preamp/compressor combo questions...

  • Thread starter Thread starter kranky
  • Start date Start date
What the hell, I was raised in a big family. If there's food on the table, grab it quick.

Oz, do what you can, anything is appreciated. Actually overheads would tell about half the story. Something on the low end would be nice.

Chess, that was funny.
 
OK, what I've got are my old 4 preamp comparisons. We played this game over at www.studioforums.com a while back before I became a dealer for Safe Sound Audio.

I'm going to go ahead and give you the answers though:

#1 Behringer
#2 Speck 5.0
#3 Safe Sound Audio P1
#4 TFPro P2

The MP3 clips are as follows:

1) Washburn Taurus Bass ($400 bass, stock cheap pickups) DI in

2) Palmer (?) crappy acoustic guitar finger strummed with a CAD M179 mic (not ideal but it reveals some things)

3) Me talking / singing (haha sorry) into an AT3035 mic

4) Kick drum N/D868 mic

5) Snare (Arbiter maple 14x5.5") SM57 top head

6) Overhead drums using one CAD M179 in cardioid

You can tell differences in the preamps for sure. I need to scrounge up my compression clips but it's late out here. Soon I'll put my hands on them. Again, these are MP3...not ideal for sparkling detail etc.

Link: http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=2079&alid=-1

I also think that each of these preamps has its own purpose in life, I'm not here saying that the P1 is the be all end all of preamps. Different flavors.

Hope this helps someone. I know it's tough making decisions to buy stuff you can't touch, that's why we have a return policy though.

Warren Dent
www.frontendaudio.com
warren@frontendaudio.com
 
kranky said:
Hello, I am looking at getting a new preamp and compressor around the $300 range. The only pre's I have now are my Mackie VLZ pros. What I need to know also is if 300 dollars will get me a better preamp than my VLS's. If not, I'll save more and ask later!
Thanks!
Click to expand...


There isn't anything that's going to top a Mackie made in the last couple of years for the price. Save up and buy an RNP/RNC combo, it's the best "channel strip" for (more than) the money by far. ART, Presonus, etc....stay with your Mackie.

-----------------------
Nathan Eldred
atlasproaudio.com
 
Not long ago you suggested that a low cost RME preamp would blow away a Mackie VLZ Pro, so I guess I wouldn't completely agree with your statement that nothing will beat it unless it's FMR. Nathan, have you heard the P1? It's a good preamp, but a great compressor limiter.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&postid=934586#post934586

Do you sell RME and FMR? I know it's easier to comment on what you have experienced and used yourself. I've dabbled with an RNP and yes, it's pretty nice but it wasn't real exciting so my buddy sent it back. I did like it as a bass DI. I cannot comment on RME since I have not used.

Lots of choices out there for the original poster.

Take care

Warren
 
Re: Re: preamp/compressor combo questions...

NathanEldred said:
There isn't anything that's going to top a Mackie made in the last couple of years for the price. Save up and buy an RNP/RNC combo, it's the best "channel strip" for (more than) the money by far. ART, Presonus, etc....stay with your Mackie.

-----------------------
Nathan Eldred
atlasproaudio.com
Click to expand...

have you tried the safesound stuff that these guys are talkin about? definitly looks interesting as a single channel solution, Mr. Mcquillen might get a run for his money with this suff
 
The P1 is another flavor. FMR makes fine stuff, nobody's trying to put Mark out of business.

The P1's limiter is an awesome feature, especially when recording in digital land. That limiter is very well thought out like the entire unit is, you should read the White Paper on the Safe Sound site.

The monitoring section is nice also, again for digital setups that suffer from latency. Even 3ms of latency can screw with a singer or musician's head when tracking, the P1 allows you to blend yourself within a stereo mix with no latency. In fact, the P1 would enable you to increase latency if needed (if it frees up some cpu power?) and then bump the track up timewise later.

Then there's that expander. I honestly thought it would be freakin' worthless for recording but it's setup so sweet...well you gotta hear it. I could "pimp" all day if you want...but I don't wanna.

So there are different features, and yes the sound is good.

Cheers

War
 
Another couple of interesting entries in the under $1000 price range are the DAV BG1 and the RME Quad Mic.

There seems to be a trend right now to go after the best sound at the $500-$700 dollar price point. I think the RNP started the focus on a pro sounding preamp in this range. I forsee the next 18 months producing some very high end sounds in a more affordable range for the home recordist. What a great time to be recording.
 
Middleman said:
Another couple of interesting entries in the under $1000 price range are the DAV BG1 and the RME Quad Mic.

There seems to be a trend right now to go after the best sound at the $500-$700 dollar price point. I think the RNP started the focus on a pro sounding preamp in this range. I forsee the next 18 months producing some very high end sounds in a more affordable range for the home recordist. What a great time to be recording.
Click to expand...

imagine 10 years from now..... :eek:
 
Price drop on the hhb radius 50. nice pre and compressor
$329
In His Name
Big Kenny
Any chance those safe sounds are gonna come down a bit?
 
I really appreciate all the suggestions. I think that the P1 will probably be my first choice. Now, just for the heck of it, suppose I had unlimited funds(which I don't). Which pre now??
Thanks!
 
Big Kenny said:

Big Kenny
Any chance those safe sounds are gonna come down a bit?
Click to expand...

Kenny, the US dollar is weak right now. Look for price increases on just about everything coming in from other countries...which nowadays is most everything for sale in the US.

We bought this first batch of P1's we have at a much better price (due to the currency conversion) than we could today. In other words, unless the dollar shapes up, the next batch may cost us a tad more and we'd have to pass that along to you. Of course, I'm hoping this is not the case! But then there is reality...we shall see where the dollar is when this batch is sold out.

I have less than a dozen left at the $599 shipped to the lower 48 price.

Warren
www.frontendaudio.com
 
Warhead said:
Kenny, the US dollar is weak right now. Look for price increases on just about everything coming in from other countries...which nowadays is most everything for sale in the US.
Click to expand...


Partially correct. We carry 27 lines that are made in America, although many of the components are made elsewhere. The ones taking the biggest hit are the ones that are actually assembled in other countries, and exported as a finished product from there (i.e. Germany, England). Many of the companies that use British transformers are absorbing the costs to keep prices the same (like Vintech, Great River).


---------------------------
Nathan Eldred
atlasproaudio.com
 
Wow, a bump from the dead! :D

Yeah, you're right Nathan, the P1 is 100% assembled in the UK. But strangely enough Safe Sound actually offered us a reduced batch that we're selling for less. So my statement was not as prophetic in the short term, but that's to the benefit of anyone buying a P1 right now.

My reference for higher priced goods certainly was aimed at finished product. We're currently pretty small and have some select offerings, but oddly enough Safe Sound is the only foreign owned company we deal with at this point.

Take care, hope that Florida weather is as nice as it's been here in SC. Must have been 75 today! :cool:

War

Warren Dent
www.frontendaudio.com
 
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