Preamp recommendation under $1000

  • Thread starter Thread starter nuemes
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nuemes

nuemes

Be Here Now
I've put in a fair amount of reading here and elsewhere regarding preamps and have narrowed down some options. I will likely make a purchase by end of month. Please recommend which two or four channel preamp you would purchase given the existing setup below and make a recommendation based on gear you've had direct experience with. Budget is $1000 or less. This will be used (in order of importance) for singer/songwriter vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, elec guitar, drums from Roland vClub Kit.

PREAMPS CONSIDERING:
Toft ATC-2 ($999)
Sytek MPX-4AII ($889)
FMR RNP ($475)
Joe Meek TwinQ ($799)

EXISTING GEAR:
ADAT (20 bit)
Mackie 1202VLZ Pro & Mackie 1202
M-Audio BX5 monitors
Presonus BlueTube preamp
Presonus BlueMax compressor
Joe Meek MC2 compressor
Ensoniq DP4
Alesis Quadraverb
Rane EQ
AKG 414 ULS
Blue Baby Bottle
2 MXL 603's
MXL 67
SM57
2 SM58's
 
The Toft is a nice all in one unit, sounds very nice with great features.

For 4 channels the Sytek is a good preamp if that's all you need.

War
 
Just a couple thoughts...

The M-Audio Tampa, $350 to $400
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MDOTAMPA
I've got 2. Nice clean pres and very useable opto comp.

The other is the ART Pro Channel, $300
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--ART215
Next on my list of gear lust stuff. A friend has one and swapped out the tube on the preamp part (not the eq or comp tubes) to the Shuguang 12AX7 tube and he's diggin it.

Like I said, just a couple thoughts and maybe some different flavors.
Good luck in your quest. :cool:

Kel
 
nuemes, ah, you have a Quadraverb and a DP4. Two of the coolest and best multi-efx units. I'd say if you've got around $1000 I'd dump all those units off your list. The Roland V Drums are line level, so you don't need pres for them. Use the Mackie for those. For everything else I don't see any reason why you need two channels. IMO, you're much better off to get out of the mid-level gear and into something more hi-end. You can easily do it with your budget.

I'd recommend you consider:

Sebatron vmp-1000e – Hand-built tube pre/DI w/ eq. Well under $1K.
A Designs MP-1 – Clean tube pre/DI right around $1K.
Great River ME-1NV – Versatile solid state pre /DI. Right around $1K.
BAE 312 - API knock-off around $900
API 500-B lunchbox and API 512C mic pre - Real API for around $1K. With room left over in the lunchbox for later adding other API 500 series modules without the additional cost of power supply.

My 2¢.
 
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You should also consider Speck and John Hardy. As a matter of fact, you could probably pick up a both Speck 5.0 pre and Speck ASC EQ for $1,200.
 
Get some flavor -

RNP $450.00
Joemeek TwinQ $800.00

Total $1250.00

A little over budget but a nice setup.
 
I second a vote for the FMR RNP. It's been great for me. A good all 'rounder. Not much color. Nice clear highs and round / tight bass. Two channels.
 
Thanks all those who respoded. I ended up cheating a bit and bought an Avalon M5 single channel pre used for $1000. I did this based on a few factors:

1: An engineer I trust recommended it based on my circumstances and uses it regularly in his own studio.
2: If I bought a lower-end unit I'd likely want to upgrade and end up buying-up after a year or so anyways.

I figure it's better to have one particularly good channel now (Dot came to the same conclusion - thanks!) and let the Mackie handle the rest. Once it gets here I'll test it out and post my experiences with it.
 
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