Mic Preamps for the Poor?

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circlemouth

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I'm considering getting a mic preamp but my budget is super super slim...all I have is a Shure SM57...I guess my budget is around $100 which may seem ridiculously low for many of you pros out there but I just want to boost my sound a little...not expecting pro sound--just trying to make a demo...
thanks...
 
Yup, what he said! I got mine used for like 75 crackers or so.
 
if you are really strapped for cash you might consider just buying a home stereo component amplifier.

I got an old radio shack 50 watt one and i passed my microphone thru it.

Before you could barely hear my mike on top of my music and now the vocals sit on top of the beats and stuff like they were compressed.
But thats the thing im not passing my mike thru any compression right now so its kind of weird how the little radio shack amp is doing so much of a difference for my vocals.

I connect using a stereo y connector and then take a 1/4 inch plug from the head phones to the mixers mono in.

Its a little on the noisy side but i have a noise reducer on the me 30 that nullifies that.
So for 50 bucks you can get a amp thats actually a preamp in your case and mine.

Im sure people will try to shit on my idea but think about it..you sound can go from low to professional in moments after you get your hands on one of these things.

Check it out i believe its either 50 or 60 bucks.

Or if you want more amplification just get a more powerful amplifier. you might catch a 100 watt one at a garage sale or a flea market for 30 bucks maybe more watts if you look hard enough im not sure but maybe best buy has one for 200 watts for 100 dollars. Give or take.

Look into it the home amp works for me and im not complaining i love it.
I thought we would have to buy this expensive pre amp for musicians.

Hey do what works not what people say works.


Peace

Ps
the noise reducer doesnt necessarily have to be used
note that i said an OLD radio shack 50 watt amplifier.

BTW its the little black one about the size of a hotel bible im talking about not the pa amp.

The newer ones might have better components on them.

Peace

Illa
 
I will add my concurrence with the recommendations for the ART Tube MP. It is a good, inexpensive unit that does exactly what it claims to do.
Peace,
Rick
 
I'll thrown in more support for the ART Tube MP - I have one and I also have a Dual MP. For under $100 you can't go wrong.

A mic preamp's main job is to bring the mic's signal up to line level, which is what any mixer, recorder, signal processor, or sound card will want. Another benefit of the ART (or just about any other mic preamp) is that it supplies phantom power, which you'll appreciate when you graduate to condenser mics.

You can use the ARTs for other purposes as well. I use it to warm up my drum machine so it sounds a little more "human" (it's a subtle effect though). I also use it as a direct box for my bass, at least until I get an amp simulator to use for recording.

I'd be concerned about the signal levels you'd be passing around by using the power amp. Does the Radio Shack amp have a mic level input? If not, that could introduce some of the noise you would have to clean up. Also, I'm not sure that the headphone out is a line level signal, which could also degrade the signal going into your mixer, recorder, or soundcard. As far as the noise goes, I'd also say you're better off eliminating noise right up front (or at least minimizing the noise you HAVE to introduce for whatever reason) than trying to fix it later. That concept also applies to any effects you can use to "fix problems" - EQ, compression, etc.

I understand the need for a home recorder to be creative with what he/she has. It's something I've had to do since I got into recording. But I also believe that if you're going to buy something you should buy the right tool for the job. I also have an ME-30 and used it as a generic signal processor while I was still recording on a 4-track. However, when I started recording on a PC I started using tools on the PC to do that job better. The key is that I bought the ME-30 as a guitar pedal first. Like I said earlier, I also do more with my ARTs than just use them as mic preamps, but I bought them first as mic preamps. But the extra uses are a bonus, not their primary purpose.
 
Instead of the Art, I would (and did) go with the Behringer MX802A mixer for $119. It has 4 mono input channels with XLR and balanced line inputs; ultra low noise discrete mic preamps with phantom power; 2 stereo input channels (balanced); 2 additional multifunctional line inputs; lots of headroom; 3-band eq on all channels; 2 aux sends per channel; separate main mix, control room, and headphone outs; and more.

This mixer has very nice preamps and gives you a lot of versatility. Of course, if you already have a nice mixer...
 
Tdukex, that's an interesting suggestion, especially for the price. A mixer like that would work nicely as a drum submixer in a live situation. See if you can answer this (or anybody else). I already have a Tube MP. I'm trying to record drums with at least 4 mics, 2 of which are condensers. I don't wanna buy or run 4 different units for each mic, but I'd like to give a separate track to each mic (I'm getting a TASCAM 488 mkII 8-track today). Would this mixer work or what would my other options be?
 
Gear_Junky,

Another option would be the slightly larger Behringer MX 1602. With that mixer, you could use Busses 1 and 2 for two mics and use the alt 3-4 bus for the other two mics. That mixer runs about $250... or a true 4-bus design Behringer MX2004 ($300) www.americanmusical.com and www.musiciansfriend.com have them for around those prices.

Rev E

[This message has been edited by Rev E (edited 07-26-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Rev E (edited 07-26-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Rev E (edited 07-26-2000).]
 
Actually, checking out the AMS site, the MX2004 is not a true 4-bus design, so you'd do just as well with the 1602 for recording 4 -tracks simultaneously.

Rev E
 
Well, I don't mind the price, but is it really better than 4 Tube MP-s? Quality-wise? I could see it being more convenient and a better installation, but what about the results? Thank you.
 
The mixer idea is another good one. I asked the same question (mixer vs. preamps) here about 6 months ago. The basic responses I got were "Do you need the number of channels you'd get from a mixer?" and "If not, you'd probably get better quality preamps if you buy dedicated preamps."

In my case, I didn't need a lot of channels. I'm working on my own stuff alone and also on a project with another guitarist, so I only record one instrument at a time. For my situation, the preamps seemed like a better solution and I went with that. Sounds like a mixer may work well for you, especially if you need/want to submix drums.
 
Quality-wise you would buy pre-amps. But if you dont want to end up spending a lot of money get yourself a mixer. It will provide you with more than one pre-amp for nearly the same amount of money and gives you some "extras" like EQ's, aux-sends, ISR, and -of course- the option to mix down several signals. A must if it ever comes to live recording. Also I am one of those "old-fashioned" guys who like to have knobs and faders instead of a mouse or a trackball.
 
I'd like to add another unit to this discussion. I didn't know about it until I went to SamAsh to return my Tube MP, which had a problem - the clip light wouldn't change to yellow or red, though you could hear the signal distort. I've heard people before with the same problem. For some reason my other Tube MP, which I bought used and which used to work fine, now doesn't indicate clipping either.

Anyway, I noticed the Presonus Blue Tube stereo mic preamp (tube). It costs $149 there (if anybody knows a place, where they're cheaper, please let us all know). It seems like a much better unit - 2 preamps with better controls for less than 50% more, controls are on the front instead of top, so you can actually put this in a rack and the input plugs (Neutrik, XLR & 1/4") are on the front, too!

I talked to some people there and they all recommend it over the ART. What do you guys think?
 
I've had some distortion problems too, and I'm starting to suspect the Tube MP.
It does show clipping, it goes over to yellow, but it might be that even when it's just sligtly flickering yellow, its too late...
 
Well, yeah, you should set the input knob so that it doesn't clip, then use the output knob to feed the mixer with as much signal as you need.
 
Keep an eye out for old tube tape recorders at pawn shops, etc. A lot of these mic-pres (Berlant, Ampex) rack mount, but the Roberts and Akai are also good mic-pres for not much $...say 15-25 bucks for a pair of nice tube pres...
 
I haven't checked out the Blue Tube yet myself, but some good guys with good ears have all said good things about it. ART's not a bad company these days (their old stuff is crap), but I think Presonus is generally a step above. I have an ART Dual MP that I've used with very good results so I can't knock it though. Confused? So am I.

In response to the original question, the Tube MP or the Behinger Mixer are both good choices. For about the same $ it'll just depend on what your needs are, and what they'll be in the future...
 
Thanks for all the repies (and keep 'em coming :-) Well, I did a little testing yesterday, cuz some folks asked me about the Levelar. I only had my old Tube MP left, cuz I returned the new one. This one looks like it's a few years old, I got it used. I complained about the clip light not changing to red, but looks like it's because I replaced the stock tube with a Sovtek tube. I swapped them yesterday and it works "fine" again, like it used to. I don't know if those things need to be calibrated or whatever, for some reason the Sovtek tube screwed it.

Anyway, I did some recording (my Martin D-15 acoustic through small condenser mounted inside it) with and without preamp and with and without compressors - Levelar and Nanocomp. I did notice very subtle distortion playing chords with a pick on the guitar - just a little dirt in the back, not very obvious, but enough to make it unrecordable to me. I had the Tube MP set so that it hardly clipped with the strongest strums. The thing is that I heard similar comments about the ART gear. I'm definitely unloading all the ART stuff and getting something else - most likely Presonus (for preamps anyway).

The Behringer mixer sounds like a nice toy, but I still have my Yamaha EMX2000 - powered mixer and I just can't justify another mixer yet.

BTW, is it ok to use a powered mixer w/o having speakers connected to the amps? I would just use its line outputs (it has so many!) to feed the recorder. ???

Thanks.
 
I have a Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro that I am very happy with. It has four XLR inputs with the VLZ preamps and 8 other inputs. I use the four Channel inserts as direct outs for Four separate recording channels (post pre-amp and low-cut, but pre-EQ).
You can also get the same four Post-EQ by using the two mains and two Aux busses. I think it is possible to get up to eight separate outputs, but you are always limited to the four VLZ preamps. If you need more, there is the 1404 and the 1604. I use the Tube MP also, on my most harsh sounding mike to warm it up a little.
The 1202 sells for $330 at www.performanceaudio.com

Peace,
Rick
 
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