Need a preamp

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chipwits

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I need a nice rack mountable preamp. I guess 2 channels would be in order, but I could get by with one i think. Or a 1 channel upgradeable to two would be cool.

Need it for recording fiddle, vocals (male predominantly), guitar, mandolin. Should be able to drive a Ribbon mic as well as condensor (if this makes sense); I will get a separate preamp for ribbon mic if i have to.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Q: Is M-Audio Tampa > DMP3?
 
You should definetely look for a John Hardy M1 mic preamp, very versatile, transparant, high quality components. This is a rackmoutable preamp, so you can start with one chanel and then add other ones, up to four! chanel price start at around 1120$ retail. There's also alot of output gain to drive a ribbon mic. Very good to capture vocal and acoustic guitar, depending of the mics you use and the room you're in. But it do wonders on a shure sm57 for example.

here have a listen to it on my site on diferent sources http://www.gearaudition.com

Best Regards
Rusty
 
chipwits said:
Q: Is M-Audio Tampa > DMP3?
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Greater than or more than? I have and like them both, but for different things. I really like the DMP3 on stereo SDC acoustic instrument micing, something it does well way out of proportion to it's incredibly low price/channel. I don't like it as much for vocs, or other things where I use an LDC. There the Tampa with it's even order harmonic modelling has a smoother, larger sound to my ear. It's considerably more $ per channel (1 ch, vs two on the DMP3), but also comes with digital out. The A/D in it seems decent. It also has a nice sounding compressor. They can be found used for around $250, and at that price they are definitely worth snagging.
 
How about consolidating your posts??


you need to give a budget......

if you are doing acoustic instruments, I strongly STRONGLY reccomend the DAV electronics BG-2. www.davelectronics.com/bg2.htm
they were designed for Deccas console and were so popular that the engineer was able to start his own business selling them. He makes them all by hand, and cust. service is awesome.


I wont gush about them, but do a search here or Gearslutz of DAV BG-1 and youll see how well they are recieved. Ive used and/or owned most all the big name pres from 500 a channel to 2,000 a channel, and the DAV , IMHO is the best preamp ever made.

it has plenty of gain for ribbons too. (66db) 1400 will get you 4 channels. 2200 will get you 8!

his name is Mick Hinton, he can be reached by email @

mick@davelectronics.com OR davelectronics@tiscali.co.uk

retailers do not stock the item. Mick wont allow them to sell for fear they would gouge prices.
 
Without a budget mentioned, John Hards and DAV which have already been said,
are very nice pres theres also Buzz Audio MA2.2 and Pendulum Audio MDP-1
 
My budget is around $1000 for a pre I guess. I'd like to get a pre that sounds as good as a Brent Averill or Great River =P. Only need like 1 or 2 channels to start with. Was considering Seventh Circle Audio. Probably the chassis, power supply, 1 x A12 and 1 x N72. That is if they sound as good. DAV BG-1 or DAV BG-2 sound better? DAV BG-2 is kinda expensive I think, and I don't need four of the same pre for sure.

Wish DAV BG-1 was rackmount btw.

Should I consider making a DIY API 312?

I'm confused lol.

Chipwits
 
chipwits said:
That is if they sound as good. DAV BG-1 or DAV BG-2 sound better?
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the BG1 and BG2 use the same circuit. they sound identical.

1400 for 4 channels is chump change.e
 
the BG1 and BG2 use the same circuit. they sound identical.
Click to expand...

Haha, I think he meant between SCA and BA/GR.

But at this level, I think you are getting where there isn't so much one being better than the other, but they are all a bit different.

I agree, $1400 for 4-channels is a good deal, if they sound as fun as e'ryone says. May not be capable of all the happy transformer abuse saturation tricks that an API or Neve can do, but you probably don't need to do anything too whacky when recording a fiddle. Just clean, open sound; which apparently the DAV does quite well.
 
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