Sound Studio SOL, Munich (HV-3D)
Today's leading film scoring professionals have embraced Millennia HV-3 series and M-2b microphone preamplifiers for orchestral clarity and impact, including Shawn Murphy, John Rodd, Dennis Sands, Bob Fernandez, Steve Kempster, Joseph Magee, Armin Steiner, Alan Meyerson, Gary Baldassarii, Mark Mancina, Alan Silvestri, Michael Farrow, Frank Wolf, Alan Silverman, Vince Caro, Fred Vogler, Simon Rhodes, Al Swanson, and many others. Many of Hollywood's recent top grossing pictures have been scored with Millennia microphone preamplifiers and other Millennia recording products. Here's a partial list:
A Dirty Shame
A House Divided (TV)
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
A Walk to Remember
Abandon
Alatriste
Ali
Alice in Wonderland
Aliens in the Attic
All That Glitters
All the King's Men
American Dreamz
American Hardcore
American Outlaws
American Outlaws
American Pie 2
American’s Sweethearts
An Unfinished Life
Analyze That
Angels & Demons
Anger Management
Apocalypto
Armageddon
Around the World in 80 Days
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Asylum
ATL
Atlas Shrugged: Part I
August Rush
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Australia
Avatar
Avatar: The Game
Bad Boys II
Bait
Bandits
Battle Los Angeles
Beauty Shop
Bee Movie
Being John Malkovitch
Beowulf
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2
Big Fish
Big Momma's House 2
Blackhawk Down
Blair Witch 2
Blood Work
Blood+ (TV Series)
Bobby
Bobby
Bolt
Bridge to Terabithia
Broken
Brother Bear
Brown Sugar
Bruce Almighty
Bug’s Life
Burlesque
Burn After Reading
Cadillac Records
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Camille
Camille
Captain America: The First Avenger
Carnegie Hall Opening Night
Casanova
Casting About
Catch Me If You Can
Catch That Kid
Cats and Dogs
Changeling
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie Wilson’s War
Charlotte's Web
Cheaper by the Dozen 2
Chicago
Chicken Little
Children of Men
Christmas with the Kranks
Cinderella Story
Coach Carter
Code Name: The Cleaner
Collateral
Contagion
Corpse Bride
Country Bears
Couples Retreat
Coyote Ugly
Criminal Minds (20 episodes) (TV)
Crossing Over
Dark Water
Day of the Dead
Deck the Halls
Deep Blue Sea
Deep End of the Ocean
Defiance
Despicable Me
Destino
Disney’s Aladdin
Disney’s Atlantis
Disney’s Dinosaur
Disney’s Emperor’s New Groove
Disney’s Snow Dogs
Disney’s Sweating Bullets
Disney’s Tarzan
Disney’s The Rookie
Disney’s Treasure Planet
Domestic Disturbance
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Don't Say a Word
Doogal
Dr. Doolittle 2
Drag Me to Hell
Dragonball: Evolution
Dragonfly
Dreamcatcher
Dreamgirls
Duane Hopwood
Duplicity
Early Bloomer
Eight Below
Elf
Enemy of the State
Eric Clapton: Sessions for Robert J (V)
Eulogy
Evan Almighty
Everyone’s Hero
Evolution (PBS)
Exorcist: The Beginning
Fast & Furious
Fast Food, Fast Women
Fat Albert
Finding Nemo
Firewall
First Flight
Flags of Our Fathers
Flight plan
Flushed Away
Flyboys
Forbidden Warrior
Four Christmases
Freaky Friday
Freedom Writers
Frida
Frost/Nixon
Futurama: Bender’s Big Score
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Get Carter
Get Smart
Ghost Rider
Gigli
Gladiator
Glass House
Glory Road
Gnomeo & Juliet
Gone in Sixty Seconds
Gran Torino
Great Performances (episode 1)
Green Lantern
Guess Who
Hairspray
Hancock
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Happy Feet
Happy Feet Two
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Heartbreakers
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
He's Just Not That Into You
Hidalgo
High Fidelity
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Hired Gun
Holes
Home of the Giants
Horton Hears a Who!
How Do You Know
How to Train Your Dragon
Hugo
Hulk
I Am Legend
I Can Do Bad All by Myself
I Spy
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Identity
Idlewild
Immortals
In Bruges
Inception
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Intruders
Invictus
Invincible
Iron Jawed Angels ( (TV)
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
It's Complicated
J. Edgar
Jack and Jill
Jack Frost
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Jeepers Creepers II
Jersey Girl
Joe Dirt
John Q.
John Williams / Yo Yo Ma: Cello Concerto
Jump!
Jumper
Just Like Heaven
Kangaroo Jack
Kim Possible
Knight and Day
Knight’s Tale
K-PAX
Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda 2
Lady in the Water
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Laurel Canyon
Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
Letters from Iwo Jima
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch
Little Man
Lord of the Rings (all)
Love and Other Drugs
Lovers, Liars and Lunatics
Lucky You
Lucky You
Madagascar
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Madeleine
Maid in Manhattan
Mambo Kings
Man on the Moon
Mars Needs Moms
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mean Girls
Meet the Robinsons
Memoirs of a Geisha
Men in Black II
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Milk
Million Dollar Baby
Minority Report
Mission Impossible 2
Moneyball
Monster House
Monster’s Inc.
Monsters vs Aliens
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Mr. 3000
Munich
Murder by Numbers
Murder by Numbers
My Best Friend's Girl
My Friends Tigger & Pooh - TV
My Sister's Keeper
My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Mystic River
Nacho Libre
Nanny McPhee Returns
National Treasure
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
New York Minute
Next
Night at the Museum
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Nights in Rodanthe
Nine
No Country for Old Men
No Strings Attached
Norbit
Not Another Teen Movie
Novocaine
Oh Brother
Old Dogs
On the Line
Over the Hedge
Palace Thief
Paycheck
Pearl Harbor
Peter Pan
Pieces of April
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Planet of the Apes
Pluto Nash
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Predators
Pride
Priest
Princess Diaries
Public Enemies
Punch-Drunk Love
Puss in Boots
Queenie in Love
Race to Witch Mountain
Raising Helen
Rango
Rat Race
Ratatouille
Rebound
Red Dragon
Red Riding Hood
Remember the Titans
Remember the Titans
Resident Evil 5
Restless
Return to Never Land
Revolutionary Road
Riding in Cars with Boys
Rio
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Robots
Rock Star
Rock Star
Role Models
Roll Bounce
Rosario Tijeras
Runaway Jury
Rush Hour 2
Sahara
Salt
Scary Movie 3
Secret Window
Secretariat
Serendipity
Sex and the City
Sex and the City 2
Shark Tale
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Shooter
Shrek
Shrek 2
Shrek the Halls
Shrek the Third
Signs
SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 3
SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Spy Game
Star Wars - Phantom Menace
'Star Wars': A Musical Journey
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
State and Main
State of the Union
Step Brothers
Step Into Liquid
Stuart Little 2
Swordfish
Syriana
Talk to me
Tangled
Tarzan I &II (V)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator Salvation
The 6th Day
The 74th Annual Academy Awards
The 82nd Annual Academy Awards
The Adventures of Tintin
The Animal
The Ant Bully
The A-Team
The Banger Sisters
The Big Bounce
The Black Dahlia
The Blackwater Lightship (TV)
The Blind Side
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Break-Up
The Bunker
The Celestine Prophecy
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Chumscrubber
The Company Men
The Core
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Debt
The Door in the Floor
The Emperor's Club
The Expendables
The Great Raid
The Green Hornet
The Grudge 2
The Half Life of Timofey Berezin
The Happening
The Haunted Mansion
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
The Heart of the Earth
The Hobbit (all)
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Interpreter
The Jungle Book 2
The Karate Kid
The Kids Are All Right
The Kovak Box
The Last Airbender
The Last Castle
The Last Song
The Legend of Zorro
The Lion King 1½
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
The Longest Yard
The Love Guru
The Magnificent Amberssons
The Man Who Wasn’t There
The Mexican
The Mummy Returns
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
The Muppets
The New World
The Notebook
The One
The One
The Pacifier
The Passion of the Christ
The Phantom of the Opera
The Polar Express
The Princess and the Frog
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
The Producers
The Proposal
The Pursuit of Happiness
The Real Life of Angel Deverell
The Reckoning
The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey
The Rum Diary
The Santa Clause 2
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
The Savages
The Scorpion King
The Secret Life of Bees
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Stepford Wives
The Terminal
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
The Tourist
The Tuxedo
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1
The Ugly Truth
The Uninvited
The Village
The Village
The Wedding Planner
The Whole Ten Yards
The Wild
The Wild
The Wolfman
The X Files: I Want to Believe
Tooth Fairy
Tornado Alley
Toy Story
Toy Story II
Training Day
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Trespassing
TRON: Legacy
Troy
True Grit
Twilight
Twister
Unconditional Love
United 93
Untraceable
Uprising
Valentine's Day
Van Helsing
Vanity Fair
WALL•E
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death'
Wanted
War Horse
War of the Worlds
Water for Elephants
We Don't Live Here Anymore
When I Find the Ocean
Where the Truth Lies
Where the Wild Things Are
White Chicks
Willard
Wind Talkers
Winnie the Pooh
WordGirl - TV
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Wrong Hollywood Number
X-Men: The Last Stand
Yogi Bear
You, Me and Dupree
Zathura: A Space Adventure
Zoolander
12 Rounds
2 Fast 2 Furious
50 First Dates
http://www.kneelock.com/
I used Millennia preamps on my first album (which won two Grammys) and again on my new album. I love them! Well, they’re pretty much the de facto standard of the people I work with. – Christopher Tin Was rather funny the timing of the events tonight. Just before your email, Joel, I had a conversation with the bass player in Dizzys. He asked if I had Millennia mic pres. I said “yes .. I also have brand g .. 96 channels of each.” His eyes widened. He asked, which do you like more? I leaned in without hesitation and replied,“Millennia.” His eyes relaxed and he smiled and said, “me too.” Rashan Carter was his name. – Rob Macomber, Chief Engineer, Music Studios, Jazz at Lincoln Center
...I would like to single out one person who has really made a difference to my work most recently and over the last dozen years or so: John La Grou.
I first got my hands on Millennia mic preamps not long after I began recording the National Symphony Orchestra. They were the best things of their kind I had ever heard and made an enormous and immediate difference to the quality of work I was able to do. Without me saying a word to anyone about the recording chain change I had made, the kudos about my "technique" started pouring in -- the only difference from my previous work being the addition of these preamps.
Years of heavy use have occasionally required these units to be repaired and the Millennia folks (thanks to John's attitude and company ethic) have done superlative work in returning them to me in better-than-new condition. I can't say enough good things about the quality and constant improvement of John's company's products or the unflaggingly positive and helpful attitude of all Millennia Media employees with whom I have had contact. John, himself, has occasionally followed up with me to make sure that all was well with his products -- and I am far from his highest-profile client.
Whenever people around me start to rag on American companies and how they are all going down the tubes, I tell them about Millennia Media. If all American companies ran this way, the country would be just fine. Charles Lawson, Professional Audio for CD, DVD, Broadcast & Internet
We use our HV-3D every day here at Royer-Mojave world HQ – still David’s favorite preamp.
Dusty Wakeman, President, Royer Microphones
I received the HV-3 last week, and this afternoon had a marvelous session with it. I was mightily impressed with its accurate, tight low end, incredibly solid stereo imaging, and open and detailed sound throughout the frequency spectrum. Very, very, very nice. As others have said, very few even come close to this level of quality; now I know they are correct. (For your information, I used the test unit with a matched set of Josephson 606a/hyper cardiod mics, as well as a pair of Schoeps CMC 6/MK21s. The other mic pre at today's session was a Fearn, which I love for it's character, warmth and clarity.) The bottom line is, I want to purchase an HV-3. This is one mighty fine unit, Mr. La Grou. I'm impressed. Congratulations, and thanks! I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Douglas Thompson, M.M. Director of Music
John, Congratulations, you deserve every success for producing such a superb product. My last CD using the HV-3 was the 'Louis Armstrong Centennial Celebration' featuring band leader David Ostwald on tuba, Randy Sanke - trumpet, Dan Levinson - clarinet & C melody sax, John Allred - trombone, Mark Shane - piano and Joe Ascione - drums. The CD has received acclaim in several reviews. The next CD (in August) will feature Bob Wilber - soprano sax, Kenny Davern - Clarinet, James Chirillo - guitar John Bunch- piano & Steve Brown - drums, all at the Nairn International Jazz Festival Scotland. Thanks again for a wonderful Mic pre - it always performs perfectly. Best regards, Mike Gilmour
John - The HV-3C remains our studio's "go-to" preamp when accuracy and detail is the goal. All the best, Steve Hudson Echo Bluff Studio Austin, Texas
By the way, thanks for making such a great, great product. I have U, F, and A pres, but on the last album I helped out on, we used an STT-1 on 8 of 11 tracks (which is why I bought this one!!). Nothing beats it. Sincerely, Gary Sadler, Franklin, TN
Hello John . I've selected the HV3D as it is probably best for my piano recording needs. It sounds great ! Very clear and natural (so clear and natural I'm discovering all the things I don't like about my piano and room ! ). I had an acoustic guitarist over and he said it's the best he has ever heard his guitar sound (and then got depressed cause he can't afford to buy it at this time). So I'm very happy and again appreciate all your help . Thanks again for a great product and for all your help. Best wishes. Richard Dworsky, Music Director, Prarie Home Companion, Golden Valley, MN
Hello, Thanks to a recommendation by Spunky at Audio Dawgl in Dallas, Texas, I am a proud new father, er, owner of one of your damned STT-1 Origin preamps. Everyone here in the studio is also really pissed about the whole thing too. It seems that the Origin has effectively obsoleted all of my other mic pres in less than two weeks. Once a client or producer hears his or her material thru it, they won't even let me try to use something else. Word is quickly spreading to numerous other clients who now want to come back in and recut some of their (already nice sounding) tracks on the thing. I just finished a session with it this evening and the lead singer had an ear-to-ear grin on his face when we played back his tracks in the control room. His words were, "no one ever got my voice to sound like that before!". In all seriousness, this is by far the nicest sounding piece of equipment I've ever owned. We all just love what the unit does for vocals and acoustic guitar, not to mention bass, and on the drum room ambient mic. I'm hearing things that I never knew were there. The openness and clarity of sound is downright amazing. Some of the other descriptions I've heard used to describe it during the past month are: big, lush, sizzle, airy, stunning, fat, F@?%#%!!!, full, delicious, clean, warm and many, many more I can't recall at the moment. Needless to say, I'm now saving up for my next piece of Millennia gear, either a 4 or 8 channel mic pre. Great job engineering this product. Keep up the good work and please forward our praises to your team. Sincerely, Jeffrey Miller AUDIO ARTS RECORDING STUDIO Arlington, Texas
John -- In a Cinderella commercial world (where a central tenet seems to be, "I don't actually have to do anything useful; as long as I'm beautiful and charming, they'll support me"), it is an honor to do business with a company that produces a good and functional product, and stands by it. Al Swanson, Chief Audio Engineer Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Dear Mr. La Grou, Thank you for the clarifications concerning the STT1. It is all quite clear now. By the way, it is a real pleasure to work with and to simply listen to the musicality of the recordings made with it! I have tested about 10 higher quality units now and this one really comes out on top. Bob Lowen Antwerp, Belgium
I gave the Origin unit a run over the last week and I could safely say you have done a great job with this one - but I am sure you've heard this before. The STT-1 is great fun to work with. To quote one of our clients: "... this is the best pre combo I ever used". Cheers, Joav Shdema Producer / Engineer Israel
The hard strumming guitar part is what really separated the men from the boys, transient overload on most of the pres to some extent, very minimal or nonexistent on a few. Some pres excelled at this, but lacked depth on the mellower picking section. Tops in this section were the Millennia HV-3C and the John Hardy. And very close the D and C. Not too far behind were the D, D, L, and the B. Poor in this section were the V, O, V, and absolute worst was the A. For my own choice I put more weight on the hard strumming section and the ability to handle the transients and attack well. My overall pick, while keeping the price reasonable is the Millennia Rob Adelman
John, WOW! We used the Origin this last week to see what we could do to enhance the sound of our SR environment as well as for live recording and tracking. We are currently using a Yamaha M2540 for our SR console, and for an SR console the preamps sound pretty good (I hate budgets though). For the vocalists, we are using the Neumann 105's. Even with the board preamps, they are a phenomenal sounding (or should I say unsounding) mic. Through the STT-1 SS stage, they sounded............perfect! But with the VT selected, they "warmed" even so slightly,which of course with praise music seemed to bring the whole family in from the cold, so to speak. With only one channel we used in on our first service soloist.Second service we tried the SS on the pulpit mic (a standard 18" Countryman). Third service, the VT was used. Even with an inexpensive mic, the clarity difference was amazing. There didn't seem to be much difference between the SS/VT, but I was ready to put my HV-3B in the SR booth for the pastors mic,when we tried the de-esser, compressor and Eq. How are we ever going to afford 40 channels of Origin? Ok, Ok, OK! maybe ..........................Anyway, the unit is awesome. We're going to try it with some different mics and performers next week while recording, but I know already the VT, EQ, Comp is going to spoil everybody. Bravo to you guys!I'll give you an update soon and let you know when the unit will be returned. Thanks for the pricing offer, that really helps the budget. I am starting to think that we should put the STT-1 in the studio and get (4) M2-B's for the SR (Vocals). Decision,decisions, decisions. Thanks for all your help! Calvary Chapel Westgrove Rob Kirby 12832 Knott Street Garden Grove, CA. 92841 714/ 897-8972
I can't get over how great the origins are. I have to admit... I may even like
them better than the EQ and compressor separately... I think it's the added
gain stage. just yesterday, I had some tapes from fantasy and a bad
engineer's choice of mic on a vocal. I ran in and out of the origin and
YIKES!!!! even the artist noticed how much better it sounded. pure gold!
if only I had more $$$$$$ I'd buy LOTS of those things.
take care,
cookie
G'day guys,
Just a quick one to say how much I love your NSEQ-2 Eq. As you know I
bought this unit after advice from both Bob Ludwig and Bob Katz. It's
one thing hearing it from others and another when you experience it
yourself. Let me say that this EQ is extraordinary. I never thought you
could get a tube to sound so transparent and yet deliciously subtle.
It's my first port of call when I need to do sonic surgery. I have yet
to meet a client who hasn't felt that the NSEQ-2 has improved their music.
Tony "Jack the Bear" Mantz, Mastering and Cutting engineer, Melbourne Australia.
John:
We have had the use of your Origin piece for several weeks now, and I have to commend you on it. Each of the sections sounds good, and as both an all-in-one and a "demonstrator" unit for the circuits it is exemplary. I especially like the way you've provided for the amplifier-free compression circuit. I once used some Fairchild modules that were configured similarly
-- an amplifier driving a lamp on a photo resistor (to ground) to vary a "passive" T-pad attenuator -- and I liked the idea. The Fairchilds sounded awful though, and I toyed with the idea of knocking together something similar with Vactec cells, but I never did.
I repeat my praise for the sound quality of the box -- you did a great job. I'll see you at the Tape Op thing.
best,
steve albini, Electrical Audio
Hello John,
I wish you a happy new year.
I'm using since two months now NSEQ-2 and I must to agree that this is the most transparent analog EQ I ever used.
Now after many records using NSEQ-2 I have a better idea about it's sound and I must to say that I found some difficulties the first period to make it work for me. This is because in contrast with my Weiss and Avalon the settings in NSEQ-2 are more critical. I mean that with Weiss and Avalon (in a different way) you can "play" with the colors in the palette until to find the right balance. With Millennia you must think "exactly" what you want. It's closer to Weiss but Weiss can forgive you in a setting that it's not perfect but not Millennia !
Also I realize why Avalon was successful to me , since many projects in Greece (and not only) are coming in DAT masters that sounds thin and without depth and authority. So the character of Avalon that thickens sound was the right solution.
However with good recordings the Millennia shines. And there are occasions that Avalon seems muddy and destroy ambience. The good thing is that the combination of both, is another super EQ ! Usually I don't like Eqs in series. But Millennia and Avalon gives to each other what maybe miss.
I'm using 50% tube and 50% solid state but I feel better with solid state. In tube mode there is a nice opening however , I feel the sound becomes thin and while middles are smoother there are some notches not always useful and the bass is fuller but slow and without punch.
I prefer more body , fatness and sweetness keeping this "aura" if possible. What will be the best Vacuum ?
*We evaluate also the compressor for a few days. As you said is more transparent than our Crane Song and works better with soft compression but not as useful if you want fast or heavy compression. Some of my clients (engineers) love it.
Best,
Chris
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Chris Hatzistamou, ATHENS MASTERING, Hi-End mastering and restoration services
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Dear John and crew -
I have been a long time Millennia Media consumer, and I am writing to
introduce myself and my audio production company to you.
Since 1994, I have been the Director of Audio for Virgin Interactive
Entertainment and Westwood Studios Pacific / Electronic Arts. In addition
to my background in Interactive audio production, I have scored six feature
motion pictures, as well as over 90 commercially released albums, television
commercials and music videos. Last spring, I launched a dedicated digital
audio development company, PCB Productions. I maintain a state-of-the-art
digital recording facility designed to accommodate every aspect of
Interactive audio development - including non-linear post-production,
digital automated mixing, film scoring, sound design, music editing, and
dialog engineering.
Some of our recent titles include: Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 (Activision),
Ridge Racer 64 (Nintendo), Disney's Emperor's New Groove (Disney), Disney's
Lion King (Disney), Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots (Mattel), Blues Brothers 2000
and Hercules (Titus), Wu-Tang Clan (Activision), Draconus (Crave), and Metal
Fatigue (Psygnosis). Additionally, our first Animae motion picture
"Spriggan" is being released in theatres this spring with ADV Films. For all
of these top-selling titles, we utilized Millennia products to achieve the
high quality audio we are known for.
Keith Aram
About to start recording of new FlowerKings CD , I'll be using the Millennia pre amps for drums in backing tracks , grand premiere .!!!!!! ( plus most of overdubs of course )
The Twin Topology Equalizer runs on every session and I love it !!! I did mix of the Transatlantic Live CD thru it also ....well it's a live recording made on DA 88's so it's not perfect , but still the NSEQ gave a bit of a hi end sparkle to it. Hoping to get even the Millennia Twin Topology compressor in my racks later when economy permits , I had a chance to run a test thanks to the ever kind Robert Zima ...... never heard a compressor that silent and
transparent !!!
I'll go back to pre production ...... still a lot to do .
Kind Regards
Roine Stolt, The Flower Kings
John,
It was great to speak with you the other day and congratulations on the company's growth. Last night was the AES chapter meeting featuring Bob Ludwig talking about high resolution sound and surround release formats. He strongly supports SACD and mentioned his new control room will operate in analog for 6 channel mastering to the format. He then mentioned using 3 Millennia Media compressors with your mods for tracking the signals together. It was a great presentation with a realistic view of the costs, economic and technical, of high res multi-channel sound and a real love of superior sound reproduction. Thought you would enjoy hearing your equipment mentioned along with dcs, Weiss, and Z-Sys.
Best regards,
David Prentice
My millennia pre-amps have been the number 1 choice in my studio since we bought them. They are the most beautifully open mic pres that I've ever heard. I am a writer/producer/engineer living in Nova Scotia Canada and I spread the good word around here about your technology. I first saw them used while I was playing guitar on a session in Nashville that was being produced by George Massenburg and I was intrigued that the only Mic pres in use for the session other
than GML were yours. I consider him to be "The Great One" as an engineer as I'm sure you do.
I am currently looking for a small console for my studio. (24bit Pro Tools) I like the sound of pro-tools but I want to combine the tracks in a high definition analog path. Your mixing suite looks brilliant, but in a perfect world I would want to have access to millennia's Eqs, comps, mic pres etc.in one package complete with the foldback sends and bussing system. Are there any plans for millennia and such a concept or one near to it?
Gordie Sampson
Millennia people, I just spent the last six months selling off every processor, pre-amp and anything else I could find to buy two premium channels of something. After looking extensively at everything I finally decided on two Origin STT-1. They just arrived day before yesterday and I hooked them up. There are no words to describe going from the cheap stuff to the real thing!! MINE EYES HAVE BEEN OPENED!!! I will have to learn how to listen to things
in a whole new way. Thank you for making such a wonderful product. I have to go because I'm becoming...(sniff) ..emotional......
Thanks, Your newest fan
Jason Shaw
John,
We set up the mic preamp as the front end of our Audio Developments mixer, displacing the other outboard preamps we usually use. Well, my partner (Roy Cherryhomes) who recorded the Thursday night concert was absolutely amazed at the sound with the Millennia's! He said it is a world better than anything we've ever heard--he described it as absolutely "effortless" sound! This is from a main pair of TLM193s, B&K 4006s, and SM69 for solo piano. He was very impressed at how much better the B&Ks sounded with the Millennia.
I'll record the Sunday concert and will get to hear for myself. But, I think we have to have one of these preamps! It's just a matter of selling the other ones to raise some extra cash...
I will write again next week after we've had more time to analyze the recordings.
Best regards,
George Gilliam, Dallas Symphony
John,
I've just started working with the LPE-2's yesterday - including a bunch of vertical cut discs. Initial impression is absolutely positive. I hate to used subjective terms on describing the sound but here goes: keep in mind that I'm talking about records made in the 20's: there seems to be a solidity to the sound which just wasn't there before, voice stands out and words seem much clearer to me. The imaging is rock solid. It's incredible to crank up the volume and not hear any hum.
Anyway, analyzing the signal with the CEDAR NR3 with spectrum analyzer and the Azimuth corrector and I can see that the signals are so much more in phase (except, of course, for the spurious noises) and that the noise from the 78's is flatter. Just pulled out a few electric 78's. Most notable is an early (1950's) Tony Bennett 78 with big band back up. WOW!!!! The bottom end is tight and all there, the voice sits beautifully and the "throatiness" is present. Good God can he sing!! The sound seems to float above the speakers. With a slight pass of the CEDAR it sounds as good if not better than tape! Again wow. My colleague and I compared the digital Eqs setting I had with the LPE-2's and what can I say... I was blind and now I see.
Amazing how flat the digital eel's sound. (It doesn't help that the curves didn't quite match, but the digital EQ does sound flat.) Man, is this going to be fun! (sorry for all the exclamation marks. Hard to contain my excitement!)
That's it for now. As I work with the LPE-2 some more, I can fill you in more detail. I'm looking forward to setting up the LP cartridge and listening to some high end, well recorded vinyl with a $4,000 (Cdn) cartridge.
Gilles St. Laurent, Director, Audio Archiving Laboratories, National Library of Canada
John,
In spite of sporting audiophile, class-A balanced tube topology and other 'audiophile' features, the GT Vipre pre-amp came up rather short side in comparison with the Origin. Even though the Vipre offered multiple impedance taps on its input transformer, it never attained the finesse, beauty, and impact of the sound of the Origin. The UM900 sounds gorgeous through the Origin with the input transformer engaged. I recently strongly recommended the Origin to Andrew Lipinski, a tonemeister, who subsequently purchased one, I think through a European dealer. I've been having a great time with my Origins, it has been a process of rediscovering my mic collection.
Best,
Alan Silverman, Arf! Digital, NYC
John.
We've been using our [six channels of] TCL-2 compressors for a number of stereo and six channel surround projects with great results. The ability of each unit to sound either as transparent as the Class A solid state electronics or as warm as the tube electronics is a big advantage. The TCL-2 Twincom has become our reference analog dynamics mastering processor.
Bob Ludwig,
Gateway Mastering
Hi John,
Just to let you know, the recording we did in Eugene for the Oregon Bach Festival of the Penderecki Credo, won this year's Grammy for "Best Choral Recording". We used 16 channels of Millennia pre-amps on stage. THANKS FOR THE GREAT SOUND!!
regards,
Don Harder, Chief Audio Engineer, Canadian Broadcasting Company
John: Thanks for continuing to make the finest, most accurate electronics in the industry.
Best regards,
Jack Renner, Telarc International
Hi John
Just a quick note to let you know how much I'm enjoying using the STT1. I've already had the opportunity of using it on a variety of sources, from vocals to electric guitar, and it has handled everything with dramatically outstanding results. There is a very noticeable improvement in the clarity and overall polish in my recorded vocal takes using the STT1 that I would never have expected to be so significant, even if the path is practically untreated. In addition, the ease with which a recorded signal can be enhanced using the STT's impeccably transparent EQ and compression offers a superbly powerful and flexible recording tool, without in any way detracting from the quality of the source.
My preference for vocals is currently the Solid State pre-amp, although I can see the benefits of the Telefunken tubes under certain circumstances. I'm using the valve stages elsewhere in the chain and find they add some very subtle but satisfyingly mellow tints to everything I record. The transformer is simply wonderful for less 'mission critical' tracks. I've used it extensively on guitar and love the 'umph' it seems to introduce into the picture.
The STT is also being put to work on mixdown, often to give vocals more dramatic processing when needed, and it handles this with almost unidentifiable transparency and consummate ease. I've even used the EQ on snares during mixing and can get sheen and bite that none of my other Esq.'s will permit without sounding artificial.
Suffice it to say I am over the moon and already trying to allocate funds for my next Millennia purchase!! Thanks for all your help in making dealing with your company such a joy.
Kind regards
Jules Bromley, Trailermen, England, http://www.trailermen.com.
The results are great from your gear. Jack Renner was over a couple of weeks back and was very happy to see them in our kit...the sound is great -- sweet, refined, full of dynamics - fabulous on grand piano.
Tony Faulkner,
Greenroom Productions, UK, Owner of HV-3D and M-2B preamplifiers, Perhaps the preeminent classical music recording engineer, worldwide
Hey John,
Just a quick note. A friend asked me to bring the STT-1 to a pre-production meeting for a
new artist on a major label here. She has a huge dynamic range and they were having problems with the ADL compressor not covering it and having to ride the gain with the singer. They'd been trying a Daking pre amp and some refurbished Telefunkens. They loved the STT-1 on the woman's voice. She said "It's not squashing me." When in fact it was cutting 9db on her loud
notes. We had to look over at the needle to verify that it was compressing her. Very transparent. It retained the integrity of her voice over the full dynamic range of the compressor. The engineer's comment was "I've got to get one of these things." The change was dramatic when we first switched on the STT-1 from the Daking, very big and open. We were trying the STT-1 with a U67 and a Shure SM7. It's kind of a folk rock album. The engineer
liked the Daking for the 'in your face' presence but it lacked 'front to back' depth, whereas the Telefunkens had front to back depth but he was missing the presence of the Daking. The STT-1 has both depth and presence. Anyway, just thought I'd pass on the continuing good news. I'll be playing it for other friends down here.
Jim Meyer
Jimmy Buffet Band
Dear John,
Gee I hate to gush but I've got to tell you, this STT-1 is really helping me out. I'm currently working on a children's story and I'm doing all the narration, voices, singing etc. Recently I've been going over some narration which I did a year ago with a AT4033 (not my favorite mic) and a Rane mic pre in a hotel room. I was tempted just to re-do everything but
the vibe was great. I had the voice channel going through multiple computer plug ins of compression, de-essing, multiband compression, EQ, etc. Trying to get it to sound like a nice normal voice speaking. Suddenly I thought "Duh, I'll run it through the STT-1. This was at the point at which I had spent an hour editing 1 minute of narration to try to get all the words, (whispers and yells) to come out clearly. I went back to the original
unprocessed narration and sent it through the STT-1. Within 15 minutes I had the whole chapter of narration printed in the computer, it sounded big and natural and everything was clearly audible. The compressor was way cleaner than so called 'transparent' digital compressors. With a tad of EQ to fix the 3k bump in the mic, it fit right in. This may seem like a small
thing but with 25 chapters of narration, it literally saved me hours of editing.
Thanks again,
Things are well here.
Jim Meyer, Bass & Vocals, Jimmy Buffet Band
John La Grou,
Thanks for the demo of the TCL-2 compressor. The unit is beautifully constructed and is as sonically neutral as anything I have heard.
Joe Palmaccio
Senior Recording Engineer, Sony Music, NYC
Greetings John -
So good to speak with you the other day - thanks for giving me a call, and taking the time to chat.... I've been in the process of upgrading hardware/software for 5.1, and saw where the POWr is in my Pro Tools upgrade - I'm looking forward to checking that out, as I am aware of your involvement....
John, that NSEQ2 is truly a great piece! The more I use it, the more I love it. It does something seemingly magical on the high end. I have always had a problem with what happens to the high end on most everything when processed (recorded/mixed) exclusively in the digital domain. I can get back, for the most part, what I feel I'm missing with the NSEQ2 - without sounding like the material is being equalized. I have not been able to do that prior to this Eq. I am happy - can you tell?
So, thanks so much for making it happen....
Take care,
Tad Bush
I love my STT-1's John! Major league sound - clean, crisp and the tubes are marvelous, just really love 'em! What a sound! Best compressors and EQ I've ever heard!
Blows anything I've heard so far, no wonder Ludwig, Katz, Jung and the rest of the bunch likes 'em. I'm truly very happy with them, wouldn't trade them for anything!
I'm using a touch of EQ - a little bass roll off, omnis can be too much on the bass response sometimes - and barely 1 dB of compression and the sound is simply wonderful! The compression is the finest I've ever heard and the Eqs just blends and enhances the whole sound simply amazing! I'm using VT out on both stages - transformer out - and the loud sections just float gracefully, making the whole thing sound even better!
I also feel the fact that everything is in one box makes it better than having to patch from one box to the other. The only drawback is having to tweak a pair of knobs all the time but I'd rather that than having to patch.
Great box, the TEC should definitely go to you! For Classical Music, there couldn't be anything finer and better! Bravo John!
- Dr. Alexander Lim, DMA / Musica Records, NYC
Hi,
my name is Massimo and I just decide to buy one Origin system (I got the STT-1 from my reseller to evaluate it for a week but it takes only a few minutes to decide to keep it!). I'm using it practically on everything: Acoustic Gtrs, Bass (Direct and Miked), Huge distorted Gtrs, Vocals, Clean gtrs and so on. It sounds wonderful on everything! I like very much all the options in
one unit; at first the EQ seemed almost useless to me but today it was great on a not so good acoustic guitar, it saved the recording!
I've seen on your site that you do mostly classical and jazz recording, but I found that the STT-1 is wonderful also for Rock, Metal, Grunge etc. etc.; it seems perfect to me for recording Metal Gtrs! The HM guys here liked a lot the "BIG" sound coming from the transformer and it let me record huge dist gtrs
Anyway, you've got another unit here in Rome! If I had lot of $$$$ I'd get a complete set to record drums!
Massimo Sinceri
Soundcheck Studio, Via Giuseppe Pianese 15, 00151 Rome Italy
By the way, Nick, an editor of Bass Player Magazine called this week
and said that the Origin has become their "reference front end" for
bass product reviews! Said it displaced a well-known direct box
with a reputation for bass signals.
I'm not at all surprised, because it's an excellent DI. As you know, I use it for synths a lot (even though they don't need a DI to match up electrically). But I've been using the mic preamp as a reference for reviews too. It's hard politically to come out and say that the Millennia ate something's lunch, but off the record it sounds quite a bit better than a well-known mic preamp that I wouldn't be so crude as to name (Avalon).
As an aside, I was surprised at how the variable impedance feature never improved anything, it could only make things worse if it wasn't adjusted properly. That sounded like a great thing, being able to match up well with any mic, but it didn't seem to work that way with the mics I used.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing you at NAMM.
Best,
Nick Batzdorf, Editor, Recording Magazine
The sound of the NSEQ-2 is tremendous - absolutely no artifacts. I'm almost inclined to say it is cleaner sounding than my HV3b which I know is impossible. btw, I'm still interested in upgrading my HV3b to a 4 or 8 channel model.
___
Rick Knepper, MicroComputer Support Services, Knepper Audio, Ft. Worth, TX
Dear John,
Great to hear from you. I've missed you at the last couple of trade shows. I trust you are well. The NSEQ has been great. I've used it on many sessions including Elton John, Kronos String Quartet, Tracy Bonham, Hanson, Cafe Tacuba, Julieta Venegas, Carole King and many others. It use it lots for lead vocals or for the overall stereo buss. Of course I'd love to use anything you make. The quality of tone is always excellent so I'd be glad to hear this new box. Yes, I probably will be at NAMM unless I'm out of town working on a project.
Happy Holidays,
Joe Chiccarelli
New York Times critic James R. Oestreich's choice #4 of "Top Ten Classical Recordings of 2001"
Tchaikovsky's "Liturgy Of St. John Chrysostom" performed by The Russian
Chamber Chorus of NY Recorded and mastered by Arf! Digital.
Equipment used:
Schoeps-Bruck KFM-360 mic system, Millennia-Media HDV3 preamps, Mytek 8x96
ADC, Weiss EQ1, POW-R dither.
Dear Millennia Folks,
I recently purchased one of your NSEQ-2's for use in my mastering work. I want to tell you how impressed I am with the unit. I bought the unit on trial because I usually use gear with a strong sonic signature and I thought the NSEQ might be too clean for my tastes. I was wrong. Yes the EQ is clean, but not in a clinical way. I think it is one of the most musical sounding Eqs I've come across. I do wish it had a selectable slope for the bottom shelf, it's not quite as "tight" as might be ideal for me, but still brilliant sounding as is. I also like the subtleness to the tube side and I find it does win out on some program material. I also do a lot of recording and mixing and now I am rethinking my use of a lot of vintage gear and I think an Origin might be my next purchase. Thanks for a wonderful piece of equipment.
All the best,
Dave McNair
hello,
firstly i would like to congratulate you on building the best mic pre i have ever used. i still remember the first time i used one - it was magical.
i am finally able to purchase a preamplifier of yours but am extremely interested in your planned unit with pow-r converters.
yours sincerely,
justin tresidder, sydney, australia
John,
Just wanted to drop you a brief note to say "thanks". I got my Stt-1 back. I phoned to pay for the shipping but was told it had already gone out. If this was some kind of mix-up, my work number is 989 752 8162. If not, uh.. wow! Thanks for all your help. I was expecting an ordeal. I have never been treated to such awesome customer service before...
Jason Shaw
John,
The testing is going very well... indeed you might say it's over!.... finally got everything sat up for a test of the HV-3 / DPS4003 straight wire to the Masterlink.... recorded a couple of things and went over to the couch to sit down and listen and actually heard the instrument that I've been playing these past almost 2 years for the first time (as if i was at the piano, not the couch)... Superlative and speechless... My very first impression of the sound was eerie, because it was like going back in time.... This am I recorded the Satie works that I am currently working on.. as I was recording I kept noticing that the signals seemed to be saturating at -1 dB and so kept turning the gain down, so as to avoid transient overs that plagued me with the Mackie... as i listened to today's efforts, I was absolutely stunned that none of the pieces that I had recorded, where I thought for sure there would be nasty digital crunching, contained even a trace of digital yuk... Is this what is meant by headroom?? (I am not an electronic junkie... just sound!).... So I can now forget about a limiter to filter the transients.. I couldn't find any... and the preamp and microphones have saved me the trouble of going out and finding a replacement piano (Yamaha S6... hand built, highest state of the Yamaha piano art), which I can now hear.. Based on my earlier recordings I was beginning to fear that the sound I really didn't like was possibly the piano. The sound is wonderful and i should be ecstatic, except that I still can't believe it...
Norman L. Eberhardt, Ph.D., Professor
Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic
Hey John
I have had a couple of interviews where I mention your pre amps and have had most of what I said edited out, for whatever reason. I just turned in credits for the Dixie Chicks new acoustic record and the Nickel Creek project, and Millennia got thanks from me, as usual. We are also just starting the Alison live record and using your pres. I will make sure that
any press that goes out gets that info.
The only pre-amps that I use are yours and Doug's. When I get back to town it will slow down enough that I will be able to get the Origin back to you for the mods. I have been mixing for over a month and have had not a minute to spare.
Gary Paczosa
John:
I tried my pair of DPA 3529's at unity gain into the Line-ins on the Origins (for gain) in tube mode w/ the Xformer engaged for the piano recording earlier today, and the sound was phenomenal! Cant' say I've heard anything better. The clarity and smoothness was unique
and it's definitely top-quality "Pro Level" sound and unquestionably in a league of its own.
I think they're your best Mic-Pres and a notch above the M2-B's. After hearing the DPA's through the Origins I don't think I could ever go any other route, they're just that good!
Alexander Lim, Musica Records, NY
John,
I just have to comment on the HV-3B. I recorded a concert of chamber orchestra with chorus this weekend, and some solo guitar and voice. Recordings were done with the Royer SF-12 mic. I'm using the entire 73 dB gain on the solo guitar recording, so the custom gain was the right thing to do. John, this is the sound I've been looking for years. I can't tell you how beautiful it is. I have a very special Martin D-28 and have never found another guitar that I
liked better of any make or model for the music that I play. The last thing I want to do is have the recording change the color of that sound. I feel like I've stumbled onto a great secret in finding this preamp/mic combination. Believe me, I've spent time and money in a few studios trying to get this sound. I'll send you a copy of the CD when it's finished. I feel I owe you guys something for having made this thing.
Sincerely,
Bob Sowyrda
John,
Congratulations on the LPE-2 TEC Nomination. I have to admit to being rather thrilled at having played a part, albeit small, in its inception. But the real thrill comes from using it day to day. I'm just transferring some early (1946) Oscar Peterson 78's for BMG U.S. and the double bass sounds so impressively rich. Compared to what was available before, you ought to be canonized for the LPE-2! St John, it has a nice ring...
Gilles St. Laurent,
National Library of Canada
As far as I am concerned, your products are the very best of their kind. They amaze me every day.
Most Sincerely, Robert Oder
Dear John, With this mail I want to inform you that John Hiatt has used an STT1 from us for his Belgium concert last week on the 11 th of November in the AB. He was really satisfied by the sound of the unit. Best regards, Geert Van den Bossche, SERI B.V.B.A. TISSELT BELGIUM
Millennia media HV3 - a clear winner in almost every way - this one is very smooth across the entire freq range, yet retains an amazing clarity in the upper end, bottom end is tight and controlled - wish i had 8 channels of this stuff. piano is perfect with the schoeps, flute was clean and clear with both schoeps and c480s (i could hardly tell the mics apart), acoustic guitar just jumps out of the machine. less high end emphasis than the G, though oddly just as clear. this is the best preamp i have ever used. Norman, Eugene OR Preamp Comparison Test (six different mic preamps tested)
If I had to choose an all in one, does everything box, I would go for the Millennia STT-1 ORIGIN. It has an instrument di that is switchable between tube or solid-state, with an input transformer that may be in or out of the signal input path, is switchable between solid state or tube mic pres, again with a transformer that can be in or out of the input path, a four band parametric Eq that is also switchable between tube or solid state topology and an OPTO (my favorite type) compressor that again is switchable between tube or solid state. It may be employed with any of the sections together or individually. The thing is built like a tank, looks and sounds great! The OPTO comp is one of the best I have ever heard (and I have a M and a pair of LA4's and have in the past, owned LA3a's and an LA2a). All that for under $4000! I reviewed one here in the RO E Mag and I absolutely loved it! I cannot think of any other "all in one" pre box that has the flexibility or the features that the ORIGIN has. Best bang for the buck IMO! Kurt Foster
I received a special matched pair of Millennia Origins in the morning and I feel like in a sound paradise now ! It is exactly the type of sound I have been searching for so long time, being a bit restless in spite of all my present equipment (Schoeps, Neumann, DACS, Apogee etc.). Now finally I have it - that beautiful sweet, mellow sound with so many varieties ! My U87 became immediately a big friend with Origins and the vocals sound great. Guitar, violin, flutes and other instruments in stereo array with Schoeps sound so pure, sweet and spacey. I especially love the tube preamp (M-2B) with the transformer engaged sometimes. Should receive Telefunkens and Mullard tubes soon, very curious about the difference. Also - if I process some of my older recordings with a sound I don¥t enjoy so much nowadays - they suddenly become pleasantly alive. Really a happy day and hopefully many happy days yet to come... It was preceded by maybe two months of communication with Millennia and John La Grou - and he was so kind to me, answering all possible questions and being extremely helpful. I Sedlacek
Regarding the TD-1: I'M IN!! IT IS INCREDIBLE! On an interesting note: just after I got your package a client was in my studio and had just talked to a very good friend of mine, a Nashville producer, Don Potter. (the Judds, Elton John-DUET, Chuck Mangione, etc) and that very day he called in a TD-1. Apparently there's talk around town in Nashville giving it glowing marks! Well his eyes popped out of his head when he saw that I had one in my studio. He went out and got one right away after that. It's interesting how the buzz on great gear travels. CoopDeVille
Actually I wanted to do the comparison the last 3 days on the weekend, but the german G, M, G distributor didn't manage it, to send me the G in time. So I was forced to work with 3 Millennia HV-3D only (instead of 2 HV-D and one G). The results were very good: Trumpet with Beyer M160 was smooth and never sharp. Fluegelhorn sounded great with a Neumann KM84 - full and warm, the best sound ever I heard with that instrument! Baritone sounded very real with a Neumann U89, where I could imagine the G could be better because it is often described as a little brighter. The same with Tuba and an old U87. But in the mix, the tone of Baritone and Tuba was just right, easy to integrate it in the mix. By direct comparison with Soundcraft K3 preamps it was very obvious the Millennia is far, far better - no surprise. And the Millennia was again so convincing to me.
To all at Millennia Media, I am a bassist in Vancouver Canada and I had the pleasure of tracking with a Millennia Media Origin pre-amp today...... this was my first time ever using or directly hearing your products. I am in awe! That pre-amp has a sound like none other I've heard. I am currently in the process of doing a CD and building a studio with my long time friend and collaborator and believe me, when the CD hits the Top 200, we'll be able to afford and outfit the studio with Millennia. ;-) I'm in the process of refining my bass rig as well and must say that I think a TD-1 is well within sight.... now the budget is a different story (worth every penny though) So THANK-YOU for being the artists that you are and providing the tools to artists that you do. Cheers. Peter Davyduck Bassist electric/upright www.briandoerksen.com www.chrisjanzen.com
Hello John, It was nice to see you at AES in NY. Things are hopping along for us here at Benchmark. The DAC1 is still selling like hotcakes ... I know I can speak for my father (and myself) when I say that your products are among the highest quality products that exist. We have had a number of people say that between their Millennia pres and their Benchmark converters they have a combo that can't be beaten. Happy Holidays! Jed Burdick Benchmark Media Systems Inc.
John, The STT-1 is fantastic! Incredibly rich and present sounding. Thanks. Todd Phillips (two time Grammy winner, David Grissman, Tony Rice, Psychograss, etc..)
Hello John, One of my clients bought 2 TCL-2 compressors a little while ago. He's Switzerland's biggest mastering engineer and he loves the TCL-2. Yesterday I visited him and he told me again that on nearly every mastering job he uses the TCL-2. Andreas Michel Flyline Music AG
Dear John, a couple of experienced recording engineers here in DC thought my combination of Schoeps m222b tube mic and Millennia preamp was the greatest front end they had ever heard. Regards Steve Cormier
dear sir, I've used the STT-I in different situations and no other channelstrip makes a vocals sound as warm and present as this one... greeetz marcel cortleven
Dear John, We had a terrific power failure the other night and i suspect that one of the NSEQ tubes or output amps got fried. I'm trying to finish a mix in NY today and I'm traveling to LA on tomorrow for the Grammys. On Feb 16th I begin another mixdown in LA and i would LOVE to have my unit functioning them. NOTHING SOUNDS AS GOOD AS THIS BOX !!!!!! Needless to say it was all OVER the ELVIS album. Sincerely Kevin Killen
I love the TD-1 by the way and have been using it a lot. On the new Knopfler album we are ignoring the bass players rack of great outboard gear and using the TD-1 instead. I've used the TD-1 mic pre and found it to be outstanding, and I've used it to reamp the bass DI on an album I mixed for a group called Sugarland. Good stuff. Chuck Ainlay
JOHN: your mic pre is flat out AWE-INSPIRING (you know that) + like no other mic pre (you know that, too); what you do not know, perhaps, is how legendary musicians who RECORD with it respond when they HEAR themselves recorded "through" this amazing mic pre :
this week I've begun recording an album for the legendary guitarist MUNDELL LOWE (who recorded with Charlie Parker; Billie Holiday; Frank Sinatra; Sarah Vaughan; Ella Fitzgerald; Mel Torme; Tony Bennett ..... on and on): Mundell -- who has recorded with everyone and everywhere was KNOCKED OUT by the sound that we are getting with your mic pre(s); With respect, cheer & appreciation, JIM MEROD @ BluePort Jazz
HelIo John, I just finished the Academy Awards, and your 100+ channels of pre-amps once again performed flawlessly. I will be working on a new movie with Thomas Newman. I love these units, everywhere I go people are impressed. Even Armin Steiner loved them, and he uses no outboard equipment. Anyway thanks again, Tommy Vicari
Hello! I've had a few opportunity to work with your HV-3 Preamplifier, and I liked it so much that I now think of buying a few channels. Thanks for your help and for building great products!
Benoit Durand-Jodoin. http://www.studioklaxon.com/
I am a huge fan! I am the proud owner of an HV-3D (8). See what I say on my web site under "gear". www.soundcrafterpro.com Honestly, I am so crazy about this preamp. It is the first time that I have ever been able to hear such a blatant improvement over other systems. I use for everything from soft acoustic instruments to triple stack amps and it always amazes me. Thanks lots, Don Moore
Hi, my name is Dan Warner and I'm a studio guitarist in Miami, Fl. I have to say I am blown away. Your TD-1 preamp is my favorite on acoustic guitars and with the added Reamping, DI capabilities and the Speaker Soak I believe this is the ultimate weapon. You can see some of my recording credits at All Music Guide. I appreciate your time and again great work. Dan Warner
Dear John, I have a crash requirement for an eight-channel microphone preamplifer for use in the Glyndebourne opera house here in England. As you know, we've already got two four-channel preamplifiers in use there and they've proved to be technically superb and completely reliable. All the best from a cold and rainy UK, John Barnes Consultants
hello john, any new product in near future? i use your STT in almost session i make and do mix with it. really impressed with result. regards, nunu, indonesia
And on a side note, there was a preamp shoot out in Tampa some months ago (I was unable to attend) but the engineer I work for thought the Millennia pre (he never said which model) won out over J, U, P, a Neve1073, and an A (maybe a few others I can't recall just now). He owns a blackface two channel EQ of yours (I'm terrible with Model #'s) that I haven't played with yet. That does it, keep up the good work. -Danny
I finally got a new STT-1, and I suppose there's a million good things I could say about it, but in a nutshell, I'm really impressed in how it offers 134 shades of transparent sound. For bass, I love the tube pre for old school sound, and the JFET pre for more modern tones, and I love the DC-to-light freq. resp. and infinite headroom. There's nothing like a clean preamp. And they have more gain than a Marshall factory. I could go on and on... Best regards, Walt Hyde, Seattle, WA
Didn't think I'd be using TD-1 as much as I do. Using it on the way in on bass and then inserted as Eq on mixdown. Used the mic pre for acoustic guitar for the first time today. Very nice indeed. As a producer/eng and bass player thanks for the superb results. Kelly
The Origin has tied all the loose ends of our recording projects. It is one of the most amazing and valuable tools that we have. Can't say enough. Thank you so much. All my very best. Frank Bevans
the TD-1 is amazing just used it on the mixing of the next Willy Deville (Mink DeVille) record We used it on his vocals (EQ). What a swiss army knife. Also we mastered at capital and they use one of your stereo Eqs. hmmm We must talk. Phil Shenale
Congratulations on your TEC award nomination. I love the TD-1. The studio has N and A modules and recently I had an F that I loved but I can't seem to get the engineer to use anything but the Millennia TD-1. The only thing that could make him happier is a pair. Take care, Doug Cronin, Harborsound
the Millennia TD1 really is as good as the rave reviews have indicated. When it comes to that hard to describe concept that we call "air" nothing can touch the TD1 - it sounds as if the world's best EQ was used to boost just the right frequencies to really open up both the source and the room sound. The BIG surprise was that the TD1 was definitely improving the sound, when I walked into the live room after listening to the TD1 for a while, I was surprised at how much "air" the TD1 was adding. Based on last night's session, I would never call the TD1 "accurate", it's much more of a flattering preamp. Hollywood Steve
addition of the TD-1 I now have 13 glorious channels of HV-3. The EQ is great. It's essentially the same as can be found in their larger EQ unit NSEQ-2 or on their Origin, but this has only 2 bands. It's kind of the Origin 'mini me' with a lot more pluses, minus the
John, I'm in the UK now working on a Tori Amos record, thought you'd like to know that they've bought two STT-1's (per my suggestion) and are using it on her voice as well as my bass. Take care and thanks again. John Evans
Hi John, Garth Fundis has been using his TD-1 for Trisha Yearwood's vocals using an old Neumann U-47 into the TD-1 preamp. He really loves the vocal sound he's been getting. Pete Strobl at Shangri La Studios in Malibu also purchased a TD-1. Chuck Ainlay asked me for another TD-1 to take with him for tracking with Mark Knopfler and Glenn Wolf (bass player), but Pete heard the TD-1 and would not return it to Nashville. Pete told me that he has many bass pre-amps / DI's that he uses (A*****, D******, etc.) but when he heard the TD-1 he was blown away with the sound of his bass. Linda Albright @ Ears Audio Nashville
Dear John My name is Wez Prictor, I own and manage The Finishing Post Mastering in Melbourne, Australia. Just under a year ago I purchased a Millennia Media NSEQ2. I have found the NSEQ2 to be a fantastic EQ, every bit as good as I had expected after reading numerous reviews and taking much advice from other mastering engineers. As I am sure you have heard all of these things many times before, there is no need for me to go into detail, other than to say I'm a big fan of the unit, and in turn of Millennia Media. Wez
I am blown away john!!! the TD-1's are fantastic, I tracked with them all today. I am getting money together and it looks like I'll buy all of the demo gear. I would be insane not to. I am very inspired, I really have no words for it. I deeply appreciate what you do!! it is very important. talk to you soon, john vanderslice, tiny telephone studio, san francisco
Wow! The TD-1 is everything I hoped it would be. My first Millennia purchase and definitely not my last. J. White, SF, CA
I still do not know what exactly to say to you. These things [TD-1] are so severely incredible! I'm doing a lot of re-racking etc... you make one seriously superior product! Gregory Bruce Campbell,
I am very impressed with this [NSEQ-2] unit! I wish that I would have known about your products sooner. I could have been using them for all kinds of projects. It's like sending my studio to the audio dentist (we got everything cleaned up). Thanks! August Martin, PRN PRO, Albuquerque, NM
Greetings, Just wanted to drop a quick line to say I have recently purchased an Origin STT-1 and I have been using it everyday for the last month on many projects including EXPN Radio a show which I produce for ABC Radio Networks. The quality and clarity of both pre-amp sections is truly stunning, especially for voiceovers. I also write and produce the underscores for the EXPN Radio using the STT exclusively. It yields thoroughly detailed results on every instrument tracked, with the EQ and Compressor sections proving invaluable and highly musical. I will be purchasing another one in the not to distant future for that stereo front end. Yours sincerely, Gareth Prosser
We attended Parsons' expo last Thursday (a very enjoyable event!) and while there we had a good look at the Millennia Pre-amps and were very impressed. To find out how the pre-amps performed in live recording we hired the HV-3 and used it on Saturday night to record the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra performance. The results are stunning! The Millennia is definitely our pre-amp of choice. Regards, Joanna Duncan
The TD-1 was an excellent tool for the bass strings review. It offered the transparency and fidelity we were looking for, and everyone was thoroughly pleased with its tone and versatility. So much so, in fact, that I'd like to discuss a long-term vision with you. I'm currently re-working Bass Player's reference rig, and I'd like to include the TD-1 as our reference preamp.
Johnathan Herrera, Technical Editor BASS PLAYER MAGAZINE
"WOW!!" [TD-1] J.D. Little, Marysville, WA
I am about to begin recording a new album with the artist Everclear (our 4th album together)...I think your preamps are amazing, and I plan to use the STT-1 Origin and HV-3D 8 channel preamp on this recording. I have also worked extensively with Producer John Shanks, engineering for him on Michelle Branch's multi-platinum CD release The Spirit Room with a single Millennia HV-3 -- which we used on every single vocal track and acoustic instrument!
Thanks, Lars Fox
I signed a contract to do this 12-CD album... that will constitute a home-study course in self-hypnosis. My friend and colleague Andrew Weil and I will be doing a 2-CD recording as well. The Millennia sounds lovely...absolutely lovely. I now know what some of the forum posters meant by the dilemma of so many choices. Tonight I found myself using the SS mode, with/without xfmr, with/without EQ, with/without compression, and every imaginable permutation therein. What a treat! And the Origin has lots of nice gain for the R84DJV. Dr. S. G., Tucson
Hey John, th
