Best Mic Pre under $300 Poll..

  • Thread starter Thread starter NoFO
  • Start date Start date

Wich mic pre offers the best quality for the price?

  • ART TPS $180

    Votes: 28 4.1%

  • ART DPS (TPS with digital outs) $250

    Votes: 31 4.5%

  • Behringer Ultra Gain $170

    Votes: 34 5.0%

  • M-Audio/Midiman DMP-3 $199

    Votes: 159 23.2%

  • M-Audio Audio Buddy $120

    Votes: 23 3.4%

  • Presonus Blue Tube $150

    Votes: 83 12.1%

  • None of the above, (specify in post)

    Votes: 115 16.8%

  • don't be cheap, save your cash and buy something elitist

    Votes: 174 25.4%

  • Screw it all, go MIDI all the way

    Votes: 39 5.7%
  • Total voters
    686
juan162 said:
I hear what you're saying and I appreciate the well thought out post. While I can't afford to upgrade everything in my set up, if I were to start purchasing high quality gear, what would be the first upgrade, and how much more do I have to pay if I want to hear a difference. Will I even hear a significant difference if I only upgrade one part of my signal chain?

Juan
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Room treatment, mic's, mic pre, converters!!

But thats just my opinion!!!
 
Igor Alexander said:
So Mr. Jones needs a car so he can drive to work and back. Does he buy a Rolls Royce, even though it's financially quite painful for him to do so, or does he "cut corners" and buy the $20,000 Toyota? Does it make any sense for Mr. Jones to drive a Rolls Royce to work?

It's all about compromise, always. I've heard high-end mic preamps and some of them can make an SM57 sound like a capacitor microphone, but for home recording purposes, the preamps in my Mackie mixer are more than adequate and I can't justify spending more than that for what basically amounts to a hobby. I find it ridiculous that people who are recording music in their bedrooms or basements are spending (or are being urged to spend) thousands of dollars on boutique mic pres when they could be using that money on something far more useful like pressing CDs and sending them out to radio stations, buying that nice guitar amp or piano that they've had their eye on, etc.

Once you start taking a "no compromise" approach to your home studio, where do you draw the line? Since you're already spending $800 per mic preamp, why not upgrade to mics that cost $1000 or more? And while you're at it, why not spend $10,000 on a high-end desktop mixer? You could spend another $10,000 on outboard EQ and signal processors, $10,000 on ADC/DACs, and on and on it goes. Where does it end? And at what point do you start to get diminishing returns on your investment? Is the difference in sound, that to most of your listeners will be so subtle as to be imperceptible, really worth the extra $700 you paid for a boutique preamp over the Mackie or the M-Audio?

These days, you can do more, better, with $3000 worth of gear than you could 12 years ago with $15,000 worth of gear. Smart consumers will take advantage of this situation and be grateful for the extra $12,000 left over in their pockets to go towards a home, a car, a vacation, their kids' education, etc.
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+1..I agree..my grace design m101 is my most exspensive preamp...and I dont think I need any better...It makes my BLUE Bluebird mic sound great..but to tell you the truth..it also makes my old Behringer b2pro mic sound great to...No need for a u87..I doubt anyone could relly tell the difference at the final mix!!!!

OK now flame me for the behringer..I dont care!!!!!
 
Ive found that at this price point there is a choice that will astound you in the Line6 stuff...I use alot of SM57s and so do the major studios...go for a nice proven mic for voices....I bought a used C414 and Im through buying LD condencers...$300 for a C414 isnt too much is it?:rolleyes:
 
darrin_h2000 said:
Ive found that at this price point there is a choice that will astound you in the Line6 stuff...I use alot of SM57s and so do the major studios...go for a nice proven mic for voices....I bought a used C414 and Im through buying LD condencers...$300 for a C414 isnt too much is it?:rolleyes:
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That is a GREAT deal as long as it is in working condition.
 
jarrydee said:
+1..I agree..my grace design m101 is my most exspensive preamp...and I dont think I need any better...It makes my BLUE Bluebird mic sound great..but to tell you the truth..it also makes my old Behringer b2pro mic sound great to...No need for a u87..I doubt anyone could relly tell the difference at the final mix!!!!

OK now flame me for the behringer..I dont care!!!!!
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See that is the bueaty of a good quality mic pre, it will make most mics sound better, even those budget mics. Poor quality mic pres will make most mics sound bad, including those high dollar mics.
 
My vote goes to a pair of Yamaha PM1000 mic preamps. Sure it's hard to find them racked, but you can usually find them for about $300 a pair racked. Nothing in the price range can beat them in my opinion. They are class A mic preamps with input transformers, inductor based EQ's, and they sound awesome.

My second choice would be the Presonus MP20. Those also have input transformers and sound quite good.
 
I am in the same boat as many of you who are on a budget and cannot afford elitest gear. But I would submit that if you want a great pre, save a little more and get the RNP.
 
I noticed the DMP3 has XLR inputs but no XLR outputs (TRS) what does that mean for the home recorder? Just Different Cables?
 
yeah, just different cables. TRS are still balanced, so the quality of the signal shouldn't suffer any degradation.
 
valverec said:
My vote goes to a pair of Yamaha PM1000 mic preamps. Sure it's hard to find them racked, but you can usually find them for about $300 a pair racked. Nothing in the price range can beat them in my opinion. They are class A mic preamps with input transformers, inductor based EQ's, and they sound awesome.

My second choice would be the Presonus MP20. Those also have input transformers and sound quite good.
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I used Yamaha for years...the MLA7 8 channel mic preamp...I had no complaints very good utility stuff...and consistant quality.
 
I have to disagree on that ART preamp - My buddy has one and we compared it side by side with the Presonus TubePre and it didn't sound nearly as good - not that I would recommend the TubePre either - it colors the sound in an unappealing way in my opinion.
Of course other than the onboard pre's on my motu I have no other pres to compare either of these two -s o... maybe they do sound as good as the ones everyone else has mentioned. :)Specifically on this board though to try to find something better than what I have.
 
valverec said:
My vote goes to a pair of Yamaha PM1000 mic preamps. Sure it's hard to find them racked, but you can usually find them for about $300 a pair racked. Nothing in the price range can beat them in my opinion. They are class A mic preamps with input transformers, inductor based EQ's, and they sound awesome.
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I've been looking into the yammys for a while now, never heard/used one to my knowledge but someone steered me onto them. since then I've researched the circuit and lots of feedback from users and am getting very excited about trying to find a pair out there racked up and ready to go. I've seen them unracked... I don't have time nor patience to deal with creating power supplies and all of that stuff though (not to mention building them into a rackable unit).

if you ever get them, please let me know, or any other info about them too.

cheers,
Don
 
I just purchased a used RNP for $300. I have to say for the money, I am very pleased with the sound I am getting recording my acoustic guitars.
 
sajs said:
I just purchased a used RNP for $300. I have to say for the money, I am very pleased with the sound I am getting recording my acoustic guitars.
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If I saw an RNP for $300, I'd certainly buy it.
As it is, I make do with an SM57 through the used Symetrix SX202
that I recently picked up. Not silent, and not quite as much gain
as I'd like, but for $180, certainly acceptable:
 
Over at my recording show http://ronansrecordingshow.com/ I am putting together a new episode where I hunt for the best sub $500 pre amp. Its going to take me a couple months to put together but there seem to be some interesting options.
 
Ronan said:
Over at my recording show http://ronansrecordingshow.com/ I am putting together a new episode where I hunt for the best sub $500 pre amp. Its going to take me a couple months to put together but there seem to be some interesting options.
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Alright. Looking forward to that. I'm a fan of your show. Great info. I suppose I should have waited before I spent my money or I could have just bought that Solo 610.

I just bought the ART TPS II. Granted this is not a true tube preamp. It's a starved plate design but it works. The variable impedance is nice. The V3 is gimmick and doesn't sound all that great. The reason I bought it is simply that it's a solid state preamp that is grounded. The RNP is nice but it runs from a wall wart and I'm trying to avoid the potential noise. The ART is not dead silent but considerably quieter than my last preamp which had Burr Brown Op Amps. I will not mention the brand so as not to mar the name. It was a decent preamp but not grounded and so it imparted noise. Not lot's but noticeable even at moderately low volumes.

I'm hoping the TPS II will not have any issues. I've read some bad reviews. Mind you some bad reviews from people who opted for Behr...... pres. :rolleyes: Yeah. Those are "better"....nope. All that being said at $230 CDN (yeah steep, I know). It was worth the price. 68 dB of gain ain't too shabby.

This is not to be compared with the "Tube" MP. Also starved plate but much cheaper design. The TPS pres are at least discrete solid state rather than ic based.
 
If I had to do it again, I would search for a GT Brick or an Electro Harmonix 12AY7. Cheapest true tube pres you will find.
 
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