Best preamp

[Bryan34120]

Hello, I have a pentium 3, win 98, and was wondering what is the best preamp that I could purchase for under 300 dollars. (I do not have any sort of firewire connection yet......do you recommend?) I was looking for something of a combination with (soundcard, phantom power) if possible, anyways....any suggestions? thx

[Ford Van]

Best?

There is no "best" anyway at a price point. There are variations of features and sounds (to a lesser extent).

At a studio I work at, we have a $2400 Focusrite Red 8 preamp. It KILLS for drum overheads, acoustic guitars, and occasionally on vocals. But for guitars, the $500 ART Pro MP kills it!

I have never had to work on a $300 mic preamp/soundcard solution, so I don't have much to offer as far as experience of what to buy. But, you are SURE to get some "opinions" on what people, based on what they own. Don't confuse that with what is "best". One guy is going to say brand x is the best, another guy is going to say brand y is best. It is a pretty good bet that brand x guy has NEVER tried brand y, and vice versa. So, take it all with a grain of salt.

Find the unit that has proven to be dependable, has good drivers, and has all the features you require. After that, it is just DIFFERENCES that are probably not either good or bad .

Good luck.

[Captain Nuke'em]

Behringer makes absolutely the BEST darn pre's on the planet!!!!

Invest in a Behringer!

[Chris.]

Well you're going to need two things: mic pres and a a/d (analog/digital) converter. Some pres have a/ds built into them, like the m-audio omni studio, but otherwise you'll have to buy them seperate.

What are you recording?

[tdukex]

M-Audio DMP3 dual preamp and M-Audio Delta 44 soundcard would be an excellent start.

[govinda]

Sorry dont buy a behringer pre ...I have yet to hear one sound good...but hey..what sorta mic you using? that has just as much part to play in the over all sound.....

[scrubs]

Originally Posted by Ford Van

$500 ART Pro MP

Damn, dude, you got ripped off on that. And I thought you were some sort of pro.

[Ford Van]

Originally Posted by scrubs

Damn, dude, you got ripped off on that. And I thought you were some sort of pro.

7 years ago when we bought it, that is what they were going for.

Shit, I paid $2400 for a Black Face ADAT in 1997! You can buy them used for about $200 now! You guys have no idea how relatively inexpensive stuff is now!

[SonicAlbert]

Originally Posted by Ford Van

Shit, I paid $2400 for a Black Face ADAT in 1997! You can buy them used for about $200 now! You guys have no idea how relatively inexpensive stuff is now!

The good stuff is still expensive, very few exceptions to that "rule" Ford. But a lot of stuff that used to be expensive is now cheap. Like you can get better sound out of a sound card that costs way less than an ADAT used to. But the high end analog and digital designs are still way up there in price.

[Ford Van]

Nah..........you can pick up ProTool Mix systems for about .20 on the dollar now!

During that converter test over at 3D Audio, many guys actually liked the sound of the ADAT converters and were surprised how decent they sounded.

If there is no demand for "high end" digital designs, then they shoot down in price.

The ADAT's were a pretty damn good machine. I bought mine when they first came out, so of course they were quite expensive.

Hell, the Behringer Composer sold for $700 when they first came out! I STILL think they sound just as good as the Drawmer that they copied. They are tough, reliable, and sound great. Only about $100 used now.