Rane MS-1

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chessrock

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A really good, solid, cheap mic pre . . .

Just thought I'd pass along a quick tip on a cheap mic pre . . .

I picked up a RANE MS1 off of ebay because it was cheap, and I figured I'd give it a try and see what it sounds like.

I finally got a chance to use it on a session, and I must say . . . there is nothing at all wrong with this mic pre. It most definitely hangs with the best I've used in it's price range, without a doubt.

Apparently, this one uses the exact same burr-brown opamp chip used in the Grace Design and other high end units, the INA-103 / INA163

Judging mic pres is so hard for me, and so subjective. Not to mention the difficulty involved in actually getting a valid a/b comparison. All I can really say is that something about these tracks I cut just sounded luscious. It was a great performance, mind you, and the guy told me it had a lot to do with the drop-tuning he did on his guitar, which I'm sure accounts for some of it.

Either way, the guitar and vocals just sound stellar, and however it was achieved, the preamp I used certainly wasn't a limiting factor. I guess that's all I can really go by. Take it for what it's worth.
 
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Iv'e been checking them out myself since you mentioned them a couple of weeks ago,there's a local dealer by me.

There was a couple of good articles on Rap,the only downside was when they tested them they roll off below 50 hz,the only differance between it and the higher end Rane's,and are prone to RFI.
Did you find this to be a problem?

Were you able to compare it to any other high end pre's like the Grace?

I'm using Mackie pro vlz pre's and wondering if it would be a step up.
Such a great price on them,considering the Burr Browns,$149 new I believe.

I bought a DBX mini pre for $99,don't use it for anything but bass though.
Don't want to make the same mistake twice.

Would it be possible to post a clip of the recording?

Thanks,
Pete
 
muzeman said:
There was a couple of good articles on Rap,the only downside was when they tested them they roll off below 50 hz,the only differance between it and the higher end Rane's,and are prone to RFI.
Did you find this to be a problem?
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Yea, I looked in to these on RAP a great deal before I bought. And I have a local guy lined up who can do work on these things for me for a reasonable cost in exchange for recording time.

Honestly, though, I found nothing wrong with it.

No funny noises . . . no hum, etc. And the whole rolloff from 50 hz isn't particularly an issue for me. I'll just make sure not to use it on kick drum or bass guitar. Even then, it's not like I'm recording hip hop / dance music, so I don't have a lot of use for anything below 50 hz. In fact, I tend to roll off a lot of that stuff anyway.

Were you able to compare it to any other high end pre's like the Grace?
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I haven't compared it directly to anything. I have used the Grace before. I've also used a Soundcraft M-series pretty extensively, Mackie, as well as just about every other budget preamp ever made. :D

All I know is that these particular tracks really stuck out to me as being somehow superior to most anything else I've ever tracked. Sound quality-wise, that is, and in terms of accoustic guitar and vocals. It just seems to have a bit more detail than what I'm used to, which could very well be my imagination. Haven't ruled that out. :D

I don't know if it's a good idea to post the whole song or not, so here's a quick little clip from it . . . I'll have to take it down soon, so listen to it as soon as you get the chance. It's totally barebones . . . No EQ, compression, de-essing. Nothing. Usually, I have to do at least some amount of processing to get something to sound this good. Even as an mp3, I think I can still here more detail than usual.

Again, not sure if the preamp had anything to do with it, but at least it didn't stand in the way, so take it for what it's worth. Here's a link to the sound clip:

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1298&alid=531
 
Thanks very much for posting that Chess,I really appreciate it.

Sounds very nice indeed,very clean and clear.
The acoustic especially,no boominess at all.
Without using any eq,that say's a lot about the pre.
What mic/s did you use?

The thing about the Mackies is,you can't really crank them enough to get a good level on an acoustic without distortion,even with a fairly hot mic.

I really started to notice this after reading one of your posts about it(I believe that was you),Iv'e been keeping the levels not much past 50%.

To compensate,Iv'e been trying to crank the levels with a compressor patched to the input on my Daw,not really the optimum situation.

How well does the M1 do with a lot of gain?
This recording sounds plenty hot.

I'm going to try and get one to test out.

Thanks again,
Pete
 
Thanks, Muze.

That was a Marshall mxl603 on the guitar, and a BLUE Dragonfly on the vox.

I've never had too much trouble with the Mackies, although, like you say, it isn't optimal to turn them up past half-mass; they're "sweetspot" range is supposed to be below that. Anything above, and they (supposedly) start to sound thin.

To be honest, I noticed the MS-1 is very hot to begin with. I didn't find myself having to turn it up halfway . . . even on the accoustic guitar. This leads me to believe it might not be a first-choice on louder sources. Not sure if I'm ready to try it on snare just yet. :D I get the feeling this puppy's optimum range is somewhat limited.

. . . which shouldn't be a problem, provided you have a pad or two lying around. I have a couple of the Sure -20 db attenuator pads that should do the trick, if needed.

Either way, I think I might have found my go-to pre for accoustic guitar and soft vocals . . . and at a bargain price of $70 (ebay). :D

When you think about it, something like this might be the ideal compliment to a Joemeek VC3, MQ3 or something along those lines. The Joemeek has exceptional bass response . . . supposedly linear all the way down to 10 hz or so. Plus, it has tons of headroom and can handle very loud sources well. The only knock on it is it isn't as detailed on quieter material, which is where something like the MS-1 would come in to play.
 
Thanks again Chess,it's much appreciated.
Guess I'll start sniffing one out on E-bay.:D

BTW-Where did you pick up the Shure pads?

Pete
 
Chess, would you mind covering your setup on this a little more? That guitar sound is just excellent. Single mic vs an XY approach?
From the Rane did you go direct to computer or did you run it through a board. Other processing?

Thanks in advance.
 
Single mic. 12th fret, about a foot and a half away.

Double tracked, panned far L & R.

Direct from the Rane's balanced out > Impedence matching transformer (to unbalance the signal) > unbalanced input of sound card.

The guitar player insists it was the drop-tuning. Said it makes the guitar sound 10 X better when he drop tunes.

Interesting. I haven't ruled that out as a possible contributing factor.
 
Guess it was good I didn't snipe that Rane from you then Chessrock! (It was a "buy it now" IIRC)

I saw it when it first came out, and wasn't sure if it was the MS-1 or the MS1-b (revised model)-that it turned out to be.
You got a great deal.

How well does it work on your SM-7 or a SM57 type microphone?

Chris
 
I listened to this again and darned if I didn't recognize that tone. If you can still find it, listen to the intro guitar on the old Jethro Tull album, Thick As A Brick. Almost sounds the same.
 
After using it on a few more sessions . . .

As far as I can tell so far, it seems to really excell at one thing, and that's accoustic guitar, using a condenser mic. I've clearly noticed an improvement in the accoustic guitar tracks I've been tracking over the past week . . . and the only difference is where I'm plugging the mic in to.

It's headroom isn't the best, and with a dynamic mic, there does seem to be a little excess trailing off of the bass response. So it's not really the best choice for all apps, but again, I'm really digging it for accoustic guitar.
 
oh and people should look out for the rane fmi-14, which is a slightly fancier version of the ms-1, with an eq.

they go really for really cheap on the used market. i saw one for $69 on music go round. $99 is pretty normal.

lots of bang for buck.
 
One of the FMI-14s sold on ebay this morning for $89.
 
Really? It's not listed on his web site. Did you talk to him recently?
 
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