I have a small digital set up and looking to use a tube preamp to warm up vocals. I currently now use a small mixer with built in pre's and would still like to use it when tracking for eq purposes. Should I put the tube pre before or after the mixer in the chain? My thinking tells me to put it before but would like some more experienced input. Any replies appreciated. Pj
Using tube pre in signal chain
- Thread starter pjh6467
- Start date
treymonfauntre
Magic Bag Of Sounds
its not going to warm anything up
Juggernaut
New member
Hrm... tube pre... We are talking about something atleast aroung $400 like the Brick right? Nearly everything lower than $400 is a starved plate design which will not really give you what you are looking for.
As for your question the signal path would be like follows:
Mic->Pre amp->line in on mixer->Input of your DAW
As for your question the signal path would be like follows:
Mic->Pre amp->line in on mixer->Input of your DAW
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
I'd skip the mixer entirely and put the preamp directly into the input of the soundcard.
That's not really true. Even some of these cheap "toob" pres can take the edge off the pain and round out the corners caused by inexpensive analog electronics. They can and do often soften and smooth out the sound and make it less harsh. Sure - you could even use the word "dull" - but it works. Look at it as more of an "effect". Not a bad tool to have around.treymonfauntre said:
Farview
Well-known member
It doesn't warm anything up, it might, under the best of circumstances, fuzz it up a bit. If you are looking for dull and fuzzy, stay away from belari. They are harsh and scratchy, which might be cool an bass drum, sometimes, but it is a tube preamp that is the opposite of 'warm'.Dot said:
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
Dot said:
But then you are putting more cheap electronics in the signal path, to supposedly fix a problem caused by other cheap electronics. That doesn't sound like a solution to me, unless the tube preamp is a very good one. And even then, the first issue is to get the vocals recorded properly so that there isn't a need to "warm" them up later.
What would work is a combination of a the right mic for your voice and then a tube preamp like the Groove Tubes BRICK. The BRICK is the least expensive tube preamp that is actually a real tube preamp.
I've been reading some rave reviews of the MXL V6, but I haven't used that mic myself. Based on those reviews it might be one for you to check out though.
reshp1
New member
Keep in mind that the "line in" of a lot of mixers still go through the preamps. They just go through a pad first. So if you don't like the preamps in the mixer, it doesn't make sense to keep them in your signal path, especially AFTER the outboard preamp you are trying to improve your sound with. Look at the VTB-1 from Studio Projects, it has the starved plate toob thing for an effect when you want it, but it's got a knob to blend the toob and solid state signals, so you can dial out the toob distortion if you don't want it.
http://www.rupertneve.com/portico5042.html
http://www.empiricallabs.com/fatdes.html
That'll warm what ever you want up
http://www.empiricallabs.com/fatdes.html
That'll warm what ever you want up
Dot said:
My version would be;
That's not really true. Even some of these cheap "toob" pres can take the edge off the pain and round out the corners caused by inexpensive, hyped upper mids, strident sounding microphones. They can and do often soften and smooth out the sound and make it less harsh.
I think that anyone who is in a position to buy a real mic pre within a reasonable amount of time ought to bypass the cheap preamps and wait for the real deal. However, I think there are a lot of people who have no means of doing that in any reasonable time frame, or will have to keep using a Soundblaster card and Logitech speakers to afford a real preamp, etc. These are exactly the people who are using harsh sounding < $100 condenser mics that could actually sound better through one of the better toob circuits. For them, the $50 isn't gonna make a difference in when they're going to get a $1000 pre, but it will give them a whole different color to work with right now.
That's just my opinion. You know, you don't have to crank it up and make it a fuzz box. Used right, a toob circuit is capable of doing some good.
-RD
Rodger Hartlett
New member
tubes with transformers make the real sound. the better ones have at least an input transformer for a bit of color. anything with any chips or opamps won't warm up anything.the older neve designs were transistor based. they were colored .the new ones dont sound quite the same but there are kids out there who fall for the same old marketing hype and will buy anything without really applying their ears to it.
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
Rodger Hartlett said:
The people falling for the Portico aren't kids. I talked with a successful composer recently who has his studio stocked with all sorts of very expensive goodies, including a number of classic Neve preamps and a pair of the newer Porticos. He has done side by side listening tests between the Portico and his original Neve's, and he highly recommended the Portico to me. He said they sound *slightly* different than his older Neve's but still sound like Neve preamps and are just as good in their own way.