Bluetube vs. DMP3 vs. VTB1

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Bluetube vs. DMP3 vs. VTB1 for hip-hop vocals. Clean crisp. What yall think?

Justin
 
Its a toss up between the DMP-3 and the VTB-1, the blue tube is crap IMHO.
 
Is this sort of a "best cheap preamp for Hip-hop vocals" thread in disguise ?

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DMP3 is crap imo. I just bought a mackie mixer and the onboard preamps are way better.

Im not saying that the DMP3 is garbage, its just not clean on my voice with the At4040 I have. It has alot of warmth in it.

What type of mic are you using?

I made some threads about the DMP3. Maybe you can check them out.
 
you must have a pretty thick voice...i always found the mackie preamps (vlz pro) to be extremely thin and harsh...
 
qb2k5 said:
DMP3 is crap imo. I just bought a mackie mixer and the onboard preamps are way better.

Im not saying that the DMP3 is garbage, its just not clean on my voice with the At4040 I have. It has alot of warmth in it.

What type of mic are you using?

I made some threads about the DMP3. Maybe you can check them out.
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You're the first person I've ever heard say the dmp3 wasn't clean enough. It's one of the best clean cheap pres I own and I own a lot of them. Also, are you saying the dmp3 has warmth? Never heard that one either.
 
qb2k5 said:
DMP3 is crap imo. I just bought a mackie mixer and the onboard preamps are way better.

Im not saying that the DMP3 is garbage, its just not clean on my voice with the At4040 I have. It has alot of warmth in it.

What type of mic are you using?

I made some threads about the DMP3. Maybe you can check them out.
Click to expand...

Seems to be clean enough for just about everyone else on the board that uses one. I've used one and I'd say clean would be a good way to describe it.

Not sure what you mean by warmth either - your voice or the DMP3?

What Mackie mixer are you comparing the DMP3 to - the newer Onyx series?
 
E00N said:
Bluetube vs. DMP3 vs. VTB1 for hip-hop vocals. Clean crisp. What yall think?

Justin
Click to expand...

Bluetube - never used it, but people don't jump for joy over it especially when you can do better in the same class with the other two you mentioned.

DMP3 is a clean pre and I don't recall seeing anyone around here really not like it, except for this thread of course.

VTB1 is a nice budget pre as well - the "toob" blend has it's uses, but I rarely used it. Might add a little character for you.

What mic are you going to be using?
 
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If there's any room left on the bandwagon, the DMP-3 IS clean, and not my idea of warm, though certainly not thin or harsh. It does what it does very well, with very little coloration, distortion, or self noise. That means the sound you get is all going to come from the mic and the source. Any "warmth" is probably going to come from a transformer in the mic, or from proximity effect.
 
im using a mxl v67g. And it really isn't in disguise, i said it was for hip-hop vocals, not really a disguise....
 
Dmp3

I have both the Blue Tube and the DMP3. I also have Mackie CFX and ONYX mixers. (I've never used the VTB-1). My Blue Tube is the older design and it may have been improved in the last year.

Between the Blue Tube and the DMP3 I'd opt for the DMP3. [I find it to be an improvement over the old Mackie mixer preamps, but not close to approaching the Onyx pres. Those fit nicely between live sound gear grade and really high end recording stuff - Mackie has carved out a very useful intermediate niche]. I think the DMP3 is, as Robert D has suggested, clean and trouble free. Plus it has the gain from hell if needed and much better headroom than many stage mixers. Great value for the money. Should be a nice fit with your mic.

The Blue Tube I have (older design) works as a preamp and that's about it. It's great to have one around because it will always have an application, but vocals are not on the list. It's a low voltage, starved plate design that should not be confused with anything "vintage;" it's really an entry level solid state preamp with an effects circuit.
 
Treeline said:
Plus it has the gain from hell if needed
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Haha, yeah thats about right. lotsa gain. It has been a little while since I used one, but it seems like it did have a little bit of haze to it compared to some of the more open-sounding preamps I have now. Nothing too bad, and some people may interpret it as "warmth". Definitely good for the price. I traded mine to a guy for some Bose headphones. :(
 
Bluetube is one crappy ass preamp from my own in-store experience.
 
E00N said:
Bluetube vs. DMP3 vs. VTB1 for hip-hop vocals. Clean crisp. What yall think?

Justin
Click to expand...

I think the key words here are "clean crisp". IMHO, if you want clean and crisp (no distortion, good clarity and depth, low noise, high headroom, fast on the transients, flat frequnecy response), I'd go with the two channel DMP3 first, with the single channel VTB1 a close second. I don't feel that the BlueTube is in the same catagory, based on my interpretation of what you're looking for. I didn't give the style of music a second thought, I just considered "clean crisp".
 
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