Some Advice on Pre-Amps and Compressors

H

halo206

New member
Hello,

I was thinking of picking up 2 dbx 266XL's, and was wondering if any one knew how good this model worked while compressing drums, gutar, bass, and saxophone. I could probably afford something more high end, but i heard that they worked extremely well. I also wanted to know what works well for a mic pre-amp. I am looking to pick one up between 500-1000$. Any help on the subject would be awesome.

- Mike
 
halo halomike,

the answer is, you can do a lot better than the 266s- but they will work fine and if you are getting a good deal, go for it.

as far as other compressors, the standard advice is that you need to look no farther than an RNC. buy used, and spend no more than $135 or so. a symetrix 525 will do you well for much less money, maybe $60 used?

both are stereo units so you only need to buy one.

mic pres? i would hold off dumping a bunch of money on one till you learn a bit more about recording. look for a used dmp3 or a symetrix sx202, something in the around $100 for 2 channels class. use them for a while, a few months at least, take them to their limit, then sell them and upgrade to a better pre. you wont lose any money.
 
Thanks for the advice! Although what im trying to accomplish is to not spend more money down the road on upgrading my gear. I know i might not have all the technical knowdledge to work some of the very good compressors or mic pre's, but i dont want to have spend, even 150$, when in 2 months ill be buying another for 600$.

I am a Sound Recording student at the University of Massachussetts, so i know getting the right gear now would most likely be better in the long run. I know that good mic pre's are way to pricy for me, so the dmp3 or rnp, would be good picks. But i really would like to accomplish a polished sound, i know the vocals are the most important thing in the mix.

I heard using a tube mic with a solid pre is good, or vice-versa? I was thinking about the RODE NT1-A, for a vocal condensor mic, ,maybe knowing this could help with pre-amp advice? Also what is above the 200$-300$ compressor range, that works very good.

And again thanks for the advice in the place! :)
-Mike
 
if you are a recording student, then i heartily recomend getting the symetrix sx202 and performing as many of the "monte mods" that you can.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=Gpop71.KD4@world.std.com&rnum=1

it will give you a decent enough preamp to keep for a long time. also, you can play swap out the opamps and learn a bunch about circuits. soldering etc.

as for a microphone, i heartily recomend NOT getting the rode nt1a. not that it is a bad mic, its just REALLY bright and troublesome to work with (i got rid of mine). a good started vocal LD condenser would be the at4040. there are many others, but you can start there.
 
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