Best 'well-priced' tube mic preamps?

[traidma]

OK, I need something cheap (moneywise) but with decent quality.
I have looked into
PreSonus Bluetube
SP Tube Blend
Presonus Tubepre
Art Tube PAC
Nady TMP-2

I'd like to get a dual.. just to use the space effeciently

Any info about the Bellari preamps?

aah, any suggestion is welcome!

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Any reason you want a tube unit?

The only cheap one I've heard which sounded OK was the VTB-1 by studio projects. Having said that the only one I've heard from your list is the Presonus Tube Pre, I wouldn't reccommend it. Personally, at the budget end I'd go for as clean a pre as possible, cheap tube pres don't colour the signal in a particularly nice way (IMVHO). Of course that could be the sound you're after?

I'd love a tube pre or two but until I can afford £1000 or so per channel I'm not gonna bother.

Unless you really, really want a 'toob' pre I'd go with the M Audio DMP-3. Two channels of very nice, clean gain at a good price.

 

[billisa]

SP Tube Blend:

If by this you mean a Studio Projects VTB1, then it's a nice single-channel preamp. VERY quiet. I've used it with the tube circuit dialed in at 12:00o'clock, and still, VERY quiet. Others in that range (not the DMP-3) are said to be noisy.

The VTB1 has built-in phantom power, polarity reverse, highpass filter and both XLR/1/4" output options. I usually use mine with no tube, but a bass guitarist loved it set at about noonish on the dial...

 

[kidvybes]

another vote for the VTB1...

I have to agree with the post above...nice clean mic pre for the price with an interesting (albeit gimmicky) tube affect which you can dial in to your liking...great pre for the price...only other suggestion (without the "tube effect") is the Rane MS1B (with Burr-Brown ops)...nicknamed the "John Hardy Jr.", this pre has kicked the ass of many very expensive world-class mic-pres...at $149. it's amazing! (read C-L-E-A-N)...

 

[OneRoomStudios]

You mentioned you wanted two channels....if you're patient enough, the VTB-2 will be coming out sometime soon.


BTW, Alan....when is that coming out?

 

[chessrock]

OK, I need something cheap (moneywise) but with decent quality.
I have looked into
PreSonus Bluetube
SP Tube Blend
Presonus Tubepre
Art Tube PAC
Nady TMP-2

I don't really know if any of these would fall under the category of "decent quality."

The starting point for decent tube pres is probably the Groove Tubes Brick at 500 bucks. If price and quality are a concern, then you're probably better off starting out with a solid-state; something along the lines of a Rane or an M-audio.

 

[sdelsolray]

I have to agree with the post above...nice clean mic pre for the price with an interesting (albeit gimmicky) tube affect which you can dial in to your liking...great pre for the price...only other suggestion (without the "tube effect") is the Rane MS1B (with Burr-Brown ops)...nicknamed the "John Hardy Jr.", this pre has kicked the ass of many very expensive world-class mic-pres...at $149. it's amazing! (read C-L-E-A-N)...

A great 2 channel pre is the Rane DMS 22, which is basically two channels of the MS1b, two channels of eq (semi parametric) and a stereo mix buss. According to Chris at Rane, the preamp circuitry of the DMS 22 and MS1b are identical designs, the only difference being one is surface mounted and the other is not. There are direct outs from the DMS 22, so you can bypass the eq circuitry (there's a hard eq bypass switch anyway) and the stereo mix buss, for a bit tighter noise performance.

 

[nuemes]

Skip on the PreSonus Bluetube

I own a PreSonus Bluetube and a Mackie 1202VLZ. The Mackie is much more quiet and has better frequency response. The Bluetube gives a warmer sound but at the cost of added noise. Not really worth it in my opinion.

 

[traidma]

Oh what the hell, Ill get Behringer MIC100

just kidding... ok, I think I'm going for the M-Audio or the SP. Final thoughts, which is better??!!

I wish I had the money for a better unit but I just got my new guitar and a college student's life ain't easy...

 

[Dr.Grace]

According to Chris at Rane, the preamp circuitry of the DMS 22 and MS1b are identical designs, the only difference being one is surface mounted and the other is not.

That's what I assumed at first, too. But from the schematic (downloadable from the Rane web site), it seems that the DMS 22 uses the 2017 instrument amplifier, not the INA163. So they don't appear to be identical.

Don