8channel mic pre converter combo?

  • Thread starter Thread starter gcapel
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gcapel

gcapel

boom box recordings
Hi,

I've been looking to upgrade my mic pre's(allen and heath) and converter(delta 1010).

I have been looking at digital workstations but I don't think i will go that route.

Does anyone have any recommendations on an 8 channel micpre/ad converter? I am looking for some quality but not over 2000.00. The only unit I have considered is the 4 channel focusrite ISA unit which has optical lightpipe output.

Keep in mind i do use a PC.

Thanks, Garrett
 
Well if you want to save some money you could look at the ADA8000 which is a 8Ch Pre amp with 24/48 A/D conversion and ADAT In/Out and is only about $200 But For you I don"t think it would be an Upgrade as the Preamps are probably not as good as your A&H and converters not as good as the Delta 1010 but for $200 it is a great way to add 8 extra Channels to your recording setup......

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--BEHADA8000


Cheers
 
Minion said:
Well if you want to save some money you could look at the ADA8000 which is a 8Ch Pre amp with 24/48 A/D conversion and ADAT In/Out and is only about $200 But For you I don"t think it would be an Upgrade as the Preamps are probably not as good as your A&H and converters not as good as the Delta 1010 but for $200 it is a great way to add 8 extra Channels to your recording setup......

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--BEHADA8000


Cheers
Click to expand...

That's pretty much what I was gonna say. I have one, and definetly not sorry I got it.
 
There are lots: M-Audio Octane, Presonus Digimax, Focusrite Octopre (with digital addon), Mackie Onyx 800R.
 
His budget is $2000 guys, not $200. Don't recommend Behringer gear with that budget, please!

The Onyx 800 is a pretty solid unit (I have one). Another good choice is the Audient ASP008, although it's a little costly (right under $2K). It might continue to give you more of that "British" sound in the pres, similar to (but probably better than) the A&H you have now.

The Focusrite 428 with ADAT is a very good choice for a 4 channel unit.

Probably the best 8 banger I've run across so far in that price range though is the Ramsa WZ-AD96M. These are no longer made, but some diligent searching will likely turn one up, often for $1000 or less. I have one but there's a good chance I'll be buried with it so I can't help ya there... :D

On the lower end of things, Presonus Digimax and Focusrite OctoPre are decent, depending on what you want to do with them (I own one of each of these as well). Never tried the Octane, but I don't hold M-Audio in particularly high regard anyway.
 
tnjazz said:
His budget is $2000 guys, not $200. Don't recommend Behringer gear with that budget, please!
Click to expand...

I think we both understood his budget. How can it hurt to make him aware of something that is that inexpensive. Minion told him it probably wouldn't be an upgrade in terms of the quality of the pre's, and I agreed. Just because you're willing to spend $2000 doesn't mean you have to. The pres do the job (especially for the price) and that leaves $1800 to spend (or save) on something else. All he has to do is look at the behringer and decide he doesn't want it.
 
A guy I know(Head Engineer at Denon) is a location engineer like myself and swears by the Mackie Onyx and VLZ preamps....He has access to literally anything he wants, but says he likes those best. course you could buy the bearinger xynx and have the same thing. :o

YMMV.
 
RAK said:
I think we both understood his budget. How can it hurt to make him aware of something that is that inexpensive. Minion told him it probably wouldn't be an upgrade in terms of the quality of the pre's, and I agreed. Just because you're willing to spend $2000 doesn't mean you have to. The pres do the job (especially for the price) and that leaves $1800 to spend (or save) on something else. All he has to do is look at the behringer and decide he doesn't want it.
Click to expand...

Because the Allen & Heath pres he currently has are much better than the ones in the Behringer box. You shouldn't recommend a step BACKWARD for someone.

The Behringer box does have pretty decent A/D converters (they are Alesis 1101 I believe?), but the preamps are garbage.

For just $300 more there are much better options.
 
tnjazz said:
Because the Allen & Heath pres he currently has are much better than the ones in the Behringer box. You shouldn't recommend a step BACKWARD for someone.

The Behringer box does have pretty decent A/D converters (they are Alesis 1101 I believe?), but the preamps are garbage.

For just $300 more there are much better options.
Click to expand...

And no one is disagreeing with you that the A&H is better. Again, Minion explicitely said the pres probably aren't as good. I don't think the Behringer is garbage, but I don't care to debate that either. Nor do I think amazing mic pres are that important anyway.

There certianly are better options, and if you have the money you should do it. I just think it's good to know what's out there. (if he had had a lower price range, I wouldn't have seen the issue with recommending something higher just to get more options). Just a matter of covering all your bases.

Sorry if the low-end recomendation bothered you.
 
I've read some good things about the M-audio Octane. Almost bought one, but decided I really didn't need the eight pre's. I did however purchase a Tampa and loved it. For the $$$ it really is a nice pre and has a nice, usable, compressor to boot. Seems to be love/hate with the Tampa, but I really don't think M-audio does a bad job with pre's - be it the DMP3, the Tampa, the Octane, whatever. This is a home recording Website, so I'm not afraid to recommend their products.

Anyway, back to what you're looking for....Do a search on the Octane around here - maybe even Google it for reviews. It has a cool feature allowing M-S matrix encoding for that stereo miking technique.

I'm not a Behringer fan, but the recommendation for the ADA8000 would be a good one if you had a lower budget. Seems to work great for many people although the quality isn't stunning or even great (by some standards).

Hopefully you get get some more options here - so far I think we're off to a decent start - even with the recommendation of the Behringer.
 
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warble said:
I've read some good things about the M-audio Octane. Almost bought one, but decided I really didn't need the eight pre's. I did however purchase a Tampa and loved it. For the $$$ it really is a nice pre and has a nice, usable, compressor to boot. Seems to be love/hate with the Tampa, but I really don't think M-audio does a bad job with pre's - be it the DMP3, the Tampa, the Octane, whatever. This is a home recording Website, so I'm not afraid to recommend their products.

Anyway, back to what you're looking for....Do a search on the Octane around here - maybe even Google it for reviews. It has a cool feature allowing M-S matrix encoding for that stereo miking technique.

I'm not a Behringer fan, but the recommendation for the ADA8000 would be a good one if you had a lower budget. Seems to work great for many people although the quality isn't stunning or even great (by some standards).

Hopefully you get get some more options here - so far I think we're off to a decent start - even with the recommendation of the Behringer.
Click to expand...

I agree. Did anyone mention the Focusrite Octopre? I don't actually know the price range, but it's a nice little unit. We use it for drums at the studio I work at sometimes (02R96 on-board pre's for the rest) Sounds quite good, but this is from coming from someone who doesn't mind owning the ADA8000 :)
 
BigRay, if i purchase a Mackie Onyx 1220 with the Firewire card, i don´t need any soundcard, right?

I have a firepod right now, but i don´t use 8 pres, and i would like to have some faders (and better pres?), but i don´t wanna buy a soundcard...

Thanks!
 
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