http://www.adkmic.com/AP-1/index.html



I finally got a production ADK AP-1 in today. I'm interested to work with this unit since I had some input into the design of it.

The AP-1 unit I have here also has additional transformers by Jensen and Lundahl. I also have a fairly extensive 2520/990-type opamp collection, and we'll be trying all those out with the AP-1.

* Separate topic on opamps at Swapping 2520/2510/990-type op-amps: The magic and caveats.

Dot,

Like to get your input on this one.

...For sure.

-Stixxs

I do believe this should be renamed the AP.1

quote:

Originally posted by Madguitrst:
I do believe this should be renamed the AP.1

Ha! Actually, on the unit it reads AP•1. AP Dot 1. : )

Oooo, looks cool. Can't wait to hear what it sounds like. I wonder what pricing will be like?

WAV sound files of the ADK AP-1 with various opamps and transformers is available at http://www.thelisteningsessions.com/session9.htm

I listened to the tracks and think track 23 with the API 1999 2520 opamp w/ Cinemag trans sounds best. There is a little something extra on that track.

Dan, Please send me an email with pricing info for this.

Rade

There is no doubt in my mind the Jensen is by far the best sounding transformer for my tastes.
It has a beautiful dimension that non of the others had. it made the unit sound rich and oh so nice. It sounded like the inside of the guitar.

The Cinemag was second on my list. Slightly fuller, nice highs, just not the same depth.

The Lundahl was next for me. Fuller than the Cinemag but with less precense.

The Sowter got the jangly highs but had little in the was of mids.

The Crimson was small sounding and jangly at times.

In all, I loved the Jensen, I liked the Cinemag and Lundahl and ddn't like the Sowter or Crimson.

Of course, this was just on acoustic guitar. I didn't listen to the bass and electric guitar and vox might be much different depending on the mic, etc.

Still, the Jensen's dimesnion was just so yummy.

As for the opamps, I only got into the Cinemag on acoustic and preferred the stock over the API or either Forsell opamp.

Very interesting!

So, where do you get the parts, what kind of price range are they, and is it really "pop & swap" or is there soldering involved?

Thanks!

Really pop and swap....no soldering....and it take seconds to do.

Parts come from the dealer or from ADK directly.
Not sure on the prices......sorry. But I think the transformers are $100-$125 and the Opamps $50-$75. You can buy Hardy 990C opamps for $50 from John Hardy and Melcor opamps can be had for less than $20.

The Jensen and Lundahl transformers sound the best to me....in totally different ways. The Jensen being clean and the Lundahl being thicker/darker.

I have only used the ADK stock opamp and their vintage Neve-like-ish opamp. Both are good IMO with the Stock+Jensen and the Vintage+Lundahl as obvious partners.

MAY 2006

Greetings from ADK !!!

A couple quick notes on Analog Plug-Ins:

1) A Transformer (XFO) Alone is Not a Plug-In.

A Specific Daughterboard with the requisite capacitor and resistor(s) and Gold Pins and
a Premium Transformer must be assembled.

We're doing small production runs in California.
ADK will support five fully-functonal plug-ins.

2) Third Party Op-Amps - some of these may require modification. (New Products on the horizon, or Vintage Products from the past!).

N.B. > Buyer Beware on thirty year old Op-amps is my heartfelt advise. Could be great, could be worthless. If you don't audition, who can say?

New Hardy, Averill and Forssell ALL work great!


ADK has two New Op-Amps as well:

Vint-Op-M - Classic American EQ

Vint-Op-N - Classic British EQ.

The first is a class A/B, the second a Pure Class A. The difference? - In the ear of beholder!


The approach here is Bare Wire Theory; ergo
Color Control without the evils of EQ. . .


Key: finding the color which most flatters each signal source. A rack of different pre's or one of these is, at least sequentially, the same !!


ADK's pre-amp - with plug-ins - is a veritable crayon box full of interesting color choices!!


Early Beta Op-Amp Favorites:

Acoustic Guitar: Vint-Op-M and Jensen

Female Vocals - Vint-Op-N and Jensen

Male Vocals - Vint-Op-M and Lundahl

Orchestra - Forssell Tech and Jensen



In the end, ADK lets you Mix Your Own Colors!

(What's right for Sally isn't right for Sue!)


One final thought - The Blend is your Friend.

To blend the Source Colors with the Mic's Colors, & Finally Blend the Pre to suit both !!!


The goal of the ADK Custom Shop is to encourage
creativity in both the art and science of sound.


And to allow you to "Personalize" your Tone!!!


In the end all we are is sound painters anyway~!



Cheers!!


Larry J. Villella, Founder, ADK

www.adkmic.com 1-503-296-9400

Thanks Larry for saving people from the agony of ordering the wrong guts-!! Hahaaa

My transformer is on its way.

-jim

Thanks Larry, great info.

Cheers,
-Kaapo-

Some notes from a topic at Studio Forums, Dot ADK AP.1....final verdict?

The story behind the AP-1 was early on I was having conversations with Larry Villella. He said he wanted to make an API-type preamp. I said if they were going to do that they really should make the opamps socketed rather than soldered. And should use the 6-pin 2520/990 format. I sent lists of all the opamps available. Some of that info is the topic Swapping 2520/2510/990-type op-amps: The magic and caveats.

So, they went with that. And they also came up with the idea of swappable transformers.

An ADK AP-1 was sent to The Listening Sessions for testing. We said we weren't impressed, and thought it just sounded like a mid-level preamp. Nothing special. Some other transformers were sent to us: Jensen and Lundahl. After trying those we became impressed. We liked the optional Xformers, but didn't like the Crimson in the stock unit. Larry said he wanted an AP-1 that was good enough stock. He then went to Cinemag and had them design one. Larry sent a Cinemag and Jon Erikson sent a new Sowter Xformer he'd been working on.

TLS put them all up on the bench, along with our opamp collection. Some of that can be heard in Session 9 - Opamps & Transformers: ADK Custom Shop AP-1 Microphone Preamplifier / DI. We gave a thumbs up on the Cinemag and said the configuration of the Cinemag Xformer and the ADK opamp was good enough for a stock unit that got our approval.

We also found a lot of cool combinations of opamps and Xformers.

I think anyone looking to get an AP-1 should really figure on getting all the Xformers [ but not the Crimson ], and be prepared to pick up a few opamps. The fun in the AP-1 is the sonic flexibility, and if you don't use several opamps and Xformers - and all the combination variations - then you'll never tap into what the AP-1 can really do. Anyone who gets a new one should make sure it has a Cinemag installed. If it has a Crimson, then ask the dealer to contact ADK and have it exchanged for a Cinemag.

Of course, a million options means nothing if none of them sound good.
Dan, can the AP-1 even touch a real API with any config in your opinion?

I think quite a few configurations sounded good. And if you figure TLS was using 4 transformers [ let's forget the Crimson ] and around 10 opamps - that's 40 different combinations.

If you have a desire for API - then get API. Or rent an API and decide for yourself. There's no combination we tried that sounded like API. But there were definitely combinations that sounded in the league of the high-end preamps. So, again. If you want API, get API. And keep in mind that with an API preamp you can also swap out the opamps. We do it all the time, and that's where the idea for swapping opamps in the AP-1 came from anyway.

Things I don't like about it? I think the chassis could be more robust. I think the overall design of the front panel could be nicer. I think the Custom Shop logo looks pretty chinsy.

At $1,199.00 list and $799.00 street, I think the price might be a bit steep. A "loaded" John Hardy M-1 Personal sells for $950. A Great River ME-1NV for around $1075. An API 512C preamp in a 500-6B lunchbox goes for about $1050. And all that gear is built like a brick shithouse, industry-proven, and has beautiful tactile and balanced aesthetics that look and feel like "high end". I think if ADK wants to run with that crowd that they'll need to step up on the overall chassis design and get the thing looking more like what anyone spending in the area of a grand would expect. Or lower the price a bit to get folks playing around with the AP-1 and getting the word out. While at the same time taking the AP-1 back to the shop for a total cosmetic/chassis makeover, and then bringing out something that will really run with the big dogs.

I think the AP-1 is a great way for someone who's wanting to move into what a high-end preamp can offer, and also who wants to explore into the different sonic variations offered. Exploring may be hit and miss for awhile, and no one is going to like every combination. Obviously, it's going to take some investing. The Cinemag is stock, and then the Jensen, Lundahl and Sowter Xformers run around $100+ a piece. So, that's another $300+ to get all the xformers. Then you've gotta pick up some opamps, which average about $75 a piece. The AP-1 pictured on Session 9 with all the xformers and opamps represented an investment in the area of around $900 worth of extras over the price of whatever someone would pay for the stock unit. Say $799 for the AP-1 plus $900 for xtra goodies = $1700. Maybe you wouldn't get all those opamps, but I'd figure a $1400-$1500+ investment would be made to really get into what the AP-1 can do. And, at least, it's something you could do over time for people who don't want to take the hit in the wallet all a once.

Obviously, as far as sonic versatility, there's no preamp on the market that can touch what the AP-1 can do - if you've got it loaded up with a lot of the optional xformers and have a nice little opamp collection. So, if you want to spend some time in sonic exploration land, then - yeah - it's definitely a cool box.

For me the AP 2 was a cool add on to my studio. I personally didn't want the Jensen that most like in this forum.

Because I already own a preamp with Jensens and to be honest there was no balls in the Jensens when I recorder electric guitar.

I was very impressed on what the Lundahl, Cinemag and even the Crimson did to my strat guitar tracks...Totally fat and thick
sounding.

The sowter, jensen was okay.

Sowter definitely rocked on the Ricky bass. Made it growl even more..so I kept the sowter transformer for acoustic guitar and bass.

Jensen..hmmm. I have a really clean studio. Meaning I am running Lavry converters, Pro Acs, $500 speaker cables, Bryston amps, and from what I hear is totally different.

I say don't dismiss the Lundahl they are used in focusrite red preamps and there is a reason for that.

Don't dimiss the sowter because they are used in Great River Preamps. Which I really don't care for.

But just use your ears and think what is best for you and your music.

For me it was the Cinemags the best overall transformer for everything.
Then the Lundahl, sowter.

Crimson and Jensen were in the same ball bark but both are totally different. Crimson bassier...and thick.
Jensen bright hi fi..sounding. I guess thats why people like the jensen. Because it makes them believe that things sound better since they are built to give you more presence or air, than other transformers.. So if your system is lacking somewhere in the chain, coverters, cables, acoustics, monitors, etc.. the jensens make up for it. Just my opinion.

The opamps. I thought the Vint op N sucked. Too thin sounding.. I liked the Melcor Vint op M but it wasn't worth keeping. The stock ADK op amp kicked butt. Open, More headroom, cleaner to my ears. I like to have something more modern sounding. Meaning something more cleaner and detailed. NOt blurred and with duller highs to sound vintage...

So I just kept my ADK opamp.

I do want to try the API 2520, Purple audio, Seventh Circle, John Hardy, Averill and Millenia op amps..

Its too bad the A designs pacifica op amp won't work..Thats what the maker told me. He said don't do that..It wasn't design for that. Etc, Etc. So I am not going to take a chance and burn out my AP1. To get a Pacifica tone.

Pacifica is composed of cinemags and his special opamp. Thats why I wanted to try it. But oh well.

Love the AP1!!!

Donnx

I have an AP2 with pairs of certain transformers (Cinemag, Jensen, Lundahl) and op amps (DOP1A, Vin M, Vin N, Hardy 990C). Now, I'm only recording solo fingerstyle acoustic guitar and classical guitar, so the sources are limited.

I am enjoying the AP2 quite a bit. I also have a Pendulum MDP-1a and Pendulum SPS-1 and the AP2 complments those pres quite well. I sold a John Hardy M2 after getting the AP2 - the Jensen tranny/Hardy 990C op amp combination in the AP2 is very very close.

I also like the ADK DOP1A op amp. It's a JFET design and has many nice characteristics and behaviors. The ADK Vin M (Melcor inspired) is also interestng - more of a forward midrange). The ADK Vin N is pleasant, more scooped sounding a seems to be a bit slower. I like it best with the Jensen tranny.

Intersting about the A Designs op amp. It was the A Designs folks that designed the AP1 and AP2 for ADK.

I'm really glad to see that others are enjoying thier AP-1's and AP-2's. I don't think they get the love that they deserve. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut but if you keep your eyes open the AP-1's show up used at very good prices. I bought both of mine for under $400 each. Maybe I'm wrong but I can't seem to find anything in that price range that sounds as good. I have cinemag trannies and stock ADK op-amps in mine. I'm curious to see what other components sound like but to be honest I'm perfectly happy with them the way they are. Very good on mostly everything I use them on. I use the DI quite a bit on them for bass guitar too.

Here's a thread I posted a while back with 6 different samples using different trannies and op amps.

ADK AP2 Samples

Hello there,
Is the max gain always 65db ?
even with the Hardy ?
Is there a way to have more db ... for ribbon mics ...

i was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on or tried how the ap-1 sounds with the API 2520, Purple audio, Seventh Circle, John Hardy, Averill and Millenia op amps im looking to buy some op amps and a few transformers. if you had to pick one jensen or lundahl?