Re: Question for Alan
Fab4ever said:
Okay everybody, I'm going to ask Alan a direct question, so whatever his answer is, it won't be spam. Agreed?
I want a preamp that will be both cleaner and more versatile, particularly with vocals. I want to spend $200.
Thanks and grateful,
Fab4ever
Well, you say cleaner, and then more versatile. I need to know what you mean by more versatile. The Joemeek (newer CS Version) is a pretty clean mic pre. It really is the compressor that adds all the color. I have never used the DMP so I can't offer anything there.
What I can say is many of the lower cost pres are a chip-based design, but that is fine as long as the design around the chip is good. One of the big problems with most low cost mic pres is headroom and level matching. If you set both input and output levels correctly, most of these units should have pretty good Signal to noise, so you should get decent results out of them.
At $200.00 the field is pretty big. ART, PreSonus, Midiman, DBX, Bellari, Digitec, Behringer, Joemeek MQ3, and there has to be more. All of these units can work pretty well based on application, and perhaps you would be happy with any of them. I would be lying to you if I said I use a Joemeek MQ3 when I record vocals, and I would not use any of the units mentioned, but my budget is different than yours, so how do we resolve your needs?
There is the used market as well that will allow you to perhaps get a more expensive model for less, but then again you have no clue how much beat up time a used unit has seen.
The Studio Projects VTB-1 is clean, and versatile, but it is not out yet.
All I can say is knowing what I know, the Joemeek and the PreSonus is where I would put my money based on what is available right now, so if you need two channels, look at the PreSonus or maybe the Midiman DMP. If a good mono channel unit will do you, get the MQ3. While it is a no frills mic pre, the new CS pre is very good, and you have a compressor and eq as well.
One last option is for you to email me at
alan@pmiaudio.com
Alan Hyatt
PMI Audio Group