Pre-amp Solution??

[a_zander]

Hello all,

Now that my crap 4 pre mixer is gone, I'm looking for a pre-amp solution to mic my 4-piece drum kit. I have a Delta 44, with 2 x Oktava Mk-012, SM57, Audix D6, and I'll be buying a LDC soon. I like the minimalistic approach to micing my drums, sometimes just a LDC overhead, and my D6 on the kick.

I've been looking at the Yamaha MG16/4, I'm wondering how that stacks up against the Mackies with their XDR pre-amps? Should I get a mixer and just run my kit mixed down into my comp or should I get 4 separate pre-amps of a "higher" quality (Higher price at least)? How well would a semi-budget mixer perform against straight pres of a higher cost(~$400/ch)? So what should I buy? (ha) Well, thanks for any suggestions.

p.s. If this post makes no sense, it's because I was studying calc all day and my brain is fried... I can't form a thought... ah...

[The Garage]

an affordable solution is the sytek -- 4 good preamps for around $800. another is the 2 x DAV BG-1 -- $1200. Another is 2 x FMR RNPs at: $900. All of these preamps would make very respectable front-ends. Unless you need the extra routing a mixer can provide you (and many people don't) i would spend your money on only those features you need -- microphone preamplification.

[earworm]

i also looked at the sytek preamps but deceided to get me a soundcraft M8, which i don't regret yet cause i didn't pay too much for it

pre-amps really make a difference, i went from
jb systems to behringer to studiomaster to soundcraft,
and in the main time i worked with lots of other brands,
i also worked with protools systems and soundcards with only pre's, no eq's, and honestly, i find that nothing beats a nice little mixer!
the pre's of my M8 are really clean, so are the eq's,
sometimes i just hook up 8 drummics, put a stereo compressor on the main insert and record the main out (or monitor out), sounds real nice,
but since i got direct outs on every channel (pre or post fader, post eq) i prefer to record this way

i totally love this setup: a bunch of dbx 163x's (with instrument in and line in), awesome for guitars, bass, even vocals, and they are my MOST favorite compressor on kick and snare for the moment,
cheap units with a real nice sound

this is what i'd buy if i were you=

soundcraft M8 (or M4, 4 mic pres and 4 stereo's , this means that later you can buy those syteks and hook the line outs to the line ins of the mixer for monitoring purposes and stuff... thats how i do it, i use 8 preamps of my M8, and i got 4 other preamps of whom i split the output and run them to my mixer & soundcard)
will cost you less than $300 (depends on second hand/new)
and then get yourself 2 dbx 163's , they cost like $50 each and man, you'll love them, definately on drums, and if a guitarist comes over, plug him into the dbx, connect the dbx to your soundcraft, cut some of the 300-500 hz and WHOEAA sounds so clean man !!

i think its a real good idea to buy good preamps, like syteks, but if you got no outboard eq, and you're gonna do everything with software afterwards...
MHHHHH, i really find that plugins can NOT compete with decent hardware, for example, i don't know what plugin sounds better than my M8 eq's ! of course i only got sweepable mid, lo & hi, but hell its nice

[a_zander]

Thanks RecTechMin, earworm.

With a new snare coming in, cash going out, I think it makes the most sense for me to get a mixer.

Should I get a Mackie VLZ mixer or should I put more down to get a Soundcraft M? Is there any other mixer in the sub ~$700 range that's worthy?

Thanks

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by a_zander

Thanks RecTechMin, earworm.

With a new snare coming in, cash going out, I think it makes the most sense for me to get a mixer.

Should I get a Mackie VLZ mixer or should I put more down to get a Soundcraft M? Is there any other mixer in the sub ~$700 range that's worthy?

Depends on what you're looking for. If you're just looking for reference quality pres (i.e. not looking for tube warmth or anything, and not looking for parametric EQ or other mixer features), the Peavey PV8 pres are, IMHO, outstanding. Four preamps for $110.

I suspect the Yamaha you mention will have similarly clean pres. From the similarity in design, I halfway wonder if its little brother was made by the same OEM as the Peavey.

[earworm]

i HIGHLY recommend the soundcraft Mseries !
i worked with the mackies vlz 1604 for months and was allways a bit unsatisfied, i find the EQ on the soundcraft SO MUCH BETTER,
ok the mackie does have four busses, but i can live without that,

if you could get yourself an Allen & Heath mixwizard that would be cool,
thats a mixer that really looks like that mackie 1604, but sounds so much better, but this costs more....you might find a new one for around $900,
i noticed there are 3 "types" or versions of the mixwizards, the older ones are cheaper, second hand,

and like i said, i'd go for a small mixer, and get me some nice extra compressors, if you don't spend all your money on a mixer, then you can get yourself some DBX 163x's (around $50)(real cheap and awesome machines!!!), or an Ashly sc-50 (around $80) or a symetrix 501 (around $120), or urei 7110 (around $250)

i find hardware compressors SO much cooler, better and sexier than any plugin i've used, if only you choose the right machines of course!
i used lots of those new lowbudget brands and they all disapointed me, the real old vintage cheap thingies on the otherhand always have a nice character that i like