Mic Pre Options

W

WaterGuy

New member
Hi Folks,

New to this forum. I know there's been lots of discussion about mic preamps, but thought I'd ask a specific one. I need a pre for vocals and acoustic guitar for blues and rock. I'll plug it into an Audiofire 8. I also have a Studio Projects VTB-1. I'm looking for something that's a step up from the Audiofire preamps and the VTB-1. I'll be using an AKG C 214 and AT 4041.

I'm considering the Focusrite ISA One, the FMR RNP, the ART PRO MPAII, and the Great River ME1-NP. Obviously the latter is about twice the price. However, I'm getting conflicting info from web research -- one shootout rated the ART the highest, some posts say that the preamp is most important piece, others say the least important. So, given my gear and style of music, any thoughts on the best pre for the situation, especially thought on whether the Great River would be worth twice the cash in this situation.

Thanks very much!
 
WaterGuy said:
I'm considering the Focusrite ISA One, the FMR RNP, the ART PRO MPAII, and the Great River ME1-NP. Obviously the latter is about twice the price.
Click to expand...

Yeah....the upper scale pres will be more expensive. Some will say it's all hype, others will agree that quality costs more...blah, blah, blah....at the end of the day, it's going to be up to you to decide.
It's all about how well the source, mic and pre work together to give you what you want.

The Grace is probably the most transparent, IMO best quality of the bunch you listed, but that's why it costs more...while the ART is a bit colorful, and can sound a tad dark, IMO
I know there's been Internet shootout and all that...but I've used the ART and was never overwhelmed by it....though it will do the job, but so will your current pres. You might like that for blues/rock.

I would say, given what you already have....the ART might be a nice *addition* unless you want to spend the extra cash on the Grace.

Oh...are you related to WaterMusic.....? :)
 
Didn't see Grace listed as one of the choices. What I saw was the Great River. The Grace is clean and transparent as pointed out. The Great River was conceived from a Neve 1073 schematic and an extensive conversation between Dan Kennedy and Fletcher. The end result is different than a 1073, but by most accounts top shelf stuff that can impart size and attitude if that's your thing. While the Grace is considered to be a nice preamp, that's where the similarities end. They come from opposite ends of the spectrum, although given the Great River has input and output gain stages, it can be cleaned up or driven harder depending on what you want.

To the OP, I believe the Great River would easliy slay all the other choices.
 
The first question is, where are you recording? You can spend 2K on the best mic available, if you record in a crappy room, that $2000 mic is just going to highlight the crappy room. An AKG blank is going t sound better in a properly tuned environment over the same mic in a standard bedroom. Start with the room. In the meantime I recommend going with a good dynamic mic...an Audix or SM7B. Thats going to take precedence over the mic pre.
Signal chain is everything. Its the singer, then the room, then the mic, then the preamp. If you have top of the line stuff, and a crappy singer, nothing will work.
 
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