Brick Brick Brick

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cusebassman

Freakin' sweet
Okay... so I'm looking for a better preamp than what I'm using (my current collection is pretty much a joke by anybody's standards, Behringer and a cheap 8-channel, but I got decent results til now)... I've been searching the forums and for around 500 or less, I am looking for just a little ole single channel, doesn't have to have a lot of frills like compression and EQ built in.

The only real reason I need to upgrade is because the pre's I have are great (or work, anyway) for vocals and guitar cab mic'ing, but I'd like something that is quiet at higher gain levels so I can record acoustic guitar. I record a lot of folk music, so I play a lot of mandolin, and finger-picked acoustic, which are both rather quiet instruments. Currently, to turn up my pre's high enough to record them with a good sound, the preamps add far too much noise for what I want.

Right now I am using Sennheiser e609's & MXL 604s on my Fender Blues DeVille, Rode NT-1A on vocals, and it all sounds exactly how I would like it to. However, when I crank the gain on the NT-1A to the point that I can sit 8-12" away and get a nice sound from my acoustic, there is a lot of noticeable noise. Perhaps its also partly the mics - I am also looking to get a better condenser, but I'd like to focus on the pre first.

I keep seeing the Brick mentioned just about every time someone mentions the word "preamp", but at the same time, I keep seeing that it doesn't offer as much gain as other preamps, and that people keep raising this issue. Would there be enough gain from that thing coupled with a condenser like the Rode, to record decent acoustic instruments? Has anyone used anything else around that price range to decent effect?

I'm not lookin for some magic solution... "I want pro studio sound for 50 bucks"... but I do wonder what the hype about the Brick is, if it is supposedly underpowered (Im not sayin it is or isn't, I dont own one - just inquiring). Thanks!
 
I really like the brick for some things, but I don't generally reach for it on acoustic guitar. Gain is one reason, although most condensers have hot enough output to make this a non-issue (harder to get it to work with ribbons/dynamics on soft sources). The Rode and MXL's you're using should work fine. Another thing is, to my ears, the brick has a slower transient response than some of my other pres. This can work to your advantage if you want a smoother sound, but it can also sound a bit mushy on acoustic guitar. I imagine it would still sound significantly better than your behri pres, and it's pretty quiet up to the last 1/16th of the dial or so. YMMV.
 
I'll have to let you know

as mine just arrived today. :)

I wouldn't think it would be 'underpowered' per sey, but it just doesn't offer as much gain as some, making it somewhat susupect for use with an SM7 that supposedly needs an inordinate amount of gain.

I got it because it's supposed to be a killer bass DI, that will double as a pretty good mic pre for dynamics as far as 'sound' goes, because of the transformer.

So is it the Behri you're using? What's it's gain spec? (which might be a boldface lie) What are the gain requirements for the NT-1? What's it's self-noise, because that might be a factor in what's happening.

For what you want to do, it sounds like the DMP-3 would be your best bet. Relatively clean gain, and if it's not enough, you can cascade the two channels for more gain.

Or even a VTB-1, just leave the tube dialed out. Less money, but only one channel.

And then of course there's the RNP, which I imagine would be better, but more $.
 
Sorry, forgot about the Rane

Also sounds like it would be what you're looking for.
 
Hmm, might look into the Rane... Im only hesitant because I've only head about the thing right here... I know that there are plenty of unknown companies that make gear, but I can't shake it I guess, hehe
 
cusebassman said:
Hmm, might look into the Rane... Im only hesitant because I've only head about the thing right here... I know that there are plenty of unknown companies that make gear, but I can't shake it I guess, hehe
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If you venture over to Gearslutz, you'll see many threads on that unit. Plus the buzz around it has a lot to do with Roger Nichols using it for Steely Dan Cd's, bringing it to pre shootouts and having it win out against much higher ticket preamps, etc. etc.
You could probably get one of those ($150 new, saw one go used for $75 recently (sold by a member of this mb) and a used/new Brick (seen/heard of prices between $200-350) for about or under $500.
If I need an extra pre or two in the near future, I may get one (or two) of these. My only quibble, and this is really petty, is that the Rane power supplies make you ground them with a wire to your outlet (like a record player would). That irks me to a disproportional degree for some reason.
 
If there are any concerns about the Rane, I'll tell you this story. The Rane was my only decent pre-amp for a long while. I eventually got a Millennia Media and before I put the Rane away I did a direct comparison. I was then pretty ticked to find the two were pretty similar. Not the same but surprisingly similar.
 
cusebassman said:
Hmm, might look into the Rane... Im only hesitant because I've only head about the thing right here... I know that there are plenty of unknown companies that make gear, but I can't shake it I guess, hehe
Click to expand...
I've never used their preamp, but I certainly wouldn't consider Rane an unknown company. They've been around for 25 years, and are quite well respected. I've never heard anyone speak poorly of any of their products.

BTW, I like the Brick, and I think it will have enough gain for your applications, especially if you stick with condenser mics. I don't know whether or not it would be good for acoustic guitar - I think it might lose a bit of the detail. That may or may not be a good thing, depending on what you're trying to accomplish.

Have you considered the RNP? A lot of people seem to like that one.
 
You haven't heard about Rane because

they've always pretty much marketed to the professionals, studio and broadcast, not the mass consumer market. A very well respected company, as has been pointed out.
 
So I can tell! I went over to geerslutz and searched Rane, and found tons of praise for that little pre. I suppose I was also suspicious because, like any consumer audio buyer, I can't seem to shake the whole "Doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, must not be very good" way of thinking. I have used (and own) a lot of seemingly innocent-looking, simplistic gear, but to this day, when I look at a little black box with a knob and a light, I think "Hmm, this seems supect..." Good point on why I hadn't heard of that company before, too.

I am seriously thinking I might go for the Rane for the time being, since it has so much acclaim, and Hell - its 150 bucks on the sites I've found that have it in stock, so it isn't going to kill me even if I don't get every use out of it I should like to. Feel free to keep up the conversation about Rane, despite my being convinced!
 
yea...the rane i would assume would be a better pick for acoustic instruments. you're going to want to a nice, clean preamp for that sort of stuff, not the saturated tube tone that you'll get with the brick. it's also a pretty safe bet that the noise you're getting now IS the preamp and not the mic(as someone suggested), because the NT-1A is supposedly one of the lowest-noise mics ever made
 
I also have the Brick and I've used it a number of times for DI'ing bass. The gain has been sufficient for my needs, although I do think that the pups on your bass make a contribution as to whether or not the Brick will suit your needs. I used it once with a real cheap bass and crap pups and I wasn't overly impressed. Using the Brick with my JP90 or my daughters Warwick works out very well indeed.
 
60's guy said:
I also have the Brick and I've used it a number of times for DI'ing bass. The gain has been sufficient for my needs, although I do think that the pups on your bass make a contribution as to whether or not the Brick will suit your needs. I used it once with a real cheap bass and crap pups and I wasn't overly impressed. Using the Brick with my JP90 or my daughters Warwick works out very well indeed.
Click to expand...

Oh, well!

Guess I'll have to buy a new pup then (I was going to anyway, starting a new thread in g & b). :D
 
Hmm, what kind of power supply does the Rane MS-B1 use? I've looked at all the specs, and not much is mentioned about it, nor does it list whether it comes with one or not. Im assuming a number of people here own one, so perhaps you could shed some light? Thanks!
 
I really like my brick on acoustic a lot. The deal a few months back at Guitar center was $199 clearance. For that price I'd say it might be a better option than the Rane but it depends on what you are looking for. I like some color on acoustic instruments a la tube mic and tube pre but not everyone has the same taste in tone.
 
cusebassman said:
Hmm, might look into the Rane... Im only hesitant because I've only head about the thing right here... I know that there are plenty of unknown companies that make gear, but I can't shake it I guess, hehe
Click to expand...

Rane is definitely not an unknown company. It's actually quite a well known company that makes gear that is used quite widely in the pro audio business. It's hard to run across a big PA system that doesn't have some Rane gear in it. I don't think they market too heavily to the home studio crowd though, so that's probably why you haven't heard much of them.
 
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