johnhontez said:
Alright so I bought a MOTU 828 MK II and had forgoten that I need a mic pre in order to use mics in the back 8 analog 1/4 inputs. Im looking at mic pres now and cant find a 8 channel pre amp strip for under 500$
That's a very tough price point to hit. Think about it: that's about $60 a channel. If you want something that won't hold you back at all, you'd do well to increase your budget. You probably won't even find a single product out there for that price, let alone one that's any good. For 8 channels of pre that are going to be a bit better than the two built into the 828, along with built-in compressors/limiters, look at the
the Focusrite OctoPre for $960. For similar quality preamps without compressors, check out
the RME OctaMic for $879.
I've heard the preamps in the Focusrite unit and they are nicely clean, though nothing really special.
If you want something a little better, look at the JLM TMP-8,
True Systems Precision 8, ATI 8MX2, or perhaps even the new
Mackie Onyx 800R (verdict's still out on it, though). And these are just the 8-channel units... personally I would go with a few channels of several different types of high-end preamps.
so then I turn to looking at mixers that could have channle outupts for each channel,
This is an option as well, though I would only go that route if you need a mixer for the mixer as well, not just the preamps. The preamps in any lower-priced mixer are going to be pretty inferior to any of these stand-alone units, and they'll still cost you more.
Here's a tip if you go the mixer route: you don't need individual channel direct outs. In fact, the quality of the "direct outs" is often inferior because it goes through the whole EQ, aux, fader, and possibly summing section inside the mixer. All you need is a mixer that provides Insert points for each channel: just plug into it, and voila, you have a direct-out that's usually wired immediately after the preamp stage.
I need major help, Im so confused...
Why? There's nothing confusing about it. You need product recommendations, and you need to start looking around and listening to demo units; not "major help."
