Preamp(s) for about 300-400 bucks?

J

jalla

New member
Hey!

Found out about this forum and I hope you guys can help me. I'm building a home studio a bit and I'm looking for preamps for both my guitar and microphone. I need only 1 input each and then an output for my sound card. It can be one unit or two separates. I have money to spend on those about 300-400 bucks depending on which soundcard (been looking for m-audio phase 22, Echo MiaMidi etc.) I'm going to purchase.

The most important features of the guitar preamp I'm looking for:

1) Sound quality (at least 24/96, cool connectors)
2) Low price
3) Good amp models or other sounds

I don't need any effects, I have pedals and software for those. The features for the mic preamp are the first two, I don't need anything else. For the guitar preamp, I was looking for Behringer V-Amp Pro.

If you know some good gear that fills at least the first to requirements for that kind of money, let me know! Or if you think I can't get anything good in that price range, let me know that too. Don't want to buy any crap :rolleyes:

Thanks!
 
Mic Pre

Hey I purchased a joemeek threeq just a couple of months ago and I like it a lot. I believe I payed about $300 for it...but you can find them used on ebay for cheaper. It's a great little mic pre, it has three band eq with a sweepable mid section, and it has an optical compressor which works quite nicely in some situations. Both the comp and the eq can be switched on and off individually and it has 48v phantom power. It has one line input (1/4) and one XLR input. I've used it with an Audio Technica 3035 and an Sm58 and it sounds warm and clean and quiet. It doesn't color the sound too much either. This is a very good mic pre for home studio applications. I highly recomend it. After looking and asking around for a couple of months about upgrading to a different mic pre around the same price and even a couple hundred bucks more I decided to stay with my joemeek. Good luck.
 
Um ... Mike D, did you even read the guy's question? :D


Jalla ... here's the deal about recording guitars with an amp modeler. Ya see, they all pretty much sound like dog shit. So my most humble advice would be to just go and get the cheapest one you can find ... or just flip a coin or "ennie-meenie-miney-moe" or whatever. And you're bound to wind up with something that sounds equally as good (bad) as anything else out on the market.
 
mic pre

Yeah chessrock I read the guys question...and then I gave him some advice on a good mic pre in the $300-$400 range. Am I missing something? And you're right recording with an amp modeler does sound like a big ass...it doesn't have any life or any umph. It just doesn't sound real. Now maybe if you were using a modeler out of an actual amplifier then micing the amp...if you have some really good models...like the Line 6 Flextone III that doesn't sound too bad...I don't think that the models sound incredibly accurate to the originals they are imitating but they still sound good for what they are. Maybe look into that. Good luck once again.
 
Thanks guys for the replys! The only real requirement I have regarding the preamps (especially for the guitar one) is to boost the signal so that it wouldn't be so weak when getting into the soundcard, that's what the preamps are ultimately for. But it should do it well. Any amp models, effects, EQ etc. are only a bonus, not a requirement by any means. I'm recording my guitars using direct input, so I really need a preamp for that. Or maybe I should go for a DI box? Any thoughts?

And actually I was hoping to get a mic and a guitar preamp both for $300-400 but I guess that's not possible without loosing in quality :(
 
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