Focusrite or Presonus?

[Roger2004]

I am going to buy 2 preamps: 1 single and 1 dual channel and I am trying to make a decision between the Focusrite and the Presonus. Can anybody help?

1 channel: Focusrite Voicemaster Pro or Presonus Eureka? Will be mostly used for nasal male voice.

2 channels: Focusrite Platinum Range TwinTrak Pro or Presonus MP20? Will be mostly used for acoustic guitar stereo recording (Rode NT5 pair).

Any thoughts about those 4 preamps would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[chessrock]

Keep in mind this is just one guy's opinion . . . but I just don't think any of the Presonus gear I've heard or played with is that good.

In fact, from my admittedly limited experience, I actually thought it was kinda' bad. Just about everything, in fact, with a Presonus logo on it.

Take it for what it's worth.

 

[Roger2004]

Thanks Chessrock, that is the feedback I am looking for.

Roger

 

[Sklathill]

And...I love my Presonus MP20. I just throw it up there with my CAD M179s and there's my typical recording setup for classical recitals around here.

Though honestly, I haven't touched those Focusrites myself...

 

[Big Kenny]

I use a VMP on occasion...works great...lots of bells and whistles ......only drawback is chinese pots (had to be replaced under warranty)

 

[Markd102]

Roger
Personally, the only Presonus gear I would touch is the DigiMax, and that's only because the clock in it is sposed to be fantastic. All other Presonus gear I've used has been noisy and quite bland.
And with Focusrite, you really need to get into the ISA range to get anything decent.
What is your budget? We might be able to find something better.
Ebay is a great place

 

[Hard2Hear]

I personally will choose the Red7 over the ISA 110 that we use 9 times out of ten. Eliot (Sloan) has a pretty nasaly voice, and really likes his Focusrite Green series preamp for many things. Listen to it on alot of the Blessid Union recordings.

H2H

 

[noiseportrait]

If you are looking at the presonus mp20, then you should check out the fmr rnp instead. they are both the same price, and two channels, but IMHO the rnp sounds much, much better than anything presonus makes. Some would even venture to say that the rnp can compete with pres that cost over a grand. I don't have much experience with expensive pres, but I do have a lot of experience with the rnp and presonus gear, and the presonus crap can't even compete.

If you want a nice single channel pre with onboard compression then you might want to check out the safe sound p1. It's around $600 street, so it should be near your price range. I have no experience with it personally, but it comes highly recomended by some very respectable people. Nobody on theses boards seems to be too gaga over presonus an focustrite stuff. Your money is probably better spent on something else. From my own experience, if I had to choose between the two I definitely go with focusrite though.

I wouldn't be looking for anything with onboard eq at all in this price range. Good cheap eq is hard to come by. I've heard old dbx eq units are decent and the next best thing above that is the speck asc eq, which alone costs $500. Your probably better off using plugins for eq until something like the fmr rneq comes out. For outboard compression the fmr rnc is very nice for the price.

Another option all together would be the sytek mpx-4a. This would give you 4 great channels of chrystal clear high quality pre amps for $850. You can add an fmr rnc (really nice compressor) to that for another $175 bucks and you would still be within your price range.

 

[Taylor_214]

I just bought a Focustrak Trakmaster over the weekend. The mic premap on it is a heck of a lot quieter and sounds more natural than the crappy Behringer 502 i've been using since November. I think the preamp sections are identical to the unit you're looking. So far, very pleased with the quietness of it, so its a big improvement for me.

Good luck.

 

[Roger2004]

Thanks for the great insights!

Markd102, I was planing to spend ~$1000 with 2 pre-amps but I guess I could go up to $1500 with some sacrifices (but I cannot tell my wife...). What would you recomend as far as the ISA line?

Noiseportrait, tell me more about the sytek mpx-4a, it sounds like a winner... Can I get it for $850?

 

[Markd102]

Are you talking two preamps or two units as you mentioned above, which is 3 preamps?

 

[Markd102]

For $1500
the FMR RNP and the Great River ME-1NV will give you 3 channels that most would be happy to own.

 

[Big Kenny]

toft atc-2
$1000

 

[Roger2004]

Markd102,

I should have said 3 channels... That's what I really need but 4 channels would be ideal given that I have 4 inputs in my sound card.

What about noiseportrait's suggestion of the sytek mpx-4a and a FRM RNC? I would get 4 excellent pre-amps (that would also match the 4 inputs of my sound card) and could add compression on 2 of them with the RNC. Total spend would be slightly over $1000.

How much better would it be the FRM RNP plus the Great River ME-1NV given that they would be $500 more expensive? I have heard a lot of good things about the Great River stuff but I am not sure I understand what it is and want to have the claimed 70's vintage sound.

 

[chessparov]

Roger, contact Fletcher at www.mercenary.com for his advice too.
He's a strong pro AE who personally tries all their gear in his professional studio.

Chris

 

[noiseportrait]

http://www.mojopie.com/sytek.html

Mojo pie also has reviews for the rnc and rnp if you want to check them out.
You can also run a search for sytek, rnp, or rnc at any of these forums:

http://www.homerecording.com/bbs
http://www.gearslutz.com
http://recpit.prosoundweb.com/

All of the pres that have been recommended on this thread are top quality and I'm sure you'd be pleased with owning any of them. Once you get into the higher end stuff there is less of a distinction between the quality of the equipment and it becomes more a matter of taste. The great river mp1nv is a transformer coupled pre amp modeled after a vintage neve 1073 module, and the sytek is a very fast, transparent, transformerless pre similar to the ones found in neotek consoles. It would be hard to say which pre is better. Both are very nice units. However, transformers have a similar appeal as tubes because they impart a certain color in the signal which is very pleasing. If you want that sound, then something like the great river is the only way to get it.

 

[noiseportrait]

Here's a recent thread where someone prefered the Sytek to a Great River using a soundelux u195. Just keep in mind that this is just one person's opinion, and that most people would rather own the great river. It just goes to show that the sytek can hold its own among the more expensive pres.

 

[Markd102]

The Syteks are a very nice unit. Somewhat under-rated. It would serve you extremely well. But the main reason I would spend a bit more and go the route I suggested, is for variety.
If you get the Sytek, then you've got 4 very nice preamps.... but they are all identical. Variety is a very good thing in a studio. Different mic/pre combinations suit different people. In fact you can even change the key of a song, and all of a sudden your current mic/pre combo just doesn't sound right. Now most of us (me included) don't have the luxury of being able to try 10 different mics with 10 different pres, but it you at least have a couple of flavors to try, it's better than just one.
Also, don't worry about the "70's vintage" comment. They are not saying it will make you sound like Roger Waters (although that could be a good thing ). They are simply talking about a specific kind of coloration, which may or may not suit your voice. Ideally you should try before you buy and let your own ears be the judge, but if you live in a remote area like me then that just isn't possible.

Anyway, all that said, the Sytek is a very nice unit and you will most probably be extremely happy with it. Just please stay away from Presonus and Focusrite Platinum. They will sound ok when you first get them, but very soon you'll be regretting your purchase.

Good luck, and let us know what you end up with.
Mark

 

[chessrock]

If you get the Sytek, then you've got 4 very nice preamps.... but they are all identical.

Well . . . not exactly.

Channels 3 and 4 are based on Burr-Brown JFET's, and are different than channels 1 and 2. The idea being to give some extra tonal options as you were meantioning.

Getting a Sytek and an RNP would give you a pretty professional setup. I think one could go with that and not ever have to worry about their mic pres being a weak link, no matter how far they should advance.

 

[Markd102]

Channels 3 and 4 are based on Burr-Brown JFET's, and are different than channels 1 and 2. The idea being to give some extra tonal options as you were meantioning.

I stand corrected.

The Sytek/RNC route now looks more attractive than it did.