What is the best Mic Preamp for under $500?

petreestow · Post by **petreestow** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:45 am

Give me your thoughts...quick! I'm looking to make a purchase before then end of next week, so any thoughts/comparisons will help!

I hear colored pre's are the way to go, but are the ones that are in the $1000's+ Is there anything around $500 that is comparable?

One more thing, thank you all for your help and support over the last few years!

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:49 am

Ok, I'll be first:
Have you done a search of previous posts? Volumes abound dealing with the "best pre for $xx.00 dollars".

What kind of music are you recording? In which way (to tape, computer, etc)? What do you already have? What do you want to hear / not hear from your gear?

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:54 am

My Burr-Brown modded Presonus MP20 is nice. I bought my Sytek MPX-4Aii BB3-4 for $600. I like the Symmetrix SX-202 for clean, that was $118. I also like my EH 12AY7 for colour, that was $125 used.

I would check out the FMR RNP. I hear that is nice and it's $500 new.

A-Barr · Post by **A-Barr** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:59 am

Electro-Harmonix 12AY7 is said to be great on acoustic geetars (at under $200) if that's what you are doing, colored, pleasing, many posts on that one, but it seems to have its downsides too.

FMR RNP is a good deal for two channels of reasonably clean stuff, certainly not super-awesome but a good deal and quite usable.

Seventh-Circle Audio is fantastic if you can DIY, as is Hamptone.

Grace 101 is a good solid preamp, stackable and hi-fi sounding for just over 500.

Some folks like the Groove Tubes Brick, for a tubey sound, others are less thrilled by it but it has a fairly solid rep among the midrange preamps.

Again, it all depends what you want, searching for info on the above models should get you some good brain-fodder.

petreestow · Post by **petreestow** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:28 am

i'm just looking for some warmth in my recordings. What I have been doing is sending my mics through my Soundcraft 200B board, then from the board into a presonus firepod, into logic 7.2 express in my macbook pro. I'm just finding the recordings have a pretty thin feel to it that I would like to warm up.

When our band records, I'm looking to use the preamp with 2 Cascade Ribbon Mics that I will either place on the Overheads of the drums, or on 2 different guitar cabinets.

After we do our live cuts as a band, I'll probably use the preamp with my AKG C3000B Mic to do vocals...and possibly some more cascade/sm 57 guitar overdubs.

Hope this helps!

A-Barr · Post by **A-Barr** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:36 am

So you are looking for a two-channel pre in the $500 range?

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:53 am

"Thin" is not an adjective I've heard with Soundcraft.

Several things I would check before blaming the preamps:

* Is your source thin? My money is on this.
* Is your mic placement appropriate? Moving mics an inch, or even angling the mic off-axis can make a huge difference. Appropriate use of close vs. distance micing is crucial.
* Is your gain staging correct? At the preamp? At the converter? My place bet is on this.
* Have you taken advantage of your aux busses? Parallel compression? Parallel reverb? All can help a thin source.
* Does your room acoustic suck? For tracking or monitoring? Get some bass trapping and 703. My show bet is on this.
* Are you subtractive EQ'ing as a general rule?

If you can answer ALL of these questions, THEN consider gear purchases. One cheap option is the FMR Audio RNLA compressor. Maybe get a large diaphragm dynamic. You already own decent ribbon mics.

But proper technique is free!

Catoogie · Post by **Catoogie** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:00 am

Is it me or is the EH mic pre low on output? It seems like I always have the the output nearly dimed.

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:47 am

Catoogie wrote:Is it me or is the EH mic pre low on output? It seems like I always have the the output nearly dimed.

It is, yeah. If it's matched up with a high output mic, I've never noticed a problem, though.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:06 pm

uh Soundcraft 200b thin? Those have pretty much the best bass eq ever!
I'd love to be tracking with one of those! Time erases details. do they have direct outs or inserts? Or are you subgrouping? If you are getting thin from that mixer it must need recapping.
I am currently enjoying my Summit 2ba221. The pre by itself is pretty gritty. Almost API ish. With the tube stage it gets pretty broad sounding. My new favorite guitar amp pre. I am getting tones into my DAW that need pretty much no compression or EQ. I got mine for $325, I think new they are $600.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:53 pm

Dont buy anything yet.
Practice.

Get better. Repeat.

dont track so bright. get the sound right, get the mic in the right place.

b3groover · Post by **b3groover** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 8:02 am

Adding "warmth" doesn't necessarily fix something sounding "thin". My guess is you're having phase problems caused by bad acoustics, bad mic placement, or both.

aaronaustin · Post by **aaronaustin** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:52 pm

I have an FMR Really Nice Preamp (RNP) and I like it a lot. They sell them at atlasproaudio.com --great store with superb service. They've got good suggestions on quality gear there as well.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:46 am

I have no problem recommending the Studio Projects VTB1 to anyone, any time, and at around US$125.00.

I use mine in my "bedio" (?'07 Dan Barnes) every session.

VelvetoneStudios · Post by **VelvetoneStudios** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:23 pm

Agree with those who posted re: FMR RNP. You can rack this with an RNC and have a great stereo pre, or 2 great mono pre's.
Warning: these are audiophile type pre's, i.e. you get out what you put in,no color. If you are having a hard time getting a good sound to begin with, you don't want these.
I'll probably get a good ball-busting for this, but.....for 4 good clean pre's get a new or used Mackie 1202 VLZ for less than $300.00. Good bang for the buck, no matter how badly I get teased for this!! (just shy away from the EQ section)

To Joel:
Man, checked your MySpace...great stuff, and lucky you working with Mr. Waits!
I wonder how good that stuff would be if not for the HORRIBLE MySpace music player!!!!!!!! I hate that!

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What is the best Mic Preamp for under $500?

What is the best Mic Preamp for under $500?

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