Help me upgrade my Pre

[guinsu]

I was doing some test recordings last night, just trying to figure out how to best mic up my acoustic. One of the mics was a Senn 441 into my Presonus digimax (my only preamps). I had to crank the gain to get an volume out of it, and there was tons of noise and hiss when I did this. I was thinking I could use one or two channels of better preamps, they could cover pretty mcuh everything but a drum kit. What would be a nice step up from Presonus?

[Teacher]

how much are you trying to spend? what do you record but here's a great place to start looking

http://www.mercenary.com/micpres1.html

[guinsu]

I guess I am looking to spend $400-500 for 1 or maybe 2 channels. Used is always an option since I bought my 2nd digimax for around $500. I was looking at the 7th circle stuff, though that would be a little over $1000 once I got the case and power supply. Right now I am recording two bands I am in, one is lighter indie rock, the other is more emo, Jimmy Eat World like.

[Teacher]

for 1 channel the 7th circle stuff is 1k? I thought it was around 500?

You may like the FMR RNP. I had one, it has a high mid bump(not very noticeable) that I think would be good for guitar and some aggressive rock vocals but all and all its pretty transparent.

[guinsu]

sorry, I meant $1000 for 2 channels on that, with the overhead of buying the case and power supply it seems much smarter to buy 2 channels at once instead of just one.

[Big Kenny]

While the senn 441 is a great mic it is not one I use on acoustic. I agree you need a better pre but a pair of sdc's would do you good as well. Maybe a Safe Sound P1 and a couple mk012's, c4's. or 603's. Your senn 441 will sound great on vox through the P1 too (least it does on mine, YMMV)

[guinsu]

Oh, mic-wise it wasn't my 1st choice, I actually mostly use it for electric guitar and as a 2nd kick mic. I was mostly comparing a SP B1 and an AKG 414 and figured I'd throw the other mic on there just to see. It was then that I noticed the limits of my preamp. I figured I may use it on piano some day and a quiet passage would come out just as crappy as the acoustic.

[Dot]

guinsu, the two-channel Sebatron vmp-2000e would have a lot to offer near your price range. Real high-voltage tube mic pres. Gets out of mid-range performance and into higher end sound. http://www.sebatron.com/

[guinsu]

Well, after more reading in the forum I ended up selecting a Sytek 4 channel preamp, the reviews are very good and it will be a good clean preamp to help me begin phasing out the digimax. For a more colored sound I am looking into the GT Brick, it seems like a good match for electric guitar and bass. Then once I hit the lottery I cna consider a Great River Though I'd be curious how the Brick compared to the Sebatron, I assume they are aiming for a similar sound with the tube thing.

[Picker]

Originally Posted by guinsu

Well, after more reading in the forum I ended up selecting a Sytek 4 channel preamp, the reviews are very good and it will be a good clean preamp to help me begin phasing out the digimax. For a more colored sound I am looking into the GT Brick, it seems like a good match for electric guitar and bass. Then once I hit the lottery I cna consider a Great River Though I'd be curious how the Brick compared to the Sebatron, I assume they are aiming for a similar sound with the tube thing.

Sounds like a good choice. I am going to upgrade myself to ether one of those or the Seventh Circle's. Right now I'm leaning toward 7th Circle just becasue it looks like a fun project and I'll end up (hopefully) with a really great pre.

Anyway... I've heard nothing but praise for the Sytek... Congrats and let us know what you think once you get it up and running.

[aroomstudios]

Originally Posted by guinsu

I was doing some test recordings last night, just trying to figure out how to best mic up my acoustic. One of the mics was a Senn 441 into my Presonus digimax (my only preamps). I had to crank the gain to get an volume out of it, and there was tons of noise and hiss when I did this. I was thinking I could use one or two channels of better preamps, they could cover pretty mcuh everything but a drum kit. What would be a nice step up from Presonus?

you can pickup a single channel API 512 preamp on ebay for 600 to 800, this will kill the presonus