Good pre?

I'd go for a solid state pre in that price range. Just because it says "tube" pre doesn't mean it is a truly functional tube pre. You can get better quality for the same price in the solid state world and get the pseudo tube sound with eq. If you want a tube pre...at least spend a little more and try the Groove Tubes Brick, about $399 new.
 
so far i think the low end pre we have something like this

VTB-1 (starve plate 100 new or 80-90 used)
Dmp3 (solid state 150 or ~100 in the classified)
rane MS1b (solid state 150 new or 110+ used)


The mid range
RNP (solid state 475 new)
MPA gold (tube 300 new)
the brick (tube 330 new)
Grace 101
Solo

Higher range: i have no clue, probably great river stuff that's 1000+
 
I was thinking I paid like $350 for my RNP, but now that you mention it, it was $450 (new). I must have been thinking of another piece of gear. Heck.....who's keeping track. Obviously I'm not. :o None the less, it's a good piece of gear for the price.
 
flamin-gitaur said:
I was thinking I paid like $350 for my RNP, but now that you mention it, it was $450 (new). I must have been thinking of another piece of gear. Heck.....who's keeping track. Obviously I'm not. :o None the less, it's a good piece of gear for the price.
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that was a good buy man :), that's rare to see, i've been checking out pre amp lately, i think i got most of the prices in my head (math major habit lol)
 
I have the Art dmpa. I also have an ART Pro MPA from the mid 90's. The new one is more focused in the upper range and tighter in the lows compared to the original.
 
One thing I used to do, and still do is go to pro recording web sites and look over their gear list. You'd be surprised at what you see and don't see. I'm not talking about the boutique Manly and other $5000 pres, but the low to mid priced stuff that makes the gear list. You'll find FMR RNCs, RNPs, m-audio, UA, Mindprint, Avalon 737, Grace, etc. These folks have a lot of knowledge and experience with what works, is reliable, and what doesn't perform up to par. When I first started about 4 years ago I wasted hundreds of $ on Behri, ART, Bellari, and other low end gear that collects dust now and is unlikely to be used on any worthwhile project. I have loaned it out to others who use it to compose and record ideas, but come to me when they want to do the real tracking.
Please don't misunderstand, I'm not a gear snob, and wish I could afford the boutique stuff, but depending on your budget and how serious you are, before the next purchase, think about your long term plan. If you can't afford $500 or more per channel, don't give up, the less expensive stuff will be a good learning tool. Just don't get the idea that salesmen push that a $90 tube pre is a professional product.
 
warlock110 said:
so far i think the low end pre we have something like this

VTB-1 (starve plate 100 new or 80-90 used)
Dmp3 (solid state 150 or ~100 in the classified)
rane MS1b (solid state 150 new or 110+ used)


The mid range
RNP (solid state 475 new)
MPA gold (tube 300 new)
the brick (tube 330 new)
Grace 101
Solo

Higher range: i have no clue, probably great river stuff that's 1000+
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Not sure whether to say mid-range (maybe slightly more than some listed there) or high-range (but less than $1K) - DAV BG1.

If looking to spend less, the DMP3 is clean and works well.
 
i dont consider myself a sound engineer (im a saxophonist/beatmaker) so forgive me if i sound foolish but would the dmp3 work with the even alp 5 monitors and the firewire solo..?
 
jeap said:
solid state preamps do not have to be expensive to perform well. opamps are cheap.
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Presonus Tube Pre does not have a good reputation.
Instead of that I would consider M-Audio DMP3 or Rane MS1b as mentioned by Warlock110. Their sound is clean but not so interesting. It can work well for instruments, less for vocals.

Behringer MIC 100 and SP VTB1 have a worse sound so I would not recommend them (last week I sold my VTB1).

If you want a good tube solution then check also german SPL Goldmike 9844 but there are also several american good products in a higher price range that were mentioned by others.
 
dickiefunk said:
I've heard a lot of people say good things about the Joe Meek 3Q in this price range.
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Yes it is a valuable choice but it is a pre that is coloring the sound A LOT. You do not have a chance to get a clean signal from 3Q and not everyone prefers that. Depends on the personal taste.
 
The Grace 101 is great for clean vocals and instrumentS. Brings out the best in most mics I have tried with it.

The Joe Meek 3Q is fun w/ basses and some guitars.

Some of the Presonus stuff looks interesting in that price range, though I have not tried it yet.
 
fova said:
...Behringer MIC 100 and SP VTB1 have a worse sound so I would not recommend them (last week I sold my VTB1).
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You're lumping together the MIC 100 and VTB1? Surely the VTB1 is capable of better sound - I'd bet on it. I used to own a couple VTB1's and didn't get rid of them because I didn't like them - I actually got a lot of use out of them - I just out grew them. Saved $$$ and upgraded.

I haven't heard many around here put the VTB1 in a worst sound category, so we must be dealing with a "different strokes for different folks" situation here. For a budget pre, they are more than adequate. I never used the "toob" feature, but when trying it out, I did notice is imparted something into the signal - just not something I'd use on a regular basis. So, I kept the dial on full SS.

I honestly could easily recommend one to someone on a limited budget, and would recommend the VTB1 over anything else around or under $100 (unless you could find a DMP3 for around $100). I owned a DMP3 as well - great little budget pre. I'd say a wee-bit cleaner than the VTB1.
 
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