tube vs. solid state

A

apodos

New member
I'm looking to save a few hundred bucks.
I have a DBX 576 preamp and a Shure ksm 32 mic(both great).
I'm thinking of selling the DBX 576 and getting a DBX vocal pro.

Any thoughts on whether this is a mistake, or will I be able to get good vocals with the vocal pro? I'm assuming that the tubes in the 576 give a higher quality sound than the vocal pro but the vocal pro has amp/preamp modelling and some effects, which the 576 does not. I'm by no means hurting for money but I am cheap........
 
I've never heard the 586, but I have noticed that it has been bashed. Probably a good idea to lose it. How 'bout just a nice pre? Single channel? Few frills? Incredible sound?

John Hardy M-1
Great River 1-NV
 
Tube or Solid State....Just because it has a tube in it dosn't make it better{especialy in the less than a 1000.00 catagory}!Its all the parts{transfomers ect.} and design..I have a fairly nice tube pre and some nice S/S pres and some times the tube pre wins sometimes the S/S wins..They have their own "sounds" and "applications" and what you like will depend on how you work..so many variables..Good luck





Don
 
Good points.

Two examples of good stuff < $1,000 would be the Speck Mic Pre 5.0 ($850 solid state) and the Sebatron vmp 1000e ($650 tube). I've heard clips of the Speck on acoustic guitar and own a Seb 2000e and both sound amazing IMO.

Next on my list is one of these:
John Hardy M-1
Great River 1-NV
 
The general consensus on the dbx pre-amps is that they are not all that great. You can do better for the money.

>>"I'm assuming that the tubes in the 576 give a higher quality sound than the vocal pro"

You assumed wrong. Generally speaking, a tube mic pre will not sound any better than a solid state equivilent, just different. Actually, with the exception of maybe sebatron or a-designs, most tube pres under a grand are pretty much a gimmick. It is much cheaper to manufacture a high quality solid state pre than a decent tube pre. The myth that an amp needs tubes to sound good only applies to guitar amps.

The general concensus around here is that the best deal going in pre amps is the fmr rnp, which will give you 2 excellent channels for 500 bucks. If you want a pre with some processing capability then check out the safe sound p1 which sells for around 600 bucks, but it's only one channel. The sebatron is cool too and it's all tube. I haven't personally heard it, and although most people like it, most people also feel it has a very colored sound to it. This can be usefull, but I'd rather have a good solid state pre if it was going to be used on everyhting. The rnp or the safe sound should be a noticable step up from your dbx unit.

The speck, john hardy and great river recomended above are even better pres, but they are also much more expensive and only 1 channel.
 
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