Investing in a new preamp....

layneness

New member
Hokay, so it's time for me to upgrade as far as sonic quality in the preamp department. I hear a lot of good things about various pre's, but don't really know how to go about trying them out, considering the only way to get most of them is through the internet (zzsounds, ebay, etc). So my options are limited as to being able to choose one whose sound I really like.

so, for the $300-$500 budget, what would a good investment be? I've heard good things about the Presonus Eureka, "The Brick," the M-Audio Tampa, all sorts of Joe Meek stuff, etc etc. I like that most of these have EQ/compression, which are good to have. But in the end, i have no idea what it is that would work best for me. definitely shooting for a rack unit, EQ/Compression is a plus, and a versitile sounds is important (i'd rather have something that sounds decent on a lot of applications versus something that only sounds really good on a few)

I'd be doing mainly guitars (electric and acoustic), vocals, and whatnot, since I run my drums through something else.

So yeah, any help would be wonderful.
 
Hokay, so it's time for me to upgrade as far as sonic quality in the preamp department. I hear a lot of good things about various pre's, but don't really know how to go about trying them out, considering the only way to get most of them is through the internet (zzsounds, ebay, etc). So my options are limited as to being able to choose one whose sound I really like.

so, for the $300-$500 budget, what would a good investment be? I've heard good things about the Presonus Eureka, "The Brick," the M-Audio Tampa, all sorts of Joe Meek stuff, etc etc. I like that most of these have EQ/compression, which are good to have. But in the end, i have no idea what it is that would work best for me. definitely shooting for a rack unit, EQ/Compression is a plus, and a versitile sounds is important (i'd rather have something that sounds decent on a lot of applications versus something that only sounds really good on a few)

I'd be doing mainly guitars (electric and acoustic), vocals, and whatnot, since I run my drums through something else.

So yeah, any help would be wonderful.

My choice would be the Presonus Eureka or the Joe Meek Six Q, since they're both versatile with a slight edge going to the Eureka, since it has a variable impedance and a FET compressor that is fairly transparent and fast on transients. The EQ is also usuable.

The Brick to me is a one trick pony and I don't see using it on a wide variety of applications. I'm pretty sure the Tampa I had used a walwart, which was one of the reasons I eventually sold it. But It was a step up from the DMP3, just not a big enough step, though.
 
Ive got a Presonus Eureka and M-Audio Tampa. I like them both for different reasons, but prefer the Eureka hands down if i had to pick :)

And the Tampa does use a wall wart style thing for what it matters.

Eureka takes up less space and does more tho ;)
 
In my opinion: spend all your budget on a PAIR of high-quality small condenser mikes and use whatever is left on preamps. Ditto on "the stereo is better" for acoustic gutars.
 
What gear do you have currently? If you don't currently have a pair of decent mics, I'll agree that you would get the most mileage for your money by upgrading those first.
 
In my opinion: spend all your budget on a PAIR of high-quality small condenser mikes and use whatever is left on preamps. Ditto on "the stereo is better" for acoustic gutars.

On a budget of $300/500, that's not going to leave much change for a stereo preamp.

The Focusrite Penta has a very clean (albeit mono) preamp and a very usuable preprogrammed/further tweakable optical (stereo) compressor, plus an excellent tube emulator and stereo width processing section.

But I also second (third?) stereo for acoustic guitar, so perhaps not a good suggestion after all.
 
my mic collection includes some really shitty Samson mics (including two CO2 small condensers), a shure sm57, a Shure Beta 52a (for kick drum), and an ADK A-51 Type A condenser (ADK is a local company in my neck of the woods: http://www.adkmics.com).

All of this runs into a Presonus Firestudio, which I mainly got for the interface since I do recording on my laptop (for the sake of being as portable as possible, since my apartment isn't the best place to cut tracks). The Firestudio pre's are decent, but so far, especially for vocals and acoustic guitar, it just hasn't been giving me the results I need. I once ran the ADK through a friends (extremely nice ) pre and it sounded to die for, so I started looking at different options. I do agree, I would really like to get a pair of better condensers (I am trying to weed out/replace my bogus Samsons). But the option of compression/EQ is also a big selling point for me.
 
Nutty as it may seem, I would buy a Behringer mixer with at least two preamp channels, and buy two Electrvoice CO4 Cobalt mikes (small diameter dynamic mikes).
It will sound as good as anything you can do for $500, but it will only be ~$200.
....OK, if you are determined to spend $500, get a Mackie 1202 VLZ mixer with 4 very good sounding preamp channels for ~$300 with the mikes. It will still total only $400.

Oooops....I see you already have better equipment than I am recommending. So just buy anything that tickles your fancy and experiment with it. Have fun !
 
DBX makes a tube dual channel pre that's around $500 the 386... real tube pre... not a starved plate design... built in limiting and 24/96 convertors... way cool for the dough...
 
focusrite penta

On a budget of $300/500, that's not going to leave much change for a stereo preamp.

The Focusrite Penta has a very clean (albeit mono) preamp and a very usuable preprogrammed/further tweakable optical (stereo) compressor, plus an excellent tube emulator and stereo width processing section.

But I also second (third?) stereo for acoustic guitar, so perhaps not a good suggestion after all.

Stereo for acoustic, I agree. RODE NT5 matched pair are great mics, and at a good price. (Point one mic at 12th fret, and the other pointed at the bridge, both about an arm's length away, forming a triangle with the guitar.)

I just stopped using my Focusrite Penta yesterday, as it was delivering too much noise. If it was delivering "character" as well (á la dbx) I might put up with the noise, but signal sounds clear and characterless to me, so don't know why the noise is there. Maybe I have a faulty unit...

Sticking with the (4) preamps on my Mackie VLZ1202 for now... might get an FMR Really Nice Preamp soon...
 
my mic collection includes some really shitty Samson mics (including two CO2 small condensers), a shure sm57, a Shure Beta 52a (for kick drum), and an ADK A-51 Type A condenser (ADK is a local company in my neck of the woods: http://www.adkmics.com).

All of this runs into a Presonus Firestudio, which I mainly got for the interface since I do recording on my laptop (for the sake of being as portable as possible, since my apartment isn't the best place to cut tracks). The Firestudio pre's are decent, but so far, especially for vocals and acoustic guitar, it just hasn't been giving me the results I need. I once ran the ADK through a friends (extremely nice ) pre and it sounded to die for, so I started looking at different options. I do agree, I would really like to get a pair of better condensers (I am trying to weed out/replace my bogus Samsons). But the option of compression/EQ is also a big selling point for me.

I personally do not think you are going to get an incredible improvement in sound from a $300 preamp. I have 3-4 FMR RNP's and love them to death, but I can assure you that the difference in sound between those pres and my old Aardvark Q10's or my current RME FF800 or even my Great River is not mind shattering. I have also used the Firestudio at a buddies house and think that the same can be said about that unit.

I have never used ADK mics, so I do not want to come off as though I know them well, but I would suggest your $500 would be better spent on a Shure SM7, maybe an AKG 414. Those things will give you an instantly noticeable difference in sound.

If you are just looking for preamp suggestions, I am very fond the RNP's. Two channels for under $500, great company to work with. I really love using the inserts on the pre and putting either my RNC's or RNLA's in the chain.

BTW, what preamp did your buddy have? Also, what converters was he/she running that preamp through?
 
I picked up a used Joe Meek 0neQ for well under $500 on ebay and have been very happy with it. You can get alot of variety out of it for sure. You can switch the transformer in or out, There's a adjustable harmonic destortion, a heavy handed optical compressor with full adjustability, nice EQ and digital out.

The oneQ could likely give you more sound options than most other pre's for under $500.

If you have a decent board with good clean pre's I don't see much point in alot of the cheaper solid state pre's.

If you go tube like the MPA you can swap tubes for different sounds. The mpa will let you drive the tubes pretty hard if it's warmth your after. You can also run a different tube in each side and basicaly have to seperate pre's with different qualitys.

If I had to loose one, you can have my MPA and I will keep my oneQ. No question.

F.S.
 
yeah, that Joe Meek OneQ is really a "10" on the gear factor with the Iron IN/OUT switch. I love little inventions like that...

like the Stratocaster guitar jack being on the front... so it's "safer" from the plug being busted off when setting the guitar down, and/or looks cooler than sticking out into the air like all the others.... cool little inventions, additions.
 
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