Topic: mic preamp compressor eq

what is the best one for cheap? for vocals mostly.. but should be pretty versitile. will be used with an sm58 for now..

Re: mic preamp compressor eq

since i am impatient.. i ordered an ART pro channel and i might replace the tubes with something fancier.

Re: mic preamp compressor eq

that already seems pretty fancy in itself.

Re: mic preamp compressor eq

i think the ART pro channels are supposed to be pretty good for the price range actually.

i've also heard the Joe Meek ThreeQ is pretty decent on the lower price range as well.

also in terms of mics, if you aren't looking to get a condenser mic for what you're doing, at least consider swapping and getting a sennheiser e835, they kick the shit out of the SM series in terms of clarity (imo).

worship the potentiometer.

Re: mic preamp compressor eq

what is a good condensor mic?

Re: mic preamp compressor eq

haha, that's like asking a bot on here what a good synth is. smile

well, like anything else price always factors in on mics, but for me, i've had a Audio Technica AT4040 for years and i love it, it sits more on the dark side in terms of tone which i like. recently i also bought a matched pair of Karma K-micro silver bullets. they are pencil condensers used usually for cymbals/overhead/acoustic guitars etc, but it worked great as a vocal mic too though WAY on the bright side, tho nothing a eq couldn't fix.

and, also in a lower price range but excellent build is a Rode NT1A. i don't own one but i've used one plenty of times and they are fantastic mics for the price. I think all of those come in under $300 in the US. 

also, Cascade makes a really cool mic called a Fat Head. i haven't used this one, but friends of mine have them and use them every time they record a band and they also get great reviews and are very affordable.

hope that helps!

worship the potentiometer.

Re: mic preamp compressor eq

TNC ACMP-84 (good neveclone)

CRACKED BY MR. Z...

8 (edited by Cosmo 2015-06-12 15:23:46)

Re: mic preamp compressor eq

new question for an old thread:

Some of you mentioned the use of preamps to ad some dirt.
As far I understand you have to override at the input to get the overdrive effect.
There are some mid range Preamps on the market with discrete circuitry and optional tube stages. In the advertising they talk about how clean they sound without the tubes and how much distortion you can ad by adding the tube effect.
On synths most of the time I don’t like the tube sound that much. So I am interested more in the distortion of the non tube part and would like to add just a  little bit of tube distortion on some lead sounds.
Is it even possible to get them to distort and add some warmth without the tubes. Or is on ‘good Preamps the discrete part allways clean and you only get the distortion from the tubes?

I mean, can I get distortion from a ‚quiet‘ preamp or do I need a cheap one for this?