Tube Preamp

leddy said:
I bought a Sebatron and I am very happy.
witzendoz said:
What!! for $200 to $300? (the original budget in the thread) I would be happy too. Where can I get one at that price?
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I bought the 4-channel Sebatron VMP for about $1200...so that's $300/channel. :D

It was a good deal on eBay, and it was about 7-8 years ago...but still one my favorite pres in my rack, and I have a few other decent pres (Langevin DVC, Groove Tubes SuPre...etc).
This past weekend I recorded a bunch of various guitar tracks for a new song, using a variety of mics...but I used the Sebatron for all of them. It's a great preamp. With the built-in 3-choice tone options for both the lows and the highs, I can quickly find a suitable combination without a lot of fuss. The Sebatron has consistently delivered on just about everything I've used it on.
I purchased other pres after the Sebatron, and have used them with success, always feeling like I needed to use something other than the Sebatron...but at times I've had to work the other pres a bit more to get where I needed.
The Sebatron is just too easy...it sounds good and there are rarely bad results with it.
 
miroslav said:
I bought the 4-channel Sebatron VMP for about $1200...so that's $300/channel. :D
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Yes but unfortunately you can't just buy 1 channel for $200 to $300, LOL. I have been looking at getting a 2 channel unit for a while as there are a few turning up on evil bay every now and then but can't quite justify it at the moment. Who knows one may come along at some point that I'll grab, and they are made in Oz link.

Alan.
 
Massive Master said:
(A) You aren't going to get a decent tube preamp for that budget (let's say that you aren't even going to get a TUBE preamp at that budget - A box that contains tubes, perhaps).

(B) "Tube" sound generally doesn't come from tubes. It comes from the transformers in those units.

I'm not saying there aren't good tube units out there - Manley, Tube-Tec, Avalon, etc. But 95% of the time, "Really cheap" and "tubes" in the same sentence leads to "crappy sound" in the next.

You want warm and reasonably cheap? GAP's Pre73. Five-Fish's (API-like) unit.

Don't wind up with some cheesy starved-plate POS that would sound exactly the same if you replaced the "toob" with well-placed paper clips...
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+1

I would take a Mic Pre with transformers over tubes any day of the week.
 
I recently sold some guitar gear to buy a pre amp. I know all of the options are "subjective" to some degree.... but would some of you veterans mind providing a top 5 list for a budget under about 1200. I am looking into the Avalons, the Manleys, and a few others.... but would really like some tips from you all. I have never invested in a pre amp of this caliber before and want to look into the right products. I am running a Mac Pro with Logic and want to use the preamp for everything from guitars to vocals to who knows what else. Thanks guys appreciate the info!
 
I'm no pro, but if I had $1200.00 I would save $400.00-$500.00 more and get an Avalon, Focusrite or UA preamp. The guy I got my SM7b from let me test the mic with his Avalon. It sounded absolutely amazing.

I'm sure there are pros here that have that kind of gear and experience with more like it.
 
thanks for the feeback guys. I was thinking about just waiting and saving some cash too. I tried an Avalon the other day with an sm57 and ksm 32, WOW! I was hoping to see if you guys could provide a few specific models you like so I could do some research!

Also what are you thoughts on the Avalon u5 for recording acoustic guitars and such?
 
I have two tube pre amps. Both are two channel but I believe both are available in one channel. I have the presonus blue tube, it is not that great. It doesn't make much of a difference at all. I can't really tell much difference in it and the pre amps on my interface.

I recently purchased the ART MPA II reference series. I wish I would have purchased this a long time ago. It makes a HUGE difference in my sound. It gives a ton of tube warmth. I can now even record through amplitube if I don't want to mic a guitar amp for something and get a good tube sound. You can turn the gain all the way up, and then it has a +20DB switch, and then use less of the output knob and get a ton of tube warmth. In the reference series they have already changed the tubes for you also, so that really helps.

The two channel cost me 299. I was very impressed with it so I ended up ordering the compressor which is the VLA ii which looks just like the Tube pre. The Bluetube two channel or one channel looks like such a good deal from presonus but it honestly just doesn't give that warmth that anyone buying a tube pre is looking for.

I can say that the art MPA makes a huge difference and the pre amp's on it have been amazing. I love that it has a hi-z input on the front for guitar. Like I said before if I want to use amplitube I can just plug straight into that hi-z input. I suggest you look at some reviews on this on youtube. For 300 dollars I really can't imagine finding anything that sounds better.

I'm sure there are those who talk bad about it also. But I'd hear one for yourself. There are other "cheaper" tube pre's that seem to bring no warmth and do hardly anything. Again, this thing does a lot to my sound. It was exactly what I was looking for. Even if I had the money, I would still stick with the MPA ii.
 
Update - just purchased (after strong recommendation from many of my guitar peers) a Demeter VTDB-2b - Tube Direct - I am very pleased.
 
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