Ready for a new mic pre .. where do I go from here???

WERNER 1

WERNER 1

Member
Hey guys,.. you all were very instrumental in helping decided on all the pieces of my home Studio when I built it about 3 years ago... at that time I ended up going with 2 - M Audio DMP-3's and two Studio Projects VTB-1's,... while those have served me well over the past few years,... I'm looking to invest in another Mic pre that would primarily be used for Vocals (??) ...

I'm not sure on the Price range,..my initial thoughts were somewhere around 500-750 (?) ... I know that may not get me into any of the "Good" stuff,...but maybe it'll give me an inbetween area from where I'm at now...

Thanks
Rick
 
There are some choices at that price point that would be different than what you currently have:

Peavey VMP-2 - two channel real tube pre with rudimentary EQ. Only available used, but a real nice tube pre.

DAV Electronics BG-1 - two channel very clean pre. You have to order direct unless you find a used one.

Chameleon Labs 7602 or 7622 preamp - nevesque design. The 7602 has a nice EQ section.

I'm sure there are others out there as well, but these are what come to mind that would be good for vocals IMHO. I believe that FMR Audio (RNP), Summit and Grace also have units at this price point that you could consider.
 
Thanks for the input man,.. (The only input I might add!?!? ...:confused: ) ... I spent some time over the past two days checking into all those you've listed and the Peavey sounds pretty interesting if I can find one,..

Anybody else have any suggestions?

Thanks
Rick
 
yea if you can find the Peavey they are nice but it will be better with a tube change ...What type of music will the vocals be on .
 
Yeah,...I'm all over the tubes,...I'm a part time "Cork Sniffer" when it comes to tubes in my guitar amps :o

Music wise,...I'd say somewhere in the Rock vein of things,...anywhere from Gospel to hard Rock,... No Rap or screamo' type stuff (??) ..

Thanks,
Rick
 
A great preamp in the 500 range is the grace designs mp-01 (?) or whatever their single channel tube preamp is called. It has a great sound to it. The UAD solo is another choice, but I think that might be at the top end of that budget.
 
Ripthorn said:
A great preamp in the 500 range is the grace designs mp-01 (?) or whatever their single channel tube preamp is called. It has a great sound to it. The UAD solo is another choice, but I think that might be at the top end of that budget.
Click to expand...

the grace you're referring to (the m101 iirc) is a solid state (not tube), transformerless design. the uad solo comes either as the 610 solo or 110 solo. the former is a tube preamp-- kind of a table top version of their discontinued m610 model. a very colored preamp that sounds very good on some things (certain vocals, bass di, electric guitar ime), but not good on others. it benefits from changing at least the 12ax7 in there. the 110 solo is a transformer based solid state design-- a simplified version of the preamps in their 8110 and 4110 models.

all of the preamp suggestions are good ones. i'd add the safe sound p1 to the list for consideration as well-- it's a great channel strip with a nice, clean preamp and a very useful, "transparent" compressor. also, if you poke around you can probably find two channels of racked yamaha pm-1000 channels well within your price range.
 
For some odd reason I thought the grace was a tube design. Well, goes to show that trusting one's memory is not always a sure bet. If you can find an avalon in that range, they make good ones too.
 
As an owner of RME FF800, GreatRiver Pre, an old Meek VC1, newer meek stuff, and FMR RNP I would say that you would be hard pressed to do better than adding an RNP to your set up.

It will give you two channels each with an insert and it doubles as a killer bass DI.

The 4 tracks off Heptane (available free here: http://www.last.fm/music/R.+Mutt) were all done with the RNP handling: all guitars, drum overheads, bass di, and lead vocals

Some back up vocals went through the newer small meek unit as did one of the kick drum mics.
 
I had been looking at the RNP for a long time,...but was thinking maybe it was time to go "tube" ... (?) .. ... But I could sell one of my DMP-3's and one of my VTB-1's and pretty much have about 50% of the cash for a RNP ...

Man I hate descisions!!! :( ... especially ones that involve money :D

Rick
 
I would do my homework and check out the availability of any Hamptone mic pre. The amount of sound for the dollar cannot be expressed fully in words. One of these units gets you "the good stuff".
 
WERNER 1 said:
I had been looking at the RNP for a long time,...but was thinking maybe it was time to go "tube" ... (?) .. ... But I could sell one of my DMP-3's and one of my VTB-1's and pretty much have about 50% of the cash for a RNP ...

Man I hate descisions!!! :( ... especially ones that involve money :D

Rick
Click to expand...

There's a used RNP up on the GS board for $375. That's a good price. Used ones more typically go for $425.
 
See if you can find a Sebatron vmp-1000e tube preamp. They are out of production but I think Pro Audio Toys or Sound Pure might have some in stock probably around $750 - $800.

I love the damn thing!!!! I've used it on vocals, acoustic guitars, drums… with ribbon mics, tube condensers, FET condesers and dynamic mics and haven't been able to make it not sound great.

-Fletcher (Mercenary Audio).

The other preamp I would consider is the Speck 5.0.

Both of these preamps are essentially hand built by small companies that have great reputations.

The Sebatron (I have the vmp-2000e) is very versatile and I can't recommend it enough.

The Speck (have only heard clips) is very high on my list for a single channel compliment to the Seb.

I like the Hamptone suggestion as well--two other preamps high on my list. TapeOp just did another review on these.
 
jdier said:
As an owner of RME FF800, GreatRiver Pre, an old Meek VC1, newer meek stuff, and FMR RNP I would say that you would be hard pressed to do better than adding an RNP to your set up.

It will give you two channels each with an insert and it doubles as a killer bass DI.
Click to expand...

+100000 on the RNP. Loads of folks agree that you get so much more than what you pay for it.

I went through a LOT of trouble to get one (don't live in the US) and I've never looked back. It's a great preamp. And bass does sound sweet through it.
 
KillerV said:
+100000 on the RNP. Loads of folks agree that you get so much more than what you pay for it.

I went through a LOT of trouble to get one (don't live in the US) and I've never looked back. It's a great preamp. And bass does sound sweet through it.
Click to expand...

Agreed. BTW - I'm an FMR Audio dealer and have an RNP in stock.
 
Thanks again guys for all of the input on this subject!!!... I went ahead and picked up that used RNP off of GS,... I'll give that a whirl for while and see if it all that and a bag of chips so to speak,.. :) ... In the mean time I'll keep doing my research on a the high end pre's and see which one will suite me the best in the future ... Talking about something in the 1500.00 2000 range (That's real high end for me :( )

Thanks,
Rick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top