What Mic Preamps SHOULDN'T I Buy??

gevermil · Post by **gevermil** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:11 pm

make your own .

TheGreatOne · Post by **TheGreatOne** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:20 pm

I don't have enough experience with different pres to say but a couple of things...My recording buddy has a Aphex 207D, a JoeMeek comp and a RNC these are all cool pieces of gear. BUT!!! Yesterday my first pre arrived, A Focusrite Trakmaster Pro. Tonight I was gonna a/b it against my mackie vlz1604 pres but, because I started with the Focusrite, never got to the mackie. I have to apologize to everyone I quietly cursed when they spoke of higher end gear. I believed, and still do to an extent, that good music can be recorded on practically anything. But the differences in the quality of the Focusrite and mackie has sold me. My next step up will be a quality compressor...which will surely be an improvement over the 3630 I've been using for years. Kev

Quest Poetics · Post by **Quest Poetics** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 4:38 am

I'd personally stay away from avalon mic pre's...You're paying for external looks and advertising and not so much mic pre....Although I must say that they do lood wonderful! However why not an osa lunchbox and one mic pre module...You can grab that for around a grand...Plus you can easily add more mic pres in the future....

Red Rockets Glare · Post by **Red Rockets Glare** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:12 am

Scodiddly wrote:You shouldn't buy *anything* if you can't hear the difference in a shootout, ideally held in your own studio.

Scodiddly is right, and I have actually helped folks out with this.

For 40 bucks I'll show you what the;

Aphex 207
Vintech 1272
Grace 101
Ampex 351
and Apogee

Preamps sound like on anything you bring over to record for two hours and send you home with a CD of it to examine at your own place.

Silent nick, and a few others on this board have taken me up on it, and it's always a good hang.

ChrisCo · Post by **ChrisCo** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:35 am

Hmm... That sounds VERY interesting...

I've got a buddy that's got a mic pre (forgot what it was)... I'm thinkin' maybe I could bring what I've got too (even though it sucks, it'll give me a good "point of reference".

I just may take you up on your offer. Also, I heard that AD/DA conversion makes a HUGE difference sonically between what goes in and what comes out. Maybe I could bring the interface (Motu 896) and see what the difference in AD/DA conversion is?

Also, what should I plan on bringing to record? I'm figuring vocals are probably going to be the most evident, but what do you recommend?

Thanks for your help!

-Chris

ChrisCo · Post by **ChrisCo** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:41 am

Sound Campaign wrote:I'd personally stay away from avalon mic pre's...You're paying for external looks and advertising and not so much mic pre....Although I must say that they do lood wonderful! However why not an osa lunchbox and one mic pre module...You can grab that for around a grand...Plus you can easily add more mic pres in the future....

I had a buddy that SWORE by the 737. I've heard stuff he'd done on it and it sounds fuckin' awesome, but I don't know if that's compared to what I've got (which was nothing). Though that's why I wanted to see if starting off with cheap mic pres was even worth it. I mean, are the cheap mic pres better than what's in/on my MOTU 896? If I get an additional AD/DA converter, won't they outperform the mic-pres in those? If I do a drum session, I'd want for all the mics to sound as sweet as I can get'em, so would it be a waste of time to start off with low-budget pres?

A-Barr · Post by **A-Barr** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:46 am

[/quote]would it be a waste of time to start off with low-budget pres?

Never buy something you're going to want to replace, I always say...

Red Rockets Glare · Post by **Red Rockets Glare** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:49 am

ChrisCo wrote:Hmm... That sounds VERY interesting...

I've got a buddy that's got a mic pre (forgot what it was)... I'm thinkin' maybe I could bring what I've got too (even though it sucks, it'll give me a good "point of reference".

I just may take you up on your offer. Also, I heard that AD/DA conversion makes a HUGE difference sonically between what goes in and what comes out. Maybe I could bring the interface (Motu 896) and see what the difference in AD/DA conversion is?

Also, what should I plan on bringing to record? I'm figuring vocals are probably going to be the most evident, but what do you recommend?

Thanks for your help!

-Chris

I use the Apogee Mini Me for conversion, and like it was previously stated in this thread, it makes A difference, but it's not as big of a difference as the upgraded mic pres.
I had the motu 828 before the Digi 002 I have now and can tell you that the converters are pretty similar.
Bring anything you like! An acoustic guitar you know the tone of would be good, and your favorite vocal mic is also a good choice.
You can email me to figure out a good time.
I'll PM you with some info.

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:30 pm

can i come over as well?

Red Rockets Glare · Post by **Red Rockets Glare** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 2:26 pm

trodden wrote:can i come over as well?

Sure Trodds, but you gotta bring some pictures of Sea Turtles from Hawaii.

digitaldrummer · Post by **digitaldrummer** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:57 pm

one other thing that I would add that nobody has said yet.... what mics do you have and what are you recording? I personally had one of the original ART DPS units. Sounded OK, but one day I connected the Studio Project C3 and put it in front of a female singer and it sounded fabulous (mostly the singer...). I could try that mic on other pres and it just didn't sound as good. so anyway, if you are recording vocals, drums, or do you have ribbon mics? all of those factors may change what you need too.

just my $0.0113 cents

Mike

ChrisCo · Post by **ChrisCo** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 11:12 am

I think I'm going to go with the FMR RNP... I mean, I have yet to hear one person say it's not a good buy.

Thanks all for your input... feel free to continue the thread if you'd like! I'm curious to know what preamps you guys would/wouldn't get (I'd like to expand my horizons)

Chris

ChrisCo · Post by **ChrisCo** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 11:15 am

digitaldrummer wrote:one other thing that I would add that nobody has said yet.... what mics do you have and what are you recording? I personally had one of the original ART DPS units. Sounded OK, but one day I connected the Studio Project C3 and put it in front of a female singer and it sounded fabulous (mostly the singer...). I could try that mic on other pres and it just didn't sound as good. so anyway, if you are recording vocals, drums, or do you have ribbon mics? all of those factors may change what you need too.

just my $0.0113 cents

Mike

Well, I have 2 C1000s (GP mics) and I just acquired an AT 4040 (en route). I have 2 57s and a D112. I'm looking to record just about anything I can get my hands on... a drum kit, bass guitar, guitar, vocals, + anything else I can track. I'm looking to get some other microphones too...

a couple ATM25s
a Sennheiser 421
Some AKG 451s
an AKG 414 (or a pair)
an AKG c3000

Slowly but surely.

sonic dogg · Post by **sonic dogg** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:02 am

Good plan.......Theres a LOT of mics I would buy before a C3000.....

The RNP is a good basic mic pre. Its better than the Behringer ....

A used ART MPA is something that would stay in your rack for years even with higher end units surrounding it. And they're still cheap on the net. Enough so you could get two of em and still be WAY under your budget. But one would be enough. An MPA and a Grace and you could do a lot of quality recordings for a lot of years.

getreel · Post by **getreel** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:47 pm

Yea RNP!!!

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