ART pre amps?

  • Thread starter Thread starter bas1236
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I have the Tube MP. Don't care too much for it. It seems to color my vocals. It almost sounds like it distorts them. It works ok for guitar and bass though.
 
A friend of mine has an ART, and he didn't like it. He changed the tube in it, and liked it a lot more, but he still rarely uses it.
 
A friend of mine has an Art Tube MP. I don't really care for it on vocals. It's just not clean enough (although that's what you may be looking for... I'm not...), but I really like it on guitars (Accoustic and Electric), and it's also a great bass D.I.

Oren
 
i was looking more at the pro channel or pro MPA, about $200 - $300 more than the tube mp (not that price makes a diff) - but still tube pres, and ART
 
I have a Art TubePac which is tubepre + octocomp and it works great. Don't be fooled that you can't get a clean signal out of it, some just tweak it the wrong way. The tube in this baby is actually in a "send"configuration, so you could use it with almost no signal going through the tub at all if you want.
It has a freq response of 5Hz - 50.000Hz within -0.1dB so it's also VERY linear. If you let the signal pass the tube you get added warmth and less sterile signal, and it works great.
 
Also be wary of quality control. Several of these units have shipped defective and produce RFI.
 
Had an MPA and sold it. The meters are purty. Not enough clean gain. Not true tube gear, but rather toob, or tewb as you prefer. What I mean is the design is what is politely called a hybrid, which means a solid state device with a starved plate trip through a light bulb to add what you hope will be some pleasant harmonic distortion. The cumulative effect of which over multiple tracks is the reason I sold it. True tube gear can be as clean as the finest solid state pres.

Still got a Toob MP. It occasionally sees action on bass guitar as a DI, or as a footstool for the leg I rest my guitar on.
-kent
 
I have an ART tube MP Studio and have no problems with it. I also have a Bellari 110 Direct Drive tube pre that I like. Both work very well for me on vocals. I use both of them with RODE NT2's and Behringer B-2 mics. I don't get any of the noise that many are saying that they get. I spend a lot of time setting up the units prior to any session and I use a very quiet room. Remember, that noise some are talking about may actually be the sound of the room. Both units are different and have to be set differently. You don't just slam the tube drive and gain knobs to full throttle. You learn to use them tastefully to aquire the maximum signal with some tube "harmonic" distortion. It should not sound like the distortion of a guitar. Both units are capable of driving the tube to utter distortion, but that's not what I use mine for. I like a little "warm" on my signal and I spend a lot of time fine tuning all of my units to work with each other to get that sound. A little time, patience and knowlege of how to use the units within the signal chain will give you fine results.

Hope this helps,
PAULIII
 
bas, if price doesn't matter, you can do much better than ART, or any tewb pro-sumer gear.
-kent
 
Actually I like the M-Audio Audio Buddy MUCH better than the Art Toob MP and at $80 for two channels it is also much cheaper.
 
Good morning, Randy! You are correct of course. The proper spelling is "toob". I was just pandering. You know, like Ling-Ling.
-kent
 
Morning,Kent.Actually I think that it can be spellt tewb or toob as long as it isn't spellt tube!! :D
 
Not tube?! But I want to warm up my digital recordings!!!Hee-hee! Sniff-sniff, Bear, you out there?
-kent
 
Kent,keep it up and the Bear will sniff you out!I know what you mean though,I hate that cold,harsh digital sound.I sometimes run my tracks through a lamp to try and warm up the sound!I find a 40 watt bulb to be perfect.
 
i meant, in theory, price is not neccesarily a determinant of quality - obviously, if money were no object i wouldn't be looking at an ART


knownuttin said:
bas, if price doesn't matter, you can do much better than ART, or any tewb pro-sumer gear.
-kent
Click to expand...
 
Good point. If money weren't an object, ART wouldn't even exist.
Since it is, I refer you to Randy's recommendation of the Audio Buddy, or a step up the line, the DMP-3.
-kent
 
The Art MP and PreSonus Blue Tube are usually compared a lot around here. I have both mic preamps... The Blue Tube is slightly cheaper then the Art. I prefere the Art over the PreSonus but that's only my opinion. I'm sure other people will disagree with me... However, the PreSonus is a good mic preamp, and is worth the money they charge...

My ebay Auctions!! :D
 
I have the art mp. Personally, I like it. Inexpensive, simple to operate. Can make it clean or a little rough. Overall nice tone.
 
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