On a budget of $300/500, that's not going to leave much change for a stereo preamp.
The Focusrite Penta has a very clean (albeit mono) preamp and a very usuable preprogrammed/further tweakable optical (stereo) compressor, plus an excellent tube emulator and stereo width processing section...
Sorry, I don't know how good they are or anything, but I was curious as to what people thought, and if anyone was familiar with them. Just piqued my interest, that's all.
I've been thinking, just for kicks, of reamping bass through a Trace Elliot and mic'ing each driver (there are three). That's gotta give you some flexibilty!
I see, so were only done when you've had the last word, gotcha! (^:
Awe, go on then - have the last word or 4000, extrapolate away, drop a name or two, throw in a mention of the orchestra again, and we'll definitely be done.
The 'purpose' is to get a good tone down without the need to dick around with it for hours, which using DI always requires, and even then it'll never be right. Granted though, Death Metal has evolved in tandem with a tone that doesn't require much in the way of dynamics or articulation (that's...
Well, the last thing you need is a Fender Twin: it's big, heavy. LOUD and bright. The little Orange amps are nice. Since it's for recording only, you can really home in on the tone. The little Champ amp you mention would be a good choice.