looking at preamps $500-$1000...help!!!

C

catfish11

New member
i'm running an omni/delta 66 studio, recording mostly electric and acoustic instruments, rock-pop genre and doing some vocals
i have not been happy with the fatness and fullness i want from bass and acoustic, i mainly am using the nt1 mic and when i put it through an antares mic modeler it sounds pretty good
the only preamp besides the one's in the omni is an art tube mp (which seems o.k. as a direct-in for guitar)
however i know a good pre with some compression and eq would help quite a bit, i can hear it in the songs i like (ie...GARBAGE) big fat and thick and in your face, nothing subtle, that's for me!
but i live on maui (i know, what a bummer) and i can't try stuff out
so i have really been following your threads and learning alot (read growing more confused)
i want to purchase something that is going to last and do alot of stuff, iwas thinking on the joe meek vctwin qcs, i guess its more or less a stereo version of the meek vc1q
i figured i could use the to compressors for mixing down too,
it seems like it would be a good unit....
i know there are others envoice mindprint (where can it be bought in the U.S.?) art tube channel?
please help!!!!!
i know there are many posts on this issue but i was kind of hoping to start a major fray and sort it all out after the dust settles....
THANKS
 
art pro mpa for 439usd or an art pro channel @559usd a nice unit or a presonus vxp for around 549usd all these units are great for what they cost you could easily buy worse then these for the money also have a look at some of the dbx stuff they make pretty consistent gear for what they charge
 
The PreSonus MP20 is clean and detailed but not fat sounding.

If you want fat and compressed, I would buy the ART Pro Channel, Mindprint Envoice, or HHB Radius 40. I'm partial to the ART because I use the ART Pro VLA compressor and I know I like it. It will do "fat". The Pro Channel also has variable-mu compression. The Mindprint has a very attractive price and had great reviews.

If I was in the market for one of these I would have to flip a coin. Check out the review of the Pro Channel at www.prorec.com
 
OK, the 1272's went up a couple hundred, and the API went up a hundred... still a great deal on the API for $899... will blow away any of the aforementioned stuff. No offense.
I think the API 200 series 4 space racks are about $600 and the preamps are about $500, brand new... buy the rack, wait a few weeks til you have a few more dollars, and buy a preamp. Once you have the rack, you can buy whatever you wanna put in it... 4 pres, or 2 pres 2 EQ's, or make your own channel strip, whatever... smart move.... and WAY more resale value than the other stuff. Way more.
 
Oh, i just remembered... you mentioned using the Meek stereo unit as a mixdown compressor. That may not be a color you want smashed all the way across your mixes, but it would be fine on SOME things. You probably want a clean compressor for final mixes.
 
If your looking for fat and puffy go with tubes. ART pro channel is a good choice. If you want detail and transparency you might try the Grace Design 101. Bought mine about two months ago and it blows my mind. About $600.

Greg
 
yikes!
there's to much information...i'm melting, i'm melting....
i found the envoice mindprint at soundchaser for 549.00
it looks to me like a good one trick pony
i want a unit as an instrument input and a mic pre, perhaps not as colored as the meek stuff
i don't know, but a tube is a tube, is a tube and i like tubes
at this stage of the game i'm most interested in building my own songs so a single channel is o.k.
i think i could probably bus it into my omni if i wanted to use the compression on mix down
for me i diffently want a tube sound,
ihave a pod and i am not impreessed by emmulation,
i prefer my art tube mp going into revalver
tubedude don't you have the envoice?
what do think of this solution?
anybody?
hello....hello...check, check...
hello.........
 
catfish all the mic pres we have mentioned are good but if your serious about the gear you want and have the 1000usd to spend on one mic pre you will probably be better served buying what tubdude has sugested the other pres mentioned will not be of the same quality.

although the other pres are good they wont get near what tubedude has mentioned the only other pre i heard of late was the tc electronics m3000 which i thought sounded very nice as well.

if it was just one mic pre you could get just look at what tubedude has mentioned this gear will serve you very well for years and he is right to say its resale value will be good unlike the other pres which will loose value
 
get the envoice. If not, get a peavey vmp2 two channels of totally pro tube preamping for $750

I just heard a vocal sound of a c3000 into an envoice that sounded almost the same as a u87 into an api vocal sound that I had been lusting for. No kidding.

Listen to buck62s latest post in the clinic to hear what I am talking about.
 
HHB Radius-40. I was so pleased with the one I bought that I got a second. Very versatile and can be used on anything (not just vocals). EQ and compressor/limiter all included. About $650 each from Full-Compass.

- Wil
 
Forgot about the vmp-2... you might check that out, but if it sucks, blame it on Cyan! :)
I've heard nothing but good about it, even from some of the biggies... well, aside from the fact that its not too rugged.
 
For clean, I'd second the Grace 101 and add the Earthworks Lab 101 to the short list. The Earthworks adds NOTHING BUT GAIN, while the Grace subjectively sweetens. Neither has compression or other processing features, and both are single channel in the $559 range + shipping if you shop around. A taste of the best.

At around $1K, consider a used AMEK 9098 if you like the Neve sound.

Mark H.
 
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