POLL : DBX 286A vs Presonus Bluetube

  • Thread starter Thread starter EdJames
  • Start date Start date

Which of these is the best mic preamp for the money?

  • Total voters
    11
  • Poll closed .
E

EdJames

New member
Which do you guys think is the best overall preamp for the money?

(It'll be used on Pop/Rnb recording with an AT4040 mic and Delta 44 s/c)
 
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Can there be a "none of the above" category?

Seriously, I think you should add a few more preamps to the poll. Like the Rane MS-1b, Tampa, ART Pro Channel, VTB-1 and some others.

The poll is so narrow that one reason you are not getting votes is there may be only a few people who have used both those particular items. For example, I've used the Blue Tube but not the DBX 286, so I don't really have much of an opinion other than "neither".
 
I'm the opposite of Sonic Albert. I've got a 286A but never touched a Bluetube.

I will say that I think that my 286a has very predictable, clean and quiet gain until the *very last* notch of input volume stage. Most other pres in the same price range I've heard start getting noisy (hiss and such) long before my 286A.
 
SonicAlbert said:
Can there be a "none of the above" category?

Seriously, I think you should add a few more preamps to the poll. Like the Rane MS-1b, Tampa, ART Pro Channel, VTB-1 and some others.

The poll is so narrow that one reason you are not getting votes is there may be only a few people who have used both those particular items. For example, I've used the Blue Tube but not the DBX 286, so I don't really have much of an opinion other than "neither".
Click to expand...

I can't change the poll now :(

This is that all the ones you seem to have listed are either have to be shipped from the US at over $100 P+P or when they actually CAN be bought in England, they're so expensive that they fall well outside my price range. The DBX and Bluetube are the only two I can afford and get hold of.

As a side note though, I looked on the Grace Designs site and that 101 is a truly beautiful looking piece of kit; just wish I could get my hands on it.
 
Well then, if I HAD to choose between those two I'd probably go for the DBX. Especially for the kind of sound you are looking for.

But for the long term, I'd suggest you start saving up for a really fine preamp (and top flight mic ultimately). Your music is so vocally oriented that this will be of huge benefit to your sound.

But I certainly understand budgets!
 
Yeah, i did actually contact that guy about a BG-1, still waiting to hear. From what I've read EVERYWHERE, that is a shit hot mic pre to purchase, I've not heard one negative comment about it.

Perhaps in 6 months or so when I have more work coming in, I can get one of those and sell on the DBX. The value of kit just doesn't seem to depreciate. I bought an Audio Buddy for £70 three years ago and recently sold it for £65 used!
 
Incidentally Albert, having used it again a couple of time I decided to sell the MXL, it's just not offering a sound I feel will be useful to me; neither clear nor crisp. Hopefully the AT4040 will give me something dry that I can edit with my software.
 
Nope. Got a price match and got the bulk of the money but have to wait until the 27th for the rest, at which point I'll order both pieces of kit.

In the mean time I have put my Audio Buddy, MXL v67 and AKG C 2000B up for sale on Ebay for some extra cash.
 
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