best preamps - Fostex 450, Firebox, ART TubePac?

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sleeper42

New member
I got some used gear recently and I'm recording some stuff at home... I'm trying to figure out which devices have the best sounding preamps. I got a Fostex 450 8ch mixer (from the 80s), an ART TubePac preamp/compressor, and a Presonus Firebox. I've read some good reviews on the TubePac, the Fostex sounds pretty good, too... I also have a Yamaha compressor. I'm just trying to figure out the best set up for me... any opinions are welcome.
 
I would say the Presonus Firebox would be the winner out of that crop, but only if you're looking for a clean, uncolored sound.

If you're looking for something with some wool or even cotton, go with the ART. If you want that old-school plastic home-recording sound go with the Fostex.

Or make it a 'horses for courses' thing --- you own them and (presumably) are recording at home, so try each one out on each voice, guitar, etc that you are planning to record.
 
It's funny you say that, I thought Presonus had the least appealing sound. Maybe a need a better mic. I'm currently using one of those $50 MXL vocal condenser mics.

I gotta say though, I was recording using a Tascam US122, and the upgrade to the Firebox has been well worth it.
Here's a sample of what I've been doing lately... www.myspace.com/morganmms
never you mind the bad singing... :)
-MMS
 
Man, I've owned too much stuff. I've had 3 of the 4 items you named. The fostex board is massive to move around. I have 2 art mp opl preamps and several compressors including the Art dual levelar. Art mp/levelar is the exact same circuit as a tube pac. I've gotten my best results using the art preamp with the limiter off. Art optical compressors in tube pac and levelars are just plain useless. They only do like 6:1 on compression. I never use it. I would turn off the compressor part on the tube pac and just use the art preamp into your yamaha compressor into the board. I do not have a firebox and not that familar with it
 
sleeper42 said:
I got some used gear recently and I'm recording some stuff at home... I'm trying to figure out which devices have the best sounding preamps. I got a Fostex 450 8ch mixer (from the 80s), an ART TubePac preamp/compressor, and a Presonus Firebox. I've read some good reviews on the TubePac, the Fostex sounds pretty good, too... I also have a Yamaha compressor. I'm just trying to figure out the best set up for me... any opinions are welcome.
Click to expand...

Why not conduct your own A/B/C'ing comparisons by putting each unit thru the same performance test and judging what sounds best to you. The most important gear you own is your "ears" and they alone will tell you which pre suits your taste and needs. Over time, your "ears" w/b trained to become keen and aware of the subtle/not-so-subtle nuances, "colors" & diffs of various pre's leading you to consider upgrading (within your budget) to a better and hi-perf'm'ce pre/overall gear.

Let your own "ears" answer this question for you. When you're done, come back and tell us which one you liked best.
 
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I did do a quick A/B/Cing of the 3, and thought the Fostex board and the ART were both pretty full sounding. I thought recording directly into the Firebox was kind of dark sounding. I should probably be a little more thurough with my testing, though. I thought I would post this to get everyone's opinion.

I'll try mustang's advice by running the mic into the ART (bypassing the ART comp) and using the Yamaha GC2020B Comp instead. I've been recording bass that way and it's been sounding pretty good.

this is my current gear:
Fostex 450 8ch board
ART TubePac preamp/compressor/limiter
Presonus Firebox
Yamaha GC2020B Compressor/limiter
Line6 Guitar Pod 2.0
MCA SP1 Condenser Mic (I think this is some Musicians Friend version of a cheap MXL mic)
Shure Beta 58 Dynamic
Apple PowerMac G4 running Logic Express
Alesis RA100 Reference Amp (100 Watt) which powers 2 small Infinity Bookshelf speakers.

it's not the most elaborate recording set up, but it's better than I was using.

Anyway, any opinions/suggestions are welcome...
Thanks again everyone... I'm new here if you hadn't figured that out yet. :)
 
Wohh dude...you got hell lots of background noise on those recordings! Do you have any plugins that will cut down on the background noise. but the best thing is to physically eliminate the background noise to preserve the recording quality. it is probably the mic or the source you are recording on or the atmosphere around the recording area itself.
 
oh.. yeah, no... the top recording is the only one I was actually trying to get to sound good... the others are just crap that I did to be stupid - I have no fear. the top one is probably far too noisy, too. I'm just trying to get the cleanest signal into the computer as possible... which is why I posted this thread in the first place.

The only plugins I have are the ones that come with Logic Express. There's a gate in there that's not too bad. But yeah, my computer is kinda noisy... I could try moving the mic further away. Thanks for listening and thanks for the advice.
 
Well your Yahama Compressor will Introduce a Hum into the Audio signal as it is not a Grounded Device (I own the same Model and it is Really Noisy) so you might be better off not useing it and useing Plugins Instead....

Mine is so Noisy that I am thinking of trying to rewire it so that it is Fully grounded so I can get rid of that awefull Hum....

Cheers
 
I like the Fostex 450. Recording studio I trained at had Mackie's. Didn't think much of them & PEavey are bad in my experience. Fostex 450 has a full sound so I don#t agree with the plastic 80s sound comment.
 
The Yamaha compressor is going to be a problem due to its lack of ground which adds hum. I had a similar problem when I switched on my Art preamp when making a location recording
 
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