The ULTIMATE Entry-Level Mic Pre Poll... :op
- Thread starter WATYF
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Middleman
Professional Amateur
Reporting back in on the Behringer VX2000 as a mic pre option. Had it one week, took it back.
Don't even go there unless you are using it live. The 60 cycle hum off this baby sits at -40db on the meters. Too loud for recording purposes. Yes, when you are singing this is covered up, but what about those quiet spots on a vocal. I do enough editing that I don't want to have to run hum removal or numerous cuts to eliminate the noise this unit makes.
I did like the sound shaping it put out however it was just too noisy. Save your self some time and leave this one alone.
On to the DMP3...
Don't even go there unless you are using it live. The 60 cycle hum off this baby sits at -40db on the meters. Too loud for recording purposes. Yes, when you are singing this is covered up, but what about those quiet spots on a vocal. I do enough editing that I don't want to have to run hum removal or numerous cuts to eliminate the noise this unit makes.
I did like the sound shaping it put out however it was just too noisy. Save your self some time and leave this one alone.
On to the DMP3...
Middleman
Professional Amateur
DMP3 feedback.....
OK, I'm done looking for a low cost mic pre. The DMP3 has found a home. Warmer than my Soundcraft mixer and along with my RNC this is the pro sound I was looking for. Very clean and makes my C1 mic sparkle. Not an Avalon but close enough for polished demos.
If anyone wants feedback on this mic pre I give it a strong thumbs up. Very smooth on the highs and takes the digital hardness sound out of the vocals.
Thanks to WATYF for starting this thread. I will post some sounds in the future.
OK, I'm done looking for a low cost mic pre. The DMP3 has found a home. Warmer than my Soundcraft mixer and along with my RNC this is the pro sound I was looking for. Very clean and makes my C1 mic sparkle. Not an Avalon but close enough for polished demos.
If anyone wants feedback on this mic pre I give it a strong thumbs up. Very smooth on the highs and takes the digital hardness sound out of the vocals.
Thanks to WATYF for starting this thread. I will post some sounds in the future.
WATYF
...happier than you.
Aaawww.... well looky there... I guess there are other people who wanted to know what the best entry level pre is... 
what a shock... 
And I thought all along that I was just being silly for even asking such a question...
Is it just me,.. or do all the biggest jerks hang oat in the mic forum... if they're not polluting threads with their rants aboot what questions they think aren't good enough to be asked, they're ruining other threads with their rants aboot who may possibly, hypothetically, be spamming (according to their definition).
Serisouly folks... if you don't have something to contribute to a thread, that has to do with the topic of that thread... then shut the h#ll up... Your "policing" is causing ten times more "unrest" than the actual, so-called "offenders" are.
oops... was I just ranting??? Well... back to the original topic... 
I'm glad you like the DMP3. I'm sure I woulda liked it as well. I'm still waiting on my MQ3 order to come in. I will be sure to post my impressions when it arrives.
WATYF
what a shock... And I thought all along that I was just being silly for even asking such a question...Is it just me,.. or do all the biggest jerks hang oat in the mic forum... if they're not polluting threads with their rants aboot what questions they think aren't good enough to be asked, they're ruining other threads with their rants aboot who may possibly, hypothetically, be spamming (according to their definition).
Serisouly folks... if you don't have something to contribute to a thread, that has to do with the topic of that thread... then shut the h#ll up...
Your "policing" is causing ten times more "unrest" than the actual, so-called "offenders" are.oops... was I just ranting???
Well... back to the original topic... I'm glad you like the DMP3. I'm sure I woulda liked it as well. I'm still waiting on my MQ3 order to come in. I will be sure to post my impressions when it arrives.WATYF
Middleman
Professional Amateur
Yeah there's kinda of different stuff that goes on here.
-Relevant information
-Informative stuff
-People that just want to talk and increase posts.
-Seekers of wisdom
-Wanna be do gooders that summarize the opinions of others and act like they know something. Worse kind really.
- Jerks that actually do know something and want to hold it over the heads of others. These we must learn to tolerate.
-True angleic gurus that teach and share.
Great mix of people, that's why I like it here.
-Relevant information
-Informative stuff
-People that just want to talk and increase posts.
-Seekers of wisdom
-Wanna be do gooders that summarize the opinions of others and act like they know something. Worse kind really.
- Jerks that actually do know something and want to hold it over the heads of others. These we must learn to tolerate.
-True angleic gurus that teach and share.
Great mix of people, that's why I like it here.
jeap
Banned
its fascinating that middleman has actually brought home and tried 2 preamps and rejected 1 while watyf is still waiting to try one at home.
i wonder about the humming behringer... why it do dat?
i think if i got the b******* it would work... everything works for me!
i think theres a difference between "policing" which i have seen here, and "peer pressure" which i have practiced here. snipers who say a thread doesnt belong or a person doesnt belong are like junior brownie scout hall monitor wannabes who take themselves and their prejudices too seriously.
the biggest problems i see at this forum are lack of capacity of the server leading to slow loading and failed service, and a low number of posts at times which could be a result of the server problems.
for all the crying and moaning and groaning and gnashing of dentures this place seems to function well enough at the user level.
ok!
i wonder about the humming behringer... why it do dat?
i think if i got the b******* it would work... everything works for me!
i think theres a difference between "policing" which i have seen here, and "peer pressure" which i have practiced here. snipers who say a thread doesnt belong or a person doesnt belong are like junior brownie scout hall monitor wannabes who take themselves and their prejudices too seriously.
the biggest problems i see at this forum are lack of capacity of the server leading to slow loading and failed service, and a low number of posts at times which could be a result of the server problems.
for all the crying and moaning and groaning and gnashing of dentures this place seems to function well enough at the user level.
ok!
WATYF
...happier than you.
I know.. I barely have any self-worth... I haven't even reached 500 posts yet...
FWIW.. I did try oat different mics... I would already have tried oat more than one pre, but my first "test" pre is still on order, so I have to wait till it gets here before I can decide if I like it or not... hopefully, at that point, jeap can pull that pickle oat of his @ss and get over my method of puchasing gear...
As for LD Mics, I first went with the Oktava MK319, but wasn't at all happy with it, and I have now gone to the C-1, which I like quite a bit more... I have a buddy who does "real" recording..
p) and he let me A/B the C-1 with his U87... and.. well... I didn't quite think they were anywhere close to similar. (but what do I know ) The U87 was a much higher gain mic, and the proximity effect was much better on the U87. I didn't have time to do a comprehensive A/B, so I couldn't get an idea of how similar they "sounded"... We basically just plugged em both in for a sec... but those were my initial, 2 second, first impressions. On the other hand... he payed 2000 bucks for his and I only paid 200... so I'm still quite alright with what I got..
WATYF
FWIW.. I did try oat different mics... I would already have tried oat more than one pre, but my first "test" pre is still on order, so I have to wait till it gets here before I can decide if I like it or not... hopefully, at that point, jeap can pull that pickle oat of his @ss and get over my method of puchasing gear...
As for LD Mics, I first went with the Oktava MK319, but wasn't at all happy with it, and I have now gone to the C-1, which I like quite a bit more... I have a buddy who does "real" recording..
p) and he let me A/B the C-1 with his U87... and.. well... I didn't quite think they were anywhere close to similar. (but what do I know ) The U87 was a much higher gain mic, and the proximity effect was much better on the U87. I didn't have time to do a comprehensive A/B, so I couldn't get an idea of how similar they "sounded"... We basically just plugged em both in for a sec... but those were my initial, 2 second, first impressions. On the other hand... he payed 2000 bucks for his and I only paid 200... so I'm still quite alright with what I got.. WATYF
WATYF said:
FWIW.. I did try oat different mics... I would already have tried oat more than one pre, but my first "test" pre is still on order, so I have to wait till it gets here before I can decide if I like it or not... hopefully, at that point, jeap can pull that pickle oat of his @ss and get over my method of puchasing gear...
I think you may have some better luck with some different choices:
The wheat mic has a less "grainy" sound than the oat mic, and the rye preamp, I believe, will give you that "huskier" tone you may be looking for.
I can "barley" believe I'm writing this. The very "fiber" of my being is shaken!
crisdhunter
New member
Hey WATYF,
Glad to hear you went for the MQ3, I also own a Oktava 319 and I sometimes run it through my VC3Q, and it sounds warm and sweet. Don't give up on the 319, It took a while for me to warm up to it, but once I found it's groove, I reached for it in a lot of situations. I also have the C1 BTW, I don't find it better than the 319, but different. They both have their grooves, and between the two you have a lot of ground covered for a very good price. I wish I had those two mics in my locker 10 years ago, it would have saved me a lot of money.
As far as the beating you are taking from some of the people on this BBS, don't even let it bother you. You asked a valid question, and amidst all the crap that gets slung your way, there are a few pearls of wisdom. You have to develop a noise gate(or bullshit gate) with some of the people that post no this BBS. you don't want noise/bulshit in your signal chain.
If you ask a question that some of our members find too basic, they will not make it easy for you. They will take the time to read your thread, make condescending and sometimes even rude comments, but they will not give an answer to your question. Or they take the thread so out of scope, that you forget what the question was to begin with.
Let's get real. This is a virtual community, if you read a thread, and you have nothing worth contributing, get the F**K out. Let the people who have something to contribute do so, without having to listen to your views on world economy, capital punishment, and whatever unrelated issue seems to occupy your obviously under utilized mind this week.
On the other hand, If you endorse a enthusiastically the self appointed SPAM Inquisition will come after you, they will torture you until you confess and convert or high tail off this BBS. We have lost some great people to this ignorance, Alan Hyatt, Stephen Paul, and countless not so well known people who just figured that it’s just not worth the aggravation to post on this BBS.
I start to notice that Harvey’s tolerance is starting to run low, I hope that it will prevail, since there are great things to be learned from him. No I’m not kissing ass, just stating the obvious.
As I’m writing this I just got a great idea, the best way to tell the dead wood from the truly inspired. Do a search of some of the regular members posts, if in the last 10 posts they didn’t give at least 4 helpful opinions, or at least tried, then they are dead wood.
We should start a report card system.
Anyway, now that I’m done ranting.
So now that you have made your decision, I can sling my own mud without going off the subject.
"200 dollars is gonna buy you a 200 dollar mic pre. At that price range, there's not a whole lot of difference. So go ahead, blow that hard earned money on one of those pieces of crap"
NO!!!
That is one of the most narrow-minded statements I've heard a long time,
We all know you can't go wrong with a high end pre, like an Avalon, VIPRE, or Great River, and one day you will get one, but they are a long way from $200. I have two high end channels, yet I still find use for the VC3Q. It's $199 well spent(well in your case $99, score) I could say the same about some of the other contenders in your poll, but not all of them.
Peace.
Glad to hear you went for the MQ3, I also own a Oktava 319 and I sometimes run it through my VC3Q, and it sounds warm and sweet. Don't give up on the 319, It took a while for me to warm up to it, but once I found it's groove, I reached for it in a lot of situations. I also have the C1 BTW, I don't find it better than the 319, but different. They both have their grooves, and between the two you have a lot of ground covered for a very good price. I wish I had those two mics in my locker 10 years ago, it would have saved me a lot of money.
As far as the beating you are taking from some of the people on this BBS, don't even let it bother you. You asked a valid question, and amidst all the crap that gets slung your way, there are a few pearls of wisdom. You have to develop a noise gate(or bullshit gate) with some of the people that post no this BBS. you don't want noise/bulshit in your signal chain.
If you ask a question that some of our members find too basic, they will not make it easy for you. They will take the time to read your thread, make condescending and sometimes even rude comments, but they will not give an answer to your question. Or they take the thread so out of scope, that you forget what the question was to begin with.
Let's get real. This is a virtual community, if you read a thread, and you have nothing worth contributing, get the F**K out. Let the people who have something to contribute do so, without having to listen to your views on world economy, capital punishment, and whatever unrelated issue seems to occupy your obviously under utilized mind this week.
On the other hand, If you endorse a enthusiastically the self appointed SPAM Inquisition will come after you, they will torture you until you confess and convert or high tail off this BBS. We have lost some great people to this ignorance, Alan Hyatt, Stephen Paul, and countless not so well known people who just figured that it’s just not worth the aggravation to post on this BBS.
I start to notice that Harvey’s tolerance is starting to run low, I hope that it will prevail, since there are great things to be learned from him. No I’m not kissing ass, just stating the obvious.
As I’m writing this I just got a great idea, the best way to tell the dead wood from the truly inspired. Do a search of some of the regular members posts, if in the last 10 posts they didn’t give at least 4 helpful opinions, or at least tried, then they are dead wood.
We should start a report card system.
Anyway, now that I’m done ranting.
So now that you have made your decision, I can sling my own mud without going off the subject.
"200 dollars is gonna buy you a 200 dollar mic pre. At that price range, there's not a whole lot of difference. So go ahead, blow that hard earned money on one of those pieces of crap"
NO!!!
That is one of the most narrow-minded statements I've heard a long time,
We all know you can't go wrong with a high end pre, like an Avalon, VIPRE, or Great River, and one day you will get one, but they are a long way from $200. I have two high end channels, yet I still find use for the VC3Q. It's $199 well spent(well in your case $99, score) I could say the same about some of the other contenders in your poll, but not all of them.
Peace.
WATYF
...happier than you.
Hey now... don't be dissin' my Oat mic!!!littledog said:
I think its high-end has much less "chaff" than the Wheat mics.. (you must be a "plant" for Wheat mics... they troll all the good BBS's.. it's such a shame.. where are the spam police when you need em???)and don't even get me started on the Rye pre's... every body knows those are just cheap, Chinese, reverse-engineered rip-offs of the Pumpernickel pres.
WATYF
WATYF
...happier than you.
I hear ya man... I'm actually not letting anything get to me..crisdhunter said:
I was being a little too serious earlier though... I don't know what's up with that... I'm usually pretty facetious... I don't want to turn anyone off to the MK319... I barely even tried it... Basically, I returned it more because of QC issues than sound issues. I was getting a low-end, random rumble every few seconds. I checked my signal chain, but it appeared that the mic might have had some defects. (my mc12 plugged into the same channel didn't make any noise at all.) On top of that, I auditioned it for a bit and wasn't really impressed at all, so I figured I'd just take it back. I prolly coulda exchanged it for a better one and liked that,.. but I wanted to try this C-1 that everyone's been talking aboot... and I'm pretty pleased with it. But I admit,.. I didn't really give the MK319 a fair shot.
But hey... the MC12 rocks...
I used it to mic my gits for a cover I'm gonna post in the MP3 clinic later and I'm quite pleased with the results.WATYF
jeap
Banned
where are you going to post a cover?
you may not want to put a cover on one of the regular music sites because it may bring up some legal issues.
i know they dont want you to post on their sites unless you have a clear right to do so without infringing.
i make fun of watyf not because i dislike him but because he is so danged indecisive. i will be surprised if he posts a tune before next year!
no doat aboat it!
you may not want to put a cover on one of the regular music sites because it may bring up some legal issues.
i know they dont want you to post on their sites unless you have a clear right to do so without infringing.
i make fun of watyf not because i dislike him but because he is so danged indecisive. i will be surprised if he posts a tune before next year!
no doat aboat it!
WATYF
...happier than you.
The tune is already up... I guess this was a pretty short year...
I've seen a couple covers already that were posted on NWR.. if they have policy against it, I'll take it down.
Nothin' wrong with being thorough... It helps keep you from making stupid, hasty decisions...
WATYF
I've seen a couple covers already that were posted on NWR.. if they have policy against it, I'll take it down.
Nothin' wrong with being thorough...
It helps keep you from making stupid, hasty decisions... WATYF
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WATYF
...happier than you.
jeap
Banned
where are the drums?
well?
where are they?
wont they let you mess around with the drumset at church?
thats one of the few good things about church you know... they have gear!
you certainly are getting a great response from the guys at the mp3 forum!
i have to admit that i listened to the "lo-fi" version since i have a dialup and it takes FOREVER to get the other one so i cant talk about the sound quality... sounded good though for what it was!
i also cant make fun of the performance because you have been able to develop a very nice way of strumming your guitbox...
dont you feel a need to add more parts? tambourine? kazoo?
i felt like a piker when i only used 15 of my 16 tracks!
well?
where are they?
wont they let you mess around with the drumset at church?
thats one of the few good things about church you know... they have gear!
you certainly are getting a great response from the guys at the mp3 forum!
i have to admit that i listened to the "lo-fi" version since i have a dialup and it takes FOREVER to get the other one so i cant talk about the sound quality... sounded good though for what it was!
i also cant make fun of the performance because you have been able to develop a very nice way of strumming your guitbox...
dont you feel a need to add more parts? tambourine? kazoo?
i felt like a piker when i only used 15 of my 16 tracks!
WATYF
...happier than you.
LOL.. kazoo??
nah.. that was just me and my guitar... I have a kit, but it's at my bro's and we don't have the necessary set-up to mic it properly (or record it properly). I just stick to acoustic only stuff when I record at home... maybe I'll get some percussion stuff in there eventually.
WATYF
nah.. that was just me and my guitar... I have a kit, but it's at my bro's and we don't have the necessary set-up to mic it properly (or record it properly). I just stick to acoustic only stuff when I record at home... maybe I'll get some percussion stuff in there eventually.
WATYF
jeap
Banned
yeah kazoo!
have you ever seen those high quality metal kazoos? i used to have one and they are a great sound effect. you can double a lead guitar part on kazoo and it sounds wonderful. the guitar has to sound just right tho. it has to sound a little like a kazoo to begin with. hendrix had some guitar parts that sounded like kazoos like on "crosstown traffic".
i need to get another one... (kazoo).
ok so are you a teen still living at home and saving allowance to buy gear? that would explain a lot. if i had known that and the fact that youre a churchgoing prsn i would not have enjoyed making fun of you so much...
i hope to have my tune up shortly. i covered allen toussaint's "get out of my life woman" but then i changed the words cause of the disclaimer at nowhere radio. all i have to do is master the new version and the karaoke version i did and then sign up on nwr and post it!
have you ever seen those high quality metal kazoos? i used to have one and they are a great sound effect. you can double a lead guitar part on kazoo and it sounds wonderful. the guitar has to sound just right tho. it has to sound a little like a kazoo to begin with. hendrix had some guitar parts that sounded like kazoos like on "crosstown traffic".
i need to get another one... (kazoo).
ok so are you a teen still living at home and saving allowance to buy gear? that would explain a lot. if i had known that and the fact that youre a churchgoing prsn i would not have enjoyed making fun of you so much...
i hope to have my tune up shortly. i covered allen toussaint's "get out of my life woman" but then i changed the words cause of the disclaimer at nowhere radio. all i have to do is master the new version and the karaoke version i did and then sign up on nwr and post it!
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