rack pre amp

[fraserhutch]

It's called market forces. Any decent preamp is going to have R&D costs and such to absorb, and the developers typically charge what the market will bear.

That said, I cannot state for a fact that it is not possible to make them for that price (althought I truly doubt it) but that they would be worth much more than that and would subsequently get that in the market.

I also am not sold on the "precise" reproduction at that price. Sorry.

They may be usable for single track. I don't know that I would call them decent.

Also, where did you get your cost figures from? Can you back them up? And not or Realistic type components. We all know what goes into a Soundblaster ain;t gonna cut it. I have yet to see a DIY pre kit available for $25/channel.

Why would he be? In quantities, preamp chips don't cost much, and if you're good at soldering you can build some damn nice designs for under $25/channel, including the DMP3.... For that matter, the Peavey PV series of mixers has excellent preamps and comes in at only about $30/channel from most online sources.

Now, granted, we aren't talking about boutique preamps here. There's no character involved. At those prices, you're going to get precise reproduction, and that's about it. Since that's what most folks want, though, I don't think expecting decent quality for $25/channel is too much to ask. Honestly, I think it's actually a bit high, given the cost of components and the relatively low cost of mass manufacturing this stuff. If Peavey can make a whole mixer with great pres for that, there's no reason in the world you couldn't build a bank of pres by themselves for significantly less than that.

 

[SonicAlbert]

I also am not sold on the "precise" reproduction at that price. Sorry.

Me neither. If you were to put that "precise" $25 preamp up against a truly precise preamp like a Massenburg or similar unit, you'd be able to clearly hear a difference.

 

[BigRay]

Cmon Gatwood, you think he was going to solder one?? No way.

Why would he be? In quantities, preamp chips don't cost much, and if you're good at soldering you can build some damn nice designs for under $25/channel, including the DMP3....

 

[jonnyc]

Did this strike anyone else as a little humorous?

First:



Then:



Isn't this *proof* that there is something wrong with the ADA8000?

Mine works fine, has for 2 years. Now I will admit that I rarely ever keep anything recorded with it but that's primarily because it gets used as extra channels for talkback and for bands that like tracking all together. Although I always retrack through a nicer pre. All I can say is if you aren't worried about great sound quality and you just really want to make rough demos and get ideas down then this piece will work just fine for you. It is a bit testy and if cranked can get noisey but it does have it's uses. That being said, as soon as I have the money for an ISA428 with digi option the behri goes up on ebay.

 

[fraserhutch]

So you wouldn't call them decent either. You just haven't had yours fail on you. Yet.

Mine works fine, has for 2 years. Now I will admit that I rarely ever keep anything recorded with it but that's primarily because it gets used as extra channels for talkback and for bands that like tracking all together. Although I always retrack through a nicer pre. All I can say is if you aren't worried about great sound quality and you just really want to make rough demos and get ideas down then this piece will work just fine for you. It is a bit testy and if cranked can get noisey but it does have it's uses. That being said, as soon as I have the money for an ISA428 with digi option the behri goes up on ebay.

 

[c7sus]

Don't waste your hard-earned $$$ on Chinese shit.

Berhinger ISN'T decent gear by ANY MEASURE.

They deal in stolen designs, crappy components, and want you to think the stuff is German-engineered.

 

[Paj]

Ada8000

hipknot01:

I've used the ADA8000 for over two years now, without a problem, through hundreds of sets of material. I mostly use it to add 8 ADAT channels to my portable recorder, which is run from the stage. The recording are routinely done for every set for monitoring purposes. It's plain-vanilla, like recording via insert sends, and in a LIVE SETTING will yield no worse results than recording the dry signal from INSERT SENDS from Mackie VLZ, Behri UB, or Yamaha MG boards. It's more than good enough to bring out the good or bad qualities inherent in condenser mics and has no problem powering eight of them at a time. For me, it works as claimed and better than I expected. I use it live because live, there are other issues that compromise many a "quality" or "headroom" issue---mic bleed, ambient noise, performance issues, anatomical distractions, etc. It's not the unit that I'd plan a session around unless I wanted to have multiple auxiliary mics or mic pairs on the same signal for blends with the primary signal(s).

I guess that brings us to the question of why you need an 8 channel pre.

Unless you need/use the ADAT capabilities the ADA8000 will probably be inconvenient and inappropriate for you. It's XLR/quarter-inch/ADAT IN but only XLR (by jumping the ADAT I/O) or ADAT OUT. It really is set up for ADAT use/convenience and is awkward in the analog world.

At $200, if you have to spend it, and you really need 8 channels, you'd be better off with a Yamaha MG mixer or looking around for the lucky sale of a better unit, like that new Corvette I got a few years back for a thousand dollars because a guy committed suicide in it . . .

Good luck,
Paj
8^)

 

[ermghoti]

I use it live because live, there are other issues that compromise many a "quality" or "headroom" issue...anatomical distractions, etc.

You mean checking out the milk launchers on the chick in the tube-top instead of watching your meters?

 

[Paj]

You mean . . .

Now that we understand each other . . .

Paj
8^)

 

[jonnyc]

So you wouldn't call them decent either. You just haven't had yours fail on you. Yet.

Correct. It does help as extra inputs for scratch tracks, I usually have the whole band record with the drummer, other than that I'd never use them in an actual mix. They just get way too dirty way too quick.

 

[dgatwood]

Also, where did you get your cost figures from? Can you back them up? And not or Realistic type components. We all know what goes into a Soundblaster ain;t gonna cut it. I have yet to see a DIY pre kit available for $25/channel.

Somebody opened a DMP-3 up a while back on one of the other recording boards. It's basically a single chip op amp design using a chip by TI. The chip costs a few bucks (and you could probably get a couple of free samples). It won't cost more than a few bucks for a handful of resistors and quality caps to complete the circuit.

Honestly, these days, the biggest cost of building a preamp is usually either the case, with the power supply coming in a close second. After you've covered those costs, the incremental cost per channel is peanuts for most designs (tube preamps notwithstanding). The result is that the cost per channel drops the more preamps you stuff in a device.

The cost of building a single channel pre in small quantities (DIY shop) would be about $10 for a good power supply design, $3 for a piece of breadboard or whatever, $12 for a case, $15 for miscellaneous parts (in quantities of a hundred) and probably about $5 for the op amp. So $45 for on channel. But the second one only costs you an op amp, so $50 for two. For eight, $80.

Now realize that if you or I can build something for $50 for two channels, a manufacturer can build it for $25. That $15 for miscellaneous parts would be enough parts to build a hundred of these things. The case when purchased in bulk probably costs $3-5. The op amp gets progressively cheaper in larger quantities, and shipping costs for the parts basically disappear when spread across large quantity purchases.

Both Yamaha and Peavey make low end mixers whose pres are generally considered to be decent at about $25 per channel. I use my Peavey pres on ribbons. They work quite nicely---slightly cleaner than the ones on my FIREPOD and noticeably better than the pres on my FW1814.