home recorder wondering if mixer or preamp is way to go

[jonas5000]

ok, i do all home recording by myself and never track more than 2 intruments at once. i own a junky usb mixer and a junky pre-amp right now and am looking to upgrade. i'm wondering which is more logical for me to get: a decent pre-amp or a decent mixer? remember, nothing over-elaborate, since i never record more than two instruments at once. could you guys recommend some decent pre-amps (mainly for vocals) and decent mixers (possibly firewire). i own a imac with osx, 3.06GHz intel core 2 duo, 2 gb 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, Rode NT2-A mic. the junky mixer i have right now is a yamaha mw10 usb mixer, and the pre-amp i have is an m-audio audiobuddy. please lend me guidance....

 

[tdukex]

Well, the preamps you have are pretty decent. I have the Audiobuddy's big brother, the DMP3, but I suspect all three preamps, including the Yammy are in the same league. The Rode NT2A is also supposed to be a pretty decent mic. What are you using for AD/DA conversion. If you don't like the sound of yor recordings, that could be the problem.

 

[Seafroggys]

I can attest to the NT2a's quality. I got a pair, most excellent.

 

[dualflip]

Well i think a 2k mixer wont match the sound a of a 2k pre, if you are recording few instruments, ill go with only pres