Hi there,
 
 
I'm upgrading my home 'studio', now proud owner of a motu 828mk3 :D, and still looking for some gear to upgrade my overall sound quality and i/o.
First question I'm facing here is that if I get say two simple (my budget's confining me to the entry level arena) mic pre's like for instance the studio projects vtb1, is it still sensable or necessary to look for a modest tube mic (mxl or maybe akg perception), or will I allready have enough character to fullfill my main aim wich is getting my vocals on somewhat thicker and warmer (occasionally maybe also my acoustic guitar)? What is the main difference between tube amplification at mic stage or preamp stage?
Is there anyone with some more knowledge or experience to shed some light on this for me?
 
 
Furthermore I'm also looking for a monitor preamp, no need for much power as I'm in a small room so just nearfield and as clean as possible for as little money as possible.
Now there are many to find, but I'm looking for something specific wich I seem to find in hi-fi gear only, namely a single gain knob for stereo amplification.
I find the idea of seperate left and right channel gain cumbersome and given my inexperience and poor knowledge of things like acoustics also tricky.
The hi-fi stuff has alot of circuitry for things I don't need (many inputs,eq etc.) which I fear might compromise the 'cleanness' and which I know will add to the budget making it probably too expensive to get the quality I desire.
Currently I'm still using my consumer hi-fi pioneer sx-209 rds stereo amp\receiver and somehow that doesn't feel right for serving as a monitor amp to me.
Especially since I've understood that most consumer hi-fi is quite 'coloured'. Can anyone acknowledge or refute this and does anyone know about a fair performing monitor amp with a single gain knob, around 60-100W, no extra input/function and preferably the possibility to connect two pairs of monitors for under 200 euro?
Hopefully some of you can help make things a bit clearer for me and help me decide how to spend the little but oh so enjoyed and appreciated upgrade money I have at the moment :)

Studiospares offer a decent range of power amps, pretty sure they ship to The Netherlands:

http://www.studiospares.c...at/effpoweramplifiers/

Any recommendation on mic pres can only be made with an idea of budget and what you're currently using, same applies to microphones.

good cheap tube mic pre, would be in the range of the ART DPS

good expensive, would be in the range of the A Designs Audio MP-2
http://www.adesignsaudio....tereo-tube-mic-pre.htm


then there are a million choices in between.

ok, well, maybe a thousand.

ok, maybe a couple of hundred.

honestly, i think the mic would have more character and more pure sound, going directly into the preamp of your MOTU, than going into any sub $500us mic pre.


there's really nothing to add (with a midrange tube mic pre) except distortion (which some people refer to as 'warmth')

a really nice tube mic pre, will give you sonic clarity AND character, but it's not worth sinking money into a mid-range just for that purpose.

the MOTU preamps are nice.

maybe, instead of preamp, look at outboard COMPRESSORS as a means to add 'color' and character.
also, to tame signals going into the convertor BEFORE it hits the daw

that's a whole 'other ball of wax

If you are recording acoustic stuff, the mic is most important.  After the room.  Because the more "air" you are able to capture the more room you get.  Since you haven't said what your budget is, it is hard to advise on what to buy.  A good chain (mic/preamp/convertor) in a good room will most likely sound better than a great mic in a bad room.  They all act in consort together. 

In general, you pay more for a "tube" unit than solid state.  If you are on a budget I'd steer clear of tube stuff as first buys.  If you are looking for "character" that depends more on transformers/overall quality of components than tubes.  I'm not familiar w/ the vtb 1 - I don't know if I've heard one and haven't used it.  It is tube based, but I think it is a strarved plate design.  But in general, again, the reason to upgrade a preamp from the transformerless ones in the standard interface is gain more than anything.  W/ high gain you have more choices in mic placement, and backing off the mic from the source, which gives you "air" which makes the instrument sound more real.  It is a cycle, vicious if you don't have a clump of money or assurances you a stream of it.  Character comes from the components, which come at a price.  If you need an outboard stereo pair there is the M-Audio DMP and others I'd choose before the vtb 1 unless you can get it cheaper.  If you want a premap that means never having to say sorry to your song, the Warm Audio preamp runs about +$400 and is the older APi 312 design and sounds vintage w/ more gain than you'll ever need.  The Focusrite ISA One is a tit more expensive w/ a more modern tone (though still w/ a nice transfomer than adds thickening and a saturation sheen if you want).  Both are preamps you'll never need to get rid of even after you top the charts.

Mics are all over the place.  But the same principles apply as preamps.  An sm57 is a must if you record amplified guitars.  For vocals, any good large condensor will work tho might not be the best choice for x voice.  For other acoustic, unpowered sources, a (stereo) set of small diameter condensors are a good choice.  They work well on female voices too.  If you are strapped for cash, look at the mics that are commonly modded, which can make them much better and you can do that when you replentish your cash.  I had Joly mod an old Oktava 319 I dropped and it came back twice the mic.  Not a Newman or Gefell, but closer.  The AKG C 214 is a good buy, from what I've heard.  Goldilocks - not too bright, not too dull and a good all-arounder.  Like most everything recording, I prefer to get something good enough I'll keep rather than 2 things I'll end up questioning after the excitment of new toys wears off.

And sorry, I don't know much about power amps.  Been using the same speakers/amp for 30 years here at home.  But you already seem to know the basics - don't buy frills.  And get as much power as possible - most speakers are blown because of underpowered amps reaching their limits and sending clipped signals to the speaker.

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