Best Mic Pre for my buck!

[musicfan1234]

Hi,

Just curious what is the best mic pre out there without spending over 300 bucks.

Thanks,

Billy

 

[cominginsecond]

Hi,

Just curious what is the best mic pre out there without spending over 300 bucks.

Thanks,

Billy

Most people are going to say the SP VTB-1 for $179. I haven't used it yet. I like my Joe Meek MQ3 all right.

 

[Mr. Moon]

I would have to side with "most people" and recommend the VTB-1. I picked one up a couple of weeks ago and have been really impressed with it for vocals. However, unlike "most people" I think that the VTB-1 also works pretty darn well as a bass preamp too. I have found that with just a bit of the Tube-Mix, the bass warms right up without sounding too overdriven. (...Of course, you can a nice toasted sound as well, if that's what your after.)

My $.02 worth...

Oh Yeah, I've been using the preamp with the following mics:
Studio Projects C1, Cascade M-20, Audio Technica ATM33a, Shure SM-57, & Shure SM-58.

Hope this helps!

-mr. moon


Check out my tune "War13": http://www.soundclick.com/bands/9/mrmoonmusic.htm

 

[ambi]

i thought the DMP3 was supposed to be betteR?

 

[DJL]

Hi,

Just curious what is the best mic pre out there without spending over 300 bucks.

Thanks,

Billy

I think you question is better suited for the "Rack" forum, and you didn't say if you wanted a one or two channel preamp.

 

[cominginsecond]

i thought the DMP3 was supposed to be betteR?

This kind of statement assumes some kind of consensus on this board. Fat chance of that happening.

 

[chessrock]

i thought the DMP3 was supposed to be betteR?

Well, considering it's 2 channels as opposed to one for basically the same price . . . and isn't in any way a step down in audio quality / fidelity, I would say it's at least a better value for the money.

 

[shackrock]

dmp2 is what i'm getting. ballaaaaaaaaa! ha

 

[Middleman]

DMP3 is better if you want a clean to slightly fat sound. VTB-1 is better beyond that. Neither is better just different.

DMP3 is cool looking, VTB-1 is butt ugly.

Chessparov, Dot, Cominginsecond and Alan Hyatt like the VTB-1

Chessrock, WATF, Speedemon, I think Crawdad and Middleman like the DMP3.

Everyone else is confused and does not know what to buy.

That about sums it up.

This should be a sticky because the opinions don't vary much from this.

 

[cominginsecond]

Chessparov, Dot, Cominginsecond and Alan Hyatt like the VTB-1

Actually I haven't use the VTB-1 or the DMP3.

 

[ambi]

what about these two pre's versus the Mackie pre's.

Would these beat it? I assumed they would being good quality stand alone pre's, but someone mentioned "the mackies are way better" or something like that. Which i assumed to be either false or an exaduration.

 

[cominginsecond]

what about these two pre's versus the Mackie pre's.

Would these beat it? I assumed they would being good quality stand alone pre's, but someone mentioned "the mackies are way better" or something like that. Which i assumed to be either false or an exaduration.

Both of these pres are going to beat the Mackie, by simple virtue of the fact that the budget per pre in a Mackie mixer is orders of magnitude less than the budget per pre in a stand-alone preamp. This is because much of the circuitry in a Mackie mixer is not related to the mic pre, but to EQ, summing, and all the other things that mixers do. All of the circuitry in a stand-alone mic pre is dedicated to amplifying the signal coming out of the mic.

 

[ambi]

I assumed that. But i also learned a long time ago never to assume. So i wanted to ask someone who actually knew. Thanks!

 

[chessrock]

It's a tough call, really, but I don't think there are a lot of budget pres out there that are noticeably better than the mackie, to be honest.

I think the dmp3 really shines when recording very quiet sources. You can crank the gain up on it well past 12 o'clock without the sound changing noticeably, if at all. Not to mention it's probably about the quietest pre in it's price range, hands-down, so I'd say for mic'ing quiet things (very soft voices, classical guitar, etc.). This also makes it pretty ideal for quieter models like ribbon mics.

The mackie, on the other hand, doesn't maintain a very flat freq. response when you push it to higher gains, and although it's still impressively quiet (all things considering), it's not the same as the dmp3.

On the other hand . . . if you're mic'ing louder sources, the mackie might have a very slight edge in terms of headroom (and possibly it's lower distortion figures). This was much more of an issue with the dmp2, but still could with the dmp3 under extreme circumstances (in which case you should probably back the mic off or use a pad anyway).