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Budget Mic Preamps


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This isn't a question so much as a rundown of my experiences with a few. :) Hopefully those of y'all who have experience with these or other mic pres will add to the thread.

 

Right now I have a Groove Tubes Brick, a Grace Design 101, and two FMR RNPs. The Brick and Grace are relatively new additions - I've had them for a couple of weeks. My main studio mic is an AKG C-414 B-XLS (I'm on a budget, so I'm building slowly and don't yet have a huge cabinet full of expensive mics).

 

First, the Brick:

 

I was really looking forward to trying this preamp. I've heard rave reviews of it here and on other forums, so I ordered one from Sweetwater. When it arrived, I first tried it out with electric guitar. I played a dual-humbucker Ibanez through an Epiphone Galaxie 10 combo (class A, all tube) amp, which combine to give a really nice bright crunch. The AKG C-414 was placed about three feet in front of the amp and adjusted slightly until I was happy with the sound ... which didn't take long. The Brick really did well with guitar tones. The highs were present, but tamed, and the sound really sat well in the mix.

 

Next I tried a Fender acoustic. I did two tracks of this (two separate performances) - one with a Rode NT1-A through one of the RNPs, and one with the C-414 through the Brick. It sounds like a completely different guitar. Again, I'm really pleased with the way the Brick works with guitars. It really seems to lend itself to this instrument.

 

Just for giggles, I decided to run bass through the Brick isntead of using my normal DI. Another score. :) I was well on my way to deciding this preamp could do it all.

 

Until I tried it on vocals. Now, while I could see where this would be ok with some voices, it isn't for mine. The vocals came out like mud. No presence in the mix, no clarity ... it was rough.

 

Still, I'm very pleased with the purchase, as I feel I've added a solid mic pre to my studio.

 

 

 

Grace Design 101:

 

This pre I was a little more cautious about. I'd heard it described using words like "clarity" and "precision" which are good, but a few people had said it was almost TOO clear and precise, so I was a bit leery.

 

At first I thought my suspicions were correct. When I tried the Grace with the 414 on electric guitar, I was very unhappy with the results. It seemed to hype the high end, although it's possible it only sounded like that in comparison to the mellow highs from the Brick. The guitars came out sounding brittle. The same results with acoustic - the guitar sounded thin and sort of plastic, if that makes any sense. This was very possibly the result of my bad playing on a midrange Fender acoustic, but the difference was night and day between the Grace and the Brick.

 

Then I decided to give it a shot with vocals.

 

Wow. Just ... wow! The 414 absolutely smoked through the 101 with my voice. Clarity, presence, instant place in the mix ... I just found my new vocal pre (when I'm the one singing). This pre seems to accentuate all the (relative) strengths of my voice. It completely floored me, maybe because by this point I was starting to feel like I had bought a useless pre. I don't feel that way anymore!

 

 

FMR RNP:

 

These are still my workhorse preamps. They're sort of in between the Grace and Brick, tonally - they don't have quite the clarity of the Grace, but they don't color the tone nearly as much as the Brick. The highs are less pronounced than the Grace, but much more present than with the Brick. I love the way these sound with drum overheads, for example. These are my jack-of-all-trades mic pres, and I don't think I could have picked a better set to start my studio. Especially considering the price for a two-channel unit, I highly recommend these for the home recording studio.

 

 

(EDITED TO ADD THE 428)

 

Focusrite ISA-428:

 

I know what you're thinking. "Josh, what happened to this thread being about BUDGET preamps?" And it's a valid point. But at $1700 for a new ISA-428, that's $425 per channel. Pretty comparable to a GT Brick and cheaper than the Grace Design Model 101.

 

I purchased a Focusrite ISA-428 several months ago and added it to my small arsenal of preamps. So far I'm very pleased with my purchase. The Focusrite has a warm, focused sound that I enjoy. It isn't as colored as the Brick, but it has more color than the FMR RNPs and much more than the Grace 101. I've started using it as my go-to DI for bass, and I'm about 50/50 on whether I run guitar mics through the Focusrite or the Brick - in fact, I often put an SM-57 at close range through the Brick and a LDC like the AKG C-414 through the 428 a few feet away from the guitar amp. The 57 tends to have a darker sound with more punch through the Brick, while the 414 through the 428 has a more cutting tone to it without getting harsh. For rhythm guitar I'll use more of the 57 sound, while leads tend to cut through the mix better with the LDC through the 428. That's just IMO, though. I've also had good results putting the 57 through the 428, though - the switchable input impedance on the 428 can have some interesting results with an SM-57.

 

I'm finding more and more that vocals are a mixed bag with any mic/preamp combination. I still use the 414/Grace combo for my voice most times, as it helps my fairly muddy voice cut through the mix. However, I've gotten good results lately from the 428 and a BLUE Baby Bottle condensor on another male rock singer. It just works better with his voice. That BLUE is one amazingly hot mic! I need to pick up a pad to put between it and the preamps - I tried to track a medium-loud guitar amp with the BLUE and the Brick pre, and even with the Brick turned all the way down I was overdriving the pre and my converters. Hot mic!

 

All in all, I'm very pleased with the ISA-428. It gives me four channels of warm, solid preamps that have been a great addition to my collection. If you're looking to purchase four or more channels of preamplification, you should really look into this unit.

 

 

And, there you have it. :) Of course, I'm still learning how much I don't know about studio work. This is a hobby for me. I don't expect to ever make a living at it. But I thought I'd share some thoughts, and see if anyone else wanted to review some mic pres that the home studio owner can actually afford and use.

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Thanks for the post. Of those you mentioned, I only have the RNPs. Open and clear, very nice, and absurdly affordable, especially for the quality.

 

The Peavey VMP-2 is a very nice tube mic preamp, but is unfortunately discontinued. If you can find this used, it's a great buy. It's definitely more colored than the RNPs, but is not clouded or gummy sounding, and would work well with vocals regardless. It also has EQ and DI and high-pass filtering. In the past, you could find this for sale used for around $600. I don't know about now.

 

The other mic preamp I have is a Neve Portico, which is beautiful sounding, but doesn't qualify as a budget mic preamp.

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Thanks for the run down. The vocalist for a band I used to play with has talked of finding a budget tube-pre and I considered having him give a go with the Brick, but, your description makes me feel that perhaps it may not be a good choice. Still, it might be worth a listen.

 

I too can vouch for the RNP. I bought it initially for getting synths and samplers into my A/D converter. I have been completely satisfied.

 

The RNP is an excellent first place to look when you need to move up from a Mackie or other budget solution. It is actually very well suited for gain matching synths. While it may not have the same magic on all source/mic combinations, it will typically give you something easy to work with. I am very pleased with it and would replace my unit in a heartbeat.

 

I have and like all of FMR's offerings. If only they would put out an EQ... or perhaps an 8-bus console...

 

Other budget pres I have tried are the Seventh Circle kits. I have only built a couple of N72s and A12s at this point (one of which needs troubleshooting), but, I have to say they are very nice if you have the time to invest in getting them together. I can definitely hear a similarity between the N72 and my ME-1NV. It has the body of the ME, but lacks the refinement and high end detail that has been made a part of the ME's sound. The ME has an interesting articulation in the highs that sets it apart. The N72, while distinctive, is more flat in terms of frequency response.

 

I only recommend you get into the SC kits if you intend to buy at least two along with their power supply and perhaps their rack. While two channels gets a bit out of the budget budget territory, the quality for the money is solid and increases as you add more channels. If you are a tech or DIY type, you could save a bit more by finding alternate power and/or enclosure options.

 

One other thing to consider about the SC stuff is that you don't get some of the extras that come along with off the shelf options. Again, this is where one channel is not a value in my opinion.

 

For instance:

 

ME-1NV costs $1075 from Mercenary Audio

 

DI

-10 out which is useful for monitoring

In and out metering

Two impedance options

Output loading option

Phase

 

N72KF costs $324 unassembled

Chassis $299 unassembled (holds 8, w/PS only some wiring needed)

Power $269

 

Phantom power and phase

No metering

Other options you have to sort out on your own...

 

As you can see by these numbers, if you just want one high quality pre, the ME is a much better choice for what amounts to negligibly more. Again, the SC stuff starts to work in your favor if you need several high quality channels. Even two channels starts to show a return. Just bear in mind the N72 is not an ME-1NV. While they may share some similar characteristics, they are very different.

 

Despite the single channel differences, you can have eight channels for a song compared to 8 X $1000+ mic pres. If you need or want several high quality "character" channels on a budget, the SC kits are definitely an excellent alternative.

 

My 2 pfennig anyway...

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Thanks for the run down. The vocalist for a band I used to play with has talked of finding a budget tube-pre and I considered having him give a go with the Brick, but, your description makes me feel that perhaps it may not be a good choice. Still, it might be worth a listen.

 

It depends on his voice. My voice isn't the best for rock vocals. I don't have a lot of highs in it, so it's very easy for my voice to be "muddled" and lose clarity in the mix. If I was working with someone who had a high, clear voice and needed to add a little roundness to it, I'd give the Brick a shot. In fact, I'm supposed to do some vocal tracking with a guy next week and I think the Brick may be the first preamp I try - his voice has plenty of highs and he enunciates extremely well, but he needs a little "oomph." I think the 101 would leave his voice sounding too thin.

 

So it just depends on what you need. :)

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I've always read that the 414 was a pretty bright mic...that very well could be why it paired up well with the darker Brick.

 

Could be. :) I ordered a Focusrite ISA-428 four-channel mic pre today, and I'm looking forward to trying it out. More options are always a good thing.

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hey mrjoshua,

I don't like the 414 on my voice or kick drum but it sounds good on everything else and especially brilliant on percussion:). of course I'm pairing it up with my syteks, which are very fast and accurate modern pres. I like your reviews. you have 8 channels of very good pres----that's pretty impressive for a hobby studio. my hat's off to you---good luck with your mic collection.

/jonny

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Thanks for the run down. The vocalist for a band I used to play with has talked of finding a budget tube-pre and I considered having him give a go with the Brick, but, your description makes me feel that perhaps it may not be a good choice. Still, it might be worth a listen.

 

When it comes to "budget tube preamps", I don't think there's anything that costs less than the Brick does that's really worth considering. It seriously walks all over everything else with a "toob" in it that costs under $750. Unlike most budget "toob" preamps, the Brick is a true high plate voltage tube circuit, not just a solid state circuit with a starved plate tube stuck into it.

 

It's not always the "right" pre for every task, but it's a first rate product, and as MrJoshua said, it sounds killer as a bass DI. The main drawbacks are minor IMO - no metering and no filtering or pad. You can filter and pad elsewhere in the chain, and hearing if it's starting to break up is easy enough... ;)

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Thanks for the run down. The vocalist for a band I used to play with has talked of finding a budget tube-pre and I considered having him give a go with the Brick, but, your description makes me feel that perhaps it may not be a good choice. Still, it might be worth a listen.


When it comes to "budget tube preamps", I don't think there's anything that costs less than the Brick does that's really worth considering. It seriously walks all over everything else with a "toob" in it that costs under $750. Unlike most budget "toob" preamps, the Brick is a true high plate voltage tube circuit, not just a solid state circuit with a starved plate tube stuck into it.


It's not always the "right" pre for every task, but it's a first rate product, and as MrJoshua said, it sounds killer as a bass DI. The main drawbacks are minor IMO - no metering and no filtering or pad. You can filter and pad elsewhere in the chain, and hearing if it's starting to break up is easy enough...
;)

 

 

 

To add to this, let me reiterate that I was unhappy with how it sounded on MY voice, but I've used it with other singers since then and it sounds very nice. Full and warm, present in the mix without being harsh ... it's a nice preamp. :) It just happens that MY voice through THAT mic into the Brick in THAT room combines to not be the sound I was looking for. It's well worth checking out.

 

Incidentally, since I wrote those reviews, I've added a Focusrite ISA-428 to my preamp collection. Quite a bit more expensive, but if you consider the fact that it's a four-preamp package, it comes down to very reasonable on a per-channel basis. It has a rich, smooth sound to my ears, but I've had a hard time pinning it down to any one set of characteristics due to the way it behaves with different microphones, especially with the switchable mic input impedance. I've had a great time playing with an SM-57 and that impedance switch, for example, lol.

 

The biggest thing I've learned since starting this, though, is that the preamp won't matter at all if you aren't putting a quality signal into it. I've been getting fantastic guitar sounds through any and all of my pres lately (although the different pres do of course impart a different character to the sound), because the guitar sounds I've been recording have been high quality - good players with good instruments and solid amplifiers, in a treated room with good microphones, through a good preamp, into quality converters. The whole chain has to be strong.

 

:)

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Grace Design 101:


This pre I was a little more cautious about. I'd heard it described using words like "clarity" and "precision" which are good, but a few people had said it was almost TOO clear and precise, so I was a bit leery.

 

 

 

That's part of your problem. That's pretty much how the 414 has been described for the past 15 or so years.

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I don't see how anything can be too clear. Maybe that's not your preference, if you want something colored, but I just don't see "too clear" as any sort of detriment. Too bright, sure, but too clear???

 

 

Well, it depends. "Too clear," to me, is a preamp that has gone beyond sounding musical and has started accentuating the flaws of an instrument. Every instrument, be it a singer or a guitar or a Stradivarius violin, has flaws. The key is to find a room, a mic, and a preamp that accentuate the positives of the source while avoiding emphasis on the negatives. So, for example, I might want to record electric guitar with a preamp that has a clean focus on the upper-mids, but might not necessarily have crystalline highs. A preamp that's TOO clear might show more of the string noise, etc. While the preamp being "too clear" isn't bad, it's bad in this case.

 

I guess that's a long-winded and ridiculously wordy way of saying, "too clear" just depends on what you're recording and how you want it to sound. It's application specific. :)

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See, to me, your explanation does not equate to "too clear". If a mic preamp is accentuating a particular aspect of an instrument, it's emphasizing an aspect of it more than some others (i.e., the mic preamp possesses a peak in a particular frequency or has a severe roll-off or imparts distortion or whatever). To me, that's a colored mic preamp, or at least, a mic preamp that has a "bump" in a particular frequency. This doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad mic preamp or whatever, but can mean it's a poor application.

 

But to me, that doesn't mean it's "too clear". I've never heard anything that is "too clear" and quite frankly don't know what that means. If I want something that's "clear", to me that means I want something that as much as possible replicates what I am hearing in the room (meaning ACCURATELY and CLEARLY replicating it, not coloring it or accentuating a particular frequency of what's out in the room). No mic or mic preamp can do that completely. But one that is more clear than another can at least get you closer.

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The biggest thing I've learned since starting this, though, is that the preamp won't matter at all if you aren't putting a quality signal into it. I've been getting fantastic guitar sounds through any and all of my pres lately (although the different pres do of course impart a different character to the sound), because the guitar sounds I've been recording have been high quality - good players with good instruments and solid amplifiers, in a treated room with good microphones, through a good preamp, into quality converters. The whole chain has to be strong.

 

Sources matter. A lot. :)

 

Very well said sir! :phil:

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I am digressing a bit, but for those on even more of a budget, I know that my voice through a SP C1 or B1 to a VTB-1 (solid state mode) then to an HHB tube compressor makes me sound much better than I have any right to.

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I am digressing a bit, but for those on even more of a budget, I know that my voice through a SP C1 or B1 to a VTB-1 (solid state mode) then to an HHB tube compressor makes me sound much better than I have any right to.

 

 

 

The VTB-1 is probably the best rated pre-amp in the ~$100 price range.

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See, to me, your explanation does not equate to "too clear". If a mic preamp is
accentuating
a particular aspect of an instrument, it's
emphasizing
an aspect of it more than some others (i.e., the mic preamp possesses a peak in a particular frequency or has a severe roll-off or imparts distortion or whatever). To me, that's a
colored
mic preamp, or at least, a mic preamp that has a "bump" in a particular frequency. This doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad mic preamp or whatever, but can mean it's a poor application.


But to me, that doesn't mean it's "too clear". I've never heard anything that is "too clear" and quite frankly don't know what that means. If I want something that's "clear", to me that means I want something that as much as possible replicates what I am hearing in the room (meaning ACCURATELY and CLEARLY replicating it, not coloring it or accentuating a particular frequency of what's out in the room). No mic or mic preamp can do that completely. But one that is more clear than another can at least get you closer.

 

 

 

I read that post three times, and I still can't find anything in it I disagree with. :) I think it's just a problem of terminology. For what "clear" actually means, you're right, I don't see how a preamp could be too clear. But I don't think people actually use it to mean that sometimes, and I include myself in that. The only time I've ever really called something "too clear" was when I was recording a source that NEEDED coloring, lol. So I might think a pre is too clear for a particular application, because I think coloring is needed, but too clear to be a good pre? Nah.

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I read that post three times, and I still can't find anything in it I disagree with.
:)
I think it's just a problem of terminology. For what "clear" actually means, you're right, I don't see how a preamp could be too clear. But I don't think people actually use it to mean that sometimes, and I include myself in that. The only time I've ever really called something "too clear" was when I was recording a source that NEEDED coloring, lol. So I might think a pre is too clear for a particular application, because I think coloring is needed, but too clear to be a good pre? Nah.

 

Yeah, it's probably semantics. I'm flattered that you read my post three times, though!! :D I love clear mic preamps for certain things, things that throw back what I am hearing in the room, as much as that's possible.

 

That said, I also favor a LOT of colored sounds. It's whatever best supports the artistic and emotional statement, right? I use things such as the RNLA and the Neve Portico mic preamps in Silk Mode to color a lot of audio that I record. I like some kinds of music to sound stereotypically "analog" (or "put some hair on it," as some people say!), and this helps to bring it closer even though I'm recording on Pro Tools now.

 

I also will occasionally place amps or singers or whatever in strange places to get odd sounds or place tubes around the microphone if I need a different sort of sound rather than slapping a plug-in across something.

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Personally I prefer the True Systems P-solo over the Grace Designs 101 - for vocals and most everything else. Less brittle, and has more "musical" highs imo - but that is just me.

 

Hm, I'm not familiar with this preamp. I'll look into it, though. :)

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