Anyone have experience with the Joe Meek TwinQ preamp?

[TheIllicitOne]

Does anybody have any experience with these? I've heard some really good things about them. I'm currently looking for 2 channels of microphone preamps with spdif out so I can run it with my firepod and get 10 channels and this definitely fits the bill. (I know, I know, firepod :zombie I was also told 2 presonus eurekas with a card would work great too. But yea, so I figured I'd get something thats a little better than the firepod preamps just to have a little variety without breaking the bank. Any help you guys can give me would be great.

 

[devouredremains]

I've also heard good things but never used one.

You may also be interested in the ART Digital MPA. It's a tube preamp but unlike other ART products this preamp runs a full 300v to the tubes and has around 70db of gain which is great for dynamics and ribbons. It also his seperate input and output gain stages to allow you to push the tubes as hard as you like. I own one and can honestly say it holds it's own against other "boutique" preamp I own on quite a few applications. I adore it for vocals and overheads and it sounds excellent with heavy guitars.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ART-DMPA-Pro-2-Channel-Mic-Pre-with-Digital-Outs?sku=180629

Due to the full voltage the tubes receive it also responds well to tube upgrades. The manual boasts 115db ADC which I doubt but I can say that the conversion is very good and will most likely surpass your firepod.

 

[Exocaster]

Devouredremains, what preamps did you compare the Digital MPA to? I keep hearing nothing but good things about those, but I'm curious how they sound and what they stack up against.

 

[Metaltastic]

Is the Digital MPA the 1 rack-space blue one or the 2-space Gold one? Cuz I've heard the blue is really unreliable, but the Gold seems pretty sweet indeed, especially after that testimonial...

 

[Exocaster]

The Digital MPA is the two space gold one.

 

[R-Stuur]

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/search.php search is your friend. Already discussed, I own one but I'm not gonna respond.

 

[TheIllicitOne]

... ART Digital MPA...

I was looking at this as well but I've been told many many times to stay away from ART stuff. I'm also interested to know what you compared it to and how it measured up in a little more detail. Thanks for your reply.

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/search.php search is your friend. Already discussed, I own one but I'm not gonna respond.

Yea, I've seen many posts where you've raved about it but nobody else has really said too terribly much. I found that page where Aaron bought one and you said something about if you use the iron setting on kick and snare you're in "lush heaven" and that the compression was a little sketchy but I couldn't find his review of it after it arrived. Do you have any recordings I can hear that you used it on?

 

[R-Stuur]

Yea, I've seen many posts where you've raved about it but nobody else has really said too terribly much. I found that page where Aaron bought one and you said something about if you use the iron setting on kick and snare you're in "lush heaven" and that the compression was a little sketchy but I couldn't find his review of it after it arrived. Do you have any recordings I can hear that you used it on?

Many? I think I replied to it twice or something. Anyway, lemme see what I can do, I'm working fulltime on my driver's license right now. I dont think you'll be able to make up much from it, anwyay . But trust me, with the iron in sounds quite nice

Other than that, it has quite a lot more clean gain than my firestudio pre's.

But if I were to buy pre's, I would go for something clean and add the 'warmth' or 'dirt' later in in mix stages. My recommendation: line audio 8 channel pre for about 500 euros.

 

[TheIllicitOne]

I'm currently working on upgrading my studio and I can't afford to upgrade from the firepod just yet so a dual channel pre w/ SPDIF is the way I have to go at the moment. (Nobody say "chain two firepods" as I am trying to escape to something better such as RME gear) Plus for most applications right now, I only need 9-10 channels. But yea man, thanks for the reply and if you can get some clips up that would be great.

 

[R-Stuur]

Hmmm maybe its better to save up for something better? What platform do you work on?

 

[TheIllicitOne]

Hmmm maybe its better to save up for something better? What platform do you work on?

PC:
2 gigs Ram
2 250 gig Hard Drives
3.20ghz pentium
Windows XP
Cubase SX3
Firepod

Mics:
1 AT-4050
4 Sm57s
1 Sm58
2 C4s
3 D2s
1 D4
1 D6
1 i5

What do you suggest? Also dude, do you have AIM? If so PM me your screen name or just drop me a message on aim.

 

[R-Stuur]

I'll talk to you on aim

 

[devouredremains]

Sorry for the delayed response. The preamps I was referring to in comparison to the MPA are Shadow Hills Mono Gama and Purple Audio Biz. When I say hold it's own I don't mean that it's just as good but it's definitely in that quality range. In other words, if I didn't have other preamps I would be happy with this one. I prefer it for vocals over the other two I mentioned about 75% of the time. FWIW I also seem to recall someone mentioning that Fredrik uses one somewhere in the Clayman thread. But for what? I have no idea.

I'm unsure why anyone would be told to stay away from ART. They have low end products and higher end products as most companies do. One of the other quality ART products is their Pro VLA and the new Pro VLA 2 which is the same but with added attack and release contols. They are very nice opto compressors for the coin.

I've always been a firm believer of the "use your ears" statement and in this case it rings true. How many companies make lesser quality starved plate preamps as well as nicer quality preamps? TONS.

But as far as budget preamps with conversion goes the Joe Meek is the cheapest using a transformer and the ART is the cheapest full voltage tube pre. The ART is great from experience and I've heard great things about the Joe Meek so I'm sure either direction will be a winner.

 

[devouredremains]

Something I forgot to add about the Digital MPA is that it has inserts for each channel which in the case that it's conversion is the best you have, you can utilize it's convertors with other preamps.