Rackmount for vocals

C

Cudmasters Los

New member
I am recording straight into the computer, and i am wondering if i should get a tube rackmount for warm sound. If so i was looking into the beringer 1953 tube ultragain. I am on a low budget and
was wondering your thoughts. Thanks
 
Yea. Don't let glowy tubes impress themselves upon you and influence your actions. And beware of anything made by Behringer. 90% of it is crap with horrible repair history and astronomical defective crapola ratio.

The best you can hope for in that general range is a good, clean/neutral box that's reliable and does what it's supposed to do. Focusrite makes some pretty decent budget-level stuff. If you don't mind buying used, I think the older Symetrix 528's are just great.
 
What is it about the tube sound?

I checked out the focusrite and they were all around $500 to 2,000,mostley $1000+. I guess i should have put a # on my LOW budget.LOL It is around $200. I checked out the symetrix 528, it's around $250, not bad, I guess i'm really trying to squeeze a tube sound into that price range because i heard the tube sound really makes a difference in the vocals, warm. But i agree with you on the behringer, i guess i was going to take a chance because it was a $500 unit going for $179. But i am going with what u guys think 'cause this is where u go to find out the best info.Kinda funny because the unit i am talking just happens to be a unit that was repaired.:D As they say "Listen to the advise of someone that replied over 5,000 times" ;)

Also what is it about the tube sound that everybody is talking about?
 
Re: What is it about the tube sound?

Cudmasters Los said:
Also what is it about the tube sound that everybody is talking about?
Click to expand...

There's something kind of magical about the sound of good tube gear . . . be it a guitar amp, microphone, compressor, or mic pre. Forward and aggressive without being abrasive. If that makes any sense.

You won't find good tube mic pres for $200. Most of it is crap. Good tube gear is very expensive to make -- and therefore buy. Just thought I'd warn ya.
 
Instead of limiting it to tube preamps being expensive to make, I say good preamps in general are expensive to make.

The Peavey VMP-2 and Deaf Dog Designs Dottie about the least expensive "REAL" tube preamps I know of.

I have a Dottie on order.

I had the VMP-2 for a year and quickly replaced all the tubes with some rather expensive NOS tubes; mostly different Mullards in specific sockets.

I had the Behringer 1953 at the same time too and had it for a year also. If you're going to go that route, I'd only recommend it if you change-out the tubes... See the following link about that:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?threadid=65448

Still, the 1953 after the tube exchange is NOTHING like a "REAL" tube preamp!
 
Yo Cud! Welcome to the board. Yeah, changing out the tubes is no problem, really, but wait until you check the price of Mullard tubes. Hell, for the price of some of those tubes, you could've bought the real thing! While changing out the tubes can help a cheap tube amp somewhat, I have to agree with Chessrock on this one. You're going to have to have a whole lot more money before buying a tube pre will be a good use of your money. You can get much better solid state pres that are closer to your budget, such as M Audio DMP-3.
Note that almost all cheap "tube" amps are hybrid designs, basically solid state amps with a little tube in the front end to add supposed "warmth" to the signal. This is mostly a marketing gimmick. Some of the hybrids can be usable, such as Studio Projects VTB-1 and DBX386, but real tube amps, they aren't. In your price range, you need to get the best preamp you can, not one because it has a tube. Real tube pres start at about $800 and go up from there. Note that some of the greatest, and ballsiest rock n' roll of the last 30 years was recorded through solid state preamps.-Richie
 
http://www.deafdogdesigns.com

Not really much of anything on their website yet and probably won't be for a while, but you can see a picture of one there.

Actually, I just NOW went to their website and it's not up. Maybe they're updating the website now?

The Dottie preamp is a 1959 Mullard Preamp design with modern resistors, caps, etc.

Contact the owner, Dave Emerick, and he'll tell you more details about it.

Custom features may be had. Mine will be a 2U rackmount red oak cabinet with a natural finish. Also, I chose a midrange presents boost rather than a low-cut filter.

Can be had for $700 USD.

Definitely NOT just a DI!

If you want to contact Dave and the site is still not up, just email me and ask for his email. Dave usually takes up to 3-5 days, sometimes a long week, to respond most of the time. He travels a lot doing odd electronic jobs here and there and usually doesn't have time to check or respond to email while he's away.

By the way, Dave use to be a tech guy at Westlake Audio up until the beginning of 2003, from what I understand.
 
No. Single-Channel.

The Peavey VMP-2 is the only "REAL" 2-ch. tube preamp you're gonna find for $700.

From there it jumps to $925 for a Sebatron VMP-2000e.

From there, it jumps up to around $1.4k-$1.5k, for two Deag Dog Design Dotties or a DaviSound TB-1.

From there, it jumps up to over $2k and FAR beond!
 
Thanks rich, I just checked it out on musicians freind. Not expensive either. I assume you have one! They seem to be made for computer recording which is just what I need.
 
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