external preamp for use with korg d1600?

bubbleboy

bubbleboy

New member
I'm looking for a preamp to be used mainly for vocals; but, the tracking is to be done using a korg d1600mkII, not a pc or soundcard/interface. I'm not going for anything near perfection, just a step up from the pre's in the korg multitracker.

What I still don't get (and I searched a bunch of threads before posting this) is whether I'll essentially be mixing two preamps if I were to use an external pre into the korg? even if I turned the gain all the way down? What if i got a pre that has digital outs - would that defeat the purpose?

More importantly though, regardless of signal mixing, would this allow me to add some grit/color/character to vocals if I got a higher quality pre and used it with a multitracking box? I know the price question always comes up in matters of the preamp - I can't spend more than $500 on this pre. i guess that rules out what used to be my top choice (safe sound)...
 
Just curious, BBB.
What is it that you don't like about the Korg preamps?
I have the 3200 and they sound warm to me.
I happen to like them though.
 
I had an Akai DPS16 for the longest time and used a Yamaha MLA7...which if you find it on Ebay is quite a bargain.

I have a Line6 UX8 now and its a hell of a step up...its a modeler that does Neve 1073 and API 512 sounds.
 
Keep the pres on the Korg turned all the way down and you pretty much take them out of the chain. Better way is too buy a used Kurzweil Rumour and go out of that digi in to the Korg.
Mic->pre->rumour->korg
 
I also have a D3200. The preamps are not bad. However for different applications, I use ART Gold, Firebox and the RNP coupled to the RNC. If you want to bypass the Korg preamps all together just go digital out of your preamp to digital in on the Korg.
 
Here's a radical < $500 solution- I used this a lot while recording my first album on a Roland VS1824CD.- TC Electronics M350 ($199). It isn't a mic preamp, but it isn't a bad A-D converter. So- take any outboard preamp, say an M-Audio DMP-3 or a Joemeek threeQ. Send a line out to the M350 and hit the bypass button, which bypasses all the effects. Then S/PDIF out to the S/PDIF in on the Korg, which bypasses its preamps and A-D conversion completely.
You could get the Joemeek unit *and* the M350 for $439 new, and you get the optical compressor and EQ in the Joemeek and a pretty good effects box in the M350. The DMP3 lacks compression and EQ, but would give you 2 channels for stereo, etc. I did this all the time with a Joemeek twinQ and a TC Electronics M300. The M350 only outputs 44.1kHz, but if you are going to CD anyway, that's not that big a deal. I can tell you for sure that the conversion on the M300/M350 is not any worse than the conversion on the Korg. What's not to love?-Richie
 
sajs said:
I also have a D3200. The preamps are not bad. However for different applications, I use ART Gold, Firebox and the RNP coupled to the RNC. If you want to bypass the Korg preamps all together just go digital out of your preamp to digital in on the Korg.
Click to expand...

I was thinking of stepping up to that sometime...but Im not too crazy about the whole thing with the 2 tracks to one fader thing...Id rather they just made the thing bigger.
 
yeah it's not like i'm hatin on the korg's pre's - they are nondescript to me. kind of neutral, which i guess is a good way to be for a multitracker's pre's. but i just want to add a lil somethin extra in character.

thanks for all the knowledge. never even considered the TC option or using a rumour. hmm...very cool. I've pondered getting a focusrite twintrak or an art digital MPA. maybe i'll just get a dmp3..
 
You will find little, if any, improvement by adding any of those. I've heard some wonderful things come out of those Korg units and I've heard some crap come out of sweet pre amps.
The converters in the Rumour are worth the price of admission alone and it is a great verb/delay/chorus/weird space junk unit on top of that.
To get a real step up in Preamp you will have to spend some serious jing.
John Hardy, Great River, API, Phoenix, DAV and many others
 
Most of these only have 2 uesable preamps...the rest of the channels are usually 1/4" and never phantom powered...not much money are going into those built in preamps so Ive allways used an outboard unit.
 
I have the same Korg unit as you, listen to Big Kenny just as I did, his advice is spot on. I run mic-pre-compressor-Rumour-digital into the Korg. The digital totally bypasses the Korg pres and convertors. And while the Korg pres are not bad, they are just very difficult to work with, the convertors are not as good as the Rumor's, and going from not enough gain to clipping with very little adjustment on the Korg is frustrating. You will enjoy the external pres digital if for no other reason than the ease of use.
 
Hi
I have a Korg D1600 that I picked up used from Guitar Center for $200, and I LOVE this thing. Don't use it much anymore, since It's a little easier to edit in Pro tools, but it sounds GREAT. Plus, you can't beat the plug and play, all-in-one aspect of it. The reason I stumbled upon this thread is that Im tracking some live drums tomorrow, and thought I'd use that because of the # of inputs.

Good place to learn a bit about recording, without being overwhelmed by plugin choices, interfaces, etc...

Here's a song from a recording we did (actually tracked the whole thing in our rehearsal room on the Korg) then had it mixed by Mudrock at Hobby Shop Studios.

soundcloud.com/johnaspangler/die-fast-slow-on

I wouldn't bother using an external preamp. Mic position will make a much bigger difference in the final sound.

Good Luck
John
 
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