What should I do about a mic pre?

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boysenberry jam fan
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What should I do about a mic pre?

Post by boysenberry jam fan » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:36 am

I've been reading up on this topic for the past few days on different threads on the message board, but I figured I'd ask for the sake of my current setup.

I need to record acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and vocals. I have an sm57 and an akg 3000b that I normally record straight into my 002r. I took the next step and decided to buy a single channel tube preamp. Unfortunately, I didn't do enough research and went with the Presonus TubePre. After using it for a few days, I'm not impressed. It doesn't sound bad to my ears, but there's not really any improvement of sound.

After reading some recommendations, there are a few I was considering in that price range: VTB-1, ART MP. My main question is what (if anything) will give me a noticeable improvement over the 002R preamps at around $100?

Or does anyone recommend me just to save up for a better preamp (EH 12AY7, ART MPA Gold, RNP)?

mjau
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Post by mjau » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:31 am

I've never used the presonus deal, but have been around the little ART preamp, and have used the VTB. My suggestion...if you can afford it, the EH 12ay7 will be far and away the best choice of the bunch. If you are strictly limited to about $100, I'd go with the VTB, which really isn't all that bad all things considered.

boysenberry jam fan
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Post by boysenberry jam fan » Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:02 pm

Thanks, I was leaning towards that idea. I'm hoping I can get my money back for the tubepre and save a little more for the 12AY7

macr0w
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Post by macr0w » Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:53 pm

For $100.00 I don't think your going to do much better than the 002r allready has. IMHO
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Scodiddly
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Post by Scodiddly » Thu Mar 09, 2006 4:08 pm

Better mics will be a much more cost-effective improvement.

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8th_note
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Post by 8th_note » Thu Mar 09, 2006 4:21 pm

Either a 12AY7 or an MPA Gold would do what your're after. It'll take more than $100 to get a noticable improvement. I posted a budget preamp comparison a while ago that might be useful. Here's the link:

Budget Preamp Comparison

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