What is a good Cheap mic preamp

Forum for discussion of taping and trading The Slip! See Subforums for Barrs, Davis, and other music.

Moderators: Cleantone, harrymcq, Phrazz

Post Reply
Dan
Camp Shuey Counselor
Posts: 1060
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:15 am
Location: The Inner Ear
Contact:

What is a good Cheap mic preamp

Post: # 1971Post Dan »

I have been reading some of the stuff that Cleantone has said is "out there" on the net. I was wondering how needed mic preamps are for studio and live recording, and if there were some good ones from 50-100 dollars.

dan
User avatar
Cleantone
Zion Gatekeeper
Posts: 2150
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:24 pm
Location: Western, MA
Contact:

Post: # 1972Post Cleantone »

In short. No there are no good preamps for that price range. That would be below the bottom of the barrel for preamps. Cheap ones still run $500. Good ones well over $1500. The top line custom shop types can be over $2500 for one channel. Any mixer has preamps on it. Anywhere you can plug an male XLR cable into to be amplified is a preamp. But as for external mic pre's $50-$100 is just off the charts. Sorry, I know thats not what you wanted to hear.

As far as needed, you cannot use a mic without one. So it's pretty important. The signal coming out of a mix itself is so low you need this preamp to boost it to a useable level.

What are you trying to do?

Here is "mic preamp" plugged into froogle:
http://www.google.com/froogle?q=mic+preamp
and I stand corrected, here are the ones in your asking range:
http://www.google.com/froogle?price1=50 ... ce=between
Just keep in mind you get what you pay for with audio gear.
Dan
Camp Shuey Counselor
Posts: 1060
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:15 am
Location: The Inner Ear
Contact:

reading

Post: # 1989Post Dan »

i was looking at your grace design lunatec v3 preamp. Its frequency responce is 5Hz to 80kHz... but i found this http://www.geartree.com/Shop/Control/Pr ... rid/117758
cheaper other places, but it has presettings for the other ones, kinda taking the ease of it. im gonna call my local GC to see if they have anyof them to test.

dan thanks
User avatar
Cleantone
Zion Gatekeeper
Posts: 2150
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:24 pm
Location: Western, MA
Contact:

Post: # 1993Post Cleantone »

Dan,

Just so you know. Behringer is evil. Not only does thier gear have major quality control issues (everyunit will sound different) but they stole all thier designs from other manufactures and use crappier parts to undercut everyone. Kind of the Wal-Mart of audio. Some people in the biz shun the use of any of thier gear. Not just becasue it doesn't sound good but also because of thier policies and practices. Just so you know. Someone had to tell me before I knew.
Dan
Camp Shuey Counselor
Posts: 1060
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:15 am
Location: The Inner Ear
Contact:

Post: # 1998Post Dan »

Thanks. what about this presounus one http://www.presonus.com/tubepre.html

seems to get some good reviews. dont know ifyou know that name like behiringsucker

wow its snowing and i love it!

im off
User avatar
Cleantone
Zion Gatekeeper
Posts: 2150
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:24 pm
Location: Western, MA
Contact:

Post: # 1999Post Cleantone »

Dan,

Presonus gets more hype than they are worth. They are not top of the line at all but I do recommend that for you. I'm sure I'd find use for that pre too. I've though about getting it in the past and am sure it would sound okay for some use with some mic. I say go for that one.
Dan
Camp Shuey Counselor
Posts: 1060
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:15 am
Location: The Inner Ear
Contact:

Post: # 2010Post Dan »

another question,

- Cleantone

Was there ever a time, that you didnt have a 3 grand to lay down on recording stuff, and had a lill over hundred to spend, and you wanted to record. Or did you just save up untill you could get the best.

Dannnn
User avatar
Cleantone
Zion Gatekeeper
Posts: 2150
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:24 pm
Location: Western, MA
Contact:

Post: # 2018Post Cleantone »

Dan,

I've never had a lot of money. I started recording on borrowed gear adn cassette decks. Then saved up and have been buying gear for years. I spend most money I make from recording on new gear, and then some. I do always try to go beyond bottom shelf gear though. I figure I'll want to upgrade anyway so might as well try to get the better stuff from the gecko. (get go)
DCDireWolf
Tenfold
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2005 10:06 pm
Location: Washington, DC
Contact:

Post: # 2032Post DCDireWolf »

I use an edirol ua5, modded by the Oade Brothers, it works well for me and cost right around 500 bones. fwiw.

http://www.oade.com/digital_recorders/D ... l_UA5.html
You ain't gonna learn what you don't wanna know.
Jeffro
Lion on a Rock
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 10:41 pm

Post: # 2122Post Jeffro »

If you've got a quality computer (preferably a mac) then I recommend the ProTools M-Box. I use it with great success and the pre amps in it are great. Two inputs, USB interface and ProTools software for 500 bucks.

If you just want to do live recordings, I'd recommend getting a used DAT recorder. They have built in preamps right? They probably aren't the best in the world but I bet they still sound darn good.
Guest

Post: # 2309Post Guest »

DCDireWolf wrote:I use an edirol ua5, modded by the Oade Brothers, it works well for me and cost right around 500 bones. fwiw.

http://www.oade.com/digital_recorders/D ... l_UA5.html
$500? Did you just get the stand alone mod or did you go for their other mods too (warm, presence, transparent)?

I got a ua-5 a couple months ago on ebay for $180, then did the standalone mod myself, which is actually really simple, even if you only ahvea small amount of experience in electronics (like me). I like the ua-5, afor a mic pre and a/d converter you can't beat the price.
DCDireWolf
Tenfold
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2005 10:06 pm
Location: Washington, DC
Contact:

ua-5

Post: # 2375Post DCDireWolf »

Anonymous wrote:
DCDireWolf wrote:I use an edirol ua5, modded by the Oade Brothers, it works well for me and cost right around 500 bones. fwiw.

http://www.oade.com/digital_recorders/D ... l_UA5.html
$500? Did you just get the stand alone mod or did you go for their other mods too (warm, presence, transparent)?
I got the warm mod and the stand alone mod. I'm an idiot when it comes to DIY electronics so it was worth it to me to spend the money. Came out to about 480.

Works like a charm with my C4's.
You ain't gonna learn what you don't wanna know.
Post Reply