Professional Sound is a leading Canadian magazine for recording and live sound engineers, producers, mixers, musicians and other audio professionals. It is based in Niagara Falls, Ontario but relies heavily on the Toronto professional music scene.
Kevin Dietz is a seasoned recording and mixing engineer who mainly works out of Toronto’s renown Metalworks studio.
He has worked with artists such as Barenaked Ladies, The Cranberries, Jonas Brothers, Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, Nelly Furtado and many others.
Kevin was keen to put our Creamer Plus through the paces at Metalworks during his project with an old-school rocker and a well known producer/mixer.
here’s what he discovered:
The Creamer Plus mic preamps excelled on any source, be it drum overheads, grand piano, bass, or vocals. The selection of the transformer output (which I gravitated toward a lot) resulted in a similar character to the classic Neve sound that we all know and love. I found that the Creamer had a similar weight and thickness to the Neve 80 series preamp, but with a more open top end. And, with all of the other tonal options available on the unit (triode/pentode tube modes, high/low boosts, solid state or transformer output), the Creamer Plus stands out with a character of its own.
In a phone conversation with Boris, he mentioned that he didn’t even need to EQ tracks recorded through the C+, something he’s used to doing regularly with those recorded through his Neve 8032 board. In a Gearslutz.com Creamer discussion thread, Kevin also left a similarly enthusiastic comment:
I love all of the tonal options- triode/pentode tube modes, the High/Low boosts, solid state or transformer output. I’ve been using it on the mix bus as well, it really shines there. The line-ins are a major selling point for me. Great piece of gear!
The conclusion of the review states:
Between the Creamer’s two tube modes, two output options, and onboard shelving EQ options, a variety of tonal colours can be achieved – not to mention quickly and easily auditioned. These functions, along with the inherent musical colouration derived from its circuitry and architecture, make the Creamer Plus a great option for any recording engineer seeking a high quality, musically coloured preamp, with the added bonus of use on the mix bus. Clearly, Sonic Farm Audio has designed a unique product that finds itself very useful in the age of digital recording and mixing.
We’re very glad that after all the stellar US, UK and European reviews, a Canadian Pro Audio magazine reconfirms the quality of our preamp!
Thank you, Kevin, and thank you Professional Sound!
Oh, yes, almost forgot, here is the full review article!