Sub $250 mic preamp, what would you recommend?

M

Mr songwriter

New member
I'm thinking of buying a mic preamp to amplify an SM57 and an AKG D112 that are being used to mike up a bass and a guitar amp, I realise that with the sort of budget I'm on, I'm not exactly going to be getting super high-end quality, but I would like something that is going to be audibly better than what I'm using at the moment, which consists of those mikes going into a cheapo 6 channel Behringer mixer into an M-Audio 2496 soundcard. I'm not going to be recording vocals or drums with it, just miked up guitars, so I won't need more than two XLR inputs (I realise some of the preamps below only have one XLR input)

Preamps that I've seen that are within my budget are:

http://www.millennium-music.co.uk/home/products.pl?ProductCode=DBXMINIPRE&mode=detail

http://www.gear4music.com/ART_Tube_MP_V3_Mic_Preamp.html?gad=COO_5foBEgjUTSM1_6-iXBi0mZL_AyDfv5AR

http://www.andertons.co.uk/acatalog/info_BLUETUBEDUALPATH.html?GCID=C16390x026

I've just noticed that my SM57 says Lo-Z on it and I'm wondering whether I should be choosing the preamp based on that.

Any thoughts?
 
None of the preamps you've listed are going to be a significant upgrade. They'll be different. They may sound slightly better, but not much. See if you can get your hands on a used Groove Tubes "The Brick." If not, just get an M-Audio DMP3 or a couple of Studio Projects VTB-1's.
 
Ok, thanks for the suggestions, I've had a look at the prices for those preamps, the Brick seems to be a lot cheaper and more readily available in the states than where I am (the UK) I've only seen it new in one UK store and that was for £350, which is way out of my price range and it's about $400 from the states. The other two are a bit easier to get hold of over here - The M-Audio DMP3 is £160 and the VTB-1's are about £90, so they're both affordable, I'm leaning towards the DMP3 but I'm wondering how much better it would be than the VTB-1, clips would be nice if anyone has any.
 
Mr songwriter said:
Ok, thanks for the suggestions, I've had a look at the prices for those preamps, the Brick seems to be a lot cheaper and more readily available in the states than where I am (the UK) I've only seen it new in one UK store and that was for £350, which is way out of my price range and it's about $400 from the states. The other two are a bit easier to get hold of over here - The M-Audio DMP3 is £160 and the VTB-1's are about £90, so they're both affordable, I'm leaning towards the DMP3 but I'm wondering how much better it would be than the VTB-1, clips would be nice if anyone has any.
Click to expand...

Between the DMP3 and VTB-1, you're going to be getting a similar quality (unless you dial in the "toob" on the VTB-1). Difference: VTB-1 is one channel for £90 and the DMP3 is two channel for £160 - getting up towards twice the amount, but not quite. Do you need two channels?

Both the DMP3 and VTB-1 have direct in's as well - rather than micing, you could run direct for both bass and guitar (although miking amps is fun if you have a decent room). Both are reasonable at DI tasks.
 
warble2 said:
Between the DMP3 and VTB-1, you're going to be getting a similar quality (unless you dial in the "toob" on the VTB-1). Difference: VTB-1 is one channel for £90 and the DMP3 is two channel for £160 - getting up towards twice the amount, but not quite. Do you need two channels?

Both the DMP3 and VTB-1 have direct in's as well - rather than micing, you could run direct for both bass and guitar (although miking amps is fun if you have a decent room). Both are reasonable at DI tasks.
Click to expand...

I only have two mics and at the moment, the only situation I can think of where I would need two channels would be if I was miking up my bass amp using the D112 for the bass frequencies and the SM57 for the higher frequencies, so I might be able to get away with one, I'll have to think about that. As far as the direct-ins go, I've used a POD, DI'ed straight into a mixer and tried several other things, but found that I much prefer the sound of a guitar through a miked amp to a DI'ed one, even with my (fairly basic) gear, though those Direct ins might be better than the ones I've tried.

theTentacled1 said:
Hey Mr songwriter, the DMP3 is a lot cheaper here.

They also do the ART tps II for quite cheap as well. That might be more useful for guitar/bass duties as it's got a few more features to play with.
Click to expand...

Lol, thanks, that is a *lot* cheaper, I've never bought anything from Germany before, but it looks like I'll be able to pay in sterling, so thanks a lot. Is the Art tps II better than the Art Tube pre? scrubs didn't seem to think that it would be much better than what I'm using at the moment.
 
Last edited:
Reasonable choices in your price bracket would be:

DMP3
Rane MS1b (single channel)
Symetrix SX302 or SX202
VTB-1 (single channel)
ART MPA gold (used)

Except for the ART, all are of the "clean" preamp variety. The SX202 is discontinued but pretty widely available on e-bay. I have a couple of the Symetrix SX202s, as well as much more expensive stuff, and they work just fine.
 
While I'm think of it, you could consider an ART Pro MPA as well. You will have to look for a used one since I believe are discontinued, but they sold lots of them. Usually go for less than $200 on e-bay in the States.
 
I've just had a look for those Rane MS1b's and the only UK stockist I could find wanted £200 for the preamp and £70??!? for the power supply, which converts to about $500, so I'd have to buy that from the States if I was getting it, though I would end up paying duty on it. The Art Pro things are both £400+ new here in the UK, so I'll maybe have to think about Ebay as you suggest, even though I am a little wary of buying something like that second hand. The Symetrix 302 is £245 new, which is closer, but probably still more than I really want to spend.
 
Not to highjack this thread, but what would be better for ribbons: VTB-1 or Rane MS1-b?

(looking for clean gain here...)

Thanks.
 
Fab4ever said:
Not to highjack this thread, but what would be better for ribbons: VTB-1 or Rane MS1-b?

(looking for clean gain here...)

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I haven't used the Rane, but I hear good things. 66 db should be plenty for a ribbon.

The VTB-1 works pretty well with ribbons because it is fairly quiet and has a variable impedance. Harvey Gerst liked it on his RCA 77DX, iirc.
 
Wow, the Rane MS1b's are easily found for $149 each here in the states, which is why I recommended them in your price range. That's well over double the price there, too bad.

Maybe you'll have better luck finding an ART MPA Gold in or near your price range, they sell new for $299 here.
 
Yeah, the price differential for some gear between Europe and the States is pretty astounding. Even for what would be considered low budget gear. On the other hand, every time I see some of those Neumann, Filtek, Siemens, Telefunken modules on German e-bay and consider what they cost over here . . . . . .

I have very rarely had any problems with audio gear that I've bought used or over e-bay. I think I've had one bad mic in the last 4 years (bought near 100 of them) and all of the other electronics has worked just fine. Do your due diligence before you buy.
 
It took me awhile but I found the VTB-1's that I have to be slightly better then the ART DPSII that I have, so with that in mind I would take two VTB-1s over a ART TPS which is the same as the DPS II but without a digital out. But it isn't a jaw dropping thing, and on some things the DPSII might just be better with its so called V3 varible value voicing.

DI'd bass guitar is almost a norm, so don't give up on that just yet, if you have a line out of the bass amp just run a TS 1/4" from the amp to the preamps instrument in, I don't have a bass to try this with, but the vtb-1's and the cheaper arts are supposed to be great on DI'd bass.

I also have the AEA TRP, which is the ribbon/dynamic mic only pre, got it for $699+tax so a little out of your price range, but it sounds awsome, so clear and full, but no DI. Now here is the level of pre that you go wow at compared to the VTB-1/Cheaper ARTs. I only add this because someone else brought up the TRP.
 
SRR said:
DI'd bass guitar is almost a norm, so don't give up on that just yet, if you have a line out of the bass amp just run a TS 1/4" from the amp to the preamps instrument in, I don't have a bass to try this with, but the vtb-1's and the cheaper arts are supposed to be great on DI'd bass.
Click to expand...

I have been pretty surprised by how difficult it is to get a decent bass tone, so what you've said about the Vtb-1's and the cheaper ART's does make them sound a lot more interesting. As far as the budget goes, I'm not setting out to make absolutely pristine sounding recordings, just decent quality demos, which is why I'm not planning to buy $600 preamps, mikes etc, I would go into a professional studio if I wanted to use that kind of gear.
 
Just get the DMP-3 from Thommann. It's really not worth fretting over this pre and that pre in this price range.

2 channels, p power, lots of nice lean gain, DI inputs, just over £100. You're not going to do any better than that.

Thomann have just set up their UK cyberstore and I got €10 off my last order, some sort of promotion. If you register you should get the same.

I've ordered loads of stuff from them, they're very good and generally get stuff to you in 2-3 days and the shipping is cheaper than what some UK based online retailers charge you.
 
Kevin DeSchwazi said:
Just get the DMP-3 from Thommann. It's really not worth fretting over this pre and that pre in this price range.
Click to expand...

I think this is the best advice so far. Or get a couple VTB-1's and don't sweat over it.

The other thing is that I've read posts from people from time to time where they like the ART DI for bass. So you might want to do something like get a VTB1 and an ART, and then have a couple different sounds to work with, depending on what you will be recording.
 
Yes, I'm very much leaning towards the DMP3 from Thomann at the moment, assuming there aren't any hidden costs I have to think about. Thanks, people.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top