Townsend Labs Sphere L22 Precision Microphone System Guide Using the Sphere L22 System
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Preamp Modeling
If you use a software preamp modeling plug-in, such as those from Waves or Universal Audio (when
used without Unison hardware), we typically recommend placing it directly after the Sphere plug-in to
match the virtual signal chain with the corresponding physical signal chain. In this case, it usually
makes sense to use a clean, transparent hardware preamp, so preamp coloration is only applied once.
However, if you like the sound created by combining the colorations of hardware and software pre-
amps, feel free to use it that way.
There are many mic preamps which are clean and transparent enough to use with Sphere. Some of
these include:
• Universal Audio Apollo series interfaces (with Unison disabled and excluding Apollo 16)
• Apogee interfaces, such as the Quartet, Ensemble, and Symphony
• MOTU interfaces, such as the 4pre, 1248 and 8M
• RME interfaces, such as the Fireface UFX and Babyface
• Presonus interfaces, such as the Studio 192 and Digimax DP88
• Roland interfaces, such as the Quad-Capture and Octa-Capture
• Avid PRE and HD Omni
• Focusrite interfaces, such as the Forte and Red 4Pre (with
Air mode disabled)
• Antelope Audio interfaces, such as the Zen Studio and Orion Studio
• Prism interfaces, such as the Atlas and Titan
Unison Preamp Modeling
Although we generally recommend placing the Sphere plug-in first in the effects signal chain, good
results can be achieved with the Unison plug-in placed ahead of Sphere in a Unison insert slot, as long
as exactly the same settings are applied to both channels and the preamp modeling is not overloaded.
On the other hand, to use a preamp modeling plug-in with obvious saturation, we recommend moving
the preamp plug-in out of the Unison insert and placing it after the Sphere plug-in.
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