After a test run a few weeks back and then moving from school back home, I've been itching to try out my Metric Halo ULN-2 in a real situation. I recorded Ellis Paul tonight in my hometown. He's a folk singer/songwriter - acoustic guitar and quiet.
I had to set up in the back of the room, about 25 feet away from the stage. I was ready to run up front, but the stage manager asked me not to. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
A few things about the ULN-2: it's Metric Halo's 2nd hardware product, a 2-channel unit designed with higher performance preamps than the MIO, which I used to run with.
I needed the ULN-2 for this gig, as I started with the gain at around +42, which would have been near the top of the MIO's range. During the second set, Ellis left the stage, and was actually playing in the middle of the crowd, totally unplugged!
My old gear wouldn't have been able to handle that situation, but on the ULN-2, I just cranked up to +54 and kept going. First listen after the show sounded really sweet. The only problem is clipping on the applause between songs, but these A/Ds clip gracefully, without sounding overly harsh. I think a little compression might take the edge off of it, but I'll worry about that later.
I'm very pleased with this purchase - I hope the ULN-2 comes through on many more recordings!
For those who want to hear it, I can't do any B&Ps or uploads until the new power supply arrives for my desktop. PM me if you're interested, and I'll get back to you when I'm up and running again.
Topic: great performance from new gear (Read 6238 times)