antispatula
Active member
I want to get a tampa, I've heard they're super for their price. I don't know if some pre's work better with analog or not. Will this work?
does it matter which preamp you use w/ analog?
- Thread starter antispatula
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antispatula
Active member
yes it is. I've never gotten a preamp before, and it wouldn't seem like it would matter whatsoever, but I'd rather make sure before spending 300 dollars. Maybe one preamp sounds better than another while recording onto a reel to reel? Don't know, I have no expirience in the matter. In fact, I'm still really new to recording altogether, I'm 16, cut me a break.
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FALKEN
*************************
OK. for the most part it isn't going to matter what your recording medium is. a preamp is still going to do what a preamp does. if you are going for a certain sound from a certain preamp you are still going to get it. you can probably hear the differences better on a digital setup, but I don't think there's any specific pre's that are "better" for digital or analog. what are you upgrading from?
Dr ZEE
Anti-Pro Circles Insider
First of all I don't know either. So I have no idea.antispatula said:
Second... I'd say, when evaluating preamps you'd rather look into what the preamp is better with "what's coming in" instead of looking into what it is bettwer with the type of device you send "what's coming out" to.
.... now, did I say something? or was it just a bunch of incoherent nonsense?
...ok, to put it differently a bit: a preamp can be evaluated based on what it does to incoming signal, but not on what the user's intentions are in respect to what to do with the preamp's output signal.
...or, say: a preamp can be "good" or "bad" for a kind of instrument, kind of performer, kind of mic, kind of room, but it can not be "good" or "bad" for a kind of amp, kind of speaker, kind of recorder.
well, I guess at the end, though, anything can be "good" or "bad" for a kind of listener
/respects
antispatula
Active member
FALKEN said:
I am upgrading from the crappy built-in pres in my 25 year old mixer.....That's why I have no expirience with external pre's.
citizenkeith
New member
antispatula said:
It doesn't matter if you're using digital or analog... a good quality preamp makes a big difference in either medium.
I recently switched from using a Mackie 1604 with XDR preamps to an old Studiomaster board... the difference was astounding. "So that's where all my high end was hiding," I thought when playing back my tracks the next day. The Mackie preamps, in comparison, made everything sound veiled, like there was a blanket over the speakers.
What kind of "25 year old mixer" do you currently use? What don't you like about the preamps? Only then can somebody say if the Tampa will be better.
You'll find that some preamps work better with a particular mic or source than others preamps. It's sort of relative, but higher price usually equals "better." There are always exceptions, of course, but you get the idea.
In the end, you need to decide what you want out of the preamp. Nice soundstage? Want it to handle transients well? A boosted top end, or flat? Transparency? Color?
I'm just trying to give you some things to think about. If you just want to buy something and start making music, get what you can afford and start recording. I'm just saying that from personal experience I wish I did more research and more LISTENING before I laid down the money for the Mackie.
SteveMac
New member
I'm going 4th or 5th what was already said and say you should just work with what you have, get to know it's limitations and then maybe decide if you need something else. Seems to me like you already have some pretty cool equipment for being only 16. Have you used the Otari yet?
antispatula
Active member
cjacek said:
It's an old peavey mixer, looks pretty old. I don't have any date, and couldn't find any info on it. The pre's sound ok, but past 65% they get a little noisy and buzzy and crackly. Aren't external preamps usually always better than built in ones? Should I not get an external one? My mixer is a Peavey MD II 16X2. I don't know if those are well known or not. Hm.....maybe I should stick with the onboard ones for right now......
antispatula
Active member
SteveMac said:
hey. The otari? Not yet, I've been dying to use it. It's been having some problems, half of the problems being it's owner has little money..... Channels 4 6 and 7 are a little messed up. I deoxed the switch contacts as best I could, that helped. They go in and out all the time; I have to mess with the swithes in the back to keep the channels working. And I have to rolls of 456, both from 1996 which I've heard is a good sign. But I have no take up reel! I didn't want to strip down one of my 456's to use, since they are still sealed. I JUST got one off ebay though. And I still need to send off my pinch roller to terry's to get it rubbered. AND, I need a snake. I don't know whether I want balanced or unbalanced cables, I don't know wether my mixer is or not, or wether it even matters or not. Then I need to rewire them to 3 pin hot. All of this is a littl much for someone who doesn't know what they're doing, and has to juggle school, work, etc. But I'm almoast there! When the emty reel comes in the mail, I'll at least be able to test it out properly. I almoast feel unworthy having such a cool machine, and getting it for 100......
SteveMac
New member
Thats a steal. You should be recording man! You're enthusiastic enough about it. What kind of mixer do you have? Maybe post a picture of it here and we could tell how it hooks up or if it's compatable. If you can, post a picture of the top and back or where the plug ins are.
Oh ok I just saw it. You said a peavey. uhgg Peavy. well maybe it'll work.
Oh ok I just saw it. You said a peavey. uhgg Peavy. well maybe it'll work.
antispatula
Active member
FALKEN said:
yeah, the first thing I recorded on was a 4 track porta too. It broke days after I got it. Then I switched to using a pc w/ audacity. It sounded so sucky and cold. That's one of the many reasons I don't use pc to record, even thought it's "against" what my generation thinks of as "quality recording"
cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
antispatula said:
Obviously the problems you're experiencing with your mixer is not typical. Perhaps it just needs servicing or .... Frankly I'd like to see you use the money that you'd spend on an outboard pre to get yourself a nice used mixer. Usually I suggest some of the easily accessible TASCAM mixers outthere like the "m" line but am wondering if they would would be compatible with your Otari, with all XLR's etc ... Someone wanna help me out with this ? Wouldn't the M300 and M500 series work well here ? Yeah, so I really do believe that you can spend the money MUCH better on a higher function mixer than an outboard mic pre. There are tons of good sounding and cheap used mixers in local classifieds (like craigslist.com for example) and eBay, MUCH better than your Peavey, that can be had for 100 - 300 bucks, many of which we talk about here continously. The mic pre's on these TASCAM mixers, for example, are better than many, if not all, of the prosumer outboard pre's and certainly better than the Peavey
. I think that in order for you to really "upgrade" you'd have to spend over a thousand on a single outboard pre. It's not worth it in my view for a majority of home recordists. You're really better off getting a nice mixing console on the used market and believe me, if it's in good condition, you won't look back. Certainly there are other good mixers other than a TASCAM, but a TASCAM is more easily found, cheaper with massive support from many on this board and even TEAC. It has the best price to performance ratio.~Daniel
antispatula
Active member
hey, thanks for the speculation, it made me so bothered I went and tested out the mixer again. There was NO problem! I can turn the pre up to about 90 percent without barely any added hiss! It kind of baffled me for a few minutes, until I realized it was just an old cable I had been using. I havent had this mixer for all that long. He're what it looks like, I found one on ebay, exept mine is 16 channels. I got it off craigslist for 100.
http://cgi.ebay.com/PEAVEY-MD-11B-S...ryZ41474QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
the the outs are just 1/4. My recorder I want to use real bad has xlr. So I just need a trs to xlr snake, the only thing that still confuses my is wether or not I need balanced or unbalanced cables.
http://cgi.ebay.com/PEAVEY-MD-11B-S...ryZ41474QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
the the outs are just 1/4. My recorder I want to use real bad has xlr. So I just need a trs to xlr snake, the only thing that still confuses my is wether or not I need balanced or unbalanced cables.
cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
Shit, there was something that I was itching to say about checking cables but I'm glad that you did!
Lookin' at the Peavey, from what I could discern from the picts, it looks a very capable mixer and if the preamps work cleanly now then my honest opinion is to use what you've got and don't bother getting additional gear. Just don't do it. I think that you could do a hell of a lot with what you have now, even if you have to make best of its shortcomings in certain areas - it's all doable. Use any extra money you have to perhaps service the Otari but that's all I'd recommend as far as spending more, at least for now. I hope someone can chime in on the cables issue.
~Daniel
Lookin' at the Peavey, from what I could discern from the picts, it looks a very capable mixer and if the preamps work cleanly now then my honest opinion is to use what you've got and don't bother getting additional gear. Just don't do it. I think that you could do a hell of a lot with what you have now, even if you have to make best of its shortcomings in certain areas - it's all doable. Use any extra money you have to perhaps service the Otari but that's all I'd recommend as far as spending more, at least for now. I hope someone can chime in on the cables issue.
~Daniel
antispatula
Active member
hey, thanks for the reply! Yeah, I definitely need to get my Otari up and running more smoothly. I actually know an electrical engineer; my dad is a dentist, and he got some work done from my dad, and instead of paying him, he custom-built us an entertainment center, making a custom amp and everything. I asked his if he knew how to service reel to reels and he was like "yeah......proabibly. It's been a while." So hopefully I can have him take a look at it soon.