under $200 mix pre's - i need one, but which?

  • Thread starter Thread starter shackrock
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shackrock

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right now i'm basically looking at the difference ART tubes - and m-audio's DMP3, and audio buddy.

i'd just like to know - what would YOU GUYS suggest? I'm really looking for best sound, with hopefully 2 min pres on it....most recording vox/guitar (including distorted)/acoustic/keyboard/piano/strings...
using 2 MXL603s and sm57's/58's.
 
dmp3 if you want clean.

vtb1 for a little toob.

or meek (mq3) if you just want something that sounds kinda' cool.
 
Best sound = Studio Projects VTB-1.
It's a single mic pre though.

If you HAVE to get a dual mic pre, another one to try would be the
Aphex 107, which has "good" sound IMHO. It's a couple of notches
below the VTB-1 and the 107 should be comparable to the DMP3 for
you. It doesn't have "line ins", just XLR's.

You can run the VTB-1 totally "clean" BTW. The "tube blend" feature
is an option on the unit though.

Chris
 
Its like 2 in one that will only permit use of one mic at a time, you can allways get another one later if you need two.
 
Before this spirals off into yet another DMP3 vs VTB-1 thread. I suggest you not buy anything until you hear some mic pres for yourself.

No ones opinion/description of low end mic pres is better than your own ears. Find someone who has these and listen to the difference. You will be happier you did.
 
The M series soundcraft mixers are decent if you need more pres.
 
Go up to $240 a channel and get an RNP and dont waste y our moeny on getting half the quality for 90% of the price. Its a no-brainer. I warned you.
 
If anyone gets the chance, check out the latest Tape Op review
on the VTB-1 (and the B series) by Brian Lucey. You may be pleasantly surprised!

Chris
 
In this price range and if you must have two channels, get the DMP-3. I've used it with 57/58s with good results, and also used it with the 603's for overheads and on acoustics where is sounds great. Plenty of clean gain if that's what you're going for.

I do prefer the VTB-1 for vocals, but you said you wanted 2 channels, and two of these would be out of your price range.
 
chessparov said:
If anyone gets the chance, check out the latest Tape Op review
on the VTB-1 (and the B series) by Brian Lucey. You may be pleasantly surprised!
Click to expand...

Any links? Sorry, I'm lazy. :D
 
Tubedude

I was under the impression that your RNP was shipped defective and you had to wait a long time for it to arrive. To tell you the truth, I dont know why you would still be backing it. Now you are slamming the soundcraft m series because of the slide pots are too easy to move. You still get the ghost pres on that one.

Im just saying that after reading about your nightmare you had with your RNP.I decided against one for myself.:confused:
 
Sorry I didn't mention that it's in the FREE Tape Op magazine you can subscribe to. The LINK for that is www.tapeop.com
I have a funny feeling that Alan will be putting it on his website at
www.studioprojectsusa.com soon (it may be there already!) :).

Chris
 
chessparov said:
Sorry I didn't mention that it's in the FREE Tape Op magazine you can subscribe to. The LINK for that is www.tapeop.com
I have a funny feeling that Alan will be putting it on his website at
www.studioprojectsusa.com soon (it may be there already!) :).

Chris
Click to expand...

as dot aka dan richards pointed out a couple days ago, harvey gerst, dan and i all posted much more in depth reviews of the vtb1 back in august.

dan's review is on www.digitalprosound.com btw.
 
I just got the Art V3. I never had a preamp so for me, it's awesome. It was hard to choose, so I went with the most loaded options single chan. for around a buck. I decided to just try one. Later I'll get a dual when I get a coupla condensors.

I can't believe I've lived this long without a mic pre. It was really hard to get decent levels without distortion on all my cr4ppy portajunkystudios.

The meter looks nice, but is no help. It barely registers a signal until i overload it and the limiting come in. It may not be calibrated correctly. Not sure what to do about it or how to test it. It's not really that important anyway....

So far, I've only used SM-57 with it. only tried it once.... ok, twice with 4 tracks, so, 8 times.... in the Sony mxmdm4tkmkii MD 4tk.
 
I've owned and used the ART Tube MP and Dual MP preamps successfully for several years now. Never had a noise, buzz or any other problem with them. I've used them with lots of different mics (Shure SM-57s, SM-81s, Rode NT-1s, NT-2s, Sennheiser MD-421s, AKG D-112s, Studio Projects B1s) on all kinds of sources. They also make a killer bass or synth direct box. You can dial in as much or as little "tube" sound as you want.

I'd say just go to a local Guitar Center and buy a basic Tube MP for $79, try it out, and take it back if you don't like the results... nobodys' opinion matters but yours.
 
Darrin Darrin Darrin,
Buddy... man you took it out of context. The unit I think had a bad solder on the A channel on the gain switch, at max gain, it cut out. It was nowhere NEAR a nightmare. As a matter of fact, Mark sent me one immediatly via UPS next-day-air with free return shipping on the other one. The sound is fantastic once you layer them up.
As for the Soundcraft... I said the faders seemed unusally easy, like they have no resistance. Was wondering if anyone else felt the same. They do appear at this point to be excellent faders, just they dont feel like any other fader I've ever used. They feel cheap. As far as I can tell, they are not.
Anyway... the M series seems fine, but the RMP though, it sounds great, and for the money, you are hard pressed to find anything more versatile for less than $1000. Even if you had a problem with the inital run batch like I did, he takes care of business in one hell of a hurry. The unit is far more sophisticated than any other I;ve ever seen, aside from the all-digital-controlled Summits that Rupert Neve built for them.
Peace.
 
tubedude said:
..., Mark sent me one immediatly via UPS next-day-air with free return shipping on the other one ....
Click to expand...

Who is Mark? He sounds helpful.
 
McQuilkin. He owns the company (FMR Audio) that makes the RNP. Very well-respected and liked in the industry.
 
kid klash said:
I've owned and used the ART Tube MP and Dual MP preamps successfully for several years now. Never had a noise, buzz or any other problem with them. I've used them with lots of different mics (Shure SM-57s, SM-81s, Rode NT-1s, NT-2s, Sennheiser MD-421s, AKG D-112s, Studio Projects B1s) on all kinds of sources. They also make a killer bass or synth direct box. You can dial in as much or as little "tube" sound as you want.

I'd say just go to a local Guitar Center and buy a basic Tube MP for $79, try it out, and take it back if you don't like the results... nobodys' opinion matters but yours.
Click to expand...

I'm glad someone else here likes 'em :)
I did notice so far: no noise- a big plus with digital. Nice variations on tone with the dial thing and ability to select the OPL limiter on off, and warm and valve settings +20 gain boost, phase reverse and pahtom, very handy.

I only started to consider a pre b/c I wanted to try condensor mics. So a phatom only box is $50, a few bucks more, you get a pre. Then w/ the Art's a few more bucks, you get a few more features, so I went w/ the most expensive single chan. Art to see all the features available and if I'd ever need any of em on bigger, more chan. more expensive units later...

Today I'll get an ECM8000 to plug in it to test it out. Also, I'm not so sure I'll need to get to crazy w/ the gear on my home studio setup since i'm not producing anyone but me and I don't know how far i want to go with it. Once I have great songs w/ great arrangements, I'll try to burn a CD. If the quality sucks, I'm not upgrading everything, i'll just go to a studio since I'm solo and it shouldn't be too expensive since my songs and performances will be worked out way ahead of time.
 
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