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Magazine Reviews: Juggernaut Review: Tape Op Magazine Juggernaut Review: Mix Magazine "If I had to choose just one preamp, it’d be no contest—Juggernaut." -- Andy Hong, Tape Op Magazine APA Juggernaut vs. Avedis Audio MA5 Audio Samples: Signal Chain: Pearlman TM-2 > FMR RNC Nice Mode > Lynx Two C. Juggernaut settings: both with +THD engaged, and the one position level left of 4K as the mic load.. one is with iron input and the other with nicket input, both iron output. Clip 1 - Avedis MA5 Clip 2 - APA Juggernaut Nickel +THD Clip 3 - APA Juggernaut Iron +THD Files courtesy of user Zvenx.Juggernaut Reviews: Juggeraut User Review w/Bass DI Audio Samples: "It isn’t that often that you find a mic-pre to really get excited about anymore. There have been so many crowding the market in the last few years that my response is usually less than enthusiastic. I’m probably your typical project studio owner. I’ve got my rack of pres that I’ve accumulated over the years and in my mind don’t really need to be looking for anything new. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it right? A few months ago I received an e-mail from Nathan Eldred at Atlas Pro Audio, asking me if I would be interested in testing his new pre-amp offering, The Juggernaut. Being a Gearslut at heart, I couldn’t help but say yes, but in the back of my mind I’m thinking, “There is no way I’m spending any more money on another mic pre.” I had almost forgotten about being in the test group for the Juggernaut when UPS dropped the package off at my door. I was in the middle of a session but couldn’t help but open the box and peak inside. Build quality on this unit is great, the de-tented controls feel extremely solid, and aid in quick recall of settings, also the button setup is pretty slick. The LED lit switches enable you to see exactly what’s engaged from across the room. The clip light worked in a similar manner. The first test of the pre-amp was on a drum session. I had my old reliables on snare drum. My go-to is the Vintech X73i and if I want something a bit different, I just route the snare over to the Great River MP-2NV. These 2 pretty much serve me well in every circumstance. I had actually already tracked 5 songs when I brought the Juggernaut into the mix. Without mentioning anything to anyone else in the room, I patched over to it and started working. It immediately offered such an improvement, that the artist and drummer commented on the sound after the first pass. So much for a subtle change. I would describe it as a bit faster compared to the X73i, but also a little fatter, and less blocky. I found the best success with the Iron transformer in this situation, and the THD switch engaged. The clip light flashing here and there didn’t yield any audible distortion, just a more saturated (and better!) sound. Don’t be afraid to have it blinking now and then. The second area I put this thing through the test on was bass. I wouldn’t describe this thing as even slightly clean with the iron transformer engaged. I was able to pull more growl out of it than even the Great River. I’ll let you judge for yourself though. Below are sound clips of various pre-amps. The setup was as follows: Fender American P-Bass, Pre-Amp, Atomic Squeeze Box, Apogee AD-16X. I didn’t change any settings on the squeeze box from take to take, and adjusted the gain on the pre-amp to where I was seeing 4-5 dB of gain reduction. Great River MP2-NV Mercury Audio V72 APA Juggernaut (Iron Transformer) On the overall the final outcome of this demo was extremely positive, The nickel transformer didn’t really do to much for me personally but I really typically prefer a more colored sound and it does give the pre a lighter, more gentle side. This isn’t really a pre-amp I would recommend for a clean scenario, but when it comes to color, between the variable impedence, THD switch, and 2 transformers, this thing offers a freakin’ rainbow. My Vintech will be on the classifieds soon if anyone is interested. Cheers, Jon King Producer/Engineer Smoking Gun Recording Inc. Nashville, TN Juggeraut User Review w/Vocal & Guitar Audio Samples: I work writing music for television (midi rig with live sweetening) so I’m not really set up for multitracking…I’m recording 1 or possibly 2 instruments at a time in my treated room. If I require something more extensive I’ll book studio time. I don’t need a ton of gear just a few well chosen pieces. I’d been using DAV pres, but I thought the Juggernaut might suit me because I guessed I could get a bunch of different sounds out of a single piece of gear (man…I was right on that score). I bought a pair with the extra nickel output transformers. They arrived from Atlas incredibly well packed…double boxed…mucho packing filler. I installed the nickel output transformer in one, left the iron in the other and put up some mics. A few observations… You can get many, many tones out of these units. To generalize in an overly simplistic way… 1) The iron (in and/or out) gives more mid range ‘bite’, the nickel (in and/or out) gives a smoother broader tone. 2) The input transformer impacts the sound more significantly than the output transformer. 3) The (incredibly useful) impedance feature allows you to dial in a ‘sweet spot’ to suit a particular mic. 4) Every mic will react differently (sometimes dramatically) depending on the combination of input transformer>impedance>output transformer. I took notes with my modest mic collection to catalog some useful settings, and determine the response to the impedance and transformer settings. Once you get a handle on the possibilities you can basically shape your sound to taste. I also have my Juggernauts patched out to an ATTY so I can overdrive the pre (even more than the THD button provides) if desired. I’m using the Juggernauts to juice up the drum loops on the project I’m presently on, but cannot post those…so….there are two sets of clips below which might be of some use. They are 44.1/16 bit, and mic placement was identical for matching takes. The gain is closely matched, but please feel free to adjust if required. The first two clips are a VO reading of a sentence from the Juggernaut manual. The chain is Stedman pop filter>AKG 414B-ULS>Juggernaut>Fireface>Nuendo. One clip is iron/iron; the second is nickel/nickel. Impedance was at the 12 o’clock position. The other two clips (see the following post) are a very brief picked acoustic guitar segment. I am very obviously not a guitar player, but I think the clips illustrate the wonderful ability of the Juggernaut to sculpt the tone. The chain is Schoeps MK41pair>Juggernauts>Fireface>Nuendo. One clip is iron/iron with THD On; the second is nickel/nickel. Impedance was at the 9:30-10 o’clock position. A final note…the attention to detail, build quality and look of these preamps is outstanding…kudos to Tim and Nathan. [Vocal/Spoken] Jugger_414B-ULS_Iron.wav Jugger_414B-ULS_Ni.wav [Guitar] Jugger_Ac_Gui_Iron_THD.wav Jugger_Ac_Gui_Ni.wav Cheers, wellyouneednt" -- User "wellyouneednt" Mini-Review: "Alright, so here are some further impressions after having owned the Juggernaut for a while longer now... I have been blown away. The Jugg absolutely needs more tweaking than any other pre I own - but the payoff is worth it. On the wrong impedance or transformer setting or combination thereof, the sound seems only 90% there. Totally workable but not something that's going to win out over the other usual suspects. It's when you find that magic combination of settings that the Jugg really comes alive. Tonight I was tracking vocals with my Blue Kiwi. I tried the mic through the Lachapell 583, API 512c and the Pacifica and wasn't thrilled with any of them on this particular vocal. Finally I ran it through the Jugg with impedance at 4k, THD on and nickel transformers both in and out - PERFECT. Beautiful balanced 3D sound. Pre-mixed like a record. Maybe the Kiwi likes the higher impedance load? Who knows, I'm not a techie, but I do know that this chain sounded beautiful. Switched to Iron input transformer and the tone changed slightly but was equally impressive. This versatility is truly a lifesaver when the other static designs just won't cut it for whatever reason. The Jugg is able to achieve a more focused and tighter sound than any of the other aforementioned pres when dialed in just right. It's a great tone. Not "dirty" or "heavily colored" but it has a great musical dose of metal in there. Tim Farrant is one hell of a designer. My Avedis MA5, API 512c, and the Jugg now have to battle it out to see who gets a twin brother for the final spot in my lunchbox... hmm... decisions, decisions, decisions..." --posted at Gearslutz.com by Juggernaut user 'PheelTheMusic' |
Juggernaut Testimonials: "Finally got to test our new Juggernaut Twin today. Basically we were setting up our new tiny control room, only had a few minutes at the end to run some basic tests. Used a pair of AT4041s in XY on a Seagull Cedar 12-string acoustic. OMG the nickel/nickel transformer setting was perfect! Played with the impedance control and it is nice to color the sound without adding an EQ. The iron/iron transformer setup was deep and thick. Can't wait to do some serious recording and vocals with it soon. Excellent product Nathan and Tim!!!!!!" Carl Fuehrer Pulsar Audio Lab http://www.pulsaraudiolab.com "Hi Nathan, Well I gotta say after a day of tracking E guitars with the Juggernaut Twin I can't imagine tracking E Guitars without it. It was a very stripped down session in that there was only one ribbon mic (Fathead w/ Lundahl mod) a Fender Twin, PRS Guitar and a Strat. BTW, the Fathead sounds GREAT with the Juggernaut Twin. But the number of colors that we were able to get was still remarkable. Probably one of the best Strat sounds I ever got. THe guitar player I was working with was very impressed as was I obviously. Looking forward to getting another." Robert George "Dear Atlas Pro Audio, Thank you for taking the time, effort, and energy to bring the APA Juggernaut Twin to market. It has become the standard by which I measure all other preamps in terms of clean gain, musical coloration, and flexibility when working with a variety of sources. After using this premamp for the better part of a month, it has become my go to preamp 100% of the time. It makes my ears happy! Having spent the last 4 weeks tweaking variable impedance settings, leveraging ability to color direct instrument inputs with nickel or iron transformers, as well as the finesse with which it handles all sources (percussion, guitars, piano, vocals, etc.), I believe that all of my future preamp purchases will be APA Juggernaut Twins. It also saves me hours mixing -- I can easily establish a sonic space for each track I put down through the preamp by simply switching a transformer, boosting the low end, or adjusting the impedance. Thanks for the outstanding A+++ product! Isaac Petruccelli Methuen, MA USA "Hi Nathan! I had a chance to use the Juggernaut for the first time in a recording session the other day for a rock vocalist. The engineer had been using an exceptional U47, through an exceptional 1073, compressed by a Manley Slam. The vocals I heard when I entered the studio sounded great! I had brought my Juggernaut in that day, with the Nickel transformer output, to see how it would sound for that particular session. We simply swapped the 1073 with the Juggernaut and had the vocalist sing a few takes. What happened next was amazing. All of us were not sure exactly what we were listening to. It had to have been the most 3 Dimensional vocal that any of us had ever heard. Simply astounding. I have never heard anything like it. Congratulations on a FINE product! Since then, it's been very difficult to be satisfied without that particular vocal chain. " Jeff M. - Japan "i strongly recommend the [APA] Juggernaut. my favorite pre I've ever used on electric guitar. I've used P1's, Eisen "Neveish's", OSA L3's(which are all AMAZING on electric guitar btw, can't go wrong with any of these) and more...but the [Juggernaut] was the winner for me, barely edging out my Eisen. this was one comparison though, and it was for a very heavy sound...so take that for what it's worth. if huge low mids with attitude is what you're looking for, I'd say the Juggernaut with the iron transformer engaged is a great option. you can control the darkness of the pre to some extent as well as well with the impedance control. amazingly versatile preamp." -- Trey J. "Well, I can finally report that Juggernaut #15 is working properly and sounding beautifully. Finally got a chance to plug her in and give her a workout yesterday. Tracked trombone, alto sax, and vocals through it for a ska/metal band I have been recording lately. The variable impedence was definitely a godsend. There were a few times where I was very close to the sound I was looking for, and with a twist of the mic load knob, I was able to dial the sound right in. With that added level of control thrown in, I don't think these tracks will need much EQing come mixdown. I ended up using the iron transformer for the horns, and nickel for vocals. Haven't gotten around to trying the other output transformer yet. But everything I have done so far sounds great. Nathan and Tim, you guys have definitely came up with an amazing product. It truly feels like a Mercedes of a mic pre. Everything is very well thought out. I love the lag in the phantom power switch. Knowing that I won't destroy my ribbon mics if I accidentally tap the +48 button while fiddling with buttons or knobs definitely gives me an extra sense of security. ...I will have to pick up either another 1 or 3 Juggernauts. So that I have at least one if not a pair of pres running with each output transformer. ...I just wish I had a fleet of 12 Juggernauts available when I did all the initial tracking. Everything sounds decent for what equipment I was using, but I can only imagine how an entire band tracked through these preamps would sound. I know that it's good to have many different pres to give different flavors and tones when tracking. But if you consider all the tonal variations the Juggernaut is capable of, I think that just having 12-16 of these wonderful pres would be versatile enough to maybe only need something with tubes if that is really needed. I mean c'mon, by changing input and output transformers and using the THD pad, you are capable of 8 different sounds. And you've still got the variable impedence to add more tonal versatility. I think Nate and Tim deserve a standing ovation for this pre. At least for me, it's everything that I could ask for and hope for in a preamp. A job very well done." -- TocaLaGuitara |
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Juggernaut 500 Series Product F.A.Q:
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