Inexpensive preamp Vs. my mixer's pres

I'll admit I stand guilty as charge for being grumpy on this board from time to time, and a lot of it is justifiably so. But this isn't one of those times. How my tone comes accross in a response like the one I gave ... is completely up to the reader, and the tone that you are subconsciously choosing to assign me.
 
chessrock said:
Ribbon mics need a lot of gain, and sometimes it gets a little noisy when you have to crank it up. But as long as it sounds okay, then you're fine. Does it give you enough gain? I'm assuming it does. Does it sound okay? Yes. Do you have an insane and unbearable amount of noise? Doesn't sound like it does. Then you're fine. Get on with life.

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So telling him to get on with life isn't a damn condescending thing to say to a guy looking for preamp suggestions? How about you just ignore the post. I was interested in a good preamp for a ribbon mic as well. I was waiting for some good one channel suggestions and maybe some technical details as to what to look for in a pre well suited to a ribbon mic. You just basically said that he should just live with it. What is this board for then cheesecock? How does your answer help any of us?
 
jamacian said:
So telling him to get on with life isn't a damn condescending thing to say to a guy looking for preamp suggestions?
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Since when did everyone's feelings suddenly get so fragile? Holy wow. I swear, some of you must have mamas that did nothing but sit around all day and tell some of you how wonderful you were when you were growing up.

How about you just ignore the post. I was interested in a good preamp for a ribbon mic as well. I was waiting for some good one channel suggestions and maybe some technical details as to what to look for in a pre well suited to a ribbon mic.
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Look, this isn't all about you. :D If this is something you need to know, then post a separate thread on it. He asked a specific question. And the title of the thread was basically an either/ or proposition .... option A versus option B. I weighed in my two cents and told him "B." If he wants to know what preamp to buy, then he should word his question accordingly.

I honestly don't think he needs to spend an extra 2-300 bucks on something that isn't going to give him anything that he doesn't already have in his more than adequate mixer. Look, maybe if the guy had a Behringer or something, my answer would have been different. But it's not ... it's a mixwizard, which is more than capable for just about anyone's needs.

Furthermore, the guy doesn't appear to be having a major crisis here. Again, if the guy had said "Oh my lord, this thing sounds like a dying cow," ... I might have had a different response. But he didn't. It just seemed more like a "It sounds fine, but I'm wondering if I'm missing out on something" kind of question. And I don't think he is, so I weighed in on it.

Look Jamacian, how helpful would it have been to recommend he go spend money on something completely redundant? What good would I be doing anyone by saying you need to spend 2-300 bucks on something that will basically do no more for you than what you already own?

If this board is nothing more than a gear recommendation site, then what good is it? We already have gearslutz.com . If you just want to talk gear all day, and do more than talk about stuff to buy and what stuff is better than the other stuff and is mic pre A better than mic pre B ... then there's a board for that called gearslutz, and you should really check that out if that's all you're interested in.

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I'm going to back the ol chess up here. You may as well throw 300 in the wind if your considering buying a low budget preamp that will only sound the same or worse. So yeah deal with what you got and move on or save some money to buy a ribbon pre or the like. Your halfway there.

It's taking me like 6 months to afford buying a focusrite 428. If you can save it will pay off in the long run. Then you can have something that you can resale later and get back most of if not all your money back.
 
jamacian said:
How about you just ignore the post.
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Good question... ever ask yourself that?

And who appointed you Miss Manners of HomeRecording.com... this sounds more like the OPs business.
Read a few more threads... post more, spend a bit more time, then maybe you'll start understanding this community better...

Yeah... sometimes chess goes off the meds... but even when he's grumpy... he's generally still right on the money...
 
I certainly appriciate the passion with which you guys are arguing over my question. :D

Maybe what i should have asked was this:

I am planning on sinking $300 into my recording setup. I am considering getting a preamp, but i want one thats quiet enough to power an old ribbon. Is there anything in that price range that would be an improvement over my mixer?

In a way you both answered my question well. Chessrock thinks I have a good enough mixer already and I should save my money. Jamacain recomended a preamp that i didn't know about that looks pretty good. I appriciate both peices of advice. I probably will save up a while longer for a better pre.

but for the sake of continuing the argument...

whats the best mic for goth-emo-core-punk style music? I have a royer 121 now, but was thinking about getting like 50 SM57s....
 
chessrock said:
I swear, some of you must have mamas that did nothing but sit around all day and tell some of you how wonderful you were when you were growing up.
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Bingo! And it's not just parents, the schools do the same thing. I read an article a few weeks ago, where a teacher was having her kindergarden kids stand up and recite phrases like "I am special, I am important, look at me".

Back to the ribbon mic thing.

I think the main thing is you need a preamp that will give you 70 dB of good clean gain. Ribbon and dynamic mics need more gain than condenser mics. So "better" means "more gain" for a ribbon.
 
MOFO Pro said:
Good question... ever ask yourself that?

And who appointed you Miss Manners of HomeRecording.com... this sounds more like the OPs business.
Read a few more threads... post more, spend a bit more time, then maybe you'll start understanding this community better...

Yeah... sometimes chess goes off the meds... but even when he's grumpy... he's generally still right on the money...
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Haha, hi, I am jake-owa. I get banned, it's what I do. the OPs....that's a good one.

I am no newbie.
 
gcapel said:
Here are some suddgestions to look at:

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/337428.html

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/331309.html

The psolo looks to be a good choice ribbon version or not.

I would also look at the FMR RNP. They are suppose to have a lot of gain.
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The RNP has 66 db of gain (I have one). While the RNP works, if you are going to buy a pre specifically to drive a ribbon, I'd go for more gain. Again, something around 70-72db would be good. If you want to get an AEA ribbon pre (80db I think), those look very good as well.
 
thats strange..
going from "a $300 preamp"....
and now saying "the $900 preamp...." :confused:
3x's the cash

Isn't that like going car shopping for a $15000 car and deciding you really like the $45,000 car?:eek:

Another angle is to wait until you come across a Neve 32069 or 1081 for $300.
:D

Maybe go with the $500 range, a nice used Joe Meek with 70db of the Brit sound that may match your Beatle-Mic?

I agree with Chessrock, if your $300 pre's don't cut it, maybe another $300 preamp won't get it either.

an totally different angle might be?
Maybe your ears are tuning in, man...like thats what happens they say...

next thing you know your in a fhkng HiEnd Audio Store buying $3500 Speakers and everytime you go to AudoiCrapMArt Mega stores you start getting headaches when you hear garbage sounds. Ipod razor blade music a level below solid state chips, playing thru a .001" speaker.


or is it, "subliminal tuning out"???

Like Beethoven pretended he was deaf because his wife nagged at him all the time about his piano being in the front room, so he tuned her out, man, and thats how he wrote his best pieces ever!

its called discipline of your brain, we hear what we want to read.
 
COOLCAT said:
Like Beethoven pretended he was deaf because his wife nagged at him all the time about his piano being in the front room, so he tuned her out, man, and thats how he wrote his best pieces ever!
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That's a nice story, except Beethoven was never married and he actually WAS deaf! I'm sure you were just kidding, but it's amazing what people will believe if they read it on a message board. :D
 
COOLCAT said:
thats strange..
going from "a $300 preamp"....
and now saying "the $900 preamp...." :confused:
3x's the cash

Isn't that like going car shopping for a $15000 car and deciding you really like the $45,000 car?:eek:
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Depends on how you look at it. You are talking about a $30,000 difference in price. He's only talking about a $600 difference.
 
yes, for pete's sake...I was kidding!
about Beethoven's wife nagging him about his piano being in the front room.

Now I'll probably be stereotyped as a Anti-Married Piano player guy...and I don't even own one. damn.


yeah on the the cost of a preamp, true... car's is extreme and not a good analogy.

but comparing items 3x's the cost of another is obvious. nothing wrong with saving and getting something one really wants.

I mean if the poster said "a good preamp in the $900 range" he'd gotten many different responses imo.
 
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