decent affordable pre amp?

T

thedogmixer

New member
Hi there, i am after a decent cheap pre amp, maybe something with a valve, i want to get a warmer signal, can anyone reccomend anything, i am currently using a behringer ada8000, which is not bad but i am looking for a preamp that give off a more distinctive sound.

Can anyone give me a few names of some decent 2nd hand stuff?

I was also looking at a TUBE ULTRAGAIN T1953or a ART Tube MP Studio V3, i was planning to swap the tubes around with some better ones in each, i heard can make a big improvement.

Anyone got any ideas, i have about 200 maximum to spend or 100 each for 2 channels of preamp

thanks

matt
 
First, don't double-post. Second, for a super-affordable tube preamp that sounds pretty good, check out PreSonus, they make some decent stuff.
 
I'd stay away from the Behringer pre's - they aren't bad, but aren't really "tube" preamps. They are solid state and then pass the signal through a preamp tube on the way out of the signal chain. You'd think this would make an audible difference in the sound of the pre, but on the one I own, if you have a signal running through (a voice through a condensor, etc.), and you turn the "warmth" knob back and forth from 0 to max, you can't really hear a difference. Like the guy above said, PreSonus has some decent stuff. If you can, scrape together another hundred and go for the Art MPA Gold, it has a very transparent sound and is much higher quality, IMO, than any Behringer preamp.
 
thedogmixer said:
Hi there, i am after a decent cheap pre amp, maybe something with a valve, i want to get a warmer signal, can anyone reccomend anything, i am currently using a behringer ada8000, which is not bad but i am looking for a preamp that give off a more distinctive sound.

Can anyone give me a few names of some decent 2nd hand stuff?

I was also looking at a TUBE ULTRAGAIN T1953or a ART Tube MP Studio V3, i was planning to swap the tubes around with some better ones in each, i heard can make a big improvement.

Anyone got any ideas, i have about 200 maximum to spend or 100 each for 2 channels of preamp

thanks

matt
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At that price range I wouldn't be looking for "tube" stuff. It's all going to be a joke. Just look for something with a decent sound.
I would recommend the M-Audio DMP-3. Only about 160 bucks, really clean and gets pretty nice reviews across the board.
 
zacanger said:
First, don't double-post. Second, for a super-affordable tube preamp that sounds pretty good, check out PreSonus, they make some decent stuff.
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Stay away from the cheap presonus stuff. I don't know who told you it was pretty good but I've owned presonus stuff from the tubepre up to the Eureka and none of it was a big improvement over my ada8000. SP vtb-1 is a decent toob pre amp, dmp3 is a stellar(for the pricerange)clean preamp, and if you really want "color" you should check out the joe meek 3q which has a handy compressor/eq built in. Trust me I've owned or own all the pre's I mentioned so it's not just based on the belief of others.
 
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zacanger said:
First, don't double-post. Second, for a super-affordable tube preamp that sounds pretty good, check out PreSonus, they make some decent stuff.
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None of the low-end Presonus stuff is all that great - especially for "warming up" the signal as the poster would like to do.


thedogmixer: the Art MPA Gold isn't a bad pre (but a little out of range price wise). What are you planning to record? Vocals, guitar, bass? Everything?

I think you'll find that the Behringer offerings are bit too noisy, and you would certainly be better off with an ART of some sort.

How about mics? What do you have available?
 
warble2 said:
I think you'll find that the Behringer offerings are bit too noisy, and you would certainly be better off with an ART of some sort.
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The unsung model of the ART line: The TPS II. Basically a DPS II w/o the digital outs. Variable impedance control on two preamps for $179. It's no MPA Gold, but it beats most of the other stuff already mentioned here.

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
The unsung model of the ART line: The TPS II. Basically a DPS II w/o the digital outs. Variable impedance control on two preamps for $179. It's no MPA Gold, but it beats most of the other stuff already mentioned here.

G.
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I'd agree with that based on what I've read. It seems to have a nice bit of sonic control for a nice price to boot. I don't think they're really noisy either, are they?
 
warble2 said:
None of the low-end Presonus stuff is all that great - especially for "warming up" the signal as the poster would like to do.
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I rather like my TubePre, honestly. It's a bit noisy, but it's not horrible.
 
zacanger said:
I rather like my TubePre, honestly. It's a bit noisy, but it's not horrible.
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Glad you like it. I prefer not to have noise build up in my recordings as I'm laying tracks.

You can do better for the $$$ in that range anyway.
 
warble2 said:
Glad you like it. I prefer not to have noise build up in my recordings as I'm laying tracks.

You can do better for the $$$ in that range anyway.
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Yeah, you can. Mine was a Christmas gift, though, so I didn't have the option of getting something better.
 
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