Demeter HM-1

Gear doesn't get simpler than this... it's a mic pre for gods' sake..

You know why you bought this. If you can't use it, you may be in the wrong field...

I've had mine for nearly 10 years~!!! You name it, I've tried running that instrument, or that mic, into it. sounds clean, and can be pushed for crunchy kickdrums or enhanced guitars.

I can't believe it! Since I am a bit of a tweaker, I thought I would swap some op-amps for fun. I used Burr-Brown 2604s, and also, I can't remember, it was years ago, but some Analog Devices drive ics to see if the non-tube section could be brought up to something like a sytek...

but ...

the stock chips sounded better!!!

if it ain't broke, why fix?

I tinkered with mine, so anything that happens to it is my fault...

works great. I had mine refurbished a couple years ago, for $250, it was worth it.

I just communicated through email, but I remember being treated very well.

I still have mine after a decade... need I say more.

Single rack-space, two-channel, tube/solid state hybrid mic pre with separate gain and ouput pots for each channel. Up to +28 dB output into 600 Ohms, with 60 dB overall gain. Metering is on VU standard, 10-step LEDs, though it's easy to overdrive the output if you incorrectly guage the additional 18 dB of headroom above the meters' max indication (even though an overload indicator lights at -6dB before distortion). Meters can be set to "normal" or -10. It has a gentle, but effective, fixed low-cut filter (6dB per octave starting at 200Hz), 1 Meg Ohm instrument DIs on the front panel, XLR I/O on the back, 48v phantom power, input pads, phase reverse, Jensen input transformers. No digital anything. Brief but adequate manual. Gain and output controls are continuous, not stepped, and minimal markings around them make it difficult to precisely repeat settings.

Versatile for recording clean signals and producing slight to over-the-top tube saturation using the Gain control. Great for warming up synths, sampled sounds, etc. It's not overtly "tubey" or dark; and has a wide frequency response.

No problems in regular (project studio) use and occasional location gigs over two or three years. Very well made, sturdy construction and intelligent design.

The pre-sales phone support I received was very straight-forward, informative and pleasant.

I haven't used a lot of different mic pres. I also use the True Systems Precision 8 solid-state mic pre (which has a better low-frequency response and is cleaner overall, but just sounds "different" on a lot of sources, not necessarily "better"), a tc electronic gold channel digital mic pre (which doesn't sound as good at all on any source), a Focusrite Platinum Voicemaster (which I sold because it didn't have the sound I wanted), and various low-to-mid level mixer preamps. I usually use either a Neumann M-149 or U87 with the HM1. I think this is a great overall mic pre for a variety of sources, and I doubt I'll ever sell it. But I;'ll probably add some Neves, UAs, Avalons, or whatever, for variety.

This mic pre is very easy to use. It doesn't have EQ (other than a low cut switch) or compression. There are separate controls for gain and volume, which determine how much tube sound it in the signal. That can take some experimentation, but a good sound out of the box is quite easy to achieve.

My staple mic is a Neumann U-89, going into the HM-1, into an RNC 1773 compressor, directly into my Fostex Model 80 1/4" R2R tape machine. It is extremely quiet except for noisy pots. Once set to a position, the pots are silent and the signal is clean as a whistle. The quietest sound is with the tubeness down a bit and the volume pumped up a bit. However, it sounds a little cooler with the tubeness near the edge and the volume backed off a bit. It has Jensen input transformers, class-A circuitry and great tubes. It really sounds great, in that I get a very musical clean signal to tape.

The wiring inside this unit is really impressive. All the wire runs are as short as possible and the circuitry is really minimal and clean.

This is strictly a studio unit. I've had no problems other than the aforementioned dirty pots. As a small shop, I would imagine they give personal service.

N/A

This is a good match for me, because I can get a clean tube sound, or a clean fairly tubeless sound. I use mics on vocals drums and guitar. This works well on all of them. For my style of music (rock/funk/country/jazz/metal/puss), it works well and was certainly worth the paltry investment.

I bought this unit because I was enamoured with high-end mic pre's and I stumbled across this for $299 NEW!!! Perhaps the price was a reflection of the dirty pots, which I suppose I could get fixed fairly easily, but they're no big deal. I had been considering the Focusrite VoiceMaster, which is certainly more versatile. However, the HM-1 is stereo and certain is a more high-end unit. It is a great match for my nice Neumann mic and it also works well with my Crown CM-700's. I would certainly buy it again, if I could find it for the same ridiculous price. However, if I were paying a sane price for it (in the thousand or so range), I would have to compare the HM-1 with a Great River preamp.