New quality cheap pre-amp!!

[PinkStrat]

It's not really designed to flatter anything. It's pretty no-frills -- no tubes or tranformers in there. It'll bring a mic up to line level --and do it pretty damn well for the money -- but that's about it.

I don't usually worry too much about what I use on guitar amps. It's not like electric guitar is a hi-fi application that requires all of the delicate intricacies of a high end signal chain. Most people just throw an SM-57 right up on the grille, for crying out loud. Although I'm sure some will disagree. Worry about getting the best amp you can afford . . . untill one day you've got the most bitchin' guitar amp on the planet.

Then stick any 'ol mic on it and run that through any 'ol pre, and you're likely to be thrilled.

Well I've got some bitchin' amps all right....An old Vox AC-30 and a Komet 60 amp head with all the trimmings so getting a great guitar sound is no sweat for me.

Hmmm, sounds like I will just pop for a pair of these MS-1bs & give them a shot, you know? If they are quiet and give me a nice good quality signal I'm all over them. Besides with the polarity switches on the back, I'll be able to do some M/S mic'ing with these puppies too! I am quite sure that the MS-1bs are MUCH BETTER sounding than the ART TubePACs? (that I am trying to dump from my signal path).

 

[chessrock]

I'll tell ya what:

I'm going to a big mic pre shootout this friday. It's a bunch of Chicago guys from the Tape Op board. Supposedly John Hardy is even going to be there.

I'll bring along my Rane, and I'll report back to you guys how it stacks up.

 

[Gidge]

I'll tell ya what:

I'm going to a big mic pre shootout this friday. It's a bunch of Chicago guys from the Tape Op board. Supposedly John Hardy is even going to be there.

I'll bring along my Rane, and I'll report back to you guys how it stacks up.

 

[Beezoboy]

That would be awesome Chess!! Let us know!!


Beez

 

[acorec]

I searched for this Rane pre-amp, and it's $149.99????
Is this right?

If so, how can this POSSIBLY compare to Avalons, I mean, this shits pocket change.

Listen, it does not compete with Avalons. Let's not try to go there. Anyone who trys to compare has never heard, or used an Avalon.

 

[crazydoc]

The Rane MS-1B is a very simple design based around an instrument amp, so the IC is going to have a lot to do with the preamp's sound and performance. One of the big reasons you see people speaking highly of the Rane and the M-audio DMP3 is because they both use the Burr-Brown (Texas Instruments) INA163 . . . which also happens to be the same as that of the Grace Design.

So what is the advantage of the Rane over the DMP3?
One channel versus two for about the same price.

Here are links to the Rane specs and circuit, BTW.
http://www.rane.com/pdf/ms1bdat.pdf
http://www.rane.com/pdf/ms1bsch.pdf

 

[chessrock]

So what is the advantage of the Rane over the DMP3?

I dont' know if there even is any. Except that I've noticed I get a little better accoustic guitar tracks out of the MS-1B for some reason. Could just be my imagination, though.

 

[Bobalou]

I'll tell ya what:

I'm going to a big mic pre shootout this friday. It's a bunch of Chicago guys from the Tape Op board. Supposedly John Hardy is even going to be there.

I'll bring along my Rane, and I'll report back to you guys how it stacks up.

Hey Chessrock!

Did i miss your weekend evaluation somewhere of the RANE? did you get a chance to compare that beast with the others?

 

[mrface2112]

i've gotten some usable results out of my VTB1 as a DI. I run our bass player's bass (70s fender precision) through it, with the toob somewhere around 10:00 and it gives me a pretty nice, round tone. i then take that into a symetrix 425 just to level everything out, and i get a quite nice bass sound. i've also had good results plugging my 89 american tele into it, using the neck pickup with the toob around 2:00 and getting a really nice bluesy tone out of it. so while there are definitely better units out there (and i'll be picking up a Countryman as soon as i can) it's definitely not worthless.

as for the impedence switch on the back, for shits and grins one day i switched it from 200 to 50 when using my RE38, and i'll be damned if it didn't fatten up the tone a bit. enough so that i like it at 50 when using that mic in conjunction with it (which doesn't happen much now that i've got that 528).


wade

 

[Bobalou]

Hey Chessrock!

Did i miss your weekend evaluation somewhere of the RANE? did you get a chance to compare that beast with the others?

Chess?

 

[tubedude]

Info from a while back on the MS1b

 

[Michael Jones]

Yeah. . . I am supposed to have some student loan money coming, so I was thinking about getting a Vintech 1272.
Beez

 

[Beezoboy]

Why the thumbs down?

Lowest interest rates on the planet right now. Hey and school is paid for also. It seems like a good deal to me.

Or do you just think I shouldn't get the 1272?

Beez

 

[JMarcomb]

Yeah. . . I am supposed to have some student loan money coming, so I was thinking about getting a Vintech 1272.
Beez

I used to do that too...

then I figured my licks are more important!



I remember taking some student loan money to the OTB when I was going to school downtown Chicago
I think I won like $250 on an exacta

 

[tubedude]

I used to do it too, but here is how it worked out for me.
I apply for 2 different grants, and always get both. Those cover all of the tuition, books, etc, and leave me with about $750 left over... thats a grant, not a loan.
Then through work, they have 3 different programs for school.
1st one... the ConSern Loan. You take out up to I think $1000 a year over 4 years, and work pays it back once a year, all I pay is the interest every month.
2nd one... if I still work there for 2 months after each semester, they pay the school the full amount of my tuition, which is credited to me since the grant already paid it.
3rd... they reimburse the books with a check for the book amount, which was already paid for by the grant, too.
Then, when the semester is over, I resell the books for what I paid for them

They were even paying like 50% of housing to students in approved complexes for awhile.
Yes, I have bought gear with free money before. Isnt it great?

 

[crazydoc]

Yes, I have bought gear with free money before. Isnt it great?

And who the fuck do you think is paying for it, dickwad?

 

[chessrock]

Chess?

Hey, sorry for not getting back to you on this one, guys.

The mic pres shootout was a really good time. Due to the sheer amount of mic pres we tried to test and the limited timeframe we had in which to work -- we weren't able to test 'em all and the Rane had to get chucked aside.

The interesting thing is we did get a chance to listen to the Focusrite Penta and the Aphex 107 . . . and the 107 was a real surprize. Much better than any of us would have suspected.

Sorry. I suppose I could post some comparisons of the Rane versus the Sytek -- maybe some accoustic guitar samples? Would anyone be interested in that?

 

[chessrock]

Chess?

Hey, sorry for not getting back to you on this one, guys.

The mic pres shootout was a really good time. Due to the sheer amount of mic pres we tried to test and the limited timeframe we had in which to work -- we weren't able to test 'em all and the Rane had to get chucked aside.

The interesting thing is we did get a chance to listen to the Focusrite Penta and the Aphex 107 . . . and the 107 was a real surprize. Much better than any of us would have suspected.

Sorry. I suppose I could post some comparisons of the Rane versus the Sytek -- maybe some accoustic guitar samples? Would anyone be interested in that?

 

[tubedude]

And who the fuck do you think is paying for it, dickwad?

Well, my work seems to be paying out the most, and then of course I am paying for it, DICKWAD, with my 16 years of paying too much taxes to feed a bunch of worthless welfare fucks and buy stupid shit for the governemtn and overpay a bunch of worthless assholes... if I get something back for a change, dont be jealous.... I'l ltake what I can get...
but yeah, I paid for it all, one way or another, either through 10 years of service to UPS, or through getting taxed 30% when i was only making $200 a week to start with and couldnt afford to fucking eat for a long time.
Yeah, I paid for every cent of it. Dickwad. Back the fuck up.

 

[crazydoc]

with my 16 years of paying too much taxes to feed a bunch of worthless welfare fucks

Seems like you're the worthless welfare fuck.

I didn't mind too much getting drafted to go to Viet Nam and then coming back to go to school on the GI bill and playing for $25 dollars a night in bars and working another job on weekday evenings and Saturdays while going to school full time.

I didn't mind putting my kids through school, all the while paying taxes (and one hell of a lot more than you'll ever pay), but I do mind dicks like you stealing the part of my tax money that was supposed to be for education, to buy your little toys to play with.

The sad part is, the welfare money you were stealing (and yes, you were on welfare, even though you choose to call it a "grant") to play with was actually stealing an education from some poor fuck who actually needed the money to go to school, but couldn't because you had it.

So you can fool yourself into thinking it's all cool, and you really put one over on the dumb jerks that not only paid for your worthless education but for your toys too. But in the end you're just a thief, and one that's so confused that he brags about it.