M-Audio Tampa vs JOEMEEK SIXQ vs FOCUSRITE PLATINUM TRACKMASTER PRO

Which would you buy with around £200?

  • Total voters
    23
dkelley said:
and yes, what this guy tdukex said is completely true as far as performance goes, except for the ART MPA GOLD (in a higher quality league to me completely).
FWIW, dmp3 is a great pre also, every bit as good as the best op-amp based pres over the last 10 years.
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Hi. I currently have an SPL Goldmike and VTB1. I have been considering selling both and getting the ART MPA GOLD. Not sure if this would be a step up? Also been thinking of just selling the VTB1 and getting a Rane MS-1b.

Any advice?
 
dickiefunk said:
Hi. Have you had a chance to compare the Rane with the M8 and DMP3?
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No. I have the DMP3 and have compared it directly to a Behringer mixer, Mackie mixer, Meek VC1Qcs, and a Sebarton vmp2000. IMO the pres in the DMP3 are better than either the Behringer or Mackie mixer, at least as good as the Meek VC1Qcs, and although not a match for the Sebatron for electric guit and vox, it is the Sebs equal (but different) on acou guit.

I have heard enough people I respect (Chessrock, for example) who attest that the MS1b is slightly better than the DMP3.

Over the years I have also heard many experienced recordists state that the M8 pres are very good.

I think you already have very decent clean pres. If it was me I'd keep either the M8 (if I needed the extra channels) or the DMP3 (if I didn't) and sell everything else. Then I'd save my money until I could afford a single channel in the $700-$800 range with some color along the lines of the Sebatron vmp1000, the Speck 5.0, or the UA Solo 610.

Or you could buy a really good mic that worked well with your voice.
 
I guess my main question would be has anyone compared the M8 with the Rane MS-1b but it appears that no one has had the chance to do this? Am now thinking I'll get rid of the VTB1 and save for something like a DAV BG-1, True Systems Solo, SPL Gainstation UA 110. Didn't really want to spend that sort of cash as I need to buy some decent mikes. The Rane MS-1b is £167 and the DAV (the cheapest of the higher end) is £500.
 
I geneuinely believe that with the equipment you have, if you learn to mix, you don't need to go better
 
tdukex said:
I actually agree.
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People do tend to rely heavily on expensive equipment when in actuality a decent mic, amp and soundcard are all you need and anything beyond that can be made up for with some decent plugins and some software...
 
EdJames said:
People do tend to rely heavily on expensive equipment when in actuality a decent mic, amp and soundcard are all you need and anything beyond that can be made up for with some decent plugins and some software...
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I disagree, I find notieable impovement every time I upgrade my gear.
 
Big Kenny said:
I disagree, I find notieable impovement every time I upgrade my gear.
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i seem to say this a lot. i'm in complete agreement with kenny. :D

i look at recording and mixing much like changing the tires on a car. can i do it with a pair of pliers? sure i can. it'll suck, be really difficult and i'll end up with bloody knuckles, but i can do it. i won't enjoy it at all.....but i could do it.

does a lugwrench make that job a lot easier? you bet. but do i HAVE to HAVE one? no, not at all. but it sure would be a lot more enjoyable than using a pair of pliers.

could the job be done a lot faster, easier and more enjoyably with one of those cool pneumatic air wrenches the Nascar guys use? you betcha. and i guarantee i'd have a LOT more fun with one of those than either the pliers OR the lugwrench. but do i need one to change the tires? nope.

the same goes for recording. do i need anything more than a pair of beri truth monitors, a beri mixer and some beri mics? no, i could technically use those to make a record. but it would suck having to do so, and i'd probably end up with bloody knuckles halfway through. or give me a couple apis, some apogee converters, a sprinkling of BLUE and EV mics and some ASP8s to listen on and i guarantee i could get the job done a LOT better, faster, and much more enjoyably. do i absolutely need them? nope......but it sure would suck to have to do it with the "all beri" group.

good gear just makes the job easier (and more fun!).


cheers,
wade
 
Good gear also just plain sounds better, assuming it's used properly. Not that you can't make a good recording with out high end gear, but you can make a better recording with better gear. It's not just a tool analogy, it's an ingrediant analogy too.
 
On another note, people like to say that George Martin (or Bruce Vig, or Ted Perlman, etc.) could make a better sounding recording on a cassette 4track than a home recorder can make in a million dollar studio. I think it's better for a homey to concentrate more on bridging that gap than to obsess over whether mic pre A is better then mic pre B.
It's still important to get the gear that will do the job for you but that will never take the place of experienced engineering.
 
imo, the digital recorder offers an affordable, non-colored, "mirror like" entity these days.

so the difference between "pro" and "HR" is not as vast as it was in the old days. Comparing a cassette 4-track to a professional reel to reel, for example, which had a vast difference in quality.

Today a HR studio may have a 24bit/48K with great A/D- D/A converters and very close to the ability of a "pro" studio.

this leaves the challenge and weakest link in the Incoming sounds, in relate to TRACKING.

so I agree with Robert D and Big Kenny, on the upgrade gear comment to a price point.

there seems to be a more noticeable difference in pre-amps, and mics, and guitar tones and ime, a small difference between Cubase, Kristal, Pro Tools and N-Tracks.

find your Vox mic/preamps.
find the guitars and amp and SM57
DI/compress the bass
3 mic on the drums
shotgun the acoustic

and have a really good tune written.

then when Starbucks Records signs you up, don't forget to demand lifetime coffee coupons. :p
 
Big Kenny said:
I disagree, I find notieable impovement every time I upgrade my gear.
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I agree with Big Kenny. I downgraded my mixer a couple years ago, thinking the difference was not going to be that bad. I was wrong. Since then I have not been able to get my sounds to be as punchy and clean eventhough I am using the same mic's and recording device.

There is no way to clean a muddy mic pre to the point of a GREAT mic pre using plug-ins, and the sad thing is, you do not know how poor your signal chain is until you have used something better.

Ignorance is Bliss. :(
 
tkingen said:
On another note, people like to say that George Martin (or Bruce Vig, or Ted Perlman, etc.) could make a better sounding recording on a cassette 4track than a home recorder can make in a million dollar studio. I think it's better for a homey to concentrate more on bridging that gap than to obsess over whether mic pre A is better then mic pre B.
It's still important to get the gear that will do the job for you but that will never take the place of experienced engineering.
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While that saying has some merit, taking it too literally would be a bad idea. Even Sir George cannot wave his wand and make a 4 track sound like a real studio, and there are some pretty talented home recordists out there who could use a million dollar studio pretty well.
I agree fully that there's a point, and it's not all that spendy, that the gear is sufficient, and better engineering is what's needed, not to mention better recording and mixing environments. Ideally, the gear evolves in step with the home recordist's skills.
 
Well, being the pragmatic type, why don't you spend a bit of your cash and just have a good shop repair your Tampa (probably a cold-solder joint, if it's an RoHS-approved PC assembly). While that's going on, buy yourself a DMP3 (if you want to continue adding on to your "clean" preamp collection). Nice, clean, good headroom, stereo, not too expensive. Then, study the "colored" pres available (some with EQ and/or a compressor) and find one that suits your purpose. Peace.
 
Robert D said:
While that saying has some merit, taking it too literally would be a bad idea. Even Sir George cannot wave his wand and make a 4 track sound like a real studio, and there are some pretty talented home recordists out there who could use a million dollar studio pretty well.
I agree fully that there's a point, and it's not all that spendy, that the gear is sufficient, and better engineering is what's needed, not to mention better recording and mixing environments. Ideally, the gear evolves in step with the home recordist's skills.
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Robert,

Excellent addendum to my post!
 
Robert D said:
I was pretty impressed with the Safe Sound P-Solo. Nothing but gain, but it had a big sound, whatever the heck that means. :)
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True Systems P-Solo? I own one and LOVE it. Nice open sound, clean, great gain. Definite quality difference from the Tampa I used to own - or anything else I've owned for that matter (VTB-1, DMP3).
 
I find the ProChannel fussy at times but usually with some tweaking it'll sound pretty good. I love the compressor and the routing features. The EQ is so-so and I tend to bypass it most of the time. The MPA is simple, powerful, and very flexible. Colorful? Yes Clean? So so. I've thought about adding a Tampa or Octane to our ProjectMix set-up for more digital ins. Sorry to hear yours crapped out.
 
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