Should I sell my Groove Tubes 'The Brick' preamp

  • Thread starter Thread starter hemmick reef
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hemmick reef

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I bought a Groove Tubes 'the brick' in January this year in the hope that it would sound better than my edirol DA2496 soundcard interface preamps.

I tried extensive tests with my groove Tubes GT67 valve mic (which I love) and SM57 with vocals, Di instruments and mic'ing guitars & amps. I wanted to hear a significant difference between the two but in my acoustically untreated home studio (2x3 meters which is my home office and cannot be acoustically treated in present state) I could not hear a great difference apart from a very slight clarity with 'the brick'.

Now I believe that 'the brick' is a good preamp for the price but in my home studio I think I could of used the money elsewhere..... I know that a good pre will help when building up tracks, but the results of the two preamps are too close for home studio use: many of my sounds come from soft synths and drum samples anyway.

It was a... 'I need to buy a reasonable budget preamp and hear the results for myself' ....sort of test, and I probably fall into the catagory of expecting a real WoW factor with this purchase!

I will probably sell it for something else whatever that may be to improve my sound, maybe a budget compressor........etc..........or cheap holiday?

I would just like some feedback before I put it up for sale.

M1 Alesis Mk2 (which I like)
Cubase SX2 24bit/44.1

Thanks
 
Yup, definitely, sell it. I'll give ya $250. I just got one from suitcase man and I am really enjoying the texture and breadth it gives to guitars and vox. It isn't replacing my Phoenix or Hardy by any means, but it is a great crayon to have in the box. I could use two. So......... by all means , sell!
 
What's not to like? Do you have it turned on? Maybe you're preamp is broken! PM me if Beg Kenny doesn't buy it!
 
hemmick reef said:
O.K I get the message thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes, I think that this underlying point comes up a lot. Within a few years, I have gone from crappy berry board pre's, to a Blue Tube, to a DMP3, to a Tampa - looking for the "magic" dollar point where I can get a "magic" sound. I'm glad that I have two Tampa's now, but the difference between the crappy berhringer and the Tampa is not night and day. I think that good pre's can add a certain sparkle to recordings, and help the instruments just naturally sit better with each other. When I was recording 8 tracks of Blue Tube (all acoustic instruments), I'd get a big fat mess at the end - it really felt like the mixing step was a fight. Now mixing feels like the last creative step in getting a song down.

And I have noticed that pre's make less difference with things like the line out from a drum machine. What I've heard on thelisteningsessions.com seems to support this.

We all record different stuff, I say get the stuff that's right for you. If your vocals and electric guitar sound good with a cheaper pre, maybe getting monitors or outboard effects of some sort would help you get the soft synths and drum sounds that you use to gel better with each other. Dunno.

And if these guys back out, I'll give you $249 for the Brick!

Good luck, you'll figure it out over time.
 
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