quad mic pres

[jammy jamz]

does anybody know of anybody selling a quad mic pre? im in the market to spend some $$$. i have a budget of around $1000.00 CAD.

[jammy jamz]

i would definetly consider a stereo one too.......

even a single strip would be okay, but.....really.....i cant afford those just yet.

im looking for bang for buck.

[Mathieu Benoit]

Are you looking for an interface along with that or just the pres?

[jammy jamz]

just the pres .....

i have a tascam us 144 hooked up to the desktop, and a tascam 1641 that i use for location.

the 1641 has ten preamps.......i have an ART stereo pre.(i know i know, but seriously for the cash good deal)...and i need the quad for the other four....

in a perfect world i would just 10 o'clock the tascam pres, and have like summit, or millenium, or focusrite,

ON EVERY CHANNEL....

i need to go smoke after that thought.

[Malcolm Boyce]

.......i have an ART stereo pre.(i know i know, but seriously for the cash good deal)...

Never any need to make excuses for what you use around here.

I like nice stuff as much as the next guy, but what you do with it matters more than any price tags...

[macrae11]

Well I saw you mention that you want a Red 1. Great choice, but seems a bit out of your stated price range.

Are you at a serious loss for more pres, or would you just like some more to "fill things up" The reason I ask, is because if you're not desperate for inputs, I would recommend always taking quality over quantity.

There's a ton of amazing single channel pres in the thousand dollar range, and a number of good dual channel's. Off the top of my head I can't think of any quad pres that would be a noticable step up from what you've got going on now. So I'll start with a couple of best case scenarios and work our way down.

1 Channel. My personall choice would without a doubt be a Great River ME-1NV. It's a tad over $1000, but you should be able to find one used for around a grand. It's a phenomenal pre that can really make you understand why so many people just use a 57 on a guitar amp. Can go from clean to dirty with a turn off a knob, and sounds good on everything.

Daking mic pre one. Brilliant little pre for well under budget. Probably run about $750-$800. A little brighter and smoother than the great river, with wonderful creamy tone. Not quite as versitile though. Awesome metering. For those who care about such things.

You could buy a lunchbox and take your pick of a 500 frame pre for a bit under $1000. Infinite range of flavours, and very expandable. Keeps you wanting more. Kind of like crack.

Grace m101. Don't have any personal experience with this one, but it's supposed to be very smooth and clean. Millenia ish, without the Mileeniaish price.

Presonus Eureka. Decent little channel strip with a usable comp and EQ. Can be had for about the same price as the m101. I think Tim might still have a pair of these.


2 channel
AEA the Ribbon Mic Pre. No phantom so can't use it with condensers, but clean headroom for days! No real experience with this one either, but the specs and reviews are fantastic. Could always get a seperate phantom supply.

ART MPA gold. Way under budget, but a very usable stereo preamp. Maybe this is what you already have? Nothing to be ashamed of. Could also go with the digital option if you want to use up those digital ins.

4 or more
M-Audio Octane ok preamps with ok converters. 8 channels though. If you're going to go this route, I'd say save some money and get the ADA-8000. Build quality is not quite as good, but sound is similar.


Mackie Onyx 800r. Again the 8 channel with converters deal. Better the M-Audio or Behrry, but $800 better? probably not.


Sytek has a 4 channel somewhere in that price range, but I don't really know anything about it. I can't think of any other 4 channels in that range. It seems to mostly go from 2 channels to 8 channels for some reason. You could always get a DIY kit or something like that. Seventh Circle Audio, if you're into that.

Daking 4 channel for about $2000 is one of the best value multi pres out there


Anyways, there's a dozen or so options that I have at least a little experience with. There's about a billion more options. Did that help, or just muddy that waters?

[jammy jamz]

duly noted malcolm...i wasnt really dissing the ART because honestly, it does what is does really really well, with some interesting voices on a "smart compressor"....and a ohm selector...or whtever to calibrate to the mic....seems to add a pinch of highs to my ear as you dial it up. it really was a pleasant surprise for less then 200 bucks...

whoa.

thanks for that list andrew.

i have looked at a couple of those on your list...the AEA one is cool, and on my defitnite mabey list, because of the 86db and alleged low noise floor.....

i sorta think that everything made today is of pretty sweet quality....just looking for preferences and why people like what they do right now, and also kinda hoping someone goes, "hey, i have a presonus M80 i want to sell for 600 bucks." or something like that. ;) i really appreciate your given me your insights on the gear you own, and love.

i forgot to say in my post, that right now, im looking for "good" quality in a convient 1U or 2U space, for convient packing up and moving. so i can have all 16 ins fired up at the same time (if the session needs that many)

ultimately now, its the means to an end, to get all 16 fired up. the first 10 ins on the tascam have pretty nice pres, (little noisey, but meh), so the other six is what i am filling right now. the ART is the S/PDIF in on 15 and 16, and i need to fill 11-14. really, anything will prob do in a pinch, and later, i will start adding the nice one strips at a time to have more choice at "voices"

too many mics, cables, pres, not enought time or money......yet.

thanks again

keep it good, and loud, and good and loud. but not that ugly loud. ..

pacem

[Alain Benoit]

http://forums.middleaudio.com/viewtopic.php?t=330

[jammy jamz]

cool thanks for the link al.

so...

does anybody have any dust collecting quad mic pres kicking around.

[Mathieu Benoit]

Daking mic pre one. Brilliant little pre for well under budget. Probably run about $750-$800. A little brighter and smoother than the great river, with wonderful creamy tone. Not quite as versitile though. Awesome metering. For those who care about such things.

A Daking with awesome metering? Geez... Could sure have gone for one of those last night. Well I shouldn't say that, our Daking has decent metering I guess....

[jammy jamz]

decent metering doesnt sound good enough for you guys up at fluid...

wanna sell it.

[macrae11]

the mic pre EQ that Al bought doesn't have any metering does it? Trying to remember.

The Mic Pre IV has 30 segment LED VU meters on each channel.

[Mathieu Benoit]

decent metering doesnt sound good enough for you guys up at fluid...

wanna sell it.

Nah... It's a smoking mic pre with a really useful EQ on it. However, it has NO metering... But it sounds so damn good.

[macrae11]

Yeah that's what the two meters on the side of your head are for.

[Mathieu Benoit]

Yeah that's what the two meters on the side of your head are for.

Not when the mic pre is 40 ft away from my listening position. In the end I just gave up.

[jammy jamz]

im a little confused tho matt....

isnt there a metering in your DAW? so, you could monitor you signal at the desk couldnt you?

or

use the force luke.

[Mathieu Benoit]

I wish it was that simple. That just shows me what's coming in to tape. Doesn't show me if I'm overloading the pre... For that I had to run back to my workstation, hear the clipping...and run back to the pre, turn it down, then run back,etc... Pain in my nuts I tell ya.

[jammy jamz]

oh the humanity....

it does sound like a pain.

not even a clip light????

[Mathieu Benoit]

not even a clip light????

Not even... But in it's defence, it's a wicked mic pre/EQ otherwise.

[jammy jamz]

hmmmmm

sounds like a pre designed by yoda.

yeah imma geek. and totally proud

TO THE OBSERVATORY.

[macrae11]

Shoulda set up a headphone feed to the control room. Or you could probably run a KVM switch to the monitor in there. Or you could use logmein.com to monitor your workstation via your laptop. Yes I think that's my favorite. Intentional overuse of technology.

[Mathieu Benoit]

Shoulda set up a headphone feed to the control room. Or you could probably run a KVM switch to the monitor in there. Or you could use logmein.com to monitor your workstation via your laptop. Yes I think that's my favorite. Intentional overuse of technology.

Or should've not used it since it wasn't that necessary.

[Alain Benoit]

Daking Mic Pre One

[jammy jamz]

thanks again al, studio economic will be in my favorites when i get home.....

i think imma save my monies, until i can afford a red 1. i think, or mabey an isa...428 or whtaeve the quads are called.

the speciality channels, will come later when i can afford the luxery of having a few nice strips for an every now and then scenario.

ebay is porn...

the story of the falling canadian dollar, screwed me out of a presonus m80....because of the 20 cents on the dollar.

[Mathieu Benoit]

the story of the falling canadian dollar, screwed me out of a presonus m80....because of the 20 cents on the dollar.

Not to worry it'll come back down soon enough...