2-Channel Mic Preamps in $500-1000 ranged

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Seafroggys

Seafroggys

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Okay, so I have a Presonus Firestudio, thinking of setting up a 'gold channel', so I can have two good pres, for like drum overheads, vocals, overdubbing, etc.

I've browsed through Musician's Friend and come across these two guys:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.co...Classic-Vacuum-Tube-Mic-Pre-DI-Box?sku=182123
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.co...Tube-Solid-State-Mic-Preamp-and-DI?sku=187899

Both by Universal Audio, whom I've heard lots of praise about.

Assuming that I couldn't find anything used (which would be ideal) would these be good preamps? Anybody have experience with them? Any other suggestions?
 
Tough category if you want two channels.

Sytek, RNP, Peavey VMP-2, DAV bg1, Chameleon Labs Model 7622.
 
I would love a phenomenal preamp with a direct firewire interface, but there seems to be nothing that falls under this category.

Anyone?
 
tateros said:
I would love a phenomenal preamp with a direct firewire interface, but there seems to be nothing that falls under this category.

Anyone?
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Well, if you want it to have a firewire (or other digital) out, it also needs to have a converter built in. Duet or Ensemble if you are running a Mac. The Apogee pres are really quite decent. Metric Halo also has a box that works with Mac.

Unfortunately, nothing similar in firewire for PC comes quickly to mind. I suppose you could look for an Apogee MiniMe (available used only at this point) with a USB connector. That would work quite well with a PC. A Sound Devices USBPre would be similar and would also be very good. There is the RME Fireface interface (400 or 800), but my impression is that the pres are serviceable, but not great.

Edit: Apogee added a firewire version of the Mini-me just before they discontinued it. I've not seen too many around-- mostly just the USB version.
 
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Line6 has the UX2 with digi outs at arround 200 bucks...and more versitile that any of the others Ive seen listed here.

They have the UX8 at 500 bucks if you wish to have an 8 channel with the same capability.
 
pohaku said:
Unfortunately, nothing similar in firewire for PC comes quickly to mind.
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Everything you said=That's what I was afraid of.

I do not have a Mac so everything there is out the Window. While waiting for a MiniMe to come up on Ebay for a decent price & at least a seemingly trustworthy seller, I read that the pre's are not as quiet as one would expect. I also read that the USB port puts the CPU to work & Firewire writes directly to disk, so considering I only have a 1.46GHz Dual Core to work with, I think it's for the best that I stay strictly Firewire from now on.

That Sound Devices USBPre is ancient & it feels like it would be a burden. I was interested in the RME Hammerfall/Fireface, but they seem to be just as you said, serviceable but not great. And at that price, I couldn't afford to keep my Grace 101, which is the only part of the chain I feel is genuine.

I just ordered a TC Konnekt 24D, although I don't have much faith it'll be much different than the Saffire I already have. Here's hoping.

I guess I'm going to have to wait a while for Grace Designs to hopefully open up the Lunatec V3's Firewire capabilities.
 
But have you HEARD the Twin-Finity?

Daveg62 said:
good pre's for sure, but both single channel
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The LA 710 has only been shipping a couple of weeks now. I have been trying to find someone who has bought one for their thoughts on it. The only citation I have found so far is one person over at Gearslutz and he wasn't very impressed. I'm dying to hear one or find someone who is using one successfully.

Back to Thread - - I know it is a tiny bit over your price point but if I were starting with two new pres I would get the RNP (Two inputs/Great on instruments) and the Solo 610 (For vox and other things) I think that would give you a lot of versatility for about $1200. jmho
 
tateros said:
Everything you said=That's what I was afraid of.

I do not have a Mac so everything there is out the Window. While waiting for a MiniMe to come up on Ebay for a decent price & at least a seemingly trustworthy seller, I read that the pre's are not as quiet as one would expect. I also read that the USB port puts the CPU to work & Firewire writes directly to disk, so considering I only have a 1.46GHz Dual Core to work with, I think it's for the best that I stay strictly Firewire from now on.

That Sound Devices USBPre is ancient & it feels like it would be a burden. I was interested in the RME Hammerfall/Fireface, but they seem to be just as you said, serviceable but not great. And at that price, I couldn't afford to keep my Grace 101, which is the only part of the chain I feel is genuine.

I just ordered a TC Konnekt 24D, although I don't have much faith it'll be much different than the Saffire I already have. Here's hoping.

I guess I'm going to have to wait a while for Grace Designs to hopefully open up the Lunatec V3's Firewire capabilities.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I considered the Lunatec, but it wasn't firewire and it was over budget. It's really a shame that Apogee hasn't made a Duet/Ensemble unit that would work with PCs (or even a heavy duty Duet with more features for portable use). I've used the Duet and it's really slick. Unfortunately I'm a PC guy also, so it's foreclosed. I suppose another option might be the Yamaha N8. It is firewire and it's pretty full featured. I don't have a sense of how good the pres are though. People have said nice things on various Boards, but I've not yet used one.
 
I recently bought a used solo 610 for $500. I love it and will soon be on the lookout for another one in that range. Walter
 
The RNP seems like a nice choice, it'd be good for drum overheads. Maybe in the future I can pick up another one so I can run DI bass guitar as well, since it apparently excels at that.

The 610 sounds really good, but the only problem it has is its XLR out only. Unless I'm mistaken, the Firestudio only does line-in if its through 1/4", and it goes through the preamp if its XLR. That means I'd have to buy a converter, which also means the chance of further signal degredation.
 
Seafroggys said:
The RNP seems like a nice choice, it'd be good for drum overheads. Maybe in the future I can pick up another one so I can run DI bass guitar as well, since it apparently excels at that.

The 610 sounds really good, but the only problem it has is its XLR out only. Unless I'm mistaken, the Firestudio only does line-in if its through 1/4", and it goes through the preamp if its XLR. That means I'd have to buy a converter, which also means the chance of further signal degredation.
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Nah. You just need an XLR/TRS cable. For example:

http://www.sweetwater.com/c813--Balanced_Cables__XLR_to_TRS
 
Forget about having the preamps and the converters in the same box. It doesn't matter, and it severely limits your choice of preamps. Choose the preamps you want and then choose the firewire converter you want. That way you get the best of all worlds.

I use a DAV Electronics BG-1 two channel preamp and love it.
 
yes, but the Firestudio has bypass.

I need lots of channels because, well, I do a lot of live recordings, and I'm a drummer so I need at least 4 channels for the drums by themselves. The Firestudio's preamps are pretty good though. Its just I was looking for, as Southside would call them, a "Gold Channel," like 2 tracks with a really nice preamp that I can use for like drum overheads, and then overdub everything else through it.
 
SonicAlbert said:
Forget about having the preamps and the converters in the same box. It doesn't matter, and it severely limits your choice of preamps. Choose the preamps you want and then choose the firewire converter you want. That way you get the best of all worlds.

I use a DAV Electronics BG-1 two channel preamp and love it.
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What converter do you use?

If and when I ever get to the point where I can actually record a quality product, I planned on getting a Great River ME-1NV. But first things first.
 
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I use a Universal Audio 2192, a unit that is probably out of your budget. If you are eventually planning on ending up with a Great River, I highly recommend saving up for it now. After years of buying budget and mid-end gear and "upgrading" in increments, I now just save up and buy the good stuff first off. I think in the long run you really do end up spending less.
 
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