2 Channel Pre

  • Thread starter Thread starter TeenChristian
  • Start date Start date
Craigslist is the best bet. If you have that in your area. Problem is, it is a crap-shoot. I found my KRK RPG25's for $160 there. They obviously are not available always. Be patient, or borrow money. You need decent monitors. The KRK 5's are almost useless as a main monitor for me now. I reference off them because I spent much time with them. But they lie to you in the low end, and do not translate well.

I have ART TPS, DPSII, and Dual MP. None of them give anything really useable over the Tascam preamps. I only use them to add more mic input channels to my interface. My $1800 Vintech X73i however, makes a crappy mics sound amazing. In my opinion, you need to spend a whole bunch more money on a preamp to get a noticeable return on your investment. Spend $1000 on monitors before a dime on preamps, would be my recommendation.
 
Yeah, if I thought an inexpensive preamp would help you I'd have tried to sell you my Presonus Blue Tube DP, but your Tascam pres are probably going to be just as good if not better than something entry level like that.
 
TeenChristian said:
Hey there! Lately I've been looking for a preamp that didn't cost too much, but had good quality. So far what I'm looking at the most are some pre's by ART.
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FYI...the ART VLA II is a compressor, not a preamp....but a pretty nice little comp for tracking.

The ART MPA is the pre...a bit on the dark side, but OK for the money.
 
miroslav said:
FYI...the ART VLA II is a compressor, not a preamp....but a pretty nice little comp for tracking.

The ART MPA is the pre...a bit on the dark side, but OK for the money.
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Yes come to the dark side ..... we have cookies! :D
 
miroslav said:
FYI...the ART VLA II is a compressor, not a preamp....but a pretty nice little comp for tracking.

The ART MPA is the pre...a bit on the dark side, but OK for the money.
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Like I said, the ART MPA IMO is worth its money in VU meters, direct inputs, low pass filters, phase and impedance controls. I'm about to replace the crappy stock tubes in mine with a pair of Telefunken 12ax7's in hope that I will have a better sound.

Opinions? Bad idea anyone?
 
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So from what I've heard, the pres in the tascam should suffice and I should be spending saving up for decent monitors before any thoughts about pres.
 
Nice Monitor are really nice, and are critical at a certain level of expertise... but often more critical than the monitor, is how well you know it... If your monitor lies about the low end, and you know that, then you can mix around it... if it's a bit bright on certain frequencies, and you know it, you can compensate.

You're going to have your best results on the speakers you know... this is why many world class engineers bring their own "enhh" monitors (i.e JBL L-100, Yamaha NS-10) to world class studios with world class monitors. They don't want to trust a mix to speakers they've never recorded on.

And as far as an expensive pre-amp making crap mics sound great... the same can be said for a expensive mic making crappy pre-amps great... Which came first... the Chicken or the Egg?? Certainly both cases hold true, but I rather spend money on the mic first...
 
CrowsofFritz said:
Like I said, the ART MPA IMO is worth its money in VU meters, direct inputs, low pass filters, phase and impedance controls. I'm about to replace the crappy stock tubes in mine with a pair of Telefunken 12ax7's in hope that I will have a better sound.

Opinions? Bad idea anyone?
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Are you going to order the Telefunkens or do you have them hanging around?
 
moresound said:
Are you going to order the Telefunkens or do you have them hanging around?
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I actually don't have them hanging around. I figure any tube would be better than the stock ones at this point. What do you recommend?
 
You can spend $50. and up for NOS tubes but the difference will be very small but cleaner.
Try replacing with 12at7 or 12au7. How old is your unit? And what does it have for tubes now?
 
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