cheap tube mic pre's!

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tinapox

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i'm looking at some cheap tube mic pre's and i'm not sure which one would be more useful...i'm doing solo recording of vocals, guitar, and bass (primarily)...

so, i went online and found some quick-fix tube cheapies...

presonus:
tubepre
bluetube

ART:
v3

studio projects:
tube blend mic pre

i think you get the idea. i need to add some warmth to my recordings...any suggestions on a good, cheap mic pre?
 
tinapox said:
i need to add some warmth to my recordings...
Click to expand...

I'd suggest starting with a "warm" source then. On the other hand, if you want to add "muck" to your recordings, any of the above will work fine.

What are you using right now?
 
right now i'm using a shitty md4. i've got a small extra external mixer that i run through beforehand...

but...that md4 is only temporary...soon i'm getting a g4 and going software...i'm running a lower condenser mic (akgc2000) as well...

i've decided against upgrading my hardware console because i don't have tons of money. so...working with my resources...more ideas?
 
tinapox said:
i'm looking at some cheap tube mic pre's
Click to expand...

Don't. Look at cheap pres. Not cheap tube pres. Or rather, LISTEN to cheap pres. There are loads of pres that give you a nice sound, and if they happen to have a tube, fine, you'll get some extra glow for free. But as a rule, the tube only costs money.
 
You might want to try a DMP3. There's no tube in it, but it's pretty cheap and will sound a lot better than any of those "faux tube" things.
 
IMO the DMP3 sounds much better than either the Blue Tube or the ART. As a matter of fact, it just sounds good.
 
Tina, either the DMP3 or VTB-1 will work fine your microphone.
However...

A good "try" on your voice (among many others), would be to get a Electro-Voice EV RE15 (or RE16 which has foam pop screen).
They run under $100 used on e-bay in good condition.
The RE15 used on ALL of Dolly Parton's recordings at RCA helped sell millions of records, so it may be worth a try. :)

If it's in the budget, check out the Electro-Voice EV 666, which sounds extremely similar to a RCA 77DX ribbon run through a REAL tube pre. These seem like thay may be rapidly increasing
in price among collectors, so move quick if you want one.
EV was competing with RCA by making a less maintenance intensive microphone for radio broadcast (no ribbon!).

Should you find a dynamic microphone like this that you like,
the VTB-1 would be a quieter choice than the DMP3.
(don't use the "tube blend" feature during tracking-if at all!)

In any case, the choice of microphone will be a much larger factor than relying on a pre amp.

One of my recording multi-tracks is a MD4S, so feel free to PM me for further suggestions. Your MD4 is quite capable of making commercial release level recordings, if supplemented by quality
equipment. The "sound" of your room (or lack thereof), is a bigger
priority than choice of recording format BTW.

Best of luck,

Chris
 
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