Best Mic Pre $400-$500 (guitars, vocals, bass)
- Thread starter rweiss
- Start date
I'm thinking of these 2:
M-Audio TAMPA ($400):
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MDOTAMPA
Avalon U5 ($540):
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--AVAU5
I'm ready to fork out some duckets for these things and would like to know if anyone else has anything to say about them or any other preamp suggestions.
I also have another question - If I get a nice single-channel preamp, how would I go about getting this into my computer? ...Right now everything gets fed into our Firepod then into Sonar via firewire - but how would I get the output of one of these nicer preamps into Sonar? Do I need some sort of digital conversion? ...I don't think it'd be wise to put the output into the Firepod then into Sonar, cause then the Firepod's pre's would compromise the signal and defeat the purpose of a nice pre.
M-Audio TAMPA ($400):
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MDOTAMPA
Avalon U5 ($540):
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--AVAU5
I'm ready to fork out some duckets for these things and would like to know if anyone else has anything to say about them or any other preamp suggestions.
I also have another question - If I get a nice single-channel preamp, how would I go about getting this into my computer? ...Right now everything gets fed into our Firepod then into Sonar via firewire - but how would I get the output of one of these nicer preamps into Sonar? Do I need some sort of digital conversion? ...I don't think it'd be wise to put the output into the Firepod then into Sonar, cause then the Firepod's pre's would compromise the signal and defeat the purpose of a nice pre.
With all the gear we've used and tested in that price range, I think there's very few boxes on the market that are really worth the money in the $300-$600 range. I've been giving "mid-level" pres and channel strips shit for about the last year because we've found they really don't perform much better than some of the best inexpensive/budget gear [ MS-1b, DMP3, VTB-1 ] , and they don't touch the performance of the high-end gear. Here's some of the best choices, IMO:
Tampa: Reduced to around $300 in the last year or so. Single-channel clean channel strip with mic pre/DI/opto compressor/dig out. The only mid-level channel strip worth buying, IMO. And that's because it's three hundred bucks.
FMR RNP: Siightly colored two-channel pre/DI with a nice airy high-end.
The Brick: Good for a few tracks. Gets wholly if you use it as your only pre on all the tracks. I don't think it's that amazing, but it's worth it - I guess. It's the only real tube pre available in that price range, so I include it.
Grace 101: Transparent, transformerless DI/pre.
The 101 is not going to give your music enough "oomph" and energy. The Brick - like I said - I wouldn't use it as an only pre on all the tracks. That leaves the Tampa and the RNP. I think if you want a channel strip with an opto compressor you should seriously consider this. But I think your best option is the RNP. It's two channels, and a good pre for drum OH's if you ever need it for that. Good DI for bass. Just enough color to give your music a little bit of an edge on the recording. And you can later just spend another $175 for an RNC and have two channels of very good compression, too, between the RNP and your recorder.
That's where I'd recommend you spend your $.
My 2¢.
Tampa: Reduced to around $300 in the last year or so. Single-channel clean channel strip with mic pre/DI/opto compressor/dig out. The only mid-level channel strip worth buying, IMO. And that's because it's three hundred bucks.
FMR RNP: Siightly colored two-channel pre/DI with a nice airy high-end.
The Brick: Good for a few tracks. Gets wholly if you use it as your only pre on all the tracks. I don't think it's that amazing, but it's worth it - I guess. It's the only real tube pre available in that price range, so I include it.
Grace 101: Transparent, transformerless DI/pre.
The 101 is not going to give your music enough "oomph" and energy. The Brick - like I said - I wouldn't use it as an only pre on all the tracks. That leaves the Tampa and the RNP. I think if you want a channel strip with an opto compressor you should seriously consider this. But I think your best option is the RNP. It's two channels, and a good pre for drum OH's if you ever need it for that. Good DI for bass. Just enough color to give your music a little bit of an edge on the recording. And you can later just spend another $175 for an RNC and have two channels of very good compression, too, between the RNP and your recorder.
That's where I'd recommend you spend your $.
My 2¢.
DMP3,API-512c,The Brick, Focusrite Platinum series, Trident s20.
Janesaid2me
New member
I'm gonna say go with the RNP by FMR...that way you have two channels most of those other ones are only single channel and i think all mentioned are about the same quality. Plus i can add the RNC and have your own little channel strip similar to the tampa....thats just my opinion though...ive never used the tampa...only the brick and the RNP...the brick is nice on vocals if you dont already have a tube mic which i do...
fraserhutch
Flypaper for freaks
Also, check out the Chameleon Labs 7206. War has a review on it here. Sounds like a good choice.
lofilothario
New member
I'd go with the FMR RNP/RNC combo. you won't find a better compressor in the price range. The pres are great, i bought them and use them on just about everything. Or you could get the Sytek MPX4ii, those come out at about 225 a channel.
fraserhutch
Flypaper for freaks
rweiss said:
Buddy, just do a search in these forums and you'll find that question is discussed all day long here.