presonus mp20/ dbx386

J

John LaGreca

New member
Any thoughts, comments, personal reviews on the Presonus mp20 or the dbx386?
I believe I'll be buying one of these. I'm just not sure which one.
Thanks to all who answer!
 
I think, for the most part, that both are a little overpriced. They're not bad, but you can do better for the money.
 
The usual suspects . . . M-audio DMP3 is really nice and gives you 2 channels. The Studio Projects VTB-1 is a good single-channel. If you want some EQ, compression, and all those types of bells 'n whistles, you should try and score a used Symetrix 528. These are all fairly clean, quiet, transparent -- what you usually want for accoustic guitar tracking.
 
mp20

i've been happy with my presonus -- clean, simple, seems well-built.

can find deals on ebay, but i got mine from full compass (this was a couple years ago).

haven't used the vtb-1, but if you want two channels in this price range i like the mp20.
 
I own an MP20 (for a couple of years now) and have used it alot. I've used a 386 on one session. They both work well - although I thought the MP20 was "warmer" than the 386.

Given the larger amount of hands on I have with the MP20 I can say I'm very satisfied, it's clean, quiet and works well in many applications (including accoustic guitar).
 
I use DBX 386 for clean stuff, especially acoustic guit, and Joemeek mostly for vocals. I believe the DBX is a perfectly good, well priced unit *if* and *only if* you need digital out, because the A-D converter is really pretty good. If you're going out analog, there's better deals. For the $500 or so a 386 will set you back, you're $35 short of 2 VTB-1's *and* an RNC compressor, which would be my choice. For material that's a little more blues/rock oriented, I track the acoustic through the Joemeek, which is fine. I just got RNC, and it gets along *very* well with the 386 and a matched pair of Oktava MC012's. One downside of the 386 in my experience, is it has a bit of an audible hum. It doesn't go to tape, but you need to isolate it from condenser mics a bit, and it really, *really* must not be placed in an adjacent rack space to anything, especially another pre, or the resulting transformer bleed *will* go to tape.-Richie
 
Thanks for all that insight. However, yesterday I got the 386. That's the third pre I'm on. I took back the Aphex 207 and the Presonus mp20.
So far I like the 386 the best. The other 2 altered the sound too much. I'm recording flat top and arch top into a Yamaha 2816 using a baby bottle. Without the preamp I had a wonderful sound but not very strong. The dbx seems to maintain the original sound more than the others. ( So says me, anyway.)
 
In the end, all that really matters is that you get the sound *you* want. The 386 gives me *one* of the sounds I want.- Pick on-Richie
 
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