Trident S20 Dual Mic Preamp Reviews

[brandondrury]

Trident S20 Dual Mic Preamp @ Musiciansfriend

Trident S20 Dual Mic Preamp Description
The Trident S20 Dual Mic Preamp has an input selector that switches between mic and line or 2 mics, a great feature for instantly comparing which mic is really the best for a particular job. Switch reverses the phase of the input signal. 48V phantom power for condenser mics. Gain swing ranges from a true unity to +60dB without any pad. Variable-sweep, low-cut filter controls lows from 5Hz-200Hz that can muddy a mike. It removes stage and floor rumble, takes out subsonic interference, and improves the HF performance of the signal by the elimination of LF intermodulation distortions.

[brandondrury]

Quality: 8
I bought the Trident S20 in 2006 for $650 on Ebay. The idea was to keep this and sell the Vintech and put $400 in my back pocket without losing any quality. Of course, I hate taking 10 minutes to sell something on Ebay to make $400 so I have both.

Vintech 1272 vs Trident S20 (copied from Vintech 1272 review)
For all I know, these units are both crap but they are most expensive pres I've got and other pres I've tried didn't excite me any more than these two do. The day I bought the Trident S20 I tossed an AT4050 in front of a speaker and recorded the sound of DFH drums in front of it with both the Trident S20 and the Vintech 1272. The sound of the two appeared identical to me. When I flipped the phase on one, it appears that one has a bit more saturation in the upper midrange than the other, but after hours of listening to those recordings, I can't tell which one is which. When I tracked electric guitars recently, I A/B'd them. The Vintech 1272 has more harmonic content and more bite to it. The Trident S20 was thicker. Which one is better? Hell, I don't know!

This whole preamp thing is still a mystery to me. I've recommended preamp upgrades to two people know after running RecordingReview over 2.5 years and reviewing about a zillion songs in Bash This Recording.

Of course, it may be better just hear it in action:
Recording Gear Quiz - Vintech, Trident, Mytek, Royer, Shure, and Presonus

Reliability: 10
The Trident S20 has never given me a single hiccup. It's been extremely reliable. No problems at all.

Overall Rating: 8
If you are convinced the Trident is right for you, you'll like it when you get it. If you expect some magical improvement in your recordings, you will probably be disappointed. If you discover an enormous improvement, please send me the mp3. I want to hear it.