The Best PreAmp for DAW

[rielp]

Hey out there.....
Can anyone recommend a a solid "Tube" pre-amp that they love that didn't require a second mortgage on their home?
Peace,
Pat From Canada

 

[punkin]

If you dig in deep, you'll find that most of the budget tube mic pre's don't run the signal entirely through a proper tube amp circuit. You really need to look at these products as mic pre's with "Tube Effect" commonly bashed as "TOOB" gear here on the forums. Some do the job a little better than others.

The The Presonus TubePre gets hot and cold reviews here. I have a couple which don't get used as mic pre's...they're OK as DI's. The VTB-1 a step up IMHO gets good reviews as well does the MPA Gold. The ART MPA Gold when switched to "high" is a proper high voltage tube amplifier. I've got one...it's pretty decent. I use it mainly as a DI for keyboards these days but it does nicely as a mic pre. The variable impdance and strong gain let it pass for ribbon mics as well although when cranked up starts to get a bit noisey.

Awww 'com guys...don't bust my chops...the man asked for opinions on cheap tube mic pres...these quailify don't they?!

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Awww 'com guys...don't bust my chops...the man asked for opinions on cheap tube mic pres...these quailify don't they?!

Don't worry, Punkin, the only chops I'm interested in today are the 2" thick dry rub ones from Hog Wild

Just wanted to chime in and agree that the MPA and especially MPA Gold are decent pres for the price and certainly better than your average prosumer mixer channel strip pres. I can't comment on the Presonus, I never did hop on the Presonus train like most people. They may be fine as well, I just don't know first-hand.

G.

 

[xstatic]

Depending on what your budget actually is, maybe you should look at the new Universal Audio solo line?

 

[Dr_simon]

I like the ART TPS IIs. They come in at about 200 bucks and have two channels.

 

[punkin]

Don't worry, Punkin, the only chops I'm interested in today are the 2" thick dry rub ones from Hog Wild

Just wanted to chime in and agree that the MPA and especially MPA Gold are decent pres for the price and certainly better than your average prosumer mixer channel strip pres. I can't comment on the Presonus, I never did hop on the Presonus train like most people. They may be fine as well, I just don't know first-hand.

G.

I'll be right over with the Merlot. That should go nicely with those chops.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I'll be right over with the Merlot. That should go nicely with those chops.

Save that for the blue cheese filets! I've got some Indian Pale Ale chillin' that'll go great with the chops.

(and I wonder why I can't afford a DM3200 )

G.

 

[punkin]

Awww...good call! Save me a seat

 

[soundchaser59]

I'm starting to wonder if the preamps make as much noticeable difference as the mics do. Seems to me, based on my feeble experiences, that if you get preamps that all have the same noise floor, then the preamps have less "coloring" on the sound than the mics do......assuming you dont mix solid state and tube preamps together. The main difference in "color" between preamps is between solid state vs tube, not between brands of solid state pre's or brands of tube pre's. If they were all noiseless, I doubt that hardly any people would be able to tell the difference between brands in a blind sound comparison. Probably, people would only be able to tell the difference between solid state or tube.

Several preamps (either all solid state preamps, or all tube preamps) all with the same mic will all sound pretty much the same, but several mics all with the same preamp will all sound pretty much different from each other.

Ok.....this is a bold claim for me.....did I hit any nerves with anybody?

*ducking......running*

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Several preamps (either all solid state preamps, or all tube preamps) all with the same mic will all sound pretty much the same.

This is patently not true. One really should consider mic/preamp pairings as one animal, in much the same way that a monitor and it's room cannot be seperated.

While true with all mics to a degree, this can be doubly true with consensors; just the difference in the characheristics of the phantom power supply alone in the preamp can and usually will have an effect on how the mic performs.

Many of the Big Boys will automatically change preamps when they change mics. Heck, you don't even have to be a Big Boy. I'll change preamps even when I don't change mics, depending on what kind of sound I'm looking for in tracking.

G.