad Eight console owners and passed with flying colors.

I first started recording in Tulsa, Oklahoma where I lived near Oral Roberts University and had a chance to work on a Quad Eight at ORU. I was young and I don't remember the model. I believe at some point there were two different Quad Eight consoles there, a Pacifica and a 3624. At any rate, the engineers at ORU made a very big deal out of the console and said it was very expensive and considered to be one of the best in the world at the time. I still hadn't been initiated into the various sounds of consoles such as Neve, API, MCI, and Trident. But I remember first seeing that Quad Eight console at ORU's studios and being hit in the gut with the coolness and the possibilities of it all.

Interesting, Dave's selling his Ventura on Ebay as we type.
Dave's Ventura

I just talked to Dave yesterday. Got an email from him a few days ago. He's been in that space for 15 years. Seems the owner of the building came in and informed Dave the building had been sold and that he had three months to skedaddle and find another space. Dave's looking to liquidate all the gear he's been collecting in his studio over the past 30 years. He's using all this as an opportunity to do more with Pearlman Microphones.

Moved Reply:

I would love to hear one of these.

Moved Reply:

Oh, come on! None of this cryptic shit! What's the story. What's the real skinny....the straight poop! I've been dying to whip out a wad of cash (never mind that I don't have it) and buy one of these. Please, give me a very good excuse.

More teases. Have ya'll no mercy???????

quote:

Originally posted by shortyprs:
More teases. Have ya'll no mercy???????

it would apear not.

Dan, have you gotten your hands on one yet? I´m looking 2ch pre for female vocals and all kind of acoustic stuff. I´m using a lot of ribbons so I need more than (Hardy) 60db of gain. Or maby it´s time for Lunchbox. There seems to be quite a few modules coming out (all A-Designs modules, Buzz Audio MA2.2,...) that fit the 500 series format.

-Kaapo-

Kaapo, I've had a Pacifica here for several months. If something's "on the bench" that means I've got it in my gruby hands. : )

Using it and digging it very much.

You've got quite a few things to consider. Gimme a ring on my 800# hotline and I can get some more info from you on your situation, and then go over some of the options with you.

For those interested, I picked up a Pacifica. Very nice preamp.

If anyone is interested, I can post a few sample .wavs and share my impressions.

100% interested

Please,

Peter Montessi
A Designs Audio
www.adesignsaudio.com

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Montessi:
100% interested

Please,

Peter Montessi
A Designs Audio
www.adesignsaudio.com

That's when you know a guy loves his product. He designs it, listens to it everyday and still wants to hear more! And I understand completely. I love this thing too.

I want a Pacifica in the worst way Very nice preamps. I'd dig on hearing some clips too.

Hi Folks,

No problem. Here goes:

The few Pacifica reviews I've been able to find were mostly right on. I've owned and loved API and Focusrite/Neve preamps, and (as I've read elsewhere) the Pacifica does seem to fall in-between these two sounds. It has a quick transient response like an API (though not as "big boned" and forward) but it can also sound a bit softer a la Neve (though to my ears less colored).

In a recent shoot out, it performed very well. I A-B'd it with a Trident S40, a UA LA-610 and a Focusrite ISA-220.

The Pacifica and the LA-610 were my clear favorites. The ISA 220 was nice (I did like them better than the a pair of Red 7s I used to own), but it clearly seemed to have a bump in the low-mids (ca 400Hz range) that I kept finding myself cutting. The Pacifica was more even across the spectrum, with a very pleasing, even tone. It also seemed to pick up a bit more room than the other preamps.

I tried it on a Taylor 810, an Alvarez 12 string, and vocals. In all instances, it was my favorite of the solid-state preamps. The sound was more "lively" than the ISA 220, and more full-bodied than the S40. I suspect that the Focusrite’s pronounced low-mid bump contributed to this, but even when I cut that range using the ISA 220s onboard EQ, the Pacifica seemed at tad faster. The top was open but not brittle. A very natural, open and unforced picture of what I was trying to record.

Overheads are an acid test for preamps, IMHO, but I've not had the chance to test the Pacifica on drums. Given the very balanced, pleasant sound I see no reason to think it would not perform well. It's speedy response helped give percussion some bite. Not as aggressive as an API, but still more than enough detail with minimum jangle and clutter in the 3-5k range. Nice.

As a DI, I found it to be very accurate, but it was not my first choice. The LA-610 is probably the best DI I've ever used, but among the solid-state boxes the ISA 220 was my favorite. For some genres. However, the Pacifica's smaller sonic footprint might be perfect (I'm thinking jazz).

There are a few quibbles, but (happily) nothing relating to the sound. The first of these is that the Pacifica does seem to overload a bit more easily than other preamps I've used. The lack of an overload indicator really hurts here. Also, I really missed a roll-off switch. I had excellent results with the Mojave MA-200 tube mic, but as neither the pre nor the mic have a roll-off I had to patch in at line level to a box that gave some some roll-off at ca. 100Hz. I found I needed to use the pad with the MA-200, and I could not detect and change in the sound.

Out of the box, the unit is surprisingly heavy. So heavy, in fact, I was taken aback. Maybe its all those transformers. Alas, the build quality was a bit spotty. It still smelled like fresh paint (which was actually kind of cool), but The crème faceplate seemed to either have but cut unevenly or some bits of paint congealed to give it an uneven appearance around the edges (from the front it looks fine). More problematic was the way the left channel sits in the box. It appears to be a bit off-axis, so the buttons are a bit uneven and rather noticeable from certain angles.

These quibbles aside, I highly recommend this preamp. Here are a few samples. They’re a bit biggish, but I wanted to avoid using mp3s (for obvious reasons)

Test 1

Double tracked Taylor using Mojave MA-200 on left channel, and AT-4047 on right. The Tele was added to see how it sits (I used the LA-610 for it). Added a few dB of top using Nomand Factory EQP-4.

http://www.danieljslewis.com/pacifica/pacifica-ma200.wav

Test 2

Taylor, Alvarex 12 string (same mics), tele same DI

http://www.danieljslewis.com/pacifica/slvr2.wav

I'll try and post more as I get the chance

MickGael,

Thank you so much for the mini review.
One concern.............build quality?

Please contact me on this I would like to know more about what you are seeing.
Sorry about the smell of paint but we are getting them assembled as fast as we can to keep up with the demand.

Thanks again,
Peter Montessi
A Designs Audio
www.adesignsaudio.com

Hi Peter,
The paint smell is kinda cool. It reminds me that people who care about the product built it and loved it.

I'm glad to chat a bit about what (minor) build issues I'm seeing (I can even try and take some digital photos if that helps). What is the best way to contact you?

Hi MickGael,

Haaaa yes, fresh out of the oven.........

I don't like posting the telephone number....if you wouldn't mind going to our website and getting the number off there?

www.adesignsaudio.com

Thanks MickGael,
Peter Montessi
A Designs Audio
www.adesignsaudio.com

Hi Peter,
No problem - I'll phone you at the toll-free sales number within the next hour or so (it will be lunch time here by then)

Got ya!

Keep an eyeball out in your mail box.... US Mail Box that is

Thanks MickGael

Peter Montessi
A Designs Audio
www.adesignsaudio.com