Best but affordable Tube Preamp for vocals

[veronicafalls]

What are some good tube preamps for vocals that are affordable. For me anyway affordable is around or less than $200?

I hear some stuff about the ART tube mic pream but I'm not willing to get a cheap ass 30 dollar piece of Chinese plastic with a tube inside. And I heard about the presonus preamp which I've been leaning towards for a long time now, because it is less than $200 and is incased in hard metal casing and has quite a bit of features like bass roll off and stuff.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Machinated]

for that money you may be better off sticking to a decent non tube preamp. does it have to be tube?

 

[The Unavoidable]

For a preamp to really make a noticable difference, then I think it needs to be a bit more pricey than that. Probably up around 700-800$ atleast.

But what really matters here is what kind of mic you are running into it? Becuse in that price range, my guess would be that you are better of upgrading your mic than getting a entry-level pre to use it with. That is unless you're looking for some phantom power if your interface doesn't already have it but then you should look to getting a new decent interface instead, which would come with some decent preamps anyway.

 

[egan.]

What are some good tube preamps for vocals that are affordable. For me anyway affordable is around or less than $200?

There is no such thing IME.

 

[Fox Mulder]

I use the shitty M-Audio Firewire 410 and going for the Presonus TubePre made a huge difference for me. Technically it's a cheap piece of shit, but it's way better than the pres in the 410. However, I plan on purchasing a Profire 2626 very soon, and when I do I'll get rid of the Presonus TubePre. You get the point.

 

[AllanD]

Art Tube MPA? I heard after a tube change they are godsend.

 

[BLUElightCory]

For a preamp to really make a noticable difference, then I think it needs to be a bit more pricey than that. Probably up around 700-800$ atleast.

But what really matters here is what kind of mic you are running into it? Becuse in that price range, my guess would be that you are better of upgrading your mic than getting a entry-level pre to use it with. That is unless you're looking for some phantom power if your interface doesn't already have it but then you should look to getting a new decent interface instead, which would come with some decent preamps anyway.

I agree 100%. You will definitely see a much bigger difference upgrading the microphone.

For $200 look into the Mercenary Audio-modded SM57 with the Tab Funkenwerk transformer, or look for a used Shure SM7 or Heil PR30/PR40.

 

[RevoltStudios]

I was in your position a while ago and settled on the Art Digital MPA. Kinda eh with the stock tubes but with JJ's it was vury nice...vurrrry nice. They are NOT a starved plate design and you'll notice as it'll heat your room ha.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

for that money you may be better off sticking to a decent non tube preamp. does it have to be tube?

this

the RNP for example will shit all over most <1k€ tubepres

 

[xmortumx]

+1
RNP

 

[veronicafalls]

for that money you may be better off sticking to a decent non tube preamp. does it have to be tube?

If it sounds decent wouldn't mind going digital. What are some good recommendations for digital mic pre amps? I heard the mackie Onyx 800 is good. A little pricey but get's good results.

 

[Metaltastic]

Wait...what is a digital mic preamp?

 

[Machinated]

digital?

you mean solid state? may be worth doing some reasearch but if something isnt tube, it doesnt mean its digital. a solid state preamp is analogue - for something to be digital there must be an A/D conversion

 

[Metaltastic]

And by the way, what mic are you using? My general rule of thumb is the earlier it is in the signal chain, the bigger an effect it has, and since a mic comes before a preamp, well...I'd much rather run a $500 mic into a preamp on a $150 interface, rather than an $80 mic into a $6k preamp! (engaging in hyperbole to make a point there )

 

[veronicafalls]

And by the way, what mic are you using? My general rule of thumb is the earlier it is in the signal chain, the bigger an effect it has, and since a mic comes before a preamp, well...I'd much rather run a $500 mic into a preamp on a $150 interface, rather than an $80 mic into a $6k preamp! (engaging in hyperbole to make a point there )

I see what you mean and I use a AKG Perception 120.


I also meant solid state btw on the preamp.

 

[Metaltastic]

Yeah, you'll definitely hear a greater benefit in sound quality by getting a new mic rather than preamp for your current one - Studio Projects C1 gets my vote for your budget!

 

[egan.]

Yeah, you'll definitely hear a greater benefit in sound quality by getting a new mic rather than preamp for your current one - Studio Projects C1 gets my vote for your budget!

Or a used 4047 or 4050. An SM7 is certainly a popular choice here but if you plan on doing any quiet vocals I would wait to get one until you have a pre that can provide plenty of clean gain.

 

[GarethSE]

Because my old interface didn't have phantom power, I got an ART Tube MP mkI so I could use my AKG Perception 200
I got nice sounding recordings out of it, fo sho.

 

[Metaltastic]

Or a used 4047 or 4050. An SM7 is certainly a popular choice here but if you plan on doing any quiet vocals I would wait to get one until you have a pre that can provide plenty of clean gain.

You think you could find any of those for $200 or under though? There's always the 4040, but I dunno, I've heard a few complaints on here from people saying they're too bright (DSS3 and I think TheBroodwich, specifically). I've always heard great things about the C1 for its price!

 

[egan.]

You think you could find any of those for $200 or under though? There's always the 4040, but I dunno, I've heard a few complaints on here from people saying they're too bright (DSS3 and I think TheBroodwich, specifically). I've always heard great things about the C1 for its price!

Yeah, probably not. In my head they were cheaper until I checked just now. In fact, did the prices go up?