Active Monitor Preamp Question

McMajik

McMajik

New member
So I've been running my monitors from my PC, via my mixing desk (Behringer Eurorack UB802). But recently (As in, christmas), I got an Art PRO MPA II, which is two valve mic preamps, I've swapped out the valves for some Phillips 12AU7s. Earlier on, an ingenious idea hit me, and a short soldering session later I have some RCA to XLR connectors, and now I'm running my monitors from that instead. So...

Which one do you think would sound better? I know a valve preamp should be FAR superior to a behringer desk, but being a mic preamp instead of a hifi audio preamp, I'm not sure. I think it does, and I'm noticing a lot of details in songs I didnt notice before, but I don't know if thats genuine or just confirmation bias.

And...

Which one would be better for mixing? I'm not sure at all on this one - the Art seems to bring out more things in whatever I listen to, but being a mic preamp I'd imagine it imparts its own characteristics onto the sound. I think part of the problem is that I don't have any mid-high end preamps designed for the purpose to compare to. This sounds a bit sibilant to me, but from what I understand sibilance is caused by fast transient response, which is meant to be a good thing, I think?

Basically, I'm not in a position to A/B them the way I'd like to, and swapping them over is awkward because of how my room is set up, and would take too long for me to be confident in the difference I'm hearing. So, I'll throw it to you lot. What are your oppinions? Use the desk, or the ART? Or is it worth buying/making something so I can A/B them properly?

Thanks,
Lewis
 
Wrong application for any microphone preamp. Your monitor chain is actually less accurate with this device in the chain.
 
Thanks, I suspected as much. Having switched back (needed to use the preamp for recording), I'm pretty underwhelmed. I think I need to look into a decent hifi preamp
 
McMajik said:
Thanks, I suspected as much. Having switched back (needed to use the preamp for recording), I'm pretty underwhelmed. I think I need to look into a decent hifi preamp
Click to expand...

A hi-fi preamp may make it more pleasing to your ear but it will not provide any more accuracy. Nothing added to a monitor chain will do that.
 
Rruskins right.

Mic preamps = no good for feeding speakers.

He's also right in saying that hifi amps aren't ideal for a monitoring chain but I totally recommend good Hifi amps sometimes depending on the alternative.

For example, I used an Alesis ra-100 with ns10s for ages and it was terrible.
Recently wired them up with a top model Denon hifi amp and it immediately made the ns10s much more usable.

To be clear I don't mean nicer; I mean usable.

Some of the high end hifi gear can be had for cheap now and can be really good, especially if there's a direct switch for bypassing any eqs etc.

If i learned one thing this year it's don't cheap out on your amp. I really think it can be as important as the speakers now.
 
So would my cheap behringer mixer be doing well enough in that respect? Wouldn't that colour or degrade the sound at all?
 
Wait. The 802 isn't powered.
You're using active speakers so you don't need any (other) amp or preamp at all. (My bad)

So, use neither. Just come straight out of you pc line out to the speakers.

A upgrade would be a usb/firewire interface with line outs straight to the speakers.
 
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McMajik said:
So would my cheap behringer mixer be doing well enough in that respect? Wouldn't that colour or degrade the sound at all?
Click to expand...

The point is that once you pick up sonic crud, nothing you do after the fact will clean it up again. It just becomes a different flavor of inaccurate. the only way to improve your Behringer is to get something that works better.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Rruskins right.

.........................
He's also right in saying that hifi amps aren't ideal for a monitoring chain but I totally recommend good Hifi amps sometimes depending on the alternative.

For example, I used an Alesis ra-100 with ns10s for ages and it was terrible................



Some of the high end hifi gear can be had for cheap now and can be really good, especially if there's a direct switch for bypassing any eqs etc.

If i learned one thing this year it's don't cheap out on your amp. I really think it can be as important as the speakers now.
Click to expand...


I never said anything about hi-fi amps. Just preamps. But while on the subject: a good clean old-style power amp is the way to go. Some home stereo power amps are quite good - ADCOM comes to mind. I have an old Accuphase P-300 that I won't trade for anything and I sure as hell would never using any amp with a switching power supply (what your Alesis uses) for anything other than a headphone feed amp.
 
Fair play. My mistake. I didn't realise he was using active monitors.

Yeh, that alesis does blow. Learning curve huh? :p
It has been relegated to a rear left and rear right amp in a dolby home cinema setup.
 
Hmm...I actually hadnt thought of running direct to the monitors. I couldn't before, because my soundcard only has RCA outs, and I didn't have any RCA to XLR cables, so I had the mixer in the middle, but I made some the other day! Thanks! :p
 
Right...well, that was pointless. When I ran it using my custom cables ('spensive RCA cables with one end replaces with an XLR plug), it was really noisy. As in, PC noises, you know the kind I mean. And, turns out I soldered the live wire to the negative XLR terminal, but I don't imagine that would do anything other than invert the signal. The problem doesn't exist on my usual setup though (RCA to mixer, 1/4" jacks to monitors), so it must be something to do with my wiring. Should the other terminal be grounded? I imagine that'd introduce all the noise from the ground line into the signal, but it's the only thing I can think of.
 
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