ART Pro MPA II on sale today at MF 199.99

I'm of the opinion that it is the iChips surrounding the tube that define this preamp's sound and that it really doesn't matter how many volts are on the tubes plate.

Most tube preamps use the tube stages for voltage gain.

The tube in the ART adds very little voltage gain the solid state stuff surrounding the tube does most of that. The tube is used in a cathode follower differential circuit that negates or filters most of the tasty tube like harmonic distortion added by the tubes 1st stage. 

It doesn't really matter what sort of power supply is on the tube, you'll be listening to the sound of the very same iChips that are found in Mackie and Behringer mixers and most of the cheap I/O boxes on the market.

At $399 it seems like a very expensive way to fill 2 rack spaces and end up with the VLZehringer sound... but people love it!!! 

At $199 the VU meters are starting to look pretty darn cool for the money.



best regards,
mike

Slang for integrated circuit chips.



best regards,
mike

Reece,

the art unit seems a bang for the buck item.  Won't replace your tube tech gear, but it has a good reputation.  I'd get one but don't really have a need for it.

I got the single channel mP DI/Preamp unit.  It didn't work on arrival- very little signal.  Until I opened 'er up and resat the tube which had shaken out during shipping (it hasn't come out since).  I drag it to live shows since it works well on bass and is a nice splitter unit, too.

What Mike is saying is that it is a basic IC preamp like in any interface.  The signal then goes through the tube.  The MP gets very ... fluffy when driven.  It can be a good sound.  I don't know how the full plate sounds - I've never even played with them.  I don't imagine it would work as well as an expensive tube preamp with high quality electronics surrounding the tube.  And starved plate units (I've got an old presonus interface w/ such tubes) tend to ... sound distorted when driven hard.  Not the nice hair of saturation you get on a high end unit, but spikey stuff.

But as a preamp that is solid and has some flavor by driving the tube (a little) many people like it.  A stereo preamp that is probably a half step up or more from your interface's preamps with some "tube flavor" on output is a good deal if you need more preamps.  As replacements you probably aren't going to see a night and day difference in sound, unless you use the tube and that is a judgement call on your part.  It could work very nice on some things like the mp on bass (there was a funny gearslutz thread where people like it more than a high end bass DI until they found out it was ART).  Anyway, you aren't going to do better for $100 a channel.

@

so the extra voltage on the plate is only supposed to add "headroom" in the gain circuit of the starved plate design?

[shrugs]
I'm not sure I understand the usefulness of adding extra voltage to a starved plate design.

my interest in this unit is a lot lower now.  I have a TPS II, which is a starved plate design and it's not a bad unit for the price, as I'm sure this is as well as AT says, but I'm not sure that the extra voltage is as appealing as I would like for it to be. 

I can't get to your website from work, I'll look at it later.

I own one of these units.

Here's a song I did with it that I think really shows what it can do. Everything is run through it except the strings and drums.

Blue Shadow's On The Trail

Pro's:

I consider this a 'pro' because of the excellent service .... the first unit I received blew a tube on one of the channels. The problem was exactly what Rain described in his Amp thread. They shipped me a replacement unit and let me keep mine until the new one showed up because one channel was still usable. I asked if they would just ship me a tube but they couldn't for some reason. I forget what they said.

The tubes are very easy to replace in both units. The first thing I did when I got them was take the cabinets off and make sure everything was seated properly. They are built really well on the inside.

Another really nice thing about this mic pre is the variable input impedance knob. I have a 30+ year old high end Peavey mic that I was an inch away from throwing out because it sounded like garbage directly through my Fast Track Ultra and any other audio interface I ran it through. Just for the heck of it, I hooked it up to the MPA II and tweaked the input impedance and it cleared up immediately. It sounded every bit as good as my brand new Blue Bluebird mic. AAMOF, if i would have known the input impedance was going to make that much of a difference, I never would have spent the $300 on the Bluebird mic.

Cons:

1. Those blue meters look cool for a little while, but I prefer the typical yellowish back lit ones. Also, the LED's the chose to light up the buttons are kind of cheesy looking. Bright white. If you are one of those people that like a certain look to your studio, this unit will clash with everything else.

2. Make sure you burn it in really good for a few days in case there is a bad tube. I've read a few reports of bad tubes in these units, but once they were replaced, they ran like a dream. I've also read that you can upgrade the tubes in these and make them sound like a much more expensive unit.

Other thoughts:

Later on I paired it with the an ART Pro-VLA II Tube Compressor and I think it's a killer combination. I can get that nice saturated sound right on down to crystal clear. It really does work well on bass like you've read. All of my bass parts are run through the MPA and VLA now.

I can't compare it to any other low/mid range tube pre's and comp's because this is the first units I've ever owned. I can tell you there is a night and day difference from going DI with my Fast Track Ultra and going through these two units first. I have zero regrets of buying either one of these units.

I stacked the MPA and VLA on my desk and sat my monitor on top of them. I used short, high quality cables.

It really is a stupid deal and you're crazy if you don't cash in on it ... especially if you're just using the DI's on your sound card right now with no other signal path.

BTW ... this Reference Series has been around a while, but it's hard to find. It's usually out of stock and has to be special ordered. I've had mine for a couple of years now.

i've used a ART DPS preamp for years now...


it has served me quite well.

the preamp section is basically the same animal...


like anything else, it all depends on how your gain stage it.

you can make it sound like crap, or you can make it sound sweet.

i prefer sweet.
LOL