Opinions needed on cheap tube preamps

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changeng

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So here's my situation. I'm looking for the cheapest, best sounding tube preamp, mainly for vocals (I've got a lower range voice, kinda like Bowie). I've been using a ART Studio V3 which is kinda poopy - lots o' distortion. Mic-wise, I'm using a V67, Behringer B-1, ECM 8000 and a Rode NT-1. What is the best bargain upgrade for a po' musician? and would changing the tube in the V3 make a difference? If so, what tube should I get?

Many thanks in advance!

Stuart
 
changeng said:
So here's my situation. I'm looking for the cheapest, best sounding tube preamp, mainly for vocals (I've got a lower range voice, kinda like Bowie). I've been using a ART Studio V3 which is kinda poopy - lots o' distortion. Mic-wise, I'm using a V67, Behringer B-1, ECM 8000 and a Rode NT-1. What is the best bargain upgrade for a po' musician? and would changing the tube in the V3 make a difference? If so, what tube should I get?

Many thanks in advance!

Stuart
Click to expand...

Does it need to have a tube? Cheap "toob" preamps like the ART, which have a starved-plate tube (tube running at sub-optimal voltage), will add distortion. That's what they do.

The Electro Harmonix pre is supposed to be full voltage and has received some good reviews. It's under $200. I own the Groove Tubes Brick, which is a full voltage, transformer coupled tube pre for about $400. I love it on vocals and it has a killer DI for bass.

Of the starved-plate tubes, the only one I would recommend is the Studio Projects VTB1 ($100), which has lots of cool features and the toob can be removed completely from the signal when a cleaner solid state path is desired (which is what I do about 90% of the time with this pre).
 
scrubs said:
Of the starved-plate tubes, the only one I would recommend is the Studio Projects VTB1 ($100), which has lots of cool features and the toob can be removed completely from the signal when a cleaner solid state path is desired (which is what I do about 90% of the time with this pre).
Click to expand...

...AND...PMI has a few VTB1's in their B-stock page going for $70 US--No tax, no shipping...I got two.

http://www.pmiaudio.com/

Eric
 
In my opinion, M-Audio's DMP3 can get pretty damn loud and keep the channel relativley "clean". For 150 bucks, its hard to beat.
 
I like and own a couple dmp3's myself but I think he was looking for a good toober on a budget... me thinks he's in for a tough ride.

I would tend to lean towards a rock solid quiet mic pre and put together a nice blended inventory of mics. A nice ribbon (shiny box modded with lundahl transformer) and/or toob mic (MXLV69) would give a little color without adding all that grainy distortion that most of the cheapie toob preamps will deliver.

I'm not totally beating down the cheap toob mic pre's but I tend to leave them for instrumental and/or DI work and treat them as effects in the signal chain.
 
Thanks for the feedback, guys, it's very helpful. I'm considering the ART Pro Channel Tube Mic Preamp to get the compressor too, and the VTB-1 is pretty tempting that cheap. Any ideas on the ART Pro Channel?
 
i tried to use a behringer tube pre and it made everything sound dull and hissed alot ,sometimes i think tubes are just for decoration in cheaper units and dont seem to do anything much at all ,
 
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