Preamp suggestions

NegadivOne

NegadivOne

Alchemy slut
I'm about to be upgrading my studio's interface and could use some help. I was running two firepods (FP10's actually), and they were decent, a little dull sounding to my ears and not very clear. Anyways one of them decided to die and I just found out they were discontinued so I'm using this as an excuse to upgrade. I only need preamps for drums, I'd like to have 12 to 16 to work with. I've decided on the RME Fireface 800 for the interface but I'm torn on preamps. I need 8 channels, 48v phantom power, and ADAT outs.

Here's what I'm lookin at:

RME Octamic II
Mackie Onyx 800R
Focusrite Octopre w/ optional ADAT card
M-Audio Octane
Presonus Digimax FS

I know the digimax has the same pre's as the firepod but if the other's aren't significantly better, I'm already familiar with it... I like that the Octane and Onyx have M/S encoding built in, and the Octane has phase invert on even channels. But more important than those options to me are just overall sound quality. I'm willing to spend up the price of the RME (~$1500), possibly slightly more if it's worth it. Any thoughts on those or other preamps?
 
MOFO Pro said:
Thats one hell of a drum kit...
Click to expand...

Haha well it is a large kit but really I like to experiment and throw up a bunch of different mics in different spots and then use whatever works best for that take. Plus I figure it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it...:)
 
What's the budget constraint? If it's higher, you might step back and think of the next system (after this one) you will probably want and start looking at that instead - just a thought.

By that I mean, look at where you're going with your studio, and, for instance, if you're trending toward having a traditional console type setup, you might start looking at those, stuff like that. I've resisted going that route, and now I've got multiple rack boxes and cables going everywhere, and in the back of my mind, I'm already plotting to get a second and third API 3124+ - not that I mind, it's just when you're talking that many tracks, it might be good to think about it some.
 
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Which is why I don't have a suggestion for an eight pre interface... I use a MOTU 2408... It's essentially an AD/DA box for I/O of SPDIF, Analog Line Level, TDIF, and ADAT...let's me decide what pres I want to route into the box. A whole lot more flexibility...
 
Well I went with the rme octamic ii. I think if I ever upgrade it will be to something like the aurora 16 and then I can still use these outboard pres. I'm excited for all this stuff to get in. This week I ordered some yamaha hs80m's to replace my krk rp5's and the fireface 800 and octamic to replace my old firepods. I'm expecting a big step up in audio quality of my recordings and mixes. Hopefully I won't be disappointed...
 
$1,500 is less than $100 a channel for 16 channels. Scales of economy and all, but that's still a bit on the low end. I liked the sound of the focusrite saffire pro 26 that gearwire.com seems to use on it's shootouts. At least the ones a couple of years ago.
 
The Fireface 800 and Octamic II came in today and I've had some time to get some test runs in. I don't know if it's the pre's or the converters but my drum recordings have so much more clarity now, its a very noticeable difference. Sitting at my mixing station it sounds like I'm listening to my drums actually being played, not a recording of them. Of course, the new monitors have something to do with that as well but I listened to some of my previous recordings on the new monitors before the fireface came in and they are much more accurate than my old krk's, but the new interface and pre's were a much bigger improvement. Now I see why the RME stuff is so highly recommended :D
 
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