Presonus MP20

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CMiller

CMiller

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I don't hear anyone around here mention the MP20 often. Is there anyone out there using one...how do you like it? I was under the impression that the MP20 is a fantastic sounding preamp and at a decent price well within the budget of most home recordists.
 
I use the VXP all the time, which is a single channel of the MP20 pre with on-board "extras"...

The MP20 is relatively decent...

Bruce
 
You can really crank the preamps without adding noise, good transient resonse and detail. Sounds great with bass recorded DI. I use the mix buss feature a lot because I layer two synths together and it's an easy way to route them to one output. Most preamps in it's price range don't have inserts, but the MP20 has two.....I keep an ART Pro VLA or PreSonus BlueMax compressor patched into it.

It's $250 per preamp, and it's probably one of the better deals out there. I considered the Grace 101 as well, but I really wanted two nice preamps for stereo miking acoustic guitars and preamplifying synths and PODs. My gear lust went away after buying this pre.....I have a simple home studio and I'm very happy with the MP20. Tubes are o.k., but solid state rules in my world.
 
Wide Awake: I'm glad you mentioned the solid state vs. tube argument because I was wondering if that was why no one mentions the MP20.

Bruce, you say its "relatively decent", how far should I take that? Obviously that is somewhere between "My God, this thing sounds better than anything ever made; do I hear the preamp Hall of Fame calling?" and "the sound of this preamp stinks; it smells like a pile of shit burning on a tire fire; I would rather use anything made by Radio Shack than plug this into my recorder".

Or are you just saying that its nothing special?
 
I just posted on this topic in another thread. I finished a job last week where I used the MP20 and I have to say they were really not very impressive. Certainly not worth all the hype I heard about them. Id heard these pres before but hadnt worked extensively with them till now. They are decent, not astounding, and not great for the money. You can do much better than $250 per pre. Check out M-audios new DMP3 for $200. Its a 2 channel pre. In blind tests with the DMP2 and the MP20, nobody could tell the dif except for a slight airiness that the DMP2 had over the MP20. Very slight. The MP20 was also quieter at high gains than the DMP2. Not that the DMP2 isnt quiet. Its quieter than mackie if thats any help. Also check out the new M series stuff by soundcraft. The M8 goes for around $500 and has 8 ghost pres. The M80 which is the 8 pre version of the MP20 goes for $1100. Pretty obscene compared to what you get with the M series in pres alone.
 
I think for a small cheap console, the M-series with the Ghost preamps are a total no-brainer. $500, and it doubles for playback and monitoring... can't beat it.
I do like the MP20, though, and it makes a nice DI.
 
CMiller said:
Bruce, you say its "relatively decent", how far should I take that?
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I say relatively decent in that it's no Avalon, but definitely gets the job done.

To my ears, it sounds better than the Mackie 8-buss pres, and I can make the Mackie pres work for me - so the MP20 comes off sounding pretty damn good... but not "great", "outstanding", or "having that magical something!"

:D :D
 
Thanks for clarifying your menaing, Bruce! Much appreciated.
 
I don't know where you are getting your information, but the soundcraft site explicitly says that the M series uses "the same technology that is in the Ghost series". This is just a gentle way of saying they make the two. I'm guessing the M series and the Mackie are probably comparable, however the routing on the M12 beats the Mackie in its price range, if your home studio is based around one of the various 8 in / 8 out cards.
 
JuSumPilgrim said:
Check out M-audios new DMP3 for $200. Its a 2 channel pre. In blind tests with the DMP2 and the MP20, nobody could tell the dif except for a slight airiness that the DMP2 had over the MP20. Very slight. The MP20 was also quieter at high gains than the DMP2. Not that the DMP2 isnt quiet. Its quieter than mackie if thats any help. Also check out the new M series stuff by soundcraft. The M8 goes for around $500 and has 8 ghost pres. The M80 which is the 8 pre version of the MP20 goes for $1100. Pretty obscene compared to what you get with the M series in pres alone.
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Jusumpilgrim,
i made a similar experience comparing the mp20 to a behringer ultragain. on things without sharp transients they sounded almost identical, but for drumoverheads and strings the mp20 sounds remarkably better, i guess because of its high headroom.
What did you record with the mp20?
BTW if you are looking for a very clean and affordable 2-channel pre you should check the mic pre eminence from studio technologies. Very clean, and they show up used for under 400 USD. I have one and want a second...

cheers
Harald
 
I havent heard the ultragain but I doubt its on the same planet as the DMP2. The MP20 is clean at fairly high gains, thats probably the only thing that makes it worth the $$. But in terms of your average 9-12 o'clock gain setting it has nothing on the DMP2 which is $300 less as I said. Its good for overheads and room micing but I would sooner go for the grace if I were looking for a transparent vocal/fine instrument pre which goes for bet $5-600. Its in a dif class completely. (Although you get one pre vs the two pres on the MP20).
 
JuSumPilgrim said:
I havent heard the ultragain but I doubt its on the same planet as the DMP2.
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How can you know? As i said above, i cannot hear very much if any difference between the ultragian and the mp20 at moderate gain settings on some less demanding sources. You said the same from the dmp2, didn't you? maybe the two sound very similar?
there is at least one board member who tried both the dmp2 and the ultragain and found the the behringer superior concerning transparency and "presence". And it has sufficent gain for ribbon mics and doesn't suffer too much when i connect my earthworks. But you are absolutely right, i wouldn't pay 500 USD for the mp20 either. i got mine for 300 and this seems to be a fair deal. I have to use it quite often with the gain knob all to the right (using ribbon mics). I also used it as a di for a keyboard, and i was very pleased with its pristine sound. And well, I simply wouldn't compare it to a unit costing more than twice as much. The Grace should better sound like angels singing for the price per channel!
 
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I got my information from Soundcraft.
Feel free to write them yourself, as I did last week.
 
Here was the reply. The "instrumentation" thing makes me wonder a little. And check out that damn address, good Gawd allmighty....


Thanks for your recent enquiry, the mic pre-amp used in the Soundcraf M-Series is the exact "instrumentation Mic Pre-Amp" used in the Soundcraft Ghost.

Best Regards

John

John Hourihane
Soundcraft Product Manager
Tel:+44(0)1707668208
Cell:+44(0)7901513388
Fax:+44(0)1707668208
Soundcraft
Cranborne House
Cranborne Road
Potters Bar
Hertfordshire
EN6 3JN
England
 
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