hmmmmm

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famous beagle

famous beagle

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Well just about all I've heard on this forum is DMP3 this and DMP3 that, so I finally broke down and got one. (That's not REALLY all I've heard, but you know what I mean.)

Until now, I've only been using the pres on my little Behringer Eurorack MX 802A mixer.

I compared them tonight for the first time, and the DMP3 was not the improvement over the Behringer I was hoping for. I guess I was expecting the clouds to part and a hallelujah chorus to break out or something ... I don't know.

I mean, I can tell a difference, but it's pretty slight. And it's not even necessarily something I would call "better" --- just ... different really.

I'm using an MXL V67G through it on vox. Is that just a really bad combination or something?

Any input from you mic or pre gurus would be helpful.

Thanks.
 
remember that you're only paying about 80 bucks per channel...how much did the Beri cost you for how many channels? Just so you remember, the DMP3 is often regarded as very transparent - giving no real color - and that might be all your seeing...the Beri is likely also made to be transparent and so you've bought a 'simlar' pre.

However, that said, while it may not create a huge difference to your ears right now, track 12, or even 24 different tracks for a mix (all with the Beri and then all with the DMP3) and then compare your mixes.

THe better your signal path, the better your sound quality. Someone talking about the U87 the other day said that while it (the mic) may not 'stand out' at first, when you play it in a full mix you'll notice that the quality is there over a lower grade mic. The same is true, IMHO, of any gear - especially in your signal chain. The difference isn't huge immediately between an NTK and some lesser tube condensors I've used, at least to my ears, but I end up liking the tracks I get through my Rode in my final mix MUCH better.

Sound gets better as you get a better pre. Compare your DMP3 with a $300 dollar pre - not much diff...comare the $300 pre to a $500 pre...again you might not see huge improvement. Continue to jump up in value an you'll see minor improvements all the way (again in my experience), but you'll notice the difference in your end product for sure. Eventually you'll look at your Beri mixer for what it really is...a cheaply constructed and therefore cheaply bought mixer...And you'll value the slight improvement any better gear gives you all that more. I've been doing this for a year and a half, and each time I upgrade I find that I can't believe I used to use Nady and Beri Pres...

Jacob
 
Ok thanks for the response. I'll try tracking a whole song with it and see how I feel after that.
 
actually I'm recording to a Yamaha AW16G.

Mic ---> DMP3 ---> Yamaha input.

I tried going XLR into the yami's pres (with the gain on the yami all the way down) and also going line out into one of the yami's line inputs. Didn't notice much difference except for the slight gain increase in the former.
 
Put a low gain mic infront of both the pre's and see how things sound when you need to turn the gain way up. That might make you feel better about it as well. Also, it might hard to see the value when doing a simple solo acoustic track but layer the tracks and stack them up to 5 or 10 tracks or more and you'll be noticing the noise build up and scratching your head wondering how did that happen and how to get rid of it.

One more thing to think about. Many of us here don't want 16 channels of the same mic pre a la mixing console. A little of this -n- a little of that make for some options. As someone already indicated, for a budget and clean pair of mic pre's the DMP3 is hard to beat.

You're right...it's not a sonic wonder but an honest, reliable bargain.
 
famous beagle said:
actually I'm recording to a Yamaha AW16G.

Mic ---> DMP3 ---> Yamaha input.

I tried going XLR into the yami's pres (with the gain on the yami all the way down) and also going line out into one of the yami's line inputs. Didn't notice much difference except for the slight gain increase in the former.
Click to expand...

That's good, it means the Yamaha has clean inputs and mic preamps. However, I'd suggest running line out of the preamp to a line input on the Yamaha. That way you bypass the preamp in the Yamaha entirely, and are running through less electronics.
 
On second thought...

I was curious, so I just went to the Yamaha site for the AW16G. It looks to me like all 8 inputs are mic/line inputs, with the first two having phantom power. So they would all sound the same, because they all have the preamp section to them. The only difference being the phantom power on the first two channels which also have the XLR inputs. Channels 3-8 have 1/4" TRS inputs, but still have the preamps.

So no matter which input you put the DMP3 into, you will be running through essentially the same electronics, which is why they would sound the same. At least that's the way I read the specs. It would be worth your checking up on in the manual though, and I'd be interested to hear from AW16G owners about this. Sometimes the way manufacturers write specs can be a little confusing.
 
Yeah track a whole song thru those beri's and then track a whole song thru the dmp3 and you'll hear the difference. Back when I first got started I tracked everything thru my ada8000 and never thought twice about it, now that I have a few decent pre's including the dmp3 I can tell a considerable difference in the quality of my tracks without trying to correct everything with eq.
 
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