BEST 1000 dollar PREAMP

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freshfriedfishy

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okay. so here's the pre's ive been looking at:

budget: 1000.00

UA 610
Vintech dual 72
A designs mp-1
focusrite voicemaster pro + avalon DI box
used focusrite ISA
sebatron vmp-2000e

i need something that can add fattness and warmth to drums... morph a di bass into a monster thump, and yet retain the crisp vivatious pop vocal sound.

should i throw 1000 into a nice tube pre to get that tube grit and warmth and use my presonus digimax Lt pre's for those clean passages untill i can save for a solid state vocal powerhouse? or should i take a stab at solid state clean w/ tube emulation for those heavy hitting parts? either way, down the road i plan on getting both.

mics: ksm44, studio projects c-1, oktava mk012 x 2, mxl 603s, sennheiser md421, sennheiser e604 x2, beta 52a, sm-57, e/v 537
 
I'm way biased as I put in about a year and change working with the designer of the thing... but IMNTLBFHO, a Great River ME-1NV should serve the majority of your needs quite nicely.

I think you'll be hard pressed to find a really good "tube" pre-amp in the $1,000 range... yeah, you can find lots of stuff that has little glowy things in them... but a real tube design [as opposed to a "toob" design] is a pretty expensive thing to accomplish.

Best of luck with your search.
 
This is exactly my price range as well. I was kind of leaning towards the Great River ME-1NV actually, so that's a good endorsement from Fletcher. My short list was:

Great River ME-1NV
Brent Averill API 312A single channel
Brent Averill 1272 single channel
Maybe save extra for a Manley/Langevin Dual Mono Pre
Sytek MPX-4Aii

Mics I have are:
Rode NTK
2 Shure SM81s
Shure SM57

I do mostly rock, acoustic rock, indie rock, alt-country

Any others I should consider? Is the Great River the clear winner? That's what I've gathered so far, but I'd like to get as many opinions as I can.
 
They Sytek is a GREAT vale for the Money but it is not the Big, fat warm sound. It does work great on drums as it is really fast. The burr brown mods thicken it up a little, but still more of a clean pre.
 
hey elek, we're in the same boat here. ive been checking out the langevin dual pre too.. you can snag em on ebay for around a grand.

im stuck in between the BAE 312A's, great river ME-1NV, and a used focusrite ISA session pack.

all input is appreciated.
 
Yeah, there seem to be quite a few choices in that price range. I'll have to check out the ISA session pack, haven't looked at that one yet. I think if I saw a good deal on the Great River that would probably be the one I would buy at this point, but I haven't gotten to try any of the out. Just did some listening at thelisteningsessions.com. You should check that out if you haven't already. Lots of gear A/Bed. Let me know which route you go. It may be another month or so before I actually make my purchase.
 
Yeah, there seem to be quite a few choices in that price range. I'll have to check out the ISA session pack, haven't looked at that one yet. I think if I saw a good deal on the Great River that would probably be the one I would buy at this point, but I haven't gotten to try any of the out. Just did some listening at thelisteningsessions.com. You should check that out if you haven't already. Lots of gear A/Bed. Let me know which route you go. It may be another month or so before I actually make my purchase.
 
another heavy contender is the aphex 1100 dual channel tube preamp w/ a/d coverters. quiet and clean. you can grab em for around 1000 on ebay.
 
Anybody have an opinion about the preamp on the aphex? I'm pretty satisfied with my current converters.
 
I can't say enough about the BAE API 312 pre's. I have 6 of them, and.... I want 2 more! I have the older ones of his; the ones with the 2520 opamps.
These things are so fast, tight and punchy, its just unreal!

2 channels will run you just over a grand, but I'm sure you'd be one happy camper with those puppies.
 
I had an Mp1-nv and a Drs-1 from Phoenix Audio, to test. I do mostly AAA, pop/alt. and acoustic. Only the DRS-1 stayed. Hope that helps.
 
Interesting...I had looked at the DRS-1, but hadn't heard much about it. So Michael Jones, have you used the Great River? If so how does it compare? Looks like Great River and BAE API 312s are getting some votes.
 
How about we throw a vote out for the Chandler TG2. I can't actually say that I like it any better than the Great River or the API preamps, its just different. I really liked the Phoenix audio stuff though. It sounded a little more aggressive than the Great River to me, but I think the Great River had a smoother sound to it, like it would be a little more versatile. I am very curious to hear the new Aurora stuff though:)
 
In my experience... the Great River is a great sounding unit... the Phoenix DRS-1 is a great sounding unit... but tracking using both the DRS-1 and the ME-1NV is just a little slice of heaven. Like if you did the guitars with the DRS, try the 1NV on vocals. There is just something about those two units that is cool individually, but when used together their characters combine like rasberries and chocolate...
 
EleKtriKaz said:
Interesting...I had looked at the DRS-1, but hadn't heard much about it. So Michael Jones, have you used the Great River? If so how does it compare? Looks like Great River and BAE API 312s are getting some votes.
Click to expand...
I don't have the Great River.
Fletcher's Mercenary Edition will be my next major pre-amp purchase; probably sometime this fall.
 
Fletcher said:
In my experience... the Great River is a great sounding unit... the Phoenix DRS-1 is a great sounding unit... but tracking using both the DRS-1 and the ME-1NV is just a little slice of heaven. Like if you did the guitars with the DRS, try the 1NV on vocals. There is just something about those two units that is cool individually, but when used together their characters combine like rasberries and chocolate...
Click to expand...



Man Fletcher I wish I couldve just kept both units. I can see where the 2 together would be phenomenal.
 
IMO the Sebatron kicks ass. It is a discrete class A, transformer front end, valve preamp with a solid state output. Of course I'd love to have any of the other preamps listed as well.
 
Going back to the original list, I have compared the GR and the Voicemaster Pro side by side. The VM Pro is very good but not the details or smoothness of the GR. There are subtle breathy details and mouth sounds that add realism with the GR on a ballad. The VM Pro just doesn't pull those in. However for the price the VM Pro is extremely decent for most things.

Have not tried the rest.
 
Thanks for all the input everyone. Looks like I'm going to have to look seriously at the GR, BAE API and Phoenix preamps. Too bad GC doesn't have any units like this. I would love to be able to try all three of them out.

Kind of random...anyone had any experience with the Ampex MX-10 tube mixer/preamp? I think they're really old, like 60s.
 
I have (2) great River pre's, They are clean, very responsive and well worth every dime.
 
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