LA-610 MkII Classic Tube Recording Channel

Ok. So I bought it because I got a free UAD-2 Duo card (which I use all the time and love). and its rep and some friends recomendations I figured why not great deal right. I will state here for the record that it sat unopened for months. I just didn't have a call for it. But a jazz vocal session just the thing right?!

Well Im thinking maybe something is amiss. I just finished the vocal session and I actually put this baby back in the box and went with another channel strip. The mics used were Neumann U87i and Neumann Geffel UM57 both tried and true. The LA-610 MKII just sounded midrangey and no low end warmth. I actually took down my UM 57 and put up the U87 because I thought no way it could be this box, no way! I tried everything, switched impedance, made EQ adjustments, limiter in, limiter out, compressor in compressor out, dynamic stage bypassed and even pad in and EQ setting changes but still no dice. Signal was robust and all parameters affected the signal but it just lacked musicality

Well I for one am sadly underwhelmed and will try the box as a DI. But as a channel strip it did not make the cut.

English :
Hello, here is my review of the La-610 MkII channel strip. I am not going to tell the features again, the product page does it quite well.

I use it in a home studio to record almost anything : Drums, vocals, basses, guitars, pianos.
I already knew the amazing sound of the 610 Mic pre, as I already had a 6176 before I bought the LA-610. The 610 is absolutely sweet and warm (SSL addicts should not stay here). I like to push it with the +10 gain.
The EQ section is simple yet usefull on any source.

Let's talk about the compressor, wich is built on the LA-2A tube leveler.
I use it on snare drums, vocals and clean electric guitars (like rickenbacker's).

The fact is that this comp has an really cool color, but you can't use it on anything. It is used at its best on sources with a « middlerange » color, like vocals, or even snares.
It doesn't work well on kicks (i use the brightness of the 1176 from the 6176) as it gives to much middlerange, and on any source that doesn't need a boost in middlerange.

This is why I give it 4 stars, and also for the fact that it doesnt have the « split » function of the 6176, wich means I can't use the comp alone.

French :
Salut, voici mon test du channelstrip LA-610 MKII. Je ne vais pas m'attarder sur les caractéristiques, référez-vous à la page du produit.

Je m'en sers en home studio pour enregistrer tout type de sources : batterie, voix, guitares, basses et même un piano droit.

Je connaissais déjà le son du préampli 610, puisque je possédais déjà le 6176 avant d'acheter le LA-610. Le son est très doux et chaud, il arrondit les angles (Fans du son SSL, passez votre chemin).
Il excelle lorsqu'on le pousse dans ses limites avec le gain à +10.
L'égaliseur est aussi simple qu'utile sur n'importe quelle source.

Voyons le compresseur à lampes, construit à partir du classique LA-2A.
Je m'en sers sur la caisse claire, les guitares clean (rickenbacker pour les connaisseurs), et les voix.
Ce compresseur délivre une chouette couleur, très typée médium chaud, qui ne le rend pas absolument polyvalent. Il est le plus efficace sur les sources chargées en médiums, comme les voix ou même la caisse claire.
Il faut l'éviter sur la grosse caisse (je préfère la brillance du 1176), et plus généralement sur toute source ou les médiums ne doivent pas être mis en avant.

C'est pour ça que je lui met 4 étoiles, et aussi pour l'absence de la fonction « split » pourant disponible sur le 6176. j'aimerai bien utiliser le compresseur seul, ou en chaine avec un autre traitement.

Great Warm , Fat Tube sounding strip. Easy to get a great sound . Very great colouring of the sound. Another great tool outside the box

This is my review of the LA-610 MkII after a couple weeks of daily use in a commercial recording studio.

Pros:
I like the flexibility of the gain staging. Picking the input impedance, input gain and preamp level for my source isn't hard - the sweet spot is generally pretty apparent and a blast to dial in.

The LA2 style compression is easy to use - find a spot where it floats nicely on the source without dulling things, or sounding too grabby and you're good to go. The compression is fairly forgiving, so it's great in a situation where you need to "set it and forget it"

The EQ is very useful and musical, even though it's just shelving. +6dB @ 10k is very smooth on pop/r&b vocals, for example. Cutting with the 70hz band instantly removes most "mud" I have inevitably encountered with a darker pre like the 610.

True compressor bypass allows me to accurately compare compression in and compression out. Extremely useful.

Fantastic VU meter with LED light.

Cons:

The fact that you can not use the preamp and compressor as separate units with independent I/O really bothers me - it was almost a deal breaker to be honest. Sure, i can bypass the LA2 section if i need to patch in faster compression after the strip, but I could be using the now unused LA2 with something else in the mean timel! Or what if I wanted to run a 1176 before the LA2 to grab fast peaks and smooth things out? am trying to look for a mod but am having no luck.

Input clipping isn't always super pleasant. For a long time, my go to mic pre has been a Vintech x73. I love pushing the input gain right to the edge of breaking up, on almost anything, because even when it starts clipping, it often is still very musical and pleasant. The clipping on the input gain of the 610 is, in some cases, less musical than some other preamps I have used.

After only an hour after i took it out of the box, I tried it on vocals, bass, acoustic guitars.
Pre:
The pre can sound Clean, Clean/Warmth, or Drive the gain to +5 or +10 and you have your classic Tube pre amp.
I've tried the very inexpensive to mid priced, but nother comes close to the Pre section of the LA-610MKll.
I was worried about it being to colored, if these is your worry, worry no more! Super versitle pre.
Compressor:
Wow!!! On Bass, Kick, Snare and on vocals it where it shines. (Was great on other sources aswell)See what an outboard Compressor can do. It does things ITB Comps CAN NOT do! Super SMOOVE..
EQ:
Add a lil Hi Eq for vocals, add Low Eq for Bass, Kick. It compliments the Pre Section PERFECT!
100% Happy With LA-610MKll

The only reason I haven't tracked everything through LA-610s is because I don't have enough of them to do so. It's a noticeably colored preamp but colored in the right way,
and even without the compressor engaged it can make hard transients sound as if
they've been recorded to analog tape. EQ is simple but sounds great as does the comp/limiter. On vocals, electric guitars and particularly bass the LA-610 is beyond
excellent....... it's ideal.

As a film score composer who dabbles in Prog/Symph rock, most of my music is created "in the box" with choice instrumentalists adding overdubs on top of existing material. Though I don't record often, when I do I need it to sound great. I A-B'd a few different preamps, and this one blew me away! Not only did it add warmth through its tube pre which you can dial in from clean to crunchy and everything in between, but it also made the sources I tried (mainly Vocals & Saxophone) sound clear and present at the same time! When compared to other preamps, this one was like lifting a blanket off the sound, and the source material just sounded more real and alive. Vocals in particular seem to pop and sound really clear and warm; like you're use to hearing on famous records, a sound that eluded me before this channel. Very nice! I also tried using the DI's for Bass and Guitar, and though the difference is not as great when running it clean, the tubes were still able to impart a very tasty sound thats hard to match in the box.

Interestingly, I'm finding its getting the most use in my "ITB world" using it to color sample/ virtual instruments via its line input. I've been using this unit to add tube warmth and LA-2A style compression to sampled instruments in my DAW, and its been MAGIC! Though its only a mono input, and thus can take time adding it to multiple sources, I've been sending sampled instruments that could use a little extra mojo (like brass for example) though this channel and its been working GREAT! I also used it on sampled guitars & basses before my amp sims, and its really doing something noticeably special.

I highly recommend you check the LA-610 out. For the price-to-quality ratio, I don't think this unit can be beat!

I've been using my LA610 for a few months now and have had the chance to use it on a variety of sources using different microphones. i find the pre-amp to have enough gain for all types of microphones, ribbons included. The pre-amp itself adds a warm character which can be shaped to some extent with the two impedance settings, a very welcome feature on a rack-mount channel strip. I like that there are the optional high and low shelf EQs which allow me to shape the sound even further should I want. The compressor is smooth and easy to use. I find myself setting it so that the meter just bounces a little during peaks but otherwise stays neutral on just about everything, because it just sweetens the sound a little bit, giving it a nice smoothness. it can also be driven quite hard when necessary without destroying the source.
All in all I find it a great box and use it frequently on vocals, guitar and room mics, especially tube mics.

This is the biggest upgrade i have made to my studio. A beautiful tube channel with the option of gain reduction for those loud sources. My GO TO for vocal and bass. You can get some cool drive by turning up the gain knob, or a super clean feel by putting it to 0 or below. I was able to afford one but got two UA products, 610 and LA-2A, in a single rackspace to get that UA sound!

Very good preamp. Working great with vocals and bass

Since I started to record vocals with the LA-610 MK II, I fell completely in love with this channel strip. My vocal recordings now sound rich, clear and full of depth and definition. I shall never use another channel strip for vocal recording again. And on bass guitar...awesome results! This is a must-have piece of equipment for every professional and serious studio-musician out there!

I like this channel strip.
I use it in a movie studio to records dialogs.
I like to comp in it, but the real star is the preamp for me:)

LA 610 MKII is the best device to use. Now I can not imagine recording without LA 610th Excellent device. Clean and precise sound. I have other UA of hardware. Excellent work.

I was using Avalon 737sp channel strip exclusively in my project studio. One day a friend of my bringing over his new UA LA 610 MKII to try out at my place so after hooking it up with my usually go to Neumann U87ai mic i was blown away by how much warm and vintage tone this give to my vocal recording session that day and a week later I went out and bought the LA 610 MKii at my Guitar center where i lived ever since it my go to Mic Preamp on almost everything I recorded.

FANTASTIC !!!
THE BEST EVER
MY GUITAR ,VOCALS, BASS, KEYBOARDS SOUND LIKE THE BEST EVER
BUY THIS PRODUCT BEFORE ITS TO LATE

I love it, nice sound and the best compressor i've ever used

Nice Unit ! It's a bit touchy on the inputs, but overall it gives a nice vintage warm sound. Eq, although simple, gives a nice touch to the sound. Compression/limiting is smooth and natural sounding.

Well maybe my engineering skills just aren't right for this unit. I got it to work ok for some things. I have it boxed up to sell. I put it on ebay for 1000 and no takers. I'll try it again for 900, which seems low since I paid 1600, but then I did get the card with it, which is doing me pretty good. I found a used Avalon that is working so much better for me as a main preamp than the 610mk2. I've had a few people tell me that the 2-610 is a better thing to have, and maybe I'll get one of those eventually. But right now I'm curious about 'iron' so I think my next one will be a neve so I can see what that's all about.

My LA 610 is a very professional sounding device and I don´t want to miss it in my recording process. It produces a very full, clear authentic sound and you nearly don´t have to work on it in your DAW. Other Channelstrips need much more knobs and circuit tricks to produce a sound, which comes only a little bit close to the LA 610.
The Gain-adjustments are wideranged, also the impedance adjustments for mic, line and guitar. The level knob is also very good to adjust the tube sound in a wide range. Sometimes I wish a little more possibilities to adjust the EQ-settings, specially for the mids, but o.k., you cannot have all.
Highlight is the optical T4 compressor, which makes your record sounding very, very expensive. And it´s so easy to adjust. Very helpful are the possibilities to route the levels of the preamp, the sum level and the gainreduction to the meter. Also great is to set the compressor to limiter mode.
Five Stars for this great product, which beats nearly all the available Channelstrips on the market.
Best regards
from
Johannes

This is a wonderful piece of gear, and my first-call channel strip in the studio. Makes nearly everything sound better, even inexpensive mikes. I use it to go into the AD converters and then into my Pro Tools system. Can be fairly transparent, or nicely colored - either way, I still get that great analog "Mojo" that I'm always looking for!