Tube Pre suggestions? Under $400

[detroitdiesel]

I have a bellari rp220 and an art mpa gold. Any others around this price range that any of you folks are diggin?

I'm looking to get another two channel like the pro mpa by art but if another company offers something that has a slightly different sonic characteristic....maybe I'll try that.

Thanks, DD

[AstroSounds]

http://www.ehx.com/products/12ay7-mic-pre

Read the reviews.
I find it imparts a very clean and crisp sound in most situations. Especially in the mids and highs but without any sort of harshness. I choose it when I want character but I don't really want character.

If someone figures out how to rack mount these things I'm buying another.

[punkrockdude]

The Electro-Harmonix 12AY7 Pre is amazing I think. It is one channel though. Another one channel preamp which is great in another way is the Groove Tubes The Brick. When I had it I always wanted it to be brighter but
now afterward that I have sold it I miss how it tamed bright condensor mics and made sounds tight.

Regards.

[GetHimEatHim]

Ditto on the 12ay7. Great pre. I pick it over more expensive pres (Sebatron, Great River, Chandler, Ampex) all the time. You won't outgrow it.

[ott0bot]

If you can swing 50 or so more dollars you can afford one of the best tube pre's out there, the Summit Audio 2ba-221. I have picked up 2 of them for around 400 plus shipping off ebay.

Super versitle pre with solid state gain plus tube saturation, hpf, impedence selection, great DI, and tons of input/output options. Sounds great with almost and mic on every source I've tried it with.

Search the forums for many positive comments on the unit.

[AstroSounds]

Another one channel preamp which is great in another way is the Groove Tubes The Brick. When I had it I always wanted it to be brighter but
now afterward that I have sold it I miss how it tamed bright condensor mics and made sounds tight.

EXACTLY! I also have a brick and feel the exact same way. It's great if you are looking to make something less bright but I don't like it for ribbon or dynamic mics usually.

[AstroSounds]

Seriously though... does anyone know of someone who can rack mount an EH 12AY7 pre?

I really love mine and use it a lot but hate having it sit on my desk.

It seems like to someone with a little know-how this wouldn't be a challenge but have zero soldering/machine skills so maybe that is just my perception.

[farview]

What i would do with desk top things is get a rack shelf and strap it down in some way. If it seemed easy, you could drill a couple holes in the shelf and use the screws for the feet to mount the unit to the shelf.

Sometimes, I would just drill a hole on either side of the unit and just run tie straps through the holes and around the unit.


To the OP: Why are you set on a tube preamp? Almost all of the most sought after 'warm' mic preamps are all solid state. (neve, api, great river, etc...) It is much more costly to design, implement, and manufacture a tube unit than a solid state unit. So, most of the time, a tube preamp will be of lesser quality than a solid state preamp of the same price. Cheap and tube don't really go together.

The Belari is garbage. It distorts at the drop of a hat. Not in a good way, in a bad, crunchy high end, scratchy sort of way.

[Ryan Silva]

To the OP: Why are you set on a tube preamp? Almost all of the most sought after 'warm' mic preamps are all solid state. (neve, api, great river, etc...) It is much more costly to design, implement, and manufacture a tube unit than a solid state unit. So, most of the time, a tube preamp will be of lesser quality than a solid state preamp of the same price. Cheap and tube don't really go together.

I bought in to the whole cheep tube pre-amp thing when I got started with gear, and "Farview" is making a very good point.

First Tube Pre purchase: PreSounus BlueTube($125), just horrible for anything but guitar.

First Solid State pre: Focusrite TwinTrack ($400), sounded like what I thought a good pre-amp should sound like, also had compression and eq. (Although it broke in a year)

Keep a look out for a Trident s20 dual mic pre. They can be had for $400 used and they just kill.

But if you were committed to Tube Pre (as the post says) EHX stuff sounds pretty good. As far as bang for buck I think the Groove Tubes Brick or a UA m610/twinfinity are all good for less than 1k.

[ott0bot]

To the OP: Why are you set on a tube preamp? Almost all of the most sought after 'warm' mic preamps are all solid state. (neve, api, great river, etc...) It is much more costly to design, implement, and manufacture a tube unit than a solid state unit. So, most of the time, a tube preamp will be of lesser quality than a solid state preamp of the same price. Cheap and tube don't really go together.

I bought in to the whole cheep tube pre-amp thing when I got started with gear, and "Farview" is making a very good point.

First Tube Pre purchase: PreSounus BlueTube($125), just horrible for anything but guitar.

First Solid State pre: Focusrite TwinTrack ($400), sounded like what I thought a good pre-amp should sound like, also had compression and eq. (Although it broke in a year)

Keep a look out for a Trident s20 dual mic pre. They can be had for $400 used and they just kill.

But if you were committed to Tube Pre (as the post says) EHX stuff sounds pretty good. As far as bang for buck I think the Groove Tubes Brick or a UA m610/twinfinity are all good for less than 1k.

Totally agree. Iron and transformers add way more "character" than tubes in my experience. A cheaper way to go in this avenue is a racked Yamaha PM1000 channel strip. I have a pair of them racked, and I love them on guitars, drums, vocals, and even use them for make up gain on mixes sometimes. I paid around $450 for a really, really, nicely racked pair with a high quality power supply and connectors in a solid shielded chassis with DI's added. You could definately get them done cheaper.

As far as tube pre's go the UA 710 Twinfinity absolutely rocks, I'd like to buy a second one! Again I'll site the Summit Audio 2ba-221 as an affordable tube pre thats actaully worth the money. Though, to be fair these both have solid state and tube components.

[jgimbel]

I LOVE my Studio Projects VTB-1 and use it all the time, but it's a starved plate design, not a true tube preamp. But it can from a nice clean sound to more hairy/wooly as you turn up the "tube blend". It's nice of a cheap preamp to have a bass rolloff too, plus a nice sounding DI. That said, everything I've read about the Brick sounds like it has a similar character in that it's a little darker of a preamp, which is why I'm dying for a Brick. However I want the Brick AND the VTB-1, I don't think one would replace the other. What I've read just makes them sound like they're in the same family.

[KennyLusk]

B & H is rolling ART's Tubefire 8 out the door for $399 new - $100 less than anyone else and it's actually got some mojo. If you're stuck on tubes, you won't find a better deal IMO.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/4 ... reamp.html

The EHX 12AY7 pre is awesome but a lot of them are kind of noisy so not so great for critical applications. I love mine to bits though. What's a little noise here and there for such great sound.

If you're not stuck on tubes the pre's on the A&H ZED14 are a no-brainer IMO. Plus you get extremely useable EQ. They'll change your mind forever on what to expect from txformerless solid state pre's - they're really nice. Fast transients, excellent detail, very smooth, open but not too airy. Rock solid lows and natural sounding high's. Brings out the best in your mic. Brand new you can find them from $369 - $400.

[JWL]

Years ago I too bought into the Cheep Toob Pre phenomenon, though I must confess I still use my ART TubePAC regularly. I love these cheapo boxes as bass DIs, and even on vocals under some circumstances.

[detroitdiesel]

Thanks to all for your thoughts on this.

Farview and Ryan - the reason for wanting Tubes is it seems to be the best way to thicken at least drums.

The Bellari has been great to me for almost 10 years. (1999?) I never had any complaints with toppy harshness. I had a Presonus Bluetube as well. I threw that thing in the street!

I do own solid state Focusrite gear (octopre) and a True Systems 8 Channel. The Tube stuff sounds way better on drums for the style that I am recording. I spent almost two decades recording to plastic ribbon coated with rust... and I do miss the sound. I'm now tracking to a DAW.

The ART is pretty good as well.

I will have to check out that EH piece and some others mentioned here.

Take care, DD

[Ryan Silva]

Thanks to all for your thoughts on this.

Farview and Ryan - the reason for wanting Tubes is it seems to be the best way to thicken at least drums.

The Bellari has been great to me for almost 10 years. (1999?) I never had any complaints with toppy harshness. I had a Presonus Bluetube as well. I threw that thing in the street!

I do own solid state Focusrite gear (octopre) and a True Systems 8 Channel. The Tube stuff sounds way better on drums for the style that I am recording. I spent almost two decades recording to plastic ribbon coated with rust... and I do miss the sound. I'm now tracking to a DAW.

The ART is pretty good as well.

I will have to check out that EH piece and some others mentioned here.

Take care, DD

True 8? Well hell, I always wanted some of those for drums. Ha. There is just no telling.