what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars

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ghettomex214
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2008/08/12 16:05:14 (permalink)

what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars

what is the best preamp i can get under 1,000 dollars.

THE BEST
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    droddey
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/12 16:12:25 (permalink)
    Depends on what you are wanting to achive. I, like many folks, have gone the 500 series route. It allows you to get some really nice stuff for reasonable prices and more stuff is arriving in that format all the time. I really like the Great River pre-amp. It's it a great mic pre-amp and a great DI box, and you can dial in a lot of different tones. It's exactly the same as the non-500 format version of the pre-amp.

    If you go to places like Mercenary, they'll give you $50 off each 500 series module you buy if you put it in a rack you buy from them. So, an API 6 slot lunch box that costs $450, will be more like $150 to $200 by the time you adjust for the rebates in the end. The rebate is for each module, not each slot, and there are some nice ones (like the Great River) that take up two slots, so the actual savings can vary. BTW, the price there is the MSRP. The street price (with rebate) is more like $725.

    http://www.greatriverelectronics.com/product.cfm?ID=27&type=0

    The GR can be used on all kinds of stuff and sound great. But, in the end, it may not be optimal for what you want to achieve.
    post edited by droddey - 2008/08/12 16:37:34

    Dean Roddey
    Chairman/CTO, Charmed Quark Systems
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    #2
    ghettomex214
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/12 17:02:30 (permalink)
    left foot
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    mlockett
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/12 18:04:43 (permalink)
    Like Dean, I have an API Lunchbox, but I have an API preamp in it (only one so far). APIs are in top notch studios throughout the world. I've also heard nothing but positive about the Great River pres. I think the lunchbox plus the pre ran a little over $1000 though.
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    droddey
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/12 18:29:27 (permalink)
    Yeh, for the initial buy, you carry the burden of the lunch box. After that, you can more than make up for it by the time you fill it up. What I'd probably like to end up with is:

    - Great River (got it)
    - A-Designs P-1 (got it)
    - API 550B EQ
    - Komit or Purple Action compressor
    - API 512 pre

    That would give me a good collection of pre-amps of different vibes, a really good EQ, and a really nice tracking compressor. If I had a larger rack I'd thrown in a Buzz Essence comp for an opto comp option. But it's a 2 space module, and the GR is one also, so it's pretty tough to put both those in your only lunchbox, since that's 4 slots right there.
    post edited by droddey - 2008/08/12 18:57:10

    Dean Roddey
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    CJaysMusic
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/12 19:16:13 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: ghettomex214

    what is the best preamp i can get under 1,000 dollars.

    THE BEST


    no one can answer your question, causse there are no best, theres just what we like and what does the job for what we want
    Cj

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    SF_Green
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/13 01:44:56 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: CJaysMusic


    ORIGINAL: ghettomex214

    what is the best preamp i can get under 1,000 dollars.

    THE BEST


    no one can answer your question, causse there are no best, theres just what we like and what does the job for what we want
    Cj


    Sound advice, as always, from CJ. Get out and listen. I haven't bought one yet (just using the built-ins on my Fireface for now), but of the ones I've checked out, I would say make sure you listen to this - the UA Solo/610

    http://www.uaudio.com/products/analog/SOLO610/index.html

    Nice sounding unit for the money, and well within your budget.

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    Lanceindastudio
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/13 02:15:49 (permalink)
    "sound advice", wether good or bad, I think everyone here is giving "sound advice"
    :)

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    SF_Green
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/13 03:27:26 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: Lanceindastudio

    "sound advice", wether good or bad, I think everyone here is giving "sound advice"
    :)


    I thought someone would pick up on the pun! Glad it was you Lance.

    AMD FX-8370, Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3,  Win7x64 SP1, 16Gb CorsairDDR3-1600, GeForce GTX 950 (390.65), SSD 525Gb (OS), SATA 3 & 1.5Tb, MOTU microlite, RME FireFace 800 (D 3.124, fw 2.77), UAD-2Q, Adam A7X, A-800 PRO, CC121
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    #9
    droddey
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/13 03:57:45 (permalink)
    The Solo/610 is a good choice as well, though that might really depend on what kidn of music he's doing. If he's going to be doing death metal, probably that's not the optimal choice.

    Dean Roddey
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    #10
    mlockett
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/13 15:37:27 (permalink)
    And if you're only going to buy one nice preamp, it probably makes sense to get one that doesn't color too much (especially if you record a lot of voices and instruments)... what flatters one voice may "nastify" another. I've heard some of the UA units add a lot of color, though I haven't used them myself.
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    SF_Green
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/13 17:26:33 (permalink)
    Actually with the gain down, I thought it added just a slight amount of warmth, and sounded pretty good. But yeah as soon as you started taking the gain up you went from warmth to growl.

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    #12
    ghettomex214
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/13 19:41:20 (permalink)
    im doing rap music. and the preamp i got just makes the singnal stronger. so the voicemaster is what im going to get. the solo one does not have that
    #13
    Lanceindastudio
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/13 19:53:26 (permalink)
    All preamps make the signal stronger. Depending on what preamp, it may add color if, say it has a tube in it, or if it is a neve pre or something like that.

    If what you are saying is that you want it to have compression and eq like the voicemaster pro, then yeah, you are looking for a channel strip.

    In that case, I personally recommend the presonus eureka over the voicemaster pro, but they are both adequate.

    A preamp amplifies the sound only. It doesnt condition it. The compressr and eq and de-esser would condition the sound.

    I get it now though, like I said, you are wanting a channel strip which is the preamp, compressor and eq, and de-esser if it comes with one.

    By the way, I wouldnt eq on the way in, but to each there own. Some compression on the way in is helpful to avoid clipping, but you can compress and eq more with plugins and have control over it.

    Eq'ing and compression a lot on the way in is destructive, as in you are stuck with the sound.
    post edited by Lanceindastudio - 2008/08/13 20:22:13

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    DonM
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/13 21:34:32 (permalink)
    If I only had $1k to spend it would be either the Great River or DAV.

    -D

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    KenJr
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    RE: what is the best mic preamp under 1,000 dollars 2008/08/14 22:47:43 (permalink)
    If you want a single channel there are a lot of options - really nice stuff (especially if you up your budget a few hundred bucks...)

    I'm selling a Portico 5012 (dual channel class A discrete Neve preamp) for $1190 right now. Can't get much better than that - especially since it retails for $1600.

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