Just got my DMP3...not what I expected...

H

hoursonend

Member
Just got my DMP3...not the jaw-drop I expected...

Hi,

I just got my DMP3...

I'm stepping up from Behringer UB1204 pres...I heard many members rave about the DMP-3 and the 'jaw-dropping' difference the pres made...

I CAN hear a difference, but it's so subtle....The DMP-3 sounds a bit fuller and warmer than the Behringer. It's just now that I realise how nice the Behringers really sound...and this is no sarcasm...

I have only test driven the DMP-3 for about 45 minutes now, doing some A/B test with the Behringer, recording to my minidisc deck and listening back through my Sennheiser headphones. The difference is there, sure, and the DMP3 is nicer, but it's just so subtle, I think the difference would go completely lost in a mix. I just try to think in terms of: would the old pres ruin my mix compared to the new ones? The answer would probably be no in this case....

I am planning on test-driving them for some longer, first do A LOT of recording with the DMP3, and then go back to the Behringer pres. If I then still think the difference is too small to cost me the €160 the DMP3 has cost me, I'm going to return the DMP3. Perhaps it's just too early to comment on it yet, but I just wanted to share this...

I was really looking forward to my 'decent pre', and I really thought the Behringers stunk, but now I realise the Behringers are actually quite nice...

Stan.
 
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45 minutes? minidisk? headphones? c'mon man...

the best things you'll hear, you'll BARELY hear... and your best signal is only as good as your weakest link. check to make sure you have all your gain stages PERFECT, and try different things to get the pre to do different things. you should notice a difference. or maybe you shouldn't be an AE.
:eek:
(preping for neg. rep points.....) :rolleyes:
 
I did say I noticed a difference, and I also said it might perhaps have been too early to judge it, but I just wanted to say that there wasn't an immediate jaw-drop when I plugged it in...
I'm not giving you negative rep. points, because you're totally right. I think the gain stages are fine.
I was listening thourg my very good headphones to make sure I heard every subtle difference, Of course I also listened through my monitors....

anyway thanks for the replies, I hope I did well buying the DMP-3.

It was just that I was a little disappointed. You know, when you get some new gear you've been carefully selecting during the past two months, you really want it to shine, out of the box, you know what I mean? That was just what it was lacking to me.
You don't hear me say this is a bad device, I think it's very good, nice and smooth sound, but I expected my behringer pres to sound like complete crap when A/B'ed.

Stan
 
diogo said:
Stan,

compare a full crowded mix with the behringer pres, and then the same with the DMP3..i think you'll apreciate it more then. ;)
Click to expand...

I will certainly try that. I've planned some recording sessions with my girlfriend, who is an amazing singer. Looking forward to it :-)

Thanks for the support ;)

Stan.
 
I don't think you'll ever find a £50 per channel preamp that'll make your 'jaw drop'. ;)

It's cheap gear but for the money I think the DMP-3 is great, as always ymmv.

Comparing one track recorded with each pre you're not going to hear that much of a difference between the two (certainly not in that price range).

As has been said it's when you start stacking them up that the difference will show more.
 
wait....you mean that some of the people here might have misled you?? nnoooo....
 
Warhead said:
Behringer to a DMP3 doesn't exactly strike me as a long journey towards sonic excellence, but that might just be me.

War
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every step is a step none the less. as for sonic excellence...I think I'm looking for sonic pretty good or sonic that works well. sonic excellence comes with the price tag that i cant get near
 
Yeah, I have some grave concerns about comparing anything with headphones. Put them on on some decent monitors so you can hear the full range. Headphones scoop and push frequencies.
 
Middleman said:
Yeah, I have some grave concerns about comparing anything with headphones. Put them on on some decent monitors so you can hear the full range. Headphones scoop and push frequencies.
Click to expand...

Oh, that might have been me then, I thought monitors were used to mix properly, levels, eq etc, and the headphones to listen for some details....but now it kinda makes sense to me to listen for sonic differences on the monitors, b/c you've got a more true freq range. I've been playing around with the DMP-3 today and it's a very nice preamp, just expected it to excel the behringers a little more. But the longer I use it, the more I'm growing to really like it :).

Stan. :)
 
distortedrumble said:
every step is a step none the less. as for sonic excellence...I think I'm looking for sonic pretty good or sonic that works well. sonic excellence comes with the price tag that i cant get near
Click to expand...

Yep, same for me, looking to do some very nice recordings, but not by invesing tens of thousands.
 
stanjanssen said:
I've been playing around with the DMP-3 today and it's a very nice preamp, just expected it to excel the behringers a little more. But the longer I use it, the more I'm growing to really like it :).
Click to expand...

maybe its making you deaf in the higher frequencies?
 
Kevin DeSchwazi said:
;)
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Just wanted to let you know, I love Will Oldham.

Also, I have a Sytek MPX-4Aii, and when layering only a few tracks, it doesn't sound much better then the stock pre's on the Digi002R I use. However, when you're recording a complete song with 10 or more tracks, you really hear the difference.
 
I'm a dyed in the wool budget gear guy (RNC, Soundcraft M-series board/preamps, lots of chinese mics and cheap domestics). I've never noticed a quantum leap in anything I've done or upgraded, but things just gradually seem to get better as I do small upgrades.
 
The difference between my RNP and my SCA A12 wasn't even "jaw-dropping." IMO, upgrading pres just don't doesn't make jaws drop. It's important to have the nicest pres you can afford, but they don't usually rock anyone's world.

Mics, on the other hand, are a different story. Going to my Soundelux U195 was sooooo nice! ;)
 
I think you're going to probably be limited by going to minidisc, if that's what you're recording directly to. Perhaps the difference would be more noticable with higher quality mics, too.

Good luck.
 
thehymns said:
Just wanted to let you know, I love Will Oldham.

Also, I have a Sytek MPX-4Aii, and when layering only a few tracks, it doesn't sound much better then the stock pre's on the Digi002R I use. However, when you're recording a complete song with 10 or more tracks, you really hear the difference.
Click to expand...
I'll be seeing Will Oldham and matt Sweeney in a couple of weeks at a little festival over here called the green man. I can't wait, i've not seen him play live before.

I hear those Sytek pres are very clean.
 
Headphones can be deceiving. I have a pair of Sennheiser cans (can't remember the model #) and a pair of AKG 240's. The Senn's were made to flatter the music and it's more difficult to hear the nuanced differences when testing with pres and mics. The 240's were made more for recording purposes and they give a truer representation of the recorded sound.

Terry
 
Headphones are deceiving. It is not a good idea to mix or compare anything with headphones. Most all of us will say that if asked.

I suspect that the huge load of negativity this board has towards Behr could easily lead someone to expect great things from any replacement piece. I am not suprized that the sound difference is slight. like it's been said before, the full potential of the DMP3, or ANY pre really, would not be seen untill the mix is crowded. It is transparency and clean signals that matter most, and it's difficult to judge transparency unless there are a lot of things going on all at once.

I would hope that stanjanssen spends a few days or weeks using the DMP3 exclusively, and with an open mind, before any final decisions are made. I would also expect that the DMP3 will require some minor changes in recording techniqe in order to find it's true voice.
 
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