R
Randy Yell
New member
You could check out the M-Audio DMP3 that sells for $200.If you just want something quieter than the Behringer check out the Audio Buddy also by M-Audio,it sells for $80 and it is very quiet.
The RNMP by FMR is supposed to sell for about $400 for a single channel(if its ever released).A lot of people are waiting in this pre hoping it will be as good a value as the RNC.
The RNMP by FMR is supposed to sell for about $400 for a single channel(if its ever released).A lot of people are waiting in this pre hoping it will be as good a value as the RNC.
Empty Planet
New member
This isn't what you want to hear, but it might be what you need to hear. Save your money and save yourself months of cutting cut-rate tracks -- wait till you have the bucks to do it right.
If you're just going to cut one or two tracks per song with this sort of mic pre then by all means go ahead (if you buy from a store with a good return policy), but if you plan on tracking a lot with it, just be aware that you're going to get a build up of unpleasantness that's going to be just as much a pain to deal with as the sound you'll get not working with a pre at all.
Don't be fooled -- comparing them side by side on single instruments in the store doesn't tell you the story. Laying track after track and hearing the accumulated sound will indeed tell you the story.
It's hard advice, but sound advice. Buy tools that you're going to want to use further on down the road when your ears evolve -- that's not to be offensive; ALL our ears are evolving all the time if we're keeping up with this gig. A cheap pre, though it will have some limited uses it might work quite well for, will not be adequate to track main vox and guitars most of the time. A year down the road your ears are going to tell you this and you're not only going to have to pony up all the loot for a better pre at that time but you'll probably also have a year's worth of mediocre tracks to deal with.
If you're part of the way to a decent pre, be patient, exercise some discipline, and then get something you're going to use next year and the year after that as well.
You're building a toolkit. I know it's hard to be patient, but learning this lesson will -- in the long run -- save you money. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this thought isn't new with me -- someone went to the trouble to spell it out for me, and though the advice didn't exactly make me happy, I've since come to recognize its value.
Cheers and good luck whatever you decide.
If you're just going to cut one or two tracks per song with this sort of mic pre then by all means go ahead (if you buy from a store with a good return policy), but if you plan on tracking a lot with it, just be aware that you're going to get a build up of unpleasantness that's going to be just as much a pain to deal with as the sound you'll get not working with a pre at all.
Don't be fooled -- comparing them side by side on single instruments in the store doesn't tell you the story. Laying track after track and hearing the accumulated sound will indeed tell you the story.
It's hard advice, but sound advice. Buy tools that you're going to want to use further on down the road when your ears evolve -- that's not to be offensive; ALL our ears are evolving all the time if we're keeping up with this gig. A cheap pre, though it will have some limited uses it might work quite well for, will not be adequate to track main vox and guitars most of the time. A year down the road your ears are going to tell you this and you're not only going to have to pony up all the loot for a better pre at that time but you'll probably also have a year's worth of mediocre tracks to deal with.
If you're part of the way to a decent pre, be patient, exercise some discipline, and then get something you're going to use next year and the year after that as well.
You're building a toolkit. I know it's hard to be patient, but learning this lesson will -- in the long run -- save you money. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this thought isn't new with me -- someone went to the trouble to spell it out for me, and though the advice didn't exactly make me happy, I've since come to recognize its value.
Cheers and good luck whatever you decide.
Blue Bear Sound
New member
Good advice, EP!
Bruce
Bruce
Gidge
Lapdance Test Dummy
will it just be for mic'ing an amp?....do you need one channel or more?......
you guys, you mean to tell me you REALLY believe 3-400 wont buy a pre good enough for mic'ing an amp with a sm57?......
you guys, you mean to tell me you REALLY believe 3-400 wont buy a pre good enough for mic'ing an amp with a sm57?......
Shailat
New member
Blue Bear Sound said:
No. Not "good advice" Bruce,......excellent advice.
People here seem to buy cheap claiming to have a financial problem and of course they are right. Who can afford a Neve pre amp going for over $2000?........
Yet when there was a post about mic cabinets a while back, it seemed that many owned several cheap mics and more then 2 pre's. Add that up and you get a lot of equipment that costs a lot yet wont bring your audio up to another level.
For most homerecordist, 2 mics are sufficient unles they are recording a kit.
A good condensor in the $600 and over range and a sm58/57.
That will get you excellent results and cost around the same.
Whats the point in owning 2 c1000's.... 1 Marshall....3 sm57's...a 4033? owning a lot of mics and pre's wont get you any closer to a pro sound at home.
As Ed used to say (and is dead on) buy cheap buy twice......
I would dump 8 cheap pre's for 2 good ones and 18 cheap mics for a single good condensor and coil mic.
Gidge
Lapdance Test Dummy
i think an ART Tube MP or a Delta DMP3 will do.....
no one has even asked what kinda work he is doing....this may be simple home studio demos, not commercail work.....this is HOMErecording.com......
no one has even asked what kinda work he is doing....this may be simple home studio demos, not commercail work.....this is HOMErecording.com......
B
Beezoboy
Home Recording Guru
How about a JOEMEEK VC3Q?? I have heard really good things about these preamps.
Gidge
Lapdance Test Dummy
VC3Q's are pretty nice....awesome for going direct with a guitar or bass and damn good on vocals(if you like the Meek sound).....for a guitar cab it would do wonderful....
Shailat
New member
Gidge said:
And I thought all homers want pro results or at least claim to be able to reach such results......if so even more so what I said shopuld apply to him.
Remember its HOMErecording and not Amateur recording site.
It has nothing to do with what he does at home.
I would think most people would search for the best they can get be it for fun or not.
It's my outlook and he can take it or leave it.
If he's doing simple home demos then my personal advice would be save your money and work with your current pre. You can get fun results out of it. Don't waste away $400 worth of extra pre's.
Each to his own......
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Gidge
Lapdance Test Dummy
there can be a happy medium.....i have no experience with the newer VS units, but the older ones had crappy preas as well as the Behriinger he has........
for as little as $79 for an Audio Buddy or $179 for a DMP3 or $199 for a VC3Q, he CAN step up a bit do a decent pre with a lot of usable gain....
admittedly, from there you wont get a significant boost in quality until around $500-$600.....there my choice would be a Grace 101.....
for as little as $79 for an Audio Buddy or $179 for a DMP3 or $199 for a VC3Q, he CAN step up a bit do a decent pre with a lot of usable gain....
admittedly, from there you wont get a significant boost in quality until around $500-$600.....there my choice would be a Grace 101.....
tubedude
New member
If he doesnt need a pair, I would suggest selling the Behringer on ebay and hopefully getting $100 for it, taking the $400 he already has and buying a Grace 101, or saving another month or 2 and getting a Brent Averill API 312 racked with power supply, which will be huge to him and resellable for close to what you pay.
S
Skycries57
New member
I appreciate your opinions guys. I'm mostly going to be micing my Marshall plexi and Fender 67' Deluxe reverb and some vocals. What do you all think of the DBX 386?
Is it normal for a tube micpre to add a little bit of noise?
This is strictly for Homerecording...com.
Thanks in advance!
Is it normal for a tube micpre to add a little bit of noise?
This is strictly for Homerecording...com.
Thanks in advance!
C
CyanJaguar
New member
the joemeek vc6q british channel is now $299.99 at marsmusic.
That is the best preamp in that range.
The symetrix 528 is also phat. Its about $200 used.
That is the best preamp in that range.
The symetrix 528 is also phat. Its about $200 used.
M
Mark H.
New member
Perhaps the best mic pre for under $300 is one of the used Mackie 1202VLZ PRO mixers on ebay, which regularly sell for about $275. You get four channels of the same newer mic pres in Mackie's larger and more expensive boards, pres that are musical and solid and won't embarrass you, sort of the SM57 of mic pres.
Also, when you do move up, you will be able to sell your used Mackie for not much less than you paid for it, so you won't lose a lot of money on your investment. But whether you save for something better or buy a used 1202VLZ PRO, the important thing is not to buy junk.
Mark H.
Also, when you do move up, you will be able to sell your used Mackie for not much less than you paid for it, so you won't lose a lot of money on your investment. But whether you save for something better or buy a used 1202VLZ PRO, the important thing is not to buy junk.
Mark H.
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Mark H.
New member
P. S. CyanJaguar posted while I was still writing -- if you want a tube sound and would like a channel with some compression as well as equalization, the JoeMeek VC6Q is a $500 outboard that normally sells for $349. If Mars Music has it for $300, then it would be a very good deal as well.
Choosing between a used Mackie and the JoeMeek would depend on whether you need multiple channels of mic preamplification and the ability to mix up to 8 additional line inputs (plus inserts, equalization, etc.) , or whether you'd be happier with one channel that included compression. Obviously, I'd lean toward the Mackie (which I did), but I'd certainly be tempted by the VC6Q at that price.
Choosing between a used Mackie and the JoeMeek would depend on whether you need multiple channels of mic preamplification and the ability to mix up to 8 additional line inputs (plus inserts, equalization, etc.) , or whether you'd be happier with one channel that included compression. Obviously, I'd lean toward the Mackie (which I did), but I'd certainly be tempted by the VC6Q at that price.
Gidge
Lapdance Test Dummy
the Delta DMP3 for $179 is 2 channels of a BETTER preamp than the Mackies.....
M
Mark H.
New member
C
chessrock
Banned
Not Gidge, but I'm doing my best Gidge impersonation and providing some links.
A review that specifically compares the DMP-2 (earlier version of the dmp3) to the Mackie pres. In side-by-side comparisons, the DMP scored a slight edge in "realism", and was the outright winner in terms of "listenability." And the article backs everything up by allowing you to download examples of sound bits recorded with both pres.
http://www.digitalprosound.com/Htm/Reviews/2000/June/DMP2.htm
In yet another article, the reviewer is quoted as saying: "(the DMP-2) comes extremely close in performance to discrete units costing 10 times as much."
http://www.midiman.net/company/media/reviews/DMP2PAR2.pdf
I've used both the DMP-2 and the Mackies. I think they're both good, but the DMP-2 sounds a little more transparent to me.
A review that specifically compares the DMP-2 (earlier version of the dmp3) to the Mackie pres. In side-by-side comparisons, the DMP scored a slight edge in "realism", and was the outright winner in terms of "listenability." And the article backs everything up by allowing you to download examples of sound bits recorded with both pres.
http://www.digitalprosound.com/Htm/Reviews/2000/June/DMP2.htm
In yet another article, the reviewer is quoted as saying: "(the DMP-2) comes extremely close in performance to discrete units costing 10 times as much."
http://www.midiman.net/company/media/reviews/DMP2PAR2.pdf
I've used both the DMP-2 and the Mackies. I think they're both good, but the DMP-2 sounds a little more transparent to me.
I
imacgreg
New member
Why not build a Neve 1272? it helps to be electronically inclined, but if you aren't it could be a great learning experience. I'm building one from scratch and it will most likely cost me from $2-300 at the most.
ian
ian