Best cheap preamp for broadcasting. Help needed!

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svantefenger

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O' wise sound fellas,
I need help.

I have just started broadcasting live radio from my appartment with a couple of friends. Bought the Mackie ProFX12 with build-in mic preamp and USB I/O and 4 Rode Procasters which is used simultaniously. Everything works but the problem is that the microphones sounds a bit flat, cold and basicly just uninteresting. I study while doing this, and that means that i don't have a lot of money as you might know - this is where i really need your help.

Can you recommend any good cheap, preferabely 2-channel, preamps for broadcasting?

Regards,
Svante Fenger & friends
 
svantefenger said:
O' wise sound fellas,
-I need help.
-I have just started broadcasting live radio from my appartment with a couple of friends.
-Bought the Mackie ProFX12 with build-in mic preamp and USB I/O and 4 Rode Procasters which is used simultaniously.
-Everything works but the problem is that the microphones sounds a bit flat, cold and basicly just uninteresting.
-I study while doing this, and that means that i don't have a lot of money as you might know - this is where i really need your help.
-Can you recommend any good cheap, preferabely 2-channel, preamps for broadcasting?
Regards,
Svante Fenger & friends
Click to expand...

Have you tried adjusting the Gain or Equalization on each microphone channel?
http://www.mackie.com/home/showimage.html?u=/products/profx12/photos/ProFX12-Top.jpg
 
Yes. Still gives me a hollow flat sound. Could it maybe be the mixers integrated USB interface being of poor quality?
 
svantefenger said:
Yes. Still gives me a hollow flat sound. Could it maybe be the mixers integrated USB interface being of poor quality?
Click to expand...
It could be but I doubt it.
Reverb or any Effects on?
Listen to the mics using the headphone output on the mixer then listen to them using the headphone output on the computer and see if there is any difference............
 
Hmmm very hard to find a good AND cheap preamp. Most of the cheap ones won't give you better quality than the Mackie. The "cheapest" good one in my opinion is the Golden Age pre-73, but that's 1 channel for about $350 new. Since you want two-channel...you're looking at a good chunk of change.
 
svantefenger said:
but the problem is that the microphones sounds a bit flat, cold and basicly just uninteresting.

...Can you recommend any good cheap, preferabely 2-channel, preamps for broadcasting?
Click to expand...

The mic sounds flat, cold and uninteresting and you want to change the pre-amp?? Have you tried another mic?

svantefenger said:
Yes. Still gives me a hollow flat sound. Could it maybe be the mixers integrated USB interface being of poor quality?
Click to expand...

It ain't the converters. They are about the very last thing you would consider changing.

The first thing you would consider is the room your are in. Hollow and flat sounds like a poor room to me. But, it looks like the Rode mic is similar to the EV RE-20 and maybe the room isn't as big a factor. You probably just need to EQ a bit and maybe some compression.

But, if that doesn't work and you want to keep those mics, then look at the FMR RNMP's. 2 channel for about $400. Or consider the VTB-1. You can probably find a nice deal on those.
 
Yup, probably the room. There is a reason radio stations and recording studios spend lots of money on room treatment and it's not to look cool.

You might want to take a look at this Sound-on-Sound article where they did a preamp shootout:
Pick A*Preamp
They were rather surprised at the quality of Mackie's and the relatively cheap Art Pro MPA II ($269 for 2 channels) compared in real-world tests to much more expensive boutique preamps.
 
I've had good experiences with ART TubeMP preamps.
 
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