Best microphone preamp for use with Roland VS workstations?

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PinkStrat

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Does anyone here have any ideas as to which mic preamp sounds good overiding the internal preamps of the Roland VS series workstations? Might it be possible that the M-Audio DMP-3 mic pre would be the answer/solution I'm looking for--getting better sounding tracks from this particular series of recorders? I just wanna take it up a notch or two in sound quality without getting too crazy on the expenses... Thanks for any help in advance!:rolleyes:
 
Its not about finding a preamp that somehow sounds better than others in conjunction with your Roland...just get the best preamp with the sound you're looking for.

The DMP3 would be an excellent choice, or if you can come up with $350 and wait about 2 months, you might consider the RNMP.
 
When I had a VS880EX,I found I always got better sounds regardless of which preamp I used by bypassing all the analog input circuitry with an external A/D converter into the S/PDIF input on the Roland.
 
Good point. If you consider that the A/D conversion on most multitrack recorders is less-than-stellar, a good idea is to get a preamp that also has quality a/d conversion.

If it were me, I would look in to some of the DBX Silver series - 386, 586, etc. These units tend to have much better than average a/d converters, and the preamps are pretty decent. A lot of people are using these as front ends for their multitrack recorders with good results.
 
Thanks for the input guys. vitual.ray, speaking of S/PDIF inputs, I'm quite new to digital terminology so I am getting more familiar with it. Since I have a lower end Roland VS-840EX recorder, I'm not sure whether the 840EXs digital coaxial out can/will function as a digital I/O....mine doesn't have the Scuzzi interface card either...am I screwed for bypassing the analog inputs or is there still hope?:confused: :(
 
I'm not really that familiar with that model,but if it says "OUT" next to the orange RCA jack,it will only function as an output.If you had another one next to it labelled "IN" you'd be in business.
 
PinkStrat, I also have a VS workstation -- an old-school VS880 -- which is great for on-location recording. It only gives me 4 simultaneous analog ins, but if I get a Flying Cow converter or maybe one of those DBX thingies, that would give me 2 more additional inputs. I don't have an 840, but here's how I would set up my VS to take in 2 digital ins:

Let's say you're recording 2 tracks simultaneously on tracks 1 and 2.

1. Press SHIFT + Ch. Edit 1 for track 1.
2. Use the dial to select your input. Because my 880 supports 2 digitial channels, I will rotate the dial until I get the choice "DIGITAL-L".
3. Pan your input for Track 1 all the way to the left.
4. Press Ch. Edit button on track 2 (will give you the last edit parameter screen you were in, the Input/Buss one you last selected for track 1 in step 1).
5. Rotate the dial and select "DIGITAL-R."
6. Pan track 2 input all the way to the right.

If your 840 supports two channel input, it will let you select each channel as either L or R.

I hope this helps and translates to your VS 840.

As for preamps, right now I have a BlueTube, which is on the way out, and a single-channel Dan Alexander Audio racked Neve 1073, which sounds awesome. As mentioned previously, it's not about what pre "works" well with Roland. You can get any pre that has the sound you want and you'll get that sound if you keep the input sensivity knob on VS in all the way down.

Oh, the other thing with these VS systems is you want to record into them in a mode that doesn't use that RDAC, roland's internal data compression -- otherwise it will have this undefinable "flat" sound. For me, that's MAS mode. I don't know what it is on higher-bit, newer machines (MTPro?). You'll get less workable tracks this way, but you can now bounce with impunity (no degradation, just keep your originals on another V-track), and I've begun using S/PDIF and MTC to dump down tracks into Pro Tools Free. We'll see how that experiment goes ...

I honestly think I'm going to either get a Digi 001 Factory or Delta 1010 card and some other software for home multitracking, but I'll hold onto the VS because it's great for on-location recording, it's easy to use (I'm used to the interface), and it NEVER crashes.

If you have any other concerns you think I might be able to help with, PM me.
 
If you want a quiet and clean pre check out the Audio Buddy by M-Audio.Two channel,solid state mic pre and it also has two 1/4 ins (along with xlr)for use as a direct box.A definate improvement over your VS pres.The Audio Buddy retails for about $80 and it is dead quiet with plenty of gain.
 
Thank you everyone!

Geekgurl please check your private messages-- I think I found a sneaky way of doing guitar tracks on this thing....Like you, I also enjoy the way this interface operates and editing is pretty much a snap, so it definitely comes in handy for some tasks! Usually, I'll do my main recording on an old analog four-track Yamaha machine & then dump those tracks into the VS 840EX to chop up and/or master tunes this way.

Randy,

Is the M-Audio Audio Buddy as quiet and great sounding as their DMP-3 dual channel mic preamp? Looks like a possibility here, thanks. I am trying to completely bypass the main input sensitivity controls by using the VS-840EX's "External IN" function thereby using the Track Cue to set my recording level along with my current external mic preamp. Sounds better already--I'm hoping that I can even get it better yet!:D
 
I haven't heard the DMP3 but the Audio Buddy is dead quiet.The only issue I have heard with the Buddy is that the phantom power measures 41.4v (they don't claim 48).I haven't had any trouble powering my mics (AT1525 and Mxl 2001p(POS) and I haven't read any post here from anyone who has.They do claim 48v for the DMP3 so the phantom power supply is one of the differences with the AB.The DMP3 also has those cool VU meters so level setting could be easier and more accurate (although it's not hard to set levels on the AB).For an additional $120 I would hope that there is a sonic difference between the two but someone posted that had the DMP2 and an Audio Buddy and they said the two were very simular.
 
just to clear things up, dont worry about the phantom voltage too much. most condenser mics will work all the way down to 9 volts...the headroom is reduced somewhat, but if you are about 7 volts short (apparently the case with the audio buddy) there would be no noticible loss.
 
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