i just sold my crystal x-box, and want to buy a budget preamp tommorrow morning, and i would also be using it as a DI for bass guitar. I've done a search on both of these and basically they're both crap. But if you were in the startup phase of recording, which would you buy? both of these preamps use 12AX7 tubes.
Art Mp vs. Behr Mic200 preamps...
- Thread starter rynomig
- Start date
mshilarious
Banned
rynomig said:
The MP isn't well loved as a mic pre, but it is a really cool bass DI, once you swap out the stock tube for something nicer.
teainthesahara
New member
rynomig said:
I would get the ART, cause its usually cheaper, and i know it will perform as a cool DI, even with the stock tube. As far as it being a crap preamp...well, it's a 49 buck preamp. You will more than get your moneys worth out of it, especially if you are in a start up phase, and will likely still find uses for it when you upgrade. Plus, i've STILL yet to have heard someone's recording that absolutely sucked just because they used some ART tube pre. Instead, i've heard quite the opposite - awesome stuff done with the thing plastered across a bunch of tracks...
Sonic Idiot
New member
I recorded an entire album with one ART MP and one Oktava mk319. (echo mia was the sound card. Used N-track to track and mix). I will resoundingly recommend the ART on the basis that:
A) It's almost free.
B) Shut up and play 'yer guitar.
The entire thing can be heard here:
www.dullum.net
It's under the "smattering of acoustic things" part. Again, EVERYTHING there was recorded wthrough an ART. (Oh, and I should mention, an RNC) I'd be honored to hear what y'all have to say...but more to the point, great gear is lovely, but it does not take the place of caring a great deal about what the final product is.
A) It's almost free.
B) Shut up and play 'yer guitar.
The entire thing can be heard here:
www.dullum.net
It's under the "smattering of acoustic things" part. Again, EVERYTHING there was recorded wthrough an ART. (Oh, and I should mention, an RNC) I'd be honored to hear what y'all have to say...but more to the point, great gear is lovely, but it does not take the place of caring a great deal about what the final product is.
PhilGood
Juice box hero
rynomig said:
Listen to the people on this board!! They know what they're talking about! I used to read these threads and say, "Oh it can't be that bad. I'll spend the money anyway. It's only $60."
I bought the behringer. I thought, well I'll be able to use it on somthing. This thing TANKS!! It has zero low end and the person who came up with the modeler showed up to work drunk. Not to mention when I used it with other preamps I have, it was naturally out of phase. I had to use the phase reverse switch to bring it BACK into phase. The preamp on my board sounds better. I'd love to throw this one back through their window! There's no way the Art can be that bad. (Famous last words) Oh, and replace the tube. The stock one is junk.
cominginsecond
Decentralized Media Mogul
I think the ART Tube MP is great as a Bass DI. Yesterday I did a little mini-shootout with my Summit 2BA-221, RNP, TFPro pres in my interface, and the Tube MP, and the Tube MP edged them all out, IMO. I'm getting one ASAP.
sile2001
_|_
I tried using a Tube MP as a bass DI, and maybe it was just with the two basses, the PA, and also the recording interface I tried it with....but my experience was that even the ART blows as a bass DI. It went straight back to the store and was replaced with a SansAmp Bass Driver, which has fit the bill exactly.cominginsecond said:
Unfortunately, in this case it can't also be used as a mic pre.
Neither... I would get the M-Audio DMP3 instead... even if I had to wait and save up a few more bucks. By the way, I'm a bassist too... anyway, the "M-Audio DMP3" dual mic pre and DI box is one of the best "bang for the buck" budget preamp/DI on the market and perfect for someone just starting up and more... get the DMP3 instead.rynomig said:
PS... you might get more replies than here if you post your question on the "Rack" forum... just a suggestion.
noisedude
New member
The M-Audio stuff came down quite a bit in price over the last year, so particularly in America the DMP-3 has to be an excellent buy right now. I was wanting to buy one of those Behringer MIC200s a while back as a little extra toy but thankfully people talked me out of it!!!!
borntoplease
New member
Sonic Idiot said:
dude. i LOVED that first song... plastic glass. its great. im a songwriter too, i like to think of myself as a step above the rest... then its people like you who slam me back into my humble place. its some really great shit. i have yet to listen to the rest.
on the topic of the ART pre... the guitar sounds decent... at best. no real warmth to it, kinda tinny... but that could easily me the mic too. the vocals sounded pretty good though, im surprised.
good job.
and to the original poster. i dont believe in cheap gear, at least not that cheap. instead of buying something this morning... practice patience and save a few more bucks and buy something a little better. i think the VTB1 would be better than the ART... and its only 129 bucks. sell some plasma or something and pick it up.
Sonic Idiot
New member
Yeah, seriously....One ART and one mk319. Did it alone, no help. Mixed on a logitech multi media speakers with a subwoofer. We're talking seriously "non-studio grade" shit. Not by choice, mind you, but budget fueled.
The stuff doesn't sound as good as big time studio stuff, of course, but for the money the quality is astounding, I think. Certainly this couldn't be done ten years ago. And I think it sounds good enough boost the hopes of folks who feel like losers on message boards because they only have a $60 preamp!
The notion of saving up for better gear is wise, but I do think there's also something to be said for just diving in with whatever you can afford at the moment. The music I posted as an example is in many ways a documentation of me learning how to record music. Those same pieces of low end gear in the hands of a seasoned professional would have certainly yielded better results. Heck, even if I just used those elements and did the whole thing over again, my results would be much better. I guess my point is one that gets repeated many times on boards like this: The benefits of that $2,000 pre-amp are lost on he who has not mastered the $60 pre-amp...or some crap like that.
The stuff doesn't sound as good as big time studio stuff, of course, but for the money the quality is astounding, I think. Certainly this couldn't be done ten years ago. And I think it sounds good enough boost the hopes of folks who feel like losers on message boards because they only have a $60 preamp!
The notion of saving up for better gear is wise, but I do think there's also something to be said for just diving in with whatever you can afford at the moment. The music I posted as an example is in many ways a documentation of me learning how to record music. Those same pieces of low end gear in the hands of a seasoned professional would have certainly yielded better results. Heck, even if I just used those elements and did the whole thing over again, my results would be much better. I guess my point is one that gets repeated many times on boards like this: The benefits of that $2,000 pre-amp are lost on he who has not mastered the $60 pre-amp...or some crap like that.
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cominginsecond
Decentralized Media Mogul
Get a used DMP3 instead. You'll thank me later.
Sonic Idiot
New member
Blah! Buy the ART and use the time you'd waste searching for used stuff working on your tunes. You'll fall so deeply in love with recording before you know it, you'll have better pres and even then you'll pull out your odd little buddy the ART, because he is really pretty good at some things...Oh, and don't fiddle with the tube. It's fine, I swear it's fine...
By the way, I've got a used SP TB1 for sale, complete with a modification I invented that I only charge $80...I mean $90 for!
By the way, I've got a used SP TB1 for sale, complete with a modification I invented that I only charge $80...I mean $90 for!
PhilGood
Juice box hero
Sonic Idiot said:
No, it's not fine. Read any article on tubes and you'll quickly learn the Sovtek 12AX7 is one of the worst tubes out there. They have the worst performance of any tube listed. If you want the Art or any other "tube" preamp (this is hardly one, since it's a starved plate design.) to sound as good as it can. REPLACE THE TUBE!!
No offense, SI!
I'd also have to disagree with the idea that until you can master a $60 preamp, you shouldn't buy a more expensive preamp. A good preamp is one of the biggest improvements you can make to the signal and is immediately noticable, even to a beginner.
cominginsecond
Decentralized Media Mogul
You should take a listen to the clips I recorded:sile2001 said:
http://mojopie.ipbhost.com/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=5&
Maybe you got a bad unit and I got a really good one or something.
What really blows as a bass DI, at least for what I paid for it, is the Summit 2BA-221.
Chessrock uses the ART on bass.
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