$500 Preamp Quandry

You might be able to find a used Daking Mic Pre "the green brick" for around that price range. It has some slight coloration that I really like. It's my work horse for all I'm doing right now since it's my only outboard preamp right now. Powers the sm7b like a champ, is also a great DI for bass and guitar as well if you don't mic anything up. They're about $775ish new but I've seen them used on occasion down in the $500 range.
 
AtoDeficient said:
ME?. . . What I'd like to know is what 'warmth' means to the multitude of manufacturers who use the phrase in their advertising. . . Apparently they ALL have the warmth we (all) want (?) . . .
No, - - We have what they want. . .

With appreciation for all the advice, $500 is $500. . . it's a price-point. . .
Yes, I can wait, and save up, and spend more, etc . . . I can also chase after the "perfect pre" forever. I can find one that's good for this, but not so good for that. . . Or I can put a cap at $500, make a choice, and move on. . .

Could I get a better mic? of course. . . Could I build a better room ?. . Of course. .
Could I hire a better band?. . Yes. A better engineer?. . . Maybe.

I'm just saying sometimes you gotta know when to say when. . . It's a home studio. (okay. . Rant over)

Ethan- I LIKE my Yami mixer. No complaints. Always have liked Yamaha and Tascam mixers. I just want an alternative. . . A shorter path.
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What I'm trying to say is that, in purchasing a $500 pre, I don't think you're going to get a significant improvement over the pres you already have. That said, either of the units you mention will do the job.

I'm not really impressed by preamp e-peen. People put out really good stuff with cheap pres, and crappy stuff with great pres.
 
AtoDeficient said:
ME?. . . What I'd like to know is what 'warmth' means to the multitude of manufacturers who use the phrase in their advertising. . . Apparently they ALL have the warmth we (all) want (?) . . .
No, - - We have what they want. . .

With appreciation for all the advice, $500 is $500. . . it's a price-point. . .
Yes, I can wait, and save up, and spend more, etc . . . I can also chase after the "perfect pre" forever. I can find one that's good for this, but not so good for that. . . Or I can put a cap at $500, make a choice, and move on. . .

Could I get a better mic? of course. . . Could I build a better room ?. . Of course. .
Could I hire a better band?. . Yes. A better engineer?. . . Maybe.

I'm just saying sometimes you gotta know when to say when. . . It's a home studio. (okay. . Rant over)

Ethan- I LIKE my Yami mixer. No complaints. Always have liked Yamaha and Tascam mixers. I just want an alternative. . . A shorter path.
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that doesn't answer my simple question...
 
AtoDeficient...

Not sure if you saw my PM....but there's a guy selling an almost new Grace M101 for $325 (about $625 street price) over in our Free Classified Forum.

IMO...that pre be will an improvement, and for the money is a preety darn good deal.
You can take the other $175 and spend it on a cord of firewood for more "warmth". :)
 
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@AtoD

If you are at all handy with soldering, do consider some of the kit offerings - Five Fish, Seventh Circle, JLM Audio are just a few to come to mind.

You've stated a preference for uncoloured preamps for this application, and the above companies all offer products that meet this criterion.

Paul
 
GONZO-X said:
that doesn't answer my simple question...
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I'm sorry, I suppose it doesn't. . . I would define warmth as "smooth, subtle coloration, body, and depth with a gentle compressed effect". . .But that definition may be completely different for as many people as you ask. . .

I've spent three days worth of free-time reading tens of different ads in all price ranges, (which, almost without exception, promise warmth, btw) reviews, b-boards, and shootouts, and I'm overwhelmed. . . But I'm really wondering what a person who is recording to tape (in my case) needs with a warm pre, as compared to a clean one. .

I'm sorry if my last post was disjointed and cranky. . . I was getting late for an appointment, on my way out the door. . . .And I'm confused by too many choices, and handicapped by too little technical knowledge. . .

Miro, I got your PM. . .You make good sense. . .
I appreciate everyone's advice, and I know you're all only trying to get me the most rock for my roll. . . Soldering?. . .My soldering iron was confiscated by order of the fire department, at a request from the American Electronics Society, with reason. :facepalm:

I haven't committed myself to a purchase yet, and now I just found a P-Solo (is that the right name?) review that sounds like yet another good choice. . Oh dear. . .

Ethan, if what you're trying to say is, Use what you have!, I can't agree more in principle. . I'm a huge proponent of being productive with what one has, regardless of it's cost or market reputation or popular opinion. . If it doesn't hurt, use it! . . . But I'm wanting to try a clean, short trip from the mic to the tape machine. .
Thanks All !
 
I think the ISA One is beautiful, and its a dual pre-amp, theres a line-in for doing say a Vox and guitar the same time.
So you're really getting more than one solo pre.
It was really clean and laid out well, if the box design works for you.
It had some eq buttons , ISA110 button that was really well done, imo.

dont know the Rolls?
 
AtoDeficient said:
Ethan, if what you're trying to say is, Use what you have!, I can't agree more in principle ... But I'm wanting to try a clean, short trip from the mic to the tape machine.
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Does your mixer have a direct out that comes right after the preamp? If so, you can patch that to your recorder and see if you notice a difference. But in the grand scheme of things, preamps are more alike than different, whether they cost $25 per channel or $2,500 per channel. The only exception is intentionally colored gear, which adds distortion from transformers and toobs. But I don't want that effect in a preamp!

--Ethan
 
Ethan Winer said:
. . .in the grand scheme of things, preamps are more alike than different, whether they cost $25 per channel or $2,500 per channel.
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Okay then. . . that is kinda what I figured, after reading all the hype. . .
I shall spend my last few dollars on some more mics, as was also suggested. . . .

My mixer, being a "live" mixer has lots of aux, but no direct outs. . I use the inserts. . .
Thanks ! Moving on. .
 
M-audio Tampa

They don't make this anymore, but I could maybe sell you mine for no less than $500. Go research it! It is solid state, very transparent, but has temporal harmonic alignment, which sorta emulates tube warmth, but in a cleaner way. It is awesome, but I use a neve portico now.
 
mshilarious said:
Dude, TL072CD is $0.15 at Arrow . . .
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in 1997, when brick and mortar stores were still alive, I could by buy a TL072xx for roughly $1.00 . . . since I hate DIY (respect it just don't like doing it) I have not kept current on pricing . . . merely assuming that opamp IC cost has very little to do with cost of either preamp or console for a $700 boutique market pre (non mass produced, non mass marketed,) difference between $.15 and/or $1.15 should not be an order of magnitude . . . should be a rounding error . . . which is one of my enduring difficulties with bulk of companies making entry level gear (and while I'd feel, today, that there are much better opamps available & w/o going back to service manual to determine exact part number here's a digi key page where a dual TL072(CDR) ranges in price from .19 to .41per fail to feel ripped off for driving to retail venue and getting one on a Sat. afternoon in 1997 for $1.15 that let me get all input channels on a 20 channel mixer working in time for PM show)

Whether an outboard boutique pre can improve anyone participating in this forum's signal path is not something I'd be able to determine remotely (guess at perhaps). I would hope that anyone, even an avowed hobbyist, anticipating even a $500 purchase should have a fairly good idea, based on info other then any marketing hype, whether that purchase presented a reasonable cost/benefit. Even for myself I acknowledge that irrational emotion plays a far to big a role in much of this . . . that said if you objectively do not, can not hear the difference between some of mic pres mentioned and the $20/channel pres available in compact mixers then one does need to spend $ on something else first to achieve functional improvement in signal chain.
 
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oretez said:
if you objectively do not, can not hear the difference between some of mic pres mentioned and the $20/channel pres available in compact mixers then one does need to spend $ on something else first to achieve functional improvement in signal chain.
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Very good advice. . . . While I'm quite certain I could hear differences, I, like many others, don't have the oppportunity to try out many different models of an item like mic pres. . . As you mentioned, the death of the retail store has also severely limited in-store selection of just about everything. . . Lately I've been upgrading and replacing gear, and I'm amazed at having to order just about everything, or buy the display, or buy online. . . And so public opinion comes into play more often now then when the items were available to touch and hear and demo. . .

As for a clean alternative pre, it's actually become a lower priority for me now than it's ever been. . . But I'm a musician-songwriter-producer-recordist, in that order, and for me, The Song is the priority, my gear is really quite sufficient for my needs, and after all the homework, none of my listeners would hear any subtle difference in preamp that my limited budget could affect. . .

Thanks All. . . It's time for me to get back to the music part . .
 
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