dumb beginner preamp question

[artCROSS]

I know very little about preamps. In fact, I can't tell the difference between any preamps that I've used so far (which isn't many); my ears have yet to be trained. But just out of curiousity's sake, I was wondering which preamp is "better"? The ones on my Edirol FA-101 firewire interface, or my very first piece of equipment, the ART Tube MP Pro? Humor me.

 

[sile2001]

Well.......

My experience has been that tube pre's don't really make much of a difference until you start getting into the really nice ones, like the $500+ per channel ones. On things like the ART, yeah, it's got a tube in it, but the component quality and level of technology in it don't really carry any of the benefits of a tube device. Basically they have the cons of tube pre's without the real benefits, namely the warmth of good (but slight) tube distortion.

With the pre's in the Edirol, they will probably be a little more accurate and have less noise, since they are completely solid state. Now my disclaimer here is that I have only ever heard an ART before, and not the Edirol preamps, so this is just general theory applied to the idea. The Edirol pre's may actually be bad...I just don't know.

 

[scrubs]

I know very little about preamps. In fact, I can't tell the difference between any preamps that I've used so far (which isn't many); my ears have yet to be trained. But just out of curiousity's sake, I was wondering which preamp is "better"? The ones on my Edirol FA-101 firewire interface, or my very first piece of equipment, the ART Tube MP Pro? Humor me.

There is a lot of subjectivity with preamps and the differences can be very subtle to the untrained ear. I have no experience with either of these units, but I have read/heard many opinions, especially on the Tube MP. I would venture to guess that these two will give you different flavors.

I suspect the Edirol preamps will be "cleaner" sounding (meaning, they will not alter the sound of the microphone much - what goes in is what comes out), while the ART will be more "colored," as it has a starved-plate vacuum tube. The tube is designed to "warm-up" the sound by adding even-order harmonics. Some people like this effect, while others do not. Crank it up too much on the ART and it will probably get ugly (too much distortion).

There are a lot of adjectives to describe the sounds of various preamps, but the bottom line is not which preamp is better, but which one sounds best to your ears with your microphone on your source. You may find the Edirol sounds better with some mics/sources, while the ART is just right for others. Your ears will tell you when/if it's time to upgrade to something else.