what pres are you guys using in front of the delta 1010?

M

mmistudent

New member
I've been having trouble finding an 8 channel mic pre thats in my price range... everything I see is either ADAT lightpipe out, or all digital out... lameness. All I need as some analog outs to go into my Delta 1010. Any suggestions? I'm looking to spend well under $1,000. Thanks
 
We were just discussing the new SP828 by Studio Projects in another thread. It has 8 channels, all 1/4" outs. There's not a whole lot of info on it just yet since it's still brand new, but I'd be willing to bet that it will sound very good. You can check it out here:

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--STUSP828

If you do end up getting it, let us know what you think. Alternatively, I'll be able to give it a listen when I go to the AES convention at the end of the month. I don't have the greatest ears, but I'll let you know what I think if you're interested.
 
Get a decent mixer with channel inserts. You'll wind up with a bunch of usable mic pres, plus you'll have a mixer to use for routing, headphone mixes, etc. etc. Soundcraft make some very good value mixers for a project studio that even have usable EQ. Mackies are pretty decent. Yamaha's are dirt cheap and not too bad-sounding.
 
chessrock said:
Get a decent mixer with channel inserts. You'll wind up with a bunch of usable mic pres, plus you'll have a mixer to use for routing, headphone mixes, etc. etc. Soundcraft make some very good value mixers for a project studio that even have usable EQ. Mackies are pretty decent. Yamaha's are dirt cheap and not too bad-sounding.
Click to expand...

That's what I'd do. From the reviews and reports I've read, the Spirit M-Series would be an excellent choice.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/630916/
 
<<Get a decent mixer with channel inserts>>

<<That's what I'd do.>>

that IS what i do. :D

i've got a Mackie 24*4 and i tap the inserts on the board for direct outs. that way i bypass the horrible eq and summing buss on the Mackie and i just use it for the preamps going straight into the Delta 1010 (or into a compressor then into the 1010 if needed).

I find the mackie pres to be perfectly usable when used in this manner. they do sound like mackies, but they're certainly usable, and given that i got the 24 channel board for $450 (practically brand new), i'd have a hard time finding anything else even near in the ballpark at that $19/channel price. i have other preamps i use for vocal tracks, guitar amps and such where needed, but for a lot of usable channels cheap, it does the trick. the mackie doesn't seem to take poorly to stacking a lot of tracks either assuming you keep your gain structure correct.

the bonus is that tapping the inserts doesn't interrupt the signal flow, and due to the form factor of the board, i've got 6 aux sends that i can use for custom headphone mixes, drop a backup "soundboard mix" to tape, etc., all without interfering with the "clean" (for a mackie) preamp sound going to the 1010. the flexibility and "added features" are something i wouldn't get with an Octane or any of the equivalent 8-channel rack-unit pres out there.


i'd FAR rather have a Ghost instead of the mackie, but somehow i don't think i'll be finding a 24 channel Ghost in the $500 range anytime soon. :D


cheers,
wade
 
I use an A&H mixwiz and I like it. I wish it did have subgroups as I'd like to mix outside of sonar, but that's a whole other thread.
 
I own a A&H WZ16:2DX, Mackie 32x8 and Ghost (and many more boards) and IMO the quality of the preamps on those boards are in this order... the A&H and Mackie are pretty close with the Mackie being a little better sounding (if I remember right,) and the Ghost being better sounding than both the A&H and Mackie.
 
I use a little 1202 VLZPro and tap the inserts of channels 1-4 for a total of 4 inputs. I use these only for scratch tracks.

For critical stuff, I have an Avalon M5 and a Great River ME-1NV.
 
<<I use an A&H mixwiz and I like it. I wish it did have subgroups as I'd like to mix outside of sonar>>

my mackie's got 4 subgroups, but there's no way i'd want to run back out of the computer into it. the summing busses on most low-end boards are their weakest links and while i can get away with using the mackie's pres..........there's NO way i could justify running a mix (or mixing) through it.

maybe your A&H sounds better, but honestly, i'd keep the mixing inside sonar.

if i had a desire to mix outside the box, i'd be looking at a significant console upgrade (and a 16 or 24 reel recorder as well).


cheers,
wade
 
student. a lot of people like the yamaha mg mixers.
i recently tried an alto mixer. i was quite surprised. no neve.
but not terrible. seemed quite good actually.
if were me i would get something like a mg mixer for the "backup tracks".
and maybe one nice mic pre like a rane ms1b for the upfront tracks like lead
vocals.
me personally i use mainly my own diy mic pre's. cost about 20 bucks to make. using a low noise op amp like a op37. then i pass the output into a line mixer to control the level going to the sound card. also this way, inserting a comp/limiter is easy. if you want more info just ask.
 
At some point in my life I WILL have time to DIY some pres.

Wade, I have a question - do you not suffer from using unbalanced lines from your insert points? I have constantly tried to avoid using them because I figured being near my computer and CRT monitor I'd need to cut out as much noise as possible.
 
<<do you not suffer from using unbalanced lines from your insert points>>

you do. unfortunately, it's one of the hazards of doing it that way. to be honest though, i haven't noticed any signal degradation between tapping the inserts (unbalanced) and pushing the plugs all the way in so that they interrupt signal flow (balanced). of course, we're talking mackie here, so how much signal degradation are you *going* to hear anyway? ;)

and too, i've got an RNC that i use for a couple things and it's unbalanced, so you can't get around it sometimes.

really, as long as i'm keeping my cable runs short (they're under 10ft), i'm not overly concerned about an unbalanced connection. i'm far more concerned about the crappy room i'm recording in and whether or not i can reliably play the part time and again. :D


cheers,
wade
 
I use a delta 1010 and I get 6 pre's from my Yamaha MG 12/4 tapped inserts 1-4, channel 5 to aux1 panned hard left, channel 7 to aux2 panned hard right, the other two pre's are a dual channel M-Audio DMP3. Total of 8 channels, acceptable sound quality for an amateur home recordist, total cost of pre's & mixer...$325
 
Two great replies. A DMP3 and six MG pres is fine for a home recordist! Especially, as Wade says, in crappy rooms like, well, certainly mine anyway.

I thought if you pushed it all the way in you couldn't use it as a direct out? I think I may have got confused yet again as to what exactly as insert point does.
 
<<I thought if you pushed it all the way in you couldn't use it as a direct out?>>

no, you CAN use it as a direct out if you push the cable all the way into the insert. however, that interrupts the signal flow through the board, so if you want to take advantage of the Aux sends for headphone mixes, etc., you're screwed.

when you "tap" an insert (only pushing it into the first click), you're effectively tapping into the signal and you're not interfering with the way it travels through the rest of the board. that's the benefit. you get a "direct out" AND you can still use the board for other routing functions. tapping the insert is the "poor man's direct out". ;)

as far as what an insert does....well, say you've got a compressor that you want on your vocal channel. you use an insert cable, plug it into the respective plugs, and you can send the signal from the board's preamp out to the compressor and then back from the compressor to the board--you can then eq and raise the level of the channel in the mix, etc., as you see fit. hence the reason it's called an "insert"--the compressor is inserted somewhere into the channel.


and yeah......my weakest link by FAR is the room. it's an unfinished basement and some parts of it actually sound real nice for recording acoustic guitar and amps and vocals. but it's horrible for drums--the riser i made helps some, but still.......i need to get some drywall up (and most importantly to my wife above, a ceiling on the room) and start treating the space. all other changes i make are pretty much worthless until i fix my room.


cheers,
wade
 
Just to clarify... tapping the insert defeats the "insert" capability of the jack. There's no return to the desk... one click connects the tip/ground without breaking the internal connection. But... most inserts, by design, are unbalanced. Unbalanced send (tip/sleeve) unbalanced return (Ring/Sleeve) regardless whether you tap or insert...
 
That's cool, that was exactly my understanding except for not being able to get my head round how tapping works physically, how you can take the send side of the insert without actually breaking the signal flow down the channel strip. But I guess I need to sit down with some block diagrams to sort that one in my head - the point is not how it works, just that it does!!!
 
LOL.....you're making it too complicated for yourself. just push your cable (any 1/4" cable will "work" in a pinch) in until you get to the first "click". this will leave the plug about 1/2 way in and 1/2 way out.

as for the "how"......insert cables are directional--there's a distinctive send and return. when you tap the insert, you're simply having the lead from the 1/4" cable touch the outer sleeve that comprises the send. so you're not actually doing a "send" b/c there's no return......you're more kinda doing a split rather than a send.


wish i could 'splain it better....but i'm one of those visual-tactile peoples....i could SHOW you a lot better than i can explain it.

the Owner's Manual that came with my mackie 24*4 has really good block diagrams, and IIRC, there's one that even shows what happens when you tap an insert, but it's been a while since i've looked at em. maybe the mackie website might have something worthwhile.


cheers,
wade
 
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