Art Tube Pre + Compressor

Slackmaster2K

Slackmaster2K

Gone
One of you guys pointed me towards the ART Tube Preamp (single channel) that sells for about $100. There is also a dual channel model for $200. However, there's a single channel tube preamp with a built in compressor for $200.

What's the best way to go there? I'm doing software compression AFTER recording. If I was to purchase the model with the compressor, it should help quite a bit with vocals, yes? Right now I really have a problem recording a wide dynamic range when singing. I have 2 settings: Scream and whisper...so the softer stuff is eaten up by noise or the louder stuff clips :(

Also, would I use this unit for micing my guitar (electric and acoustic)? In other words, can it replace my crappy mixer if I'm only using one mic at a time (which is typical)? Or would I be better off saving that money to buy a good mixer?

This of course all goes back to my microphone questions. I don't want to spend a lot of money on a mic when my mixer sucks.

I appologize for beating all of this to death. If we were talking about computers then I could research on my own, but I have very little experience with this crap and want to make a decision that offers the most bang for the buck.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I would stick with the Mic-pre by itself. See how it improves your tracks using your software, if you feel that you still need an outboard compressor, I would save some money up and buy a good one. Behringer seems to be the popular brand to go with for compressors.
 
Hey Slackman.

Buy the ART Dual MP. Then, get a Behringer Composer.

Here is the thing. You are gonna want that Behringer for the difficult stuff that you are trying to record. Difficult I mean like vocals, acoustic drums, bass guitar. The Composer has great transparent compression, a very killer peak limiter, and a price tag that is very hard to beat. Trust me here man, it is the best unit under $1000 right now.

If you don't feel that you are needing compression while you track, then just stick with the Dual MP. I say get the Dual MP as opposed to the single unit because you may have Brad Delp come in sometime and sing a duet of "More Than A Feeling" and you are gonna wish you had another mic pre...... :) Really though, if you ever play around with stereo mic, or taking two DI line in's from a bass guitar, you will need to really good mic pre's. And of course, the ART tube mic pre is about as good as you can get anywhere at any price. They are just about all I ever use.

I am not a big fan though of the ART tube compressor. At least the lower end ones. The Pro series compressors are pretty cool, but I think for the most part you would find the Levelar series to be mostly frustrating. Not enough control over the compression. I use mine for final mixing sometimes if the music don't require some fancy compression to get hot meters on the DAT.

So I would stay away from the units that "do it all". Stick with pieces that serve a purpose and do it well. In the case of a ART Dual MP, and a Behringer Composer, you can't really get better at the $500 you will spend.

Ed
 
Thanks all.

So would it be in my best interest to purchase a decent mixer then? I do see the benefits of being able to use more than one microphone, which leans me towards the dual channel preamp....but why not just get a mixer?

Maybe I'm missing something here.

Man, I'm moving to Seattle before too long. It'll be nice to be able to go to a music store and actually play with some of this stuff.

Oh, and Ed, if that Boston guy ever shows up at my house I'll give him a nice Montana welcome....

"I'd like to spit some Beachnut in that dude's eye, and shoot him with my ol' .45"

(hey, my wah pedal picks up the country stations...what can i say...i like some of it)

Slackmaster 2000
 
I would really consider getting a mixer. You can do a lot with one, and if you plan on using more than one or two mic's, it's the way. The preamps in many of the affordable mixers are clean enough for recording, add the outboard stuff later. Don't know what budget range your in (did you ever get the mic you were after?) but it's an investment that can be used for a long time and for many different purposes. The ever popular Mackie's and the Behringer's are good, have not tried the Behringer, but have had good results with Mackie. I've also used some of the yamaha boards, more for live but can get good results. Lots to choose from these days.



[This message has been edited by Emeric (edited 12-19-1999).]
 
I think I can answer one question in a straightforward way... "Why not just get a mixer"? Because the mixer you can afford will have crappy solid state preamps which will amplify your signal but do nothing to improve the sound of it... If you are going to record a max of 2 channels at a time, then a stereo tube preamp IS your mixer... The $200 ART Dual MP will give you the preamps of a thousand dollar miximg board... Am I right???
If you aren't recording live drums you can avoid the hassel (and expense) of a mixer altogether, since I assume you are mixing down using software.
 
Ok then. This is what I hope to do.

I'm going to invest in the single channel ART tube preamp. Why the single channel? Because there's no $$$ benefit to purchasing the dual, which I don't need right this moment. If I like the sucker then down the road I'll buy another and duct tape them together :) If I don't like it I'm only out 100 bucks (hopefully I can sell it too).

I'm going to try the preamp with my SM57 and see what it sounds like. At that point I'll probably start shopping for a C1000.

Since I'm a one man show...and will be for some time...I think this'll work out just fine for now and I don't think that I'm buying anything wastefull.

Thanks all.

Slackmaster 2000
 
One good thing about the ART and the C1000s is that they are so well liked on this BBS that you could sell 'em pretty easy if you dont like 'em.
 
Ok guys....I have the dough for the Tube MP.

The best price I found so far was at 8th Street where they have it for $109 + free ground shipping. Good deal? Know any better?

I'll be ordering this week.

Slackmaster 2000
 
hey slack master how is your tube mp and sm57 setup working? i was wondering cause i have the same setup. i would e-mail and ask you but i can't figure out the piece of sh!t!
 
Well I haven't had time to screw with it much yet. I did some initial cuts of the same guitar part...once with the 57 through the MP plugged directly into my soundcard, and once with the 57 plugged into my old mixer which was plugged right into the soundcard as well.

To be quite honest...I can't really tell much difference between the two as far as "goodness" goes. The ART take is a little duller and picked up the lower end a little better but with my older setup the sound is brighter and a little bit more crisp.

That's all I've done so far. I really bought this thing because I'm going to be buying a good condensor mic sooner or later.

Maybe it'll sound better the more I play with it. I haven't used it for vocals or with my electric rig yet.

I figured that the best results would be to use as much input gain as possible and control the outgoing signal with the output gain knob...seems basic to me but I dunno.

Slackmaster 2000
 
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