Recommendations on Inexpensive Tube Mic Pre-Amps

[moresound]

+1 on the Transformers!

But if you are looking for a good Tube Mic Pres for the least amount of money, look for a used Demeter or a GT Brick.

I got a few Demeters and I'll tell ya they do kick some seriously nice sounds.

[moresound]

Nice leads to investigate so far, thanks.

The GA pre73 keeps coming up

The Chameleon has to have a good looking over as well, Muddy.

[moresound]

You had better act real fast man!

LQQK HERE

[Seeker of Rock]

The GA pre73 keeps coming up

I've only heard clips, but it gets a lot of positive hype for sure. I use Fletcher-era Joemeek products and they are nice.

[RecordingMaster]

These are quite handy without breaking the bank.

Attachment 76620

Tim

This was my first outboard pre and I still use it mostly for the features it has that the digital built in pre's don't have on my interface. Like the high pass knob, phase switch, mid side encoder, stereo function, being able to drive it hard at the front end and back it off at the output, then there's the impedance knob which usually always sounds best at 12 o'clock. The reason why I bought it was because I grew bored and unsatisfied with the digital pres on my interface. They were thin, sort of tinny, and just not very pleasing to the ear.

Anyways, I didn't buy this unit because I thought it was going to warm up my signal with "tube sound", because I did my research beforehand to find out it's a starved plate design. I don't f*cking care though! Simple as that. In comparison with A/B it sounds better to my ears then the stock pre's on my interface. The signal feels fuller (call that warmth?), and a little cleaner highs. VERY clear and low noise. Maybe it's the fact that it's analog and not a stock cheap digital pre. I don't know.

I have the GAP pre 73 as well, and while I use it for a lot of stuff (most single tracked stuff actually), there are occasions where you might not want all that retro character, at which point I'll go to the Pro MPA or a more generic outboard pre. Some sources sound plain just a little TOO warm in the low mids with the pre 73 which raises the mud flag if you don't take special care to eq it out. However, yeah the pre 73 is much superior in sound quality than the mpa, you get what you pay for!

Just a couple little mini reviews for ya on a few things people have already recommended. Thanks and good luck!

[Blue Jinn]

People knock "starved plate." But if you're looking at it as an effect, it can work. The late John Simonton used this in the PAIA Tubehead, and he has a brief explanation in the original (Popular Electronics?) article.

For OP, building your own "real" tube pre (real as in transformer input, 250 volts on the tube, etc) isn't that difficult. Mind you, you're working with mains voltages, high voltage on the tube, etc, so it isn't like putting together a 9v fuzz box ie *do so at your own risk* For a finished polished design you could come in at your budget. If you know how/where to shop for things like transformers, or are selective in transformer input, you could do slightly better.