preamp Ultra-Voice® Pro VX2000 is THIS a good buy??

[WEBCYAN]

Well I bought that crappy %60 behringer shark. and promptly returned it. it made everything worse....!

Well, how about this: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/.../base_id/54497

all i want is a pre amp that will you know...make it louder and stuff, have it sound warm and rich, but still defined, and a compressor built in would be nice. also, i need somthing that is really good for vocals mainly.

and i only have about $100 to spend.

given all that, is this a good buy? anyone ever used one or have one?

[mikeh]

I just bought one a couple of days ago, but haven't used it yet. I'm planning to A/B this weekend against a Focusrite Voicemaster. I also plan to test it against an Art Tube MP and against the pre's in my Mackie. Maybe even against my MP20 just for laughs.

If you can wait until monday I'll post me opinion.

[wes480]

I'd go with Audio Buddy personally. You don't like that one?

[mikeh]

I did a brief A/B between the Behringer and a Focusrite Voicemaster (just using the preamp - none of the processing)

I should point out that the Behringer is laid out almost exactly like the Focusrite - I'm guessing yet another example of Behringer cloning someone's gear.

I recorded an accoustic guitar useing an AT 4047 and a Marshal V67 - I then recorded a male voice useing both mics and pre's.

There was very little difference in tone. The Behringer was slightly "brighter" (although I refrain from useing the word "harsher") but I suspect nothing that very subtle processing adjustments couldn't correct. I felt the Behringer was as quiet as the Focusrite.

I hope to have time this weekend to work more with the processing to make a more complete comparison.

However, since the Focusrite had an original list price of about $750 (and candidly I think the pre-amp on the Focusrite is pretty decent) - the fact that the Behringer at $129 compared well makes the Behringer a good deal, at least in my humble opinion.

When you figure that the tube MP costs $100 - and the Behringer adds all the processing for $29 more, how bad of a deal can it be.

[TexRoadkill]

Have any of you tried the Focusrite Penta? I'm curious how that would compare.

[cominginsecond]

the actual preamp in the Penta and the Voicemaster are the same.