Tube warmth....

[StealthEventRec]

I run a small recording outfit...
I want to add some tube warmth to my recordings..
I mainly rec DJ sets with boundry mics to capture the crowd ambiance..
I use an compact set up consisting of laptop, external soundcard, desktop(small) mixer & boundry mics...
I was looking at maybe... Korg TP2, ART Tube MP Studio Pre or DBX Mini Pre..
Anyone used any of these or know of any other cool small good quality Tube pre's?
It has to be a fairly small unit to fit in my road case with the other gear...

Thanx..

 

[Massive Master]

"Tubes" equal "Warmth" in catalogs. Not in real life. Not on uber-cheap gear where "tubes" equal "toobs" (and 'warmth' equals 'horrible distortion from some other circuit').

"Warmth" comes from "good" preamps (usually associated with transformer-loaded units - API, Neve, Amek, etc.). You aren't going to get "tube" sound from cheapie preamps that happen to have "toobs" stuffed in them.

Maybe look at those new repro Neve 1073 preamps - (Can't remember the name - Golden something). They're ridiculously cheap and trusted ears tell me they actually sound pretty nice. FiveFish Audio's API clones are rather amazing also (and also freakishly inexpensive).

 

[dastrick]

I have the ART MP TubePre (or whatever it is). The only warmth it has is if I was to stick it in the oven for an hour at 425 degrees.

Seriously though, it added no "warmth" to the sound. I haven't used it in probably 4 or 5 months and will probably let my drummer use it for his monitor.

 

[kcearl]

I have the ART project...its nearer 3 times the MPs price but its good with instruments...not sure if you would call it warmth (i did once and it made people here cry) but it certainly gives more body/fatter tone to instruments like guitars and basses, and at least 50+db of clean gain

Ive used it cleanly on vocals but their again my vocals are seldom clean to begin with

Ive heard the MP is shite..for the price im not sure what you would expect..Ive used the mic100 ultragain, similar price, and its pretty noisy

 

[darrin_h2000]

Well you can buy non starved plate designs for arround $400 a channel like a Groove tubes Brick or a peavey VMP2...I wouldnt expect much of anything for less than that.
You can also get warmth from metal...transformer circuts...etc...but you will have to pay for it...best designs arround $100 a channel are the few nice clean ones...and the modelers...you can get some great results from modeled preamps.

 

[kcearl]

the preamps in Pod Farm are the best modelled ones Ive came across...I use them on every vocal I record

 

[darrin_h2000]

Line6 does do the models every bit as good as the clones do...I think that the gearbox and pod farm models are the future of home recording...pro studios are allready using them here and there.